June 27, 2026

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said on Saturday that he plans to nominate Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to be the next director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency at the center of the administration’s mass deportation effort. 'I am very pleased to announce that I have nominated Lance Schroyer to be our next ICE Director,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Lance has firsthand experience getting Illegal Aliens OFF our streets and, just like ME and our Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, he LOVES the men and women of ICE.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is a very short, breaking news item, with no information about Schroyer other than his previous service as a state trooper. I will acknowledge that any law enforcement job is an important one, and its quite possible that Schroyer was very good at fulfilling his duties. But I'll also say that policing bad drivers does not lend to the skill set required to run an off-the-rails federal agency that is in fact full of scofflaws & bad actors. This seems to be Trump once again sabotaging a federal agency by placing at the head of the agency a person with no qualifications whatsoever.  

Obama Still Living Large in Trump's Empty Head. Zachary Leeman of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump posted side-by-side images of himself and former President Barack Obama in their respective youths, after Obama claimed he lives rent free in the current president’s head. The post came Saturday after Trump ... posted an AI image of himself literally holding up the Earth while carrying an American flag.... He followed up that post with an image from the recent UFC fight card outside the White House, as well as images of himself and Obama. In the side-by-side photos, Trump included himself from the New York York Military Academy and an image of Obama from his college years with a cigarette. While Trump captioned the photos, 'D. Trump, 20' and 'B.H. Obama, 18,' his niece and frequent critic Mary Trump was among those who pointed out that Trump attended the military academy when he was a teenager, graduating in 1964 when he was 17.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Mary Trump wrote, "This is a picture of Donald when he was a teenager in high school. You'd think he'd know that." Yeah, you would. He's a confused old man.

So right there on its online front page, the New York Times lets on that our amateur negotiators don't know how to nail down a deal. And JayDee makes up stuff. ~~~

Yeganeh Torbati of the New York Times: “The ambiguities in the language that U.S. negotiators agreed to in their interim cease-fire agreement with Iran appear to be coming back to haunt them.... That much is clear from the surge in violence over the last 72 hours, which began on Thursday when Iranian forces struck a container ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz.... The memorandum that the two sides agreed to calls for Iran to 'make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels' through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days. Crucially, it leaves 'arrangements' and 'best efforts' undefined. Iran appears to have interpreted that language to mean that it can determine which route ships must take.... [The ship Iran attacked had taken a] U.S.-backed route on the southern side of the strait that hugs the coastline of Oman.... The back-and-forth [violent attacks] ... also [raise] questions about claims made this week by Vice President JD Vance in an interview with UnHerd, in which he said a channel had been set up between the Iranian and U.S. militaries aimed at de-escalating the conflict. Multiple Iranian news outlets quoted a spokesman of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hossein Mohebbi, as denying that any hotline had been established regarding the strait.”

 

~~~ This Is So Embarrassing/Infuriating. Victoria Craw of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump has unveiled an updated rendering of himself to appear inside a U.S. passport commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence. The image was shared by the White House, which labeled it a 'PATRIOT PASSPORT.' Trump also posted a picture of what he called 'The U.S.A.’s New Passport' on social media Friday, saying that it said: “‘Welcome, but be good!’” — words that don’t appear in the images Trump posted.... The State Department first said it would offer the limited edition passport in April, in another instance of Trump seeking to stamp his personal brand on the nation. But that earlier version included different artwork.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: “Welcome, but be good!’??? That makes no sense at all. Incredibly, Trump doesn't seem to understand that a U.S. passport is a document issued to Americans who may wish to leave the U.S. to visit other countries. A welcome message, however threatening (which Trump's fabricated message is), would seem to be at least somewhat appropriate to a U.S. visa, which is a document that is affixed to the foreign-nation passport of a person whom the U.S. has allowed to travel within the U.S. The old guy is so addled.

Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post went to Trump's “Great American State Fair,” and he found that “it felt like a trade show for Christian groups, tourist boards and the military industrial complex.... The prevailing diagnosis of this failure of imagination is that it was another rush job.... I was reminded of the supposed Potemkin villages created for Russian Empress Catherine the Great by her minister: fake, portable visions of happy locals designed to convince the monarch that everything was for the best in her new, war-ravaged colonial territory of Crimea.” The link is a gift link. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It is tempting to portray this sad little failure as another metaphor -- like the Reflecting Pool -- for Everything Trump. But everything cannot be a metaphor. Instead, the fair is just another Trumpian slap-dash disaster. It is what it is. In a way, Trump can't help but fail. It's what he does. The truth is, he is not a very bright guy, and things get out of hand. For instance, in this case, Trump doesn't understand what this country is all about, and he certainly has never been to a state fair. (He might have gone to the World's Fair of 1964; it was held in his neighborhood, after all. Official plans for that fair began five years before the event, and even then, it was not as successful as anticipated. [Funnily enough, the theme was "Peace through Understanding," so hardly Trump's forte.]) Kennicott lays out several possibilities of what could have been for the 250th, but everything he suggests requires, you know, planning and preparation. It requires a great deal of input and participation from various people and groups with various sorts of expertise. If Trump had put together a commission of experts on Day 1 of his administration, it still would have been difficult to cobble together an events schedule worthy of a significant anniversary. Rather, the celebrations should have had Congressional backing, with a commission & funding initiated before Trump's second term. This is what happens not when one ignorant old man fails, but when our institutions -- the Congress, the business community, the arts community -- fail us. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I heard on the teevee that somebody was baptizing folks at one of the exhibits. Then there's this: 

~~~ Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “Organizers for the North Carolina booth at the Great American State Fair say they removed an image of a Confederate flag displayed in the state’s pavilion on the National Mall, saying it was not approved for the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday.... Social media posts on Friday showed a video in the North Carolina booth with an image of the Confederate flag overlaid on a part of the state flag.... North Carolina was one of at least eight states that declined to attend the fair, citing high costs for pavilions. Khatod, a consultant who previously served as chief of staff to Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), volunteered to serve as the lead for the North Carolina exhibit and organize private funding for it. Onotse Omoyeni, a spokesperson for Gov. Josh Stein (D), said in a statement that the inclusion of the flag 'does not represent the North Carolina that we love.'... The fair is being organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership established by Trump via executive order.” ~~~

     ~~~ Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite has an item about the confederate flag here. She embeds video of a CNN segment about the flag. The CNN report airs a clip of "multiple images" of the flag that appear to dominate the North Carolina booth. So it's not just a momentary flash on a single video screen of the confederate flag. It was a prominent feature of the state's presentation. 

Speaking of failed institutions, there's the Supreme Court. In this scene, an unnamed court functionary owns the court's stereotypical perpetual villain Sam Alito: ~~~

~~~ Nina Totenberg of NPR: "As the Supreme Court heads into the announcement of its final and hugely important opinions next week, there are reverberations from this week's announcements, and Justice Samuel Alito's public rebuke of his colleague Justice Sonia Sotomayor. On Thursday, Justice Alito summarized from the bench three very big opinions he authored for the court's six justice conservative majority.... After Alito finished his summary of [one] opinion, he paused, at which point Justice Sotomayor read a summary of her contrary views in dissent. When she finished..., Justice Alito ... did something that nobody in the press corps ever remembers happening before. Looking much as if he had just bitten into a lemon, Alito said, 'There is much that I would have added to my bench statement had I known there would be a dissent read.' And he then went on to a short extemporaneous rebuttal.... In response Friday to an inquiry from NPR came this terse statement from the court's public information office. 'Justice Alito was notified in advance by Justice Sotomayor's chambers that she would be reading a dissent from the bench. It was a misunderstanding on Justice Alito's part.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That is, Alito is suck a dick, he can't be bothered to read a note from the girl judge. His superiority complex causes him to screw up, and his first instinct is to blame the girl judge, which is yet another screw-up. If you think that Alito ran into Sotomayor's chambers to apologize profusely for his "misunderstanding," raise your hand. What? What? Are your arms broken? 

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The New York Times' liveblog of developments in the Iran War is here. from the pinned item at 6:30 am ET: “Bahrain said it was targeted early Saturday by Iranian drones, an apparent retaliation after the United States launched strikes on Iranian military sites overnight. The flaring of hostilities underscored the limits of the truce between Washington and Tehran.... On Friday, the Trump administration announced that it had brokered a rare agreement between Israel and Lebanon that U.S. officials hope could build toward an end to the conflict there. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Iran in March, according to Lebanese authorities.... Israeli forces will still occupy much of the country’s south for an unknown period, however. And Hezbollah was quick to reject the deal, which also prompted scattered demonstrations by opponents in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.” An AP report is here.

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: “The U.S. military said it launched strikes on Iran on Friday in retaliation for an Iranian attack in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, hours after ... [Donald] Trump called the Iranian action a 'foolish violation' of the fragile cease-fire between the two countries. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it had struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites as a 'powerful response' to the Iranian attack on Thursday. The extent of damage from the new U.S. strikes was not immediately clear. A U.S. defense official..., described the strikes as a retaliatory measure and not a restart of major combat operations. The strikes on Friday concluded after about 90 minutes, a U.S. official said, and included strikes by American fighter jets against four Iranian sites along the Strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island, a U.S. official said.” An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Iranian Leaders Are Laughing (at Donald Trump) All the Way to the Bank. Susannah George of the Washington Post: “The preliminary peace agreement between the United States and Iran ... hands Iran’s leadership a major economic lifeline as Tehran looks to consolidate strategic gains after months of war with Israel and the United States. Sanctions waivers that allow Iran to sell oil in U.S. dollars and commitments to unfreeze Iranian assets could grant Iran’s government access to billions of dollars in desperately needed hard currency. Having survived mostly intact despite devastating assassinations throughout its ranks, the Iranian system must now address widespread damage and destruction. Even before the war, the country’s spiraling economic crisis was the driving source of domestic discontent.... The Trump administration says it is requiring Iran spend some of its unfrozen assets buying food from U.S. farmers, but Tehran’s oil revenue are not similarly restricted.... Tehran has surged oil into international markets since the agreement came into force last week....”

Marie: I guess I never properly appreciated Bob Ross.

~~~ It happens that the vandal who turned the Reflecting Pool Epstein green is named Donald J. Trump: ~~

~~~ Maxine Joselow & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “Before [a June 12 event to promote Donald Trump's Ultimate Fighting Championship birthday celebration], the National Park Service asked Greenwater Services, which won a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install the nanobubblers, to remove them.... The Park Service did not provide a reason for the removal [of the large, unsightly machines], but it coincided exactly with the promotional event, which drew crowds to the Reflecting Pool.... By the time the purification systems were reinstalled 36 hours later, enormous algae blooms were starting to spread unchecked, turning the water green. The ... Reflecting Pool ... stayed green and murky for about a week because of the residual chlorophyll — a highly visible symbol of one of Mr. Trump’s pet projects gone very wrong. The decision to remove the water-treatment systems ... was one of several missteps that have plagued Mr. Trump’s $16.4 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool.... In recent days, the water has become clear again....

“Mr. Trump has blamed vandals for the deteriorating conditions of the Reflecting Pool, saying they dumped fertilizer to feed the algae and slashed its blue coating with a 'sharp knife or razors.' The administration has asserted in court that there were cuts made to the caulk and 'surface material' of the pool.... [A New York Times review suggests] actions taken by the Trump administration and the companies involved caused disruptions at every turn.” The link appears to be a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

~~~ David Fahrenthold, et al., of the New York Times go in search of evidence of Trump's claims that vandals caused all of the problems with the Reflecting Pool's resurfacing. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ari Hawkins & Cheyanne Daniels of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 100 percent tariff on European countries that impose digital service taxes on American corporations. In a post to social media, the president said 'numerous European countries' are discussing or 'close to actually doing this.' 'Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America,' Trump said. 'This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not. Additionally, the 100% TARIFF will be immediately imposed, if they proceed.' Taxes on online services are frequently imposed to combat the outside influence of Big Tech and frequently target large U.S. companies such as Apple, Amazon and Meta. Trump’s promise to raise tariffs threatens to complicate trade talks with the European Union.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald “Trump says he doesn’t care about the midterm elections. He says he doesn’t think much about Americans’ economic hardship resulting from the war in Iran. And now he is brushing off a landmark, bipartisan bill to lower housing costs in the United States, characterizing the legislation as a matter of 'minor importance.' At a moment of political peril for the president and Republicans, Mr. Trump’s priorities seem increasingly detached from the concerns of voters and his party. His focus is trained on his own obsessions and pet projects, including his expansive and costly renovations at the White House and around the nation’s capital, a topic that he returns to again and again.... Perhaps the most telling example came on Wednesday, when Mr. Trump refused to sign the housing bill until Republicans passed legislation that he cared about more: the SAVE America Act. Mr. Trump contends the bill would address his claims of widespread election fraud, which have repeatedly been debunked.” (Also linked yesterday.)

It Rained on Trump's Parade. Juliana Salinas of the Mirror US: "Donald Trump is facing a fresh humiliation over his disastrous Freedom 250 celebration. Vanilla Ice was set to take the stage as part of the Great American State Fair's 'I Love the 90s!' event on Friday, June 26, at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Less than two hours before showtime, organizers pulled the plug as heavy rainfall came down on Trump's Freedom 250 festival." ~~~

~~~ Marie: I am not celebrating Independence Day this year because Trump. But you would think the half of the country that supported Trump all would be out whooping it up at Trump-dominated events supposedly celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But they are not even showing up, as reports like this one and this one (both worth reading) attest. I suspect that one reason the MAGA crowd is not celebrating the Declaration's anniversary is that they don't believe in its underlying premise: that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Here's a truth I hold to be self-evident: that Trump and those in his thrall disdain essential American values and eschew normative behavior informed by those values. Here's one manifestation of their anti-American belief system: ~~~

~~~ Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration took aim at the separation of church and state Friday, issuing a draft report from the president’s Religious Liberty Commission that says the separation concept is a legal error and that Americans should view religion as an 'essential support' and always remember 'the Creator who made us and bestows our rights.' The 224-page report recommended the Justice Department issue guidance to promote 'an originalist understanding' of how the Constitution sees the relationship between religion and government. The founders had diverse views about the topic, but recent Supreme Court rulings have suggested a more narrow interpretation of what justices considered constraints on religious freedom. Friday’s report also said faith-based groups working with the government shouldn’t have to accommodate civil rights laws or anything that conflicts with their religious beliefs; public schools should allow religious displays (it mentioned only the Ten Commandments); and soldiers who refused to be vaccinated and were punished should have their positions restored and be financially compensated. It called for the end to the Johnson Amendment, which bars nonprofits from making political endorsements.” Update: the link has been changed to a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ An AP report is here.

Whitewashing Nixon. Garrett Graff on JayDee's admiration for Richard Nixon. The whole essay is worth reading. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jen Psaki makes some of the same points Graff made: ~~~

Julian Barnes & Dustin Volz of the New York Times: “Bill Pulte, the acting director of national intelligence, has installed as his chief of staff a woman who worked on election-related issues for the Republican National Committee.... Christina Norton, the former R.N.C. official, has also served as Bill Pulte’s chief of staff at the federal housing agency he leads. But much of her recent work for the G.O.P. has centered on election issues, including efforts to monitor voting sites during the 2024 presidential election. Mr. Pulte’s decision to put Ms. Norton in the powerful post is likely to further fuel concerns among Democrats, intelligence officials and state and local election administrators that he intends to focus on hunting for evidence of election fraud at the behest of ... [Donald] Trump.”

Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to justify its decision to abandon a bribery and fraud indictment against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, refusing to immediately grant prosecutors’ request to dismiss the charges in a case that had drawn international attention. In an order Friday, U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in New York said the government 'failed to meet its obligation to supply adequate reasoning and sufficient facts to support dismissal.' Though Gaurafis ultimately has little discretion to deny the government’s request, he ordered prosecutors to explain in detail by July 13 their reasons for believing that the prosecution is no longer viable or in the public interest.... The Washington Post has reported that the decision to seek the dismissal came after a concerted defense campaign to persuade top officials, led by one of ... Donald Trump’s personal lawyers.... Robert J. Giuffra Jr., a top New York litigator and co-chair of the Manhattan law firm Sullivan & Cromwell..., represents Trump in the president’s appeals of his hush money conviction as well as a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wouldn't it be refreshing if the DOJ lawyers told Judge Garaufis, "Well, see, Mr. Adani is a billionaire who has an in with President Trump," or -- better yet -- "Because President Trump told us to drop the case"?

Aishvarya Kavi & Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “John R. Bolton, a former top adviser to ... [Donald] Trump who became one of his most outspoken critics, pleaded guilty on Friday to mishandling classified information in a case that could send him to prison for up to five years. Mr. Bolton, appearing in Federal District Court in Greenbelt, Md., admitted to a single charge of illegal retention of classified information over notes he compiled for a book that excoriated Mr. Trump. 'I’m sorry for it,' he told Judge Theodore Chuang, who set a sentencing date for Oct. 28. Under the terms of the plea deal, Mr. Bolton must also pay a fine of $2.25 million and will forfeit his federal pension. Court documents suggest he is likely to receive close to the maximum sentence — five years — under federal guideline calculations that the judge could still alter.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. An AP report is here. Related WashPo story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maybe one reason JayDee is such an ignoramus is that Yale isn't a very good school, and it's leadership, like JayDee, is of a lily-livered, unethical inclination. ~~~

~~~ Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration is conducting a far-reaching investigation into whether Yale University’s admissions practices violate anti-discrimination laws, prompting one of the country’s most elite schools to pursue settlement talks with the government... The Justice Department last month accused Yale’s medical school of giving illegal preferential treatment to Black and Hispanic applicants. But the department’s review is reaching beyond the medical school..., encompassing undergraduate and law school admissions as well. The expansive inquiry demonstrates the aggressive approach the Trump administration is taking to enforce its interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling that effectively banned race-conscious admissions three years ago. It shows the administration’s intensifying focus on admissions and represents a new front against Yale, which has largely been spared in the White House’s effort to punish elite colleges and reshape academia.... The status of a potential agreement [between Yale & the Trump administration] was unclear on Friday, but Yale recently offered a proposal to the government, according to ... three people briefed on the matter.”

Douglas MacMillan & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: “Facing lawsuits, protests and opposition from local officials nationwide, the Trump administration is scaling back its plan to convert warehouses into immigrant detention centers, with the Department of Homeland Security’s top leader acknowledging the effort lacked proper planning. In testimony before the House of Representatives on Thursday, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said his department is evaluating all 11 warehouses it purchased this year for about $1 billion to decide where it makes sense for the government to proceed with the conversions.... Despite Mullin’s critique of the plan, DHS has not fully abandoned it. At buildings in Maryland and Arizona, DHS has hired private contractors to oversee development and operations. And as recently as last month, the department was preparing to award contracts to oversee construction and operations at warehouses in San Antonio and near El Paso, The Washington Post has reported.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Salina Simmons-Duffin of NPR: "Five million fewer people are currently enrolled in [Affordable Care Act] marketplace plans compared to the record high reached last year. More than 1 million fewer people picked a plan for 2026, and then 4 million more either disenrolled or failed to pay their premiums and therefore dropped coverage. Prices in the market skyrocketed after ... [Donald] Trump and Republicans in Congress failed to extend extra financial help for enrollees last year. The Department of Health and Human Services published a report about the data on its website Friday."

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: “The District of Columbia has settled a lawsuit by a protester who said he was detained and handcuffed for following National Guard troops around the city while playing Darth Vader’s theme song from 'Star Wars.' The terms of the agreement were not immediately disclosed, but the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents demonstrator Sam O’Hara in the case, said in a press release that he was receiving compensation.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “The congressional committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes issued two subpoenas to billionaire investor Leon Black on Friday, escalating efforts to obtain information from associates of the late financier and convicted sex offender. The subpoenas will compel Black to appear for a deposition on July 16 before the House Oversight Committee and to turn over any nondisclosure agreements that he signed with women. Black, a co-founder and former CEO of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, had appeared voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee on Friday but walked out after the subpoenas were issued. Epstein handled tax and estate planning services for Black’s family office. A 2021 review commissioned by Apollo found that Black paid Epstein $158 million between 2012 and 2017. It found no evidence of wrongdoing by Black. Black, whose friendship with Epstein began in the 1990s, subsequently resigned from his role at the private equity firm. The committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), told reporters that he issued the subpoenas after Black refused to answer questions about the terms of the NDAs during the voluntary interview.” An MS NOW report is here.

Scott Nover & Julian Mark of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court late Friday stayed an order that would have forced former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge to either disclose a confidential source or pay $800 a day in court sanctions. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. paused a lower court’s ruling from taking effect to give the Supreme Court time to consider Herridge’s request for emergency relief. He gave the opposing party in the case, Chinese American scientist Yanping Chen, until Wednesday to respond.”

Kate Shaw, in a New York Times op-ed, wonders why the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Roberts in particular, are awarding Donald Trump extraordinary powers. She posits, “Aspiring autocrats and authoritarians often seek to marginalize not just the law but also courts. And perhaps John Roberts has seen this potential, has grasped it and has maneuvered in hopes of avoiding it. The problem is that he has wildly empowered Mr. Trump, and betrayed core constitutional values, along the way.” MB: Shaw, IMO, is being generous. I think the whole lot of them are white Christian nationalists, & that includes Clarence Thomas, who pretends to be white, and Amy Phony Barrett, who has two Black children. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~ 

Since Tuesday's primary elections, when challengers to the Democratic establishment defeated two New York House incumbents and a third establishment-backed candidate, the press have busily inked dire reports (like this one in today's NYT; the WSJ has a firewalled article whose headline describes "Democrats in a civil war") about the turmoil in the Democratic party. However, a few observers have pointed out to a breathless press that such disagreements are how a democracy is supposed to work: ~~~

~~~ Paul Waldman: "You know, that thing where people decide to run for office, get organized, make their case to the voters, and sometimes win positions of power so they can pursue a policy agenda? Politics. It’s nothing to fear. In fact, it should be celebrated, even if you don’t like some of those candidates. And if you ended up on the losing end, maybe it wasn’t because something unfair or illegitimate happened. Maybe it was your fault." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf & Natalie Allison of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump denounced Democrats as communists after self-described democratic socialists won primaries in New York this week, previewing a new emphasis for his campaigning in this year’s midterms. While new to his recent speeches, the line of attack was similar to ones he used throughout the 2024 campaign and drew on a century-old right-wing tradition spanning the original 'America First' movement of the 1930s and the investigations led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) in the 1950s. Although his delivery was quiet and subdued, Trump used demonizing and dehumanizing language to describe his political opponents and gave violent warnings about their intentions. 'They’re animals,' the president said on Friday, speaking to Christian conservatives at a convention of the Faith & Freedom Coalition in Washington.... Pointedly, he warned that communists often resort to assassinations, while speaking in the same Washington Hilton ballroom where a gunman allegedly tried to kill him during the White House correspondent’s dinner in April.” ~~~

~~~ Earlier That Same Day. Eric Garcia of the Independent: “House Speaker Mike Johnson told a hotel conference roomful of Christian conservatives that he was the only thing stopping Democrats from investigating not just ... Donald Trump, but all of his allies and family members — and many of them, too.... 'Y’all, impeachment’s not even the big concern,' the House speaker said. 'They will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they'll go after the president's family, the cabinet, his donors and friends. Half of you in this room will be targeted. I run the protection program. I’ll take care of you.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Steve Benen of MS NOW publishes a video of Johnson's remarks: “... it was ... remarkable to hear a sitting House speaker declare, out loud and in public, that he wants and expects to run a 'protection program' — a phrase more commonly associated with organized crime — on behalf of the White House. Usually, GOP leaders are a bit more subtle about their anti-oversight posturing.... Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee promoted Johnson’s comments via social media alongside a message that read, 'We are the Homeland Security Committee Democrats and we approve this message.'” MB: Obviously, House members should "approve this message." Oversight is one of Congress's Constitutionally-mandated responsibilities. (In fairness to Bible Mike, he presents a most unlikely figure of a wise guy enforcer.)

Emily Davies of the New York Times: “Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Friday that he and his husband had been separated from their 4-year-old twins after an anonymous report falsely accused Mr. Buttigieg of posing a threat to their children. The separation lasted for 24 hours and required their children to sit for interviews with Children’s Protective Services, Mr. Buttigieg said. The Michigan State Police and C.P.S. determined the report was false, a spokeswoman for the state police said in a statement, adding that 'false reports are dangerous.'” Here is Secretary Buttigieg's account, which he posted to his Substack.

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China. Keith Bradsher, et al., of the New York Times: “A small aircraft flew into the tallest building in Beijing on Friday, sending huge hunks of debris and plane parts plummeting onto the streets below and prompting crowds to flee. Video shared on social media and verified by The New York Times showed debris falling from the skyscraper, as people ran to safety. The footage showed broken windows and debris, including what appeared to be the tail of a small aircraft, falling dozens of stories into the street below. The building is in the capital’s busy central business district, which was clogged with cars at evening rush hour. It was not immediately clear how many people were injured, if any were. The whereabouts and identity of the pilot were also unknown. Photos posted to social media from the site showed parts of an aircraft that appeared to be a lightweight model with only a few seats, registered to the airline Shuangyue General Aviation, a regional flight training provider. Calls to the company went unanswered.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine/Russia. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: “Authorities in occupied Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed illegally from Ukraine in 2014, declared a state of emergency Friday following weeks of punishing Ukrainian drone strikes. The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones overnight across 13 regions, including Crimea. The peninsula, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to reclaim, has become the centerpiece of Kyiv’s campaign to demonstrate the reach of its increasingly advancing medium-range drone capabilities. The Ukrainian military last month announced a 'logistics lockdown' of Crimea, with plans to 'systematically destroy Russian logistics, warehouses, equipment, command posts and supply routes at operational depth.' In the weeks since, Ukrainian forces have targeted roads, bridges and energy infrastructure to sever the peninsula from Russia and from Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine.” An AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)