Most Horrible Human Being Has Another Horrible Campaign Rally. Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump railed against Democrats as anti-Christian extremists, comparing them at a rally Monday night to the 'jihadists' and 'radicals' whom he blamed for destructive protests in France and asserting that the state’s Democratic Senate candidate, a pastor, 'openly mocks Jesus.' Trump was in Kansas to support several Republicans on the ballot, especially Sen. Roger Marshall, who faces a surprisingly tight reelection race in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. Marshall, a physician and first-term senator, faces Adam Hamilton, a Methodist pastor. The dead heat that polls show in their race highlights the immense risks that Trump’s party faces in the midterm elections now two weeks away. Before Trump arrived, Hamilton’s campaign published a video of the Democratic candidate welcoming the president to the state and saying he’d always be willing to 'sit down and have a civil conversation' with him. But at Monday night’s rally, Marshall and Trump lobbed attacks at the Democrat.”
David Lurie in Public Notice: “... last week, Trump gave up any pretense of being a 'mediator' in Russia’s War on Ukraine, and openly threw in his lot with Putin. The dire significance of Trump’s actions can’t be minimized. Trump has declared his desire to make the United States an ally in Russia’s ever more brutal effort to annihilate Ukraine.... But there may be a silver lining in a very dark cloud: Ukraine’s true supporters are being forced to face facts many have long avoided.... Many have clung to the false proposition that pandering and supplication could induce Trump to change his mind and support Ukraine....The false notion that Trump was not fully committed to Putin also allowed many Republican supporters of Ukraine to justify looking the other way while Trump uttered his endearments to the Russian dictator.” Read on. Lurie makes mincemeat of Jarhead & Witless (& takes down the WashPo's David Ignatius while he's at it).
Molly Redden, et al., of ProPublica: “In early 2025, the FBI opened a sweeping investigation into bribery on Capitol Hill.... [Martin] Kao[, CEO of Navatak, a defense contractor] confessed to federal agents that his business model consisted of bribing public officials in exchange for government contracts, and that the research Navatek was providing to the government was often worthless. The scheme involved some of the most powerful figures in Congress, he said — in both parties. In South Carolina, Kao told agents, Navatek made a campaign cash-for-contracts deal not only with [Sen. Lindsey] Graham, but also with the state’s top Democrat, Rep. James Clyburn, and another influential Republican, Rep. Joe Wilson.... [But when] Donald Trump returned to the White House..., [he] almost immediately gutted the specialized FBI and Department of Justice teams dedicated to taking on public corruption — an act of revenge for having previously investigated him. The two experienced agents on the [Kao] case were swept up in the purge, and the career prosecutor assisting them quit.... Today, there is no one left to look into Kao’s explosive allegations, as the Trump administration has abandoned any pretense of prosecuting public corruption. The case is dead.”
Marie: A couple of days ago, I embedded a video of Michigan's Democratic Senatorial candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed schooling a young man on the First Amendment. Several people on line accused El-Sayed's questioner of being a MAGA plant. Turns out it's a little worse than that: ~~~
~~~ Jason Wilson of the Guardian: “The man who attempted to ambush the Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed with a question about his supposed allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood ... is the son of a political operator who recently received $250,000 for 'canvassing and influencer marketing' against El-Sayed, the Guardian has learned.... A man – first identified by the Handbasket as Thomas 'Tommy' Teepell – asked El-Sayed if he would 'disavow' the Muslim Brotherhood.... What followed was a five-minute exchange that has drawn over 50m views across several social media platforms, in which El-Sayed queries the man about the guarantees of religious freedom in the constitution.
“Teepell is the son of Timothy 'Timmy' Teepell, a longtime strategist for the Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley as well as former Republican Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. Timmy Teepell’s firm, Breakthrough LLC, was paid $250,000 on 29 September by America Next, a 501(c)(4) non-profit with which it shares a Baton Rouge office suite, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The filing says the money would fund the canvassing and influencer marketing in opposition to El-Sayed. America Next has been trying to gin up 'organic' town hall opposition to El-Sayed, as the Handbasket report noted.... Nothing in the filings shows that Thomas Teepell was paid by Breakthrough or America Next.”
Here are a couple of election-related stories that I forgot about this morning but that RAS caught: ~~~
~~~ The Enemy Within. Andy Mannix & Doug Clark of ProPublica: “A few months into ... Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it. The appointees wanted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to procure the machine, examine it and report back the findings so they could be given to the White House.... Moreover, the agency had been directed not to alert the voting machine company if it uncovered flaws, contrary to its standard practices. The request made the CISA employees fear they were being asked to take part in political interference. 'My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don’t like,' one ... former [official] said. 'This goes against everything CISA represents.' The CISA employees repeatedly told the political appointees that their request was impossible, in part because the agents capable of pulling off such an operation had just been laid off by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative. The appointees eventually stopped pressing CISA.” ~~~
Republicans have a long list of people they want to disenfranchise, and Black people are at the very top. They're not subtle about it either.
— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray.bsky.social) October 19, 2026 at 5:15 PM
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Treason at the Top.
David Sanger of the New York Times: Donald “Trump's intensifying effort in the past few weeks to rehabilitate Russia and usher President Vladimir V. Putin back into diplomatic society is remarkable for its speed, its characterization of Mr. Zelensky as the primary obstacle to peace, and its brazen denial that Russia is continuing the war that Mr. Trump says he is trying to end. 'Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine,' Mr. Trump said on Monday, speaking to reporters outside the White House as he left for a campaign rally. 'They haven’t been doing much,' he said, making no mention of the Russian missiles and jet-powered drones that have been targeting apartment buildings in Kyiv and Ukraine’s surviving electricity grid. In contrast, he said, 'We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. They’ve given nothing to us. Remember that.' He repeated the statement for emphasis. The night before, he wrote on social media that Mr. Zelensky 'doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,' because it brought him a flow of cash and arms from Europe, making no mention that Ukraine is fighting for its sovereignty and even survival in a war that it did not start.”& The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Abbey Fenbert of the Kyiv Independent: "'Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much,' Trump told reporters on Oct. 19. The president's remarks came the same day that a Russian daytime drone strike in a public park killed six people, including two children. The night before, Russia attacked Kyiv with over a dozen ballistic missiles and targeted nearly 30 critical energy facilities across the country." ~~~
~~~ What About This, Donald? Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: “Over the weekend, a mysterious Russian satellite moved threateningly close to a U.S. commercial radar satellite that provides imagery to the Ukrainian military. Although the Russian craft is now backing off, analysts are left wondering: What was the Russian satellite doing at such close proximity? Was Russia planning to attack the U.S. satellite but reversed course?... The maneuvers are an escalation of cat-and-mouse games that Russia, the United States and China have been playing with each other in space, mainly involving military spacecraft. This episode indicates that commercial satellites can be targets as well.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ "Traitor in Chief." Paul Krugman: “ As [David] Sanger notes, Trump’s support for Putin is unique in American history.... What makes Trump’s support for Putin even more remarkable is that Russia has, by many accounts, been actively aiding Iran against America in the war Trump started. Who says so? Well, among others, Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... As Phillips O'Brien documents — Trump hasn’t 'pivoted' away from Ukraine toward Russia. He has been a Putin supporter all along.... At this point..., Trump effectively has nothing left to lose on the political front — and his political bankruptcy has freed him to become his worst self, indulging himself by doing what he always wanted to do — which includes supporting corrupt, murderous dictators. And there will be much more of this to come. Trump can’t and won’t make America great again. But he can betray everything America stands for, and he’s doing it as we speak.”
Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration has not approved the transfer of interceptor missiles to Ukraine that are needed to protect the country from Russian missile and drone attacks, officials said Monday, a delay that comes as ... Donald Trump has embraced Russia and slammed Ukraine in recent weeks. At least some of the transfers of Patriot interceptor missiles are from countries friendly to Ukraine that require Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to approve the handoff.... Officials said Hegseth has not formally rejected the transfers but also has not completed the required steps to approve them. Hegseth has continued to approve some U.S. assistance to Ukraine, they said.... Trump ... increasingly appears to have settled on Zelensky as a person to blame for his struggles with high energy prices and worsening political prospects ahead of the midterm elections. Ukraine has been striking Russian oil refineries for months, one of its main strategies for imposing pressure on the Kremlin.” The Kyiv Independent's story is here.
Constant Méheut of the New York Times: Donald “Trump is trying to force Ukraine to surrender in the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in an interview published on Sunday, as a deepening feud between the two leaders drives their relations to new lows. 'I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate,' Mr. Zelensky told Bloomberg News. He was referring to a string of measures in recent days by the Trump administration that could bolster Russia’s war machine while squeezing Ukraine’s ability to fight.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: During his monologue, Stewart made a number of references to being cancelled. BUT ~~~
~~~ John Koblin of the New York Times: “Jon Stewart is staying with 'The Daily Show' through the next presidential election. Comedy Central announced on Monday that Mr. Stewart signed a new deal that will keep him as host of the late-night show for one day a week through December 2028.” The link is a gift link.
~~~ Mark Satter & Leo Shane of Politico: “Republican lawmakers are incensed about ... Donald Trump’s dismissal of Ukraine — and powerless to stop him. That frustration hit a new peak on Monday as they sought to address the president’s decision to purchase Russian diesel, waive sanctions on Moscow and potentially stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Those moves, coupled with days of unexplained disruptions in Kyiv’s U.S.-controlled satellite defenses, left them freelancing remedies to address the new rift between Washington and Kyiv.” MB: They're not powerless at all. They could impeach & convict him. Just like that. "High crimes & misdemeanors" are whatever the Congress says they are. Besides, aiding & abetting a primary adversary certainly fits the definition. But they won't do so much as threaten to confiscate his nine-irons. ~~~
~~~ What the U.S. Should Be Doing. David Kramer, et al., in the Atlantic: The authors begin by contrasting Putin & Zelensky, starting with, "Putin is a murderous dictator who kills his own citizens as well as those of his neighbors. He treats his troops as cannon fodder. Zelensky is a democratically elected leader whose term has been extended because Ukraine cannot credibly conduct elections under martial law, which was declared after Russia invaded on a full scale in 2022." Then, they list some of the policies the U.S. & Europe should follow. For instance, "Pressure to end the war should be applied and increased on Putin and Russia, the ones who started it — not Ukraine. This means a serious tightening of sanctions implementation.... It means ending loopholes that allow Western-made parts essential for Russian weapons to slip through the sanctions. The United States should also raise the costs on countries — especially China and India — that import Russian energy." The three authors all served in the George W. Bush administration. John Herbst & William Taylor both were ambassadors to Ukraine. Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.
~~~ Max Boot of the Washington Post says President Zelensky has a “compelling theory” about Trump's admiration for Putin: “... he told the Financial Times last week that Trump simply has a fondness for autocrats and the uber-wealthy: 'He speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people.' It hadn’t occurred to me that Trump views Putin as a fellow billionaire, but it’s true. Putin’s net worth has been estimated at $70 billion to $200 billion. Trump, who made more than $2 billion last year, no doubt respects anyone who manages to make so much money in office while clinging to power for so long. He seldom has a cross word for any dictator, while regularly berating democratic allies. Whatever the explanation, Trump’s willingness to do the bidding of a murderous despot is despicable and dangerous.” MB: I've made this a gift link because Boot does a good job of running down the ways Trump has betrayed Ukraine, our allies & our country. It's sickening. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The bottom line then, according to Zelensky, is that what Trump really admires in a "leader" is rampant corruption. But for Trump, it's important that the spoils go to him and his family, not to his appointees. ~~~
~~~ Palace Intrigue. Marc Caputo of Axios: "Top Trump adviser Ric Grenell allegedly outlined a stunning pay-for-influence offer to a Turkish billionaire last year: access to 'POTUS,' 'VIP events' and administration officials, according to a text message, reviewed by Axios, that the White House counsel is investigating. 'Once the money comes to the company here, I will arrange the donation to Kennedy Centre [sic], and you'll be joining the VIP events and get close with the administration, even with POTUS,' the May 3, 2025, text says. Grenell has called the accusations 'lies' and denied sending the text message.... Administration officials say the text is a key piece of evidence in the White House's investigation — ordered by ... [Donald] Trump — into whether Grenell abused the president's trust and misappropriated a potential multimillion-dollar donation to the Kennedy Center, which Grenell led at the time." The Turkish billionaire is Turhan Mildon, now married to Alena Habba, one of Trump's personal lawyers. It is she who "accused Grenell of hoodwinking her husband into making a Kennedy Center donation that never arrived...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Blame It on the Supremes. Leo Wise, in the Atlantic: "... starting in the 1980s, the Supreme Court has interpreted anti-corruption laws in ways so narrow as to effectively legalize flat-out corruption. These decisions put whole categories of politicians’ conduct beyond a prosecutor’s reach. It’s an absurd result. But we live in the Court’s world." Like a good prosecutor (he was a federal prosecutor for decades), Wise brings the receipts. You may recall a few of the "landmark" cases in which the Supremes gave away the store. Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.
Alex Gangitano of Politico: “Vice President JD Vance declined to follow ... Donald Trump and endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fiercely contested upcoming bid for reelection. The vice president, in an interview Monday with Mark Halperin on 2WAY Tonight, didn’t specifically criticize Netanyahu but said he wouldn’t get involved in a foreign election ahead of the U.S. midterms.... In April, Vance campaigned in Budapest alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban before the far-right leader was swept from office after 16 consecutive years in power.... Despite Trump’s support for Israel, Vance has argued for years that Israel’s interests and America’s do not always align. Vance in June issued a stark warning to Israel, saying it has almost no friends left in the world, and that it should think hard before turning on the one it has.” MB: Shady JayDee is looking out for JayDee here. He knows Netanyahu is unpopular in the U.S., even among a portion of the GOP base.
Natan Odenheimer of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday, according to two people briefed on the meeting. Mr. Hegseth made his trip a day after ... [Donald] Trump publicly endorsed Mr. Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political survival in a tough election campaign. The Trump administration has expressed growing frustration in recent weeks as diplomatic efforts have failed to produce a lasting deal to end the war on Iran, and Mr. Trump has threatened to launch new strikes.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump's endorsement of Netanyahu is all the more remarkable because ~~~
~~~ Aaron Boxerman & Adam Rasgon of the New York Times: “American and European officials have condemned a spate of violence in the West Bank, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel sought to cast doubt on the attacks.... In public statements over the weekend, Mr. Netanyahu allowed that there was a 'scourge of violence' but said what happened in the attacks was still unclear, despite video footage of them. His office also said they may be part of 'a coordinated campaign to smear Israel.'”
Dan Diamond & Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Monday unveiled an initiative to improve women’s health, making a rare high-profile joint appearance as the president and his party face eroding support among female voters ahead of the midterm elections. The initiative establishes a new division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House task force to coordinate government efforts and sharpen focus on medical challenges that disproportionately affect women, such as osteoporosis and endometriosis.... The president signed an executive order Monday establishing the effort, and the new task force, co-led by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., immediately held its first meeting after the event.” ~~~
~~~ Watch Melanie avoid Donald's kiss at the White House event yesterday. Probably lips-to-lips kisses are not in her contract: ~~~
~~~ An “Icy Standoff” of a Different Nature. Zach Montague of the New York Times: “A hearing about the fate of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington turned into an icy standoff on Monday as a federal judge went to extraordinary lengths to learn who has been responsible for decisions about the property and whether plans to overhaul it have been kept from the court. A day after ... [Donald] Trump announced that his administration would transform the municipal course into a professional golf venue, Judge Ana C. Reyes summoned a constellation of officials to testify about whether the government has been plotting the renovation even while swearing in court that no decisions had been made.... Facing an army of lawyers from the Justice Department, including the department’s third most senior official, Judge Reyes made clear that her patience was running thin.... In denying the administration’s request that she step away from the case..., Judge Reyes [wrote,] 'By any objective measure, the government fails to meet the standard for recusal.'” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's the lede in the WashPo's story: ~~~
~~~ Rick Maese of the Washington Post: “U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes began her workday with the president of the United States calling her a 'crazed lunatic' and questioning whether she 'may be insane.' She ended it telling a packed courtroom that her family was alerting her to reports that she had received death threats.” Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Chris Geidner, the Law Dork: “The federal case over ... Donald Trump’s efforts to transform Washington, D.C.’s historic East Potomac Golf Course has, perhaps inevitably, itself transformed quickly into a case that illustrates how far the Justice Department will go to advance Trump’s aims — and how difficult it can be for judges to push back.... Midmorning, in perhaps the most shocking admission of the day, Interior Department Deputy Chief of Staff Gregory Wischer acknowledged that he had received 'renderings' of the renovation plan 'sent … to [his] personal phone' from the Trump allies outside of government working on the renovation plan. Although Reyes did not rule from the bench, she certainly signaled that she was inclined to issue a preliminary injunction that would bar any more tree-cutting and require substantial advance notice from the Trump administration before it could take any significant action relating to the course.” ~~~
~~~ To give you an idea of how radical the Trump/Blanche DOJ is, here's an excerpt of a firewalled Washington Sun article that Joe Jervis republished: “The Trump administration told an appellate court Friday that a president could do whatever he wants with records that include the nation’s most guarded secrets — and potentially even sell them on eBay. John Bailey, a Justice Department attorney, argued that the 1978 Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional, a conclusion the department made in April. The post-Watergate law says that all official records created or received by presidents are U.S. government property.... Judge Patricia Millett tossed out an extreme hypothetical. 'Can the president then offer on eBay to sell them, all of our national security secrets, to the highest bidder? They’re his property,' she said. 'Can he?' Bailey stammered at first, but eventually replied, 'The Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional would not be a bar to that —'” Thanks to RAS for the link to Jervis's post. ~~~
~~~ Paul Waldman in an MS NOW opinion piece: "As any lawyer will testify, judges really don’t like it when lawyers lie to them, attempt to deceive them or defy their orders. Yet that is what lawyers working for the Trump administration have done in case after case. An analysis by Just Security located 34 cases in which judges expressed their concern that the administration was not complying with legal orders, and another 90 cases in which judges said they could not trust what administration lawyers told them. That excludes immigration cases, where abuses have been far worse. The researchers found at least 740 immigration cases in which the administration failed to comply with legal orders. And, it should be noted, this analysis only went through March of this year.... Thanks to the Supreme Court’s deeply misguided ruling in Trump v. U.S., it may be impossible to hold the president accountable for the deep corruption he has brought to the DOJ. But the officials who have carried out his attack on the rule of law have no such immunity."
Andrew Childers & Alexandra Hutzler of Democracy Docket: "The Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking a federal court to immediately prevent California from counting the ballots of 20,000 people the Trump administration has accused of being noncitizens who illegally registered to vote. The request for a temporary restraining order is the latest escalation between California and the Trump administration over the midterms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over the weekend accused ... Donald Trump of attempting to rig the election.... Earlier Monday, the Trump administration began arresting people from the list of suspected noncitizens." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “Justice Department officials said on Monday that they had charged more than two dozen residents in California with violating federal voting laws, part of the Trump administration’s escalating effort to assert more control over the midterm elections. Trent McCotter, a senior department official, said at a news conference that 28 people, all of them green card holders, or legal immigrants with residency status, had been charged. Of those, 11 had already been arrested, officials added. The arrests ramped up the administration’s campaign against voter fraud, which so far has generated scattered cases around the country but nothing like the mass fraud that ... [Donald] Trump frequently claims threatens the foundations of American democracy.... The arrests amount to 'voter intimidation and a blatant attempt to undermine trust in our midterm elections,' said Janice Hahn, a former Democratic congresswoman who now serves on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. She added that they were 'being used to paint a picture of widespread voter fraud when we know that is not the case.'” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Threatening the California Refs. Alex Nguyen of Mother Jones: “'Noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime, and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful,' [Deputy AG Trent] McCotter wrote in a letter to county officials and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber.... 'If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime.'” ~~~
~~~ Rick Hasen on his Election Law Blog: “The dramatic picture accompanying the Los Angeles Times article of Homeland Security officials doing a pre-dawn arrest of a man accused of illegally registering to vote is meant to convey that the problem of noncitizen voting in California is both pervasive and serious, crimes that are undetected by willfully ignorant California election officials. (The government likely arranged for press to cover the raid. Update: They gave the NY Post an 'exclusive' to accompany them on raid.) The reality is likely far different. The Department of Homeland Security a few months ago announced there were up to 190,000 noncitizen voters in California. They now whittled that list down to 20,000 (an 89% decrease in the numbers) – and demanded immediate action to segregate ballots from those on the list who have voted. The number of noncitizens is likely far, far lower.... The arrest of 28 people for potentially registering or voting while noncitizens is tiny compared to the 23 million California voters. By DOJ’s own account, some of these people only registered to vote, and did not vote. So we are talking about a drop in the bucket. If DOJ could prove many more cases, we would have heard about it.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The New York Post headline is "Federal agents smash huge voter fraud ring...." I'm not linking their story. ~~~
~~~ Threatening the Texas Refs. Jen Rice of Democracy Docket: “A top federal prosecutor in Texas began the first day of early voting with a stark message to voters and local officials: 'If you violate federal election law, I will hunt you down and prosecute you. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. We’ll see you out at the polls.' U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz posted the video on social media on Monday, as Texans began voting in a high-stakes midterm election with intensely competitive races on the ballot.... With Democrats poised to potentially win a statewide seat for the first time in decades, Republicans are more hellbent than ever on intimidating voters and officials with threats of criminal prosecution. In the video, Reitz threatened election officials as he explained his role in the election. 'It means no crooked local election administrators,' Reitz said. 'They have a duty to prevent illegal voting, and I’m here to make sure they do their job.' Reitz was appointed to the post in July, just in time for him to post a video spreading misinformation implying that a Houston man shot by ICE had illegal drugs in his vehicle, which was later debunked. He ran a hate-filled campaign earlier this year for Texas attorney general, losing the Republican primary to election denier Mayes Middleton.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Cycling While Hispanic. Madison Kircher of the New York Times: “A California man whose family said he was a U.S. citizen was hospitalized in Long Beach over the weekend after an altercation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement left him pinned to the ground in handcuffs. The encounter in Southern California on Saturday is the latest mistaken detainment as ICE arrest numbers across the country continue to rise. It was unclear on Monday what led to the encounter, how it unfolded or whether the man was still in the hospital. But officers with the Long Beach Police Department arrived at the scene after being called in for backup by ICE, which reported that vehicles were being vandalized and that there was a person 'in need of medical attention,' according to a statement from the police.
“Officers then took a bleeding, handcuffed man to a nearby fire station, where they removed his handcuffs and later took him to a hospital, the statement said. The police said they were not involved in immigration enforcement and did not make any arrests at the scene. The man, Ricardo Gonzalez, was riding an e-bike when he was struck by an unmarked vehicle, according to Leslie Gonzalez, his daughter, in a post on Instagram. She said in a message to The New York Times that her father was a U.S. citizen.... But in her post, Ms. Gonzalez wrote that her father had been 'tased' and pinned to the ground. Mr. Gonzalez did not respond to an interview request.” The link is a gift link.
Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times: “... Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, who had a heart condition, diabetes and high blood pressure, had complained to his daughter for months about the lack of medical care at the Rio Grande Processing Center, a detention center in the border city of Laredo, [daughter Estefani] Andrade said.... The death of Mr. Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, was confirmed Monday by Henry Cuellar, a Democratic member of the U.S. House who represents Laredo and was briefed on the matter by immigration officials.... Mr. Andrade-Covarrubias’s death has raised more questions about the medical care provided at the detention centers in Laredo and around the country.” The link is a gift link.
Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate arrested last year by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents amid campus protests, appealed to the Supreme Court on Monday in an attempt to prevent his deportation. Mr. Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American, became an early and high-profile example of President Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses. His case presents the justices with another test of the Trump’s administration’s aggressive efforts to deport people who are in the country both legally and illegally.” The link is a gift link.
Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: “Elon Musk on Monday pledged to award a share of SpaceX to every American child, part of what he has vowed as an effort to unleash 'universal high income' through AI. 'Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,' Musk said on X. 'This will be the first of many.' He took SpaceX public this year — encompassing his artificial intelligence, satellite internet and social media businesses. The company’s shares were trading around $150 on Monday. Details on Musk’s pledge were thin. Musk investment accounts launched by the Trump administration earlier this year.... Musk made his commitment after rival AI company Anthropic on Sunday announced it would allot a portion of its shares to a public benefit fund on an ongoing basis.” A CNBC story is here.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Bari Presses Her Fat Little Thumb on the Scale. Max Tani of Semafor: "CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss ... has personally advocated for CBS News journalists to pursue numerous story angles related to [Michigan's Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul] El-Sayed’s supposed sympathy towards the Muslim Brotherhood, and was directly involved in a controversial story about his previous posts comparing the COVID-19 death toll to 9/11.... A year into a new regime at CBS News, some of the daily controversies over Weiss’ management style and relations with the White House that defined the first few months have eased. But the politics of the Middle East and the conflict in Israel and Gaza — and its echoes in American domestic politics — remain red-hot inside the company, as a network leader with strong views on the region’s dynamics has attempted to shape its coverage of stories touching its spiraling conflicts. Rank-and-file staff have clashed with editors installed by Weiss over Gaza, leaking embarrassing internal network discussions about coverage...." Thanks to RAS for the link.
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Canada. Ian Austen of the New York Times: “Residents of Alberta voted on Monday to remain part of Canada, rejecting a campaign to try to separate the oil-rich western province from the rest of the country. Voters in a referendum endorsed remaining in Canada over the option of holding a second vote on whether to secede, the public broadcaster CBC News projected late Monday evening local time. With just over a third of votes counted, 76 percent of voters chose to remain part of Canada with 23 percent seeking another vote. The referendum reflected the province’s long history of resentment toward the central government but also more recent discontents. Many of the separatist leaders became politically prominent by organizing large protests against restrictions during the Covid pandemic.” The link is a gift link. An AP story, published by NPR, is here.
France. Catherine Porter & Ségolène Le Stradic of the New York Times: “The French government ordered Monday night curfews for parts of several cities, including Paris, Nice and Lille, as it tried to reassure citizens after the worst riots in decades erupted across the country. The curfews were the clearest signs that the government was trying to reassert control in the face of fierce criticism that it had been woefully unprepared to deal with widespread violence and looting that broke out this weekend on the sidelines of large, organized protests. France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, offered a mea culpa on national radio on Monday, saying that the police had not been ready for the scale of the riots that spun off from the mostly peaceful protests held across the country. Mr. Nuñez said he had offered his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron but that it had not been accepted.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)
26 comments:
Trump's US Wars
A draft paragraph from the next sermon in progress....
Some might think that such arrangements reek of corruption, but the Supremes have had something to say about corruption, too. In addition to granting a general amnesty to nearly everything a president does (they didn’t identify which “official acts” get a free pass), they’ve have decided that corruption doesn’t exist unless there’s a proven one-for-one trade: you give me money, I’ll give you X in return. Buying influence, though, is OK with them. Eisenhower’s chief of staff lost his job when he accepted an expensive coat from a supporter. He didn’t even get a jumbo jet.
Everything is America
"President Donald Trump on Monday said that New Mexico “should immediately change its name to New America,” repeating his controversial and far-fetched idea. “We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America! The name would add great value and prestige to the State!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The post continued: “The name would add great value and prestige to the State! Home Values and Incomes would rise, and you would be even prouder while saluting our beautiful American Flag! Maybe even the Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for, would become honest again!”"
And York is old and not here so NYC needs to be changed to New America City and District of Columbia sounds too South American and Mexican so we need to rename it District of America. Maybe that will make the Republicans find an ounce of patriotism.
Destroying History
"The Trump admin now acknowledges its plan to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building would damage the historical character of the 138-year-old landmark. But the White House still wants to move ahead.
The reason: Trump wants the building to look more like the White House."
Hack It
"A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it.
The appointees wanted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to procure the machine, examine it and report back the findings so they could be given to the White House, according to two former administration officials with knowledge of the request.
The proposition was shocking to CISA’s career staffers, according to one of the former officials."
At the end of yesterday's comments RAS took us back to the 18th century to see how a bunch of drunks would interpret the Constitution, a la Hit Man Sam Alito's imaginings (he's been into the sherry again, apparently). What he's suggesting is monumentally stupid, much more so because it comes from one of the. Swine.
First, it's unlikely that any of the good ol' boys in RAS's 18th century tavern would have even read the Constitution, never mind consider its wider meaning and application. But that doesn't stop ol' Sam from demanding that we in the 21st century abide by what some colonial galoot thinks we should be doing.
How about we ask these guys for their opinion on how we should proceed medically. Should doctors refrain from any understanding of medicine or science not available in the 18th century? Maybe when Sammy gets a tummy ache we should bleed him, or attach leeches to his originalist ass. Oh, and how about electric lights, cars, trains, computers, refrigerators, microwaves, and MAGA hats made in China? None of that shit was around in 1789.
The stupidity is galling. But that's not really the point. Originalism is nothing more than a haughty canard dragged out whenever the Swine want to lord it over the rest of us. When originalism doesn't give them the result they want, it's hung back up in the closet with their George Washington cosplay uniforms.
Originalism is no more a valid juridical methodology than leeches and incantations are for medical applications. If they were serious about it, then their approach to gun ownership should restrict sales of weapons to blunderbusses, flintlock muskets, and single shot pistols. Oh, but then the gun knobbers wouldn't be able to buy dozens of automatic weapons and the sort AK style assault rifles that could flatten a battalion of 18th century light infantry in five minutes or less.
But we're talking now about a slick liar who demands that we accept his research into 6th century legalisms found scrawled on the walls of a cave as precedence for 21st century problems.
The only thing original about Sammy (and his buddy Clarence) is his insistence that his hurt fee-fees are a solid basis for legal decisions affecting the lives of 330 million Americans.
"Leaked audio: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers asking for officers at polling stations to intimidate voters
"We called the RNC early and said hey... Let's put police officers, retired or off-duty police officers as our poll watchers in Detroit because go ahead, try to intimidate them. Please.""
As a young man, I had a very cool job working for a company that restored old churches. I already knew q
Hillary reminds us that she knew a puppet when she saw one
Well, that didn't go too well....let's start again....
As a young man, I had a very cool job working for a company that restored old churches. I already knew quite a bit about painting applications but in this job I learned a lot about the techniques for restoring, cleaning, and sometimes painting (or not) old surfaces. The biggest no-no on the list was NEVER PAINT GRANITE SURFACES. For architectural restoration projects, there is no bigger taboo (apart from tearing the fucking building down, a Fatty specialty).
The obese infant seems intent on doing the polar opposite of everything correct. I suppose it's his way of showing everyone that he's the big cheese and he can do whatever the hell he wants. He's the bully boy at the beach who kicks over sand castles it took hours to create. He's the asshole who pisses in the pool and drives 30 in the passing lane, just to show everyone he can.
But back to the Eisenhower building and his planned destruction of another historic Washington location, even though he KNOWS it's wrong. "I have an Article II". And a serious case of dementia.
So....why you should never paint over granite? Per Art Intel:
Painting over granite buildings is considered a major taboo in architecture and historic preservation. While it might be tempted as a cosmetic refresh, applying modern paint to exterior granite can permanently ruin the masonry and create an expensive cycle of maintenance.
The primary reasons you should never paint over a granite building include:
1. It Traps Moisture and Destroys the Stone [DESTROYS THE STONE!]
The single most dangerous consequence of painting natural stone is the loss of breathability.
• When you coat granite in conventional, film-forming modern paints (such as latex or acrylic), you seal the stone's pores.
• Water gets trapped behind the paint layer. During freeze-thaw cycles, this trapped moisture expands into ice, fracturing the outer layer of the granite and causing severe spalling (chipping, cracking, and crumbling of the stone face).
2. Extremely Poor Adhesion
Granite is an incredibly dense, smooth, and largely non-porous igneous rock.
Without aggressive surface preparation, the paint will quickly bubble, peel, and flake off, turning a low-maintenance stone exterior into an unsightly, high-maintenance mess.
3. It Ruins Architectural and Historical Integrity [RUINS ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORIC...oh, you get it]
On historical structures, the unpainted granite walls—carefully selected for their natural grey, pink, or white hues—are central to the building’s original design intent and character. For instance, a notable public debate centered around proposals to paint the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. Federal assessments and preservationists noted that painting its gray granite would fundamentally alter and diminish its value as a landmark, replacing a permanent, natural finish with an inaccurate artificial coating.
4. Severe Financial Burden
Once a granite building is painted, it requires continuous upkeep in perpetuity.
• Astronomical removal costs: If a future owner decides to undo the damage, removing paint from historic masonry is a painstaking, hazardous process that can cost millions of dollars for a large building.
Here's the bottom line, have you ever driven through bad parts of a town and seen old buildings that had been painted at some time, stone surfaces that are now peeling and dirty and nasty looking? This is the Eisenhower building in just a few years. And guess who will have to pay for the maintenance and eventual removal of Fat Fuck's paint job? Us. Taxpayers. And, of course, if a Democrat is in the White House, Fatty from his Hitler bunker at Marred a Lardo will be chirping about what a bad job he or she is doing to his wonderful paint job.
IMPEACH!
So Trump wants to do to the Eisenhower what he kept accusing Jerome Powell of doing to the Fed. Trump kept trying to use the cost and schedule overruns, for things that Trump himself had insisted on, as a pretext for Powell's ouster. It was so bad that he needed to immediately lose his job...
Ken,
That sermon is probably going to need some serious editing with all the ample material that the Roberts Swines have contributed to our current situation of unchecked corruption. The People keep hearing the evidence and have convicted a number of politicians based on the law and the facts only for the Johnnies to repeatedly overturn the convictions. Now "gratuities" are encouraged because of their rulings
The Delusional Dotard sez New Mexico better change its name or else....And if they rename the state New America, they will be better able to love the flag. A flag he dishonors every day.
Let's look at how he does it, shall we? (Purely rhetorical exercise--his many perfidies and outrages against the American Experiment offer a wealth of evidence of his anti-American positions, that and his treasonous backstabbing of an ally in favor of America's fiercest enemy).
Every day, kids in all our schools salute the flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance*. The pledge lays out what America should stand for, one nation...indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
First, Fatty divides the nation on an hourly basis. And liberty? Not if you're black, brown, or suspected of being an immigrant. Justice? Hang on.....hahahahahahaha....sure. Justice is available. For a price you can get off scot free from your life of criming, treason, or drug trafficking. A few hundred thou and you too can get out of jail, not only that...you don't have to make court ordered repayments to people you've scammed or hurt. You can keep every penny.
That's not justice, that's vile bribery and baldfaced corruption. I don't recall the part in the pledge where is say "liberty and justice for a price".
So...he wants New Mexicans to honor the flag like he does? He's asking an entire state to indulge in criminal activity and bribery? Might as well rename it New Mafia.
Oops...meant to include a little Pledge of Allegiance historical anecdote. It may be apocryphal, but it makes one stop and think about the nature of a pledge.
The story goes that a Native American chief was threatened with prison for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day when the flag was raised wherever he was being held. His argument?
"I said it once. That's not enough?"
Not arguing here about ending the daily pledge in schools, but if one takes a pledge seriously, then once should be enough. Married people don't repeat their wedding vows every day. The Swine don't repeat their oath to honor the Constitution every day (although they should, but then there's that Commandment about telling lies).
Anyway, apocryphal or not, I like the story.
Cruz getting out the vote in Texas
"Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico snagged a surprise endorsement from a conservative youth activist with ties to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). On Monday, Vasant Bhatt, a 21-year-old student who previously interned for Cruz and organized for the right-wing Texas Youth Summit, announced on X that he had cast his ballot for Talarico.
“As a second-generation Indian American, I am thoroughly disgusted by the xenophobia, racial resentment, and increasingly brazen attacks on my identity,” Bhatt wrote."
"Christiane Amanpour to Exit CNN in June After 43 Years in TV News
Amanpour’s exit is announced just as CNN comes under the control of a new owner, Skydance, which is grappling with billions of dollars in debt and perceptions that it may want to skew its news operations toward a particular view on politics and other issues. In May, Amanpour said at an event that she was “concerned” about Skydance’s management of CBS News, which has come under intense scrutiny after the installation of a provocative digital entrepreneur, Bari Weiss, as its editor in chief."
Emphasis added. How much weaker and non newsworthy can you get than the phrase "a particular view on politics"? Why even include it if you are too afraid to discuss reality and the plain facts? I know it is Variety, but still they should have a little self respect. Perhaps not seeing what they out.
The One Percent
"Trump's policies raised costs for all but the top 1%, report says
The Trump administration’s economic policies have driven up taxes and costs for all but the wealthiest 1% of Americans, according to a new analysis from an economic think tank.
A typical American consumer, someone in the middle 20% by income, will pay about $1,700 more in taxes and other costs in 2026 because of Trump’s policies, the report found. The poorest 20% will pay about $750 more.
Only the top 1% of earners will pay less: $12,560 less, according to the report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a left-leaning think tank. "
RAS,
That kid in Texas, Vasant Bhatt, who has had enough vilification and racist screeds from the Party of Bigoted Traitors, and thus cast a vote for Talarico clearly did not learn self respect from Cancun Ted who, when the Orange Monster called his wife ugly and accused his father of helping to kill Kennedy said “Oh! Please sir, may i kiss your fat ass and put my tongue up your butt?”
Trump has made self debasement and crawling sycophancy a requirement for basking in his glorious presence. It takes a 21 year old with a healthy understanding of the nature of racist authoritarianism to show a gutless shill like Cruz what it means to be a man. You insult my wife? You better have your track shoes on and get ready to make like Usain Bolt. But then I’m not a sad, servile weenie like Ted and thousands of other MAGA pols.
Good for you, Mr. Bhatt. You should be a Democrat.
Digby commented in DiJiT's ignorance of how his possible triumvate meetup with Putin and Xi would become "his Yalta." She notes that the GOP for decades treated the 1945 Yalta Conference as Roosevelt's (Democrats') sell-out of Eastern Europe to Soviet Stalinism. For some reason she omits the fact that Soviet armies and their thralls already occupied almost all of that territory, and not with scattered corporal's guards -- with massive numbers of shooters (Soviets had big teeth in their tooth/tail ratios) armor, artillery and air. Britain was exhausted and "free Europe" was flattened. Roosevelt's choice was to confront this or to work things out another day, under the hopeful auspices of alliance and the new UN charter principles. It took two more years for the US to give up trying to convert the Soviets to the logic of international cooperation.
DiJiT, on the other hand, will get his Yalta by giving stuff away for nothing and for no reason, under no real duress. He is truly among the stupidest people still alive today.
Digby excerpt: "... If Trump knew any history, he would know that such a meeting would prove to be his Yalta, the trilateral conference between President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin that carved up Europe in the wake of World War II. The summit became widely seen by the right as “the sell-out at Yalta” because the Soviets ended up with Eastern Europe, but things have changed within the GOP. ..."
"Newsmax’s Andrew Napolitano Endorses El-Sayed
Retired judge and Newsmax legal analyst Andrew Napolitano threw his support behind Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, while tearing into his Trump-backed Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, as a “Constitution-hating two-bit thug.”"
I hope these stories are a sign of what is coming in a few weeks.
Vivian Salama and Ashley Parker, for The Atlantic, report that Trump Jr. Privately Breaks With His Dad
"The White House’s decision to ally with Israel against Tehran has exposed a deepening rift within MAGA—not just over Iran, but also over what “America First” actually means. The divide pits nationalists who see foreign wars as a betrayal of domestic priorities against hawks who argue that American power must be wielded more aggressively against its adversaries. For years, the two camps coexisted under Trump’s promise of strength without the cost of another major war. Iran has made that balancing act harder to sustain. “Don Jr. is the most MAGA of them all,” one of the people who spoke with him about his opposition to the Iran war told us.
....
The political costs are mounting. A Pew Research Center survey conducted over the past month found that 65 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Iran operation, compared with 33 percent who approved. Republican approval fell from 69 percent in March to 63 percent. Nearly half of Americans expected the conflict to drag on for more than a year—far beyond the administration’s initial estimate of about four to six weeks."
In their effort to help the crookedest AG in the nation win a seat in the senate (when he's through partying with wanted criminals), Texas PoT schemers are going to the mattresses with dirty tricks on steroids .
"Mailers sent out by PoT backed groups are landing in Texas mailboxes from a fictitious group, the 'Texas Transgender Student Union.' The mailers feature a publication titled 'Texas Trans & LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide.'"
Oooooh a two-for! Trans AND LGBTQ+ students. A smorgasbord of hatred,
Of course, this is entirely illegal, but the person who would investigate and prosecute these charlatans is Ken Paxton, the guy they're trying to help get elected. Think he'll be moving on this anytime soon?
Bottom of the barrel is not too low for these fuckers
"Well, when you’re political operation is being funded primarily by Elon Musk this is the kind of content you should expect. More background:
A new attack ad in the Ohio governor’s race features the mother of the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton — estranged from her daughter over allegations of molestation by a stepfather — calling the candidate a liar.
"Republicans hailed the ad, which began circulating on social media Monday night, as a bombshell, while Democrats called it a new low by Dr. Acton’s opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, in a campaign that was already one of the nation’s ugliest. Dr. Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, condemned it as “a despicable low.”
Donna Arthur, Dr. Acton’s mother, says in the ad, “Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself.”
On the campaign trail and during her time as the director of the Ohio Department of Health, Dr. Acton has shared details of a troubled childhood in which she was homeless for a time and was molested by her stepfather."
Wonder how much that mom got paid.
Steve M. has a theory of what all Ilhan Omar investigation is about.
"THEY'RE LOOKING FOR DNA IN ILHAN OMAR'S GARBAGE AND GETTING TIPS FROM AN AGING WINGNUT BLOGGER
I sometimes turn to the Murdoch media, particularly the New York Post, when I want to know what Republicans are doing, or at least what they want us to believe they're doing. Right now, according to the Post, they want us to believe that they have Ilhan Omar dead to rights on a charge right-wingers have leveled for years: that she once married her brother as a form of immigration fraud."
Akhilleus,
This is from an Acton press release less than a week ago,
"Following national reporting yesterday that Vivek Ramaswamy aired an ad featuring a convicted child sex offender, his campaign re-released the same ad in an attempt to deceive voters.
While they removed the convicted child sex offender, Ramaswamy chose to still include the his wife, who called the accusations against her husband “false,” and said that Vernon Edwards, who was convicted of “gross sexual imposition” involving a minor younger than 13 years old, has been an “exemplary citizen at this point.” The ad remains focused on the couple’s rising property taxes on the house they own together."
Ramaswamy seems to like to put pedophile supporters in his ads. Somehow Republicans keep finding these people and amplifying their like-mindedness.
RAS,
Despicable is never too low for the Party of Traitors. They can go to “lowest” and find five floors below that. They have their Dear Leader to look to as an example. You can never say, about him, “Well Christ, that’s the lowest, nastiest, most despicable thing he’s ever done.” He will surpass it within hours.
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