Thursday, June 19, 2025

Imagine what they can do to anyone who dares to speak up.

Tired, so I am just going to note Senator Alex Padilla tonight. 


"Imagine what they can do to anyone who dares to speak up." (Senator Alex Padilla): 

 

 

 


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Wednesday, June 18, 2025.  Donald Chump continues attacking the economy and continue to waffle and fail to meet promises, we applaud a politician in NYC who stood up for immigrants, we also expose a 'progressive' hero who does nothing on the issue even when immigrants in his own state are targeted, and much more.



First, let's note stats.  Joy Reid's THE JOY REID SHOW is brand new to YOUTUBE and already delivering a huge number of viewers.


Congratulations to her.  MSNBC's huge mistake is her gain.


One more on numbers.  MEIDASTOUH is huge on podcasting numbers.  On YOUTUBE, reaching a half million a video is not uncommon.  Each week, they have a number of videos that reach one million streams or even two million streams.  But nothing like this one they dropped on Saturday.


It currently stands at 4.3 million streams.  Amazing.  Good for them and good for Joy.


Now to news of the world . . . 


Donald Chump has destroyed the US economy.  Despite lies from the White House like "Under President Trump, America is Defeating Inflation," inflation is up under Chump and his lies don't help as prices continue to soar at grocery stores and big box stores.  The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased since he was sworn in.  Last week, Lauren Aratani (GUARDIAN) reported:

US prices continued to rise in May as companies and consumers grappled with Donald Trump’s tariffs. The president has repeatedly pledged to lower costs across the economy.

Annualized inflation ticked higher, to 2.4%, in May, up from 2.3% in April. On a month-to-month basis, the consumer price index rose by 0.1%, down from 0.2% the previous month.
[. . .]

“CPI JUST OUT. GREAT NUMBERS!” Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform, reiterating his call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

But Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate banking committee, said Trump’s tariffs were looming over the economy. “Last week’s jobs data showed a softening labor market,” she said. “Today’s inflation data shows food and electricity prices are up.”

And that's why, whether you zoom in on one state, or pan across the country, Americans are not pleased with the Chump economy.   Sarah Fortinsky (THE HILL) reports:


Sixty percent of surveyed Americans say they disapprove of the way President Trump is handling trade and tariffs, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk poll powered by SurveyMonkey.

In the poll, conducted in early June, 45 percent of respondents said they strongly disapproved of Trump’s handling of the issue, while 15 percent said they somewhat disapproved.



And what of his big boast almost three months ago?  Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) reports:

President Donald Trump and his team promised ‘90 trade deals in 90 days,’ but so far he has only “framework” agreements for two countries in place.

Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs ushered in on April 2 are set to go into effect on July 8.

Skeptics said little progress has been made on making trade deals, leaving American businesses to deal with economic uncertainty.

“We were promised ‘90 deals in 90 days.’ What we have at this point are ‘general frameworks’ for the U.K. and China,” Marc Short, who served in Trump’s first administration as legislative affairs director, told Politico. 


Where are the deals, Chump?  90 days?  Believe that's July 8th -- 9th if you want to be generous.

These 90 deals all going to show up on the last day?  

Or has TACO man proven his detractors right yet again?  ("Trump Always Chickens Out" is what Wall Street dubbed Chump.)  

Chump breaks his word yet again?  

And this inability to deliver on what he promised goes along way towards explaining market concerns. As do his lousy policies.  Eugene Litvak (MARKETPLACE) reports: 


In addition to Medicaid cuts, even Medicare cuts are on the table as Congress debates the healthcare spending provisions in President Donald Trump’s budget bill. The Congressional Budget Office projected that this bill would actually increase the U.S. budget deficit by $2.4 trillion over a decade — with 10.9 million more Americans not having health insurance.

He's destroying the country every day in every way. 

Immigration.  People are being torn from their homes.  The criminals?  No, these are not criminals.  This is not what people heard when they heard Chump thundering on the campaign trail.  In part, that's due to the fact that they heard what they wanted to hear.  This is exactly what those of who were warning about this in 2024 told you would happen.  

And now we're seeing it play out across the country. 




Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained the wife of a Marine veteran during a green card interview in New Orleans, according to the veteran and his attorney.
[. . .]
Adrian and Paola Clouatre married in California in 2022. The Marine met his wife while in the last of five years of military service.

Now residing in Louisiana, they had been working through the legal process to secure Paola Clouatre's U.S. residency. The couple, who have two young children including a 9-week-old daughter, were surprised by ICE's intervention that stemmed from a years-old deportation order.
Adrian and Paola Clouatre married in California in 2022. The Marine met his wife while in the last of five years of military service.

Now residing in Louisiana, they had been working through the legal process to secure Paola Clouatre's U.S. residency. The couple, who have two young children including a 9-week-old daughter, were surprised by ICE's intervention that stemmed from a years-old deportation order.
She was first held in Mississippi and later transferred to Richwood Correctional in Monroe, Louisiana, where she remains.

The couple's immigration attorney, Carey Holliday, said he hasn't been provided access to Paola Clouatre's records. He has also said that her detention conflicts with a national policy allowing "parole in place" for military families, a provision that can help keep service member families together.


That response passes for empathy and compassion in Chump Land.  Meanwhile, Ben Adler (USA TODAY) reports:

Immigrants in this blue-collar town say they are living in constant fear of ICE raids that have rounded up 1,500 undocumented people throughout Massachusetts.

Among those arrested was Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 11th grader at Milford High School, whose story has drawn widespread attention for throwing into stark relief immigration enforcement tensions around the country.
"There's been very high levels of anxiety in the community about immigration enforcement for many months," says Milford High School Principal Joshua Otlin.
Gomes da Silva's family, who brought him to the United States from Brazil when he was 7, are just some of the thousands of immigrants from Latin America whose arrival has reshaped Milford in the past two decades. And now their community is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation campaign.

The fear is pervasive throughout the community, says Reggie Lima, a Brazilian American who on a recent day wore a Trump hat in Milford's Padaria Brasil Bakery.

"Every day, it's on the back of everybody's mind. Nobody leaves home today without checking around, checking the windows, to see if ICE is outside," Lima says.

Chump Land where MAGA psychopaths are encouraged to be even crazier as Chump demonizes people across the country with is coarse and uninformed remarks.  Forget the adults in Massachusetts for a moment and think about Marcelo and other children in school.  MAGA pretends to follow Christ but they don't.  They're hateful sociopaths who do not give a damn what they are doing to children.  Imagine you're the child scared to leave the  house, you're the child being raised in fear?  That's outrageous.  Who would do that to a child?  Only very sick people.  Not Christians.  Don't let them bastardize the name of Jesus Christ.  They're not Christians.  Christians -- real ones -- don't attack children, don't set out to destroy them.  A child is considered innocent and anyone who lacks the compassion to make a child's life better is someone who is not a Christian no matter how hard they lie.   


Lives are being destroyed.  No one applauding this evil should be allowed to pretend that God is smiling on them.  Lives are being destroyed.  Jake Offenhartz (AP) reports on Mahmoud Khalil who has been held since March.  He didn't get to see the birth of his child.  He still hasn't.  What's the crime?  What's the justification for this?  Offenhartz quotes his fie Noor Abdalla sating, "The government is making desperate, last-ditch attempts to keep my husband unjustly imprisoned.  We are not afraid and will not be intimidated, because we know, and the government knows, it is only a matter of time before Mahmoud is free."

Chump lied.  He said it would be criminals that he was deporting.

A lot of stupid people believed him.  

You were stupid if you believed him.  I pointed out here long before the election that what he was proposing would lead to round ups of citizens.  To carry out this awful 'mission,' they'd have to profile.  So it wouldn't just be immigrants, it would be people who might be immigrants.  And we've seen that.  We've also seen those that came to this country on asylum grounds be targeted.  That's why churches -- real ones -- have broken with Chump over immigration.  This has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ.  

That needs to be pointed out daily.  They cloak themselves in Christ but they're not of Christ.  Their hypocrisy needs to be called and confronted. 

Michelle Del Rey (INDEPENDENT) notes the case of a vineyard owner picked up outside his church:

Moises Sotelo-Casas was detained outside of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Newberg, about 25 miles outside of Portland. His daughter, Alondra Sotelo-Garcia, told KGW8 that he’s now being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington.
She found out about her father’s detention when a neighbor spotted his truck and told her mother, she said. After confirming the car indeed belonged to her father, she tracked his location to an ICE detention facility in Portland and saw him later that day.

“I was crying, I was a mess,” she told the outlet. "He was in chains at his feet," she said. "Shoelaces were taken off, his belt was off, he didn't have his ring, he didn't have his watch. Everything was taken from him."

Her father runs a vineyard servicing business called Novo Start Vineyard Service. He’s been in the U.S. since the 1990s, but only managed to start the immigration process while President Joe Biden was in office. Things have changed since President Donald Trump came into power, she said.

"I know there's a lot of talk of, 'Well, he's been here that long, why hasn't he stepped up to do things the right way?' But sometimes laws don't play in your favor. You know, when you're trying to do it, sometimes money is a big factor. Sometimes, money and laws at the same time are just not cooperating at that time," said Sotelo-Garcia.
She said she understands that ICE is seeking to detain criminals, but reiterated that’s not who her father is.


And most of the ones Chump is rounding up are not criminals.  That's why you're not seeing Due Process unless a court orders and demands it.  They lie.  Chump lies.  The idiot Kristi Noem lies constantly.  She lied about US Senator Alex Padilla.  Remember her lies?  He barged into her press conference, he didn't identify himself, she felt threatened.  FBI officers brought him in to the press briefing.  Krystina Alarcon Carroll (RAW STORY) explains:


“While waiting for my scheduled briefing,” Padilla said, “I learned that Homeland Security Secretary Noem was holding a press conference literally just down the hall, and that press conference was causing my briefing to be delayed.”

The senator went on to explain he wanted to listen to Noem’s press conference “in the hopes of hearing Secretary Noem provide some new information that could help us make sense of what was happening.”

“I didn’t just get up and go,” Padilla said, “I asked and was escorted by the national guardsmen and the FBI agent into the press conference.”
“They opened the door for me,” the California Senator said. “They accompanied me into the press briefing room, and they stood next to me as I stood there for a while, listening.”

After the incident, Noem claimed she and security officers had no idea who Padilla was as, she claimed, he pushed towards her in the briefing.

Padilla claims Noem said the purpose of federal law enforcement and military was to “liberate Los Angeles from our governor and our mayor.”

He then asked his fellow senators to contemplate that statement, “To somehow liberate us from the very people that we democratically elected to lead our city and our state.”

“Colleagues,” Padilla said, “let that fundamentally un-American mission statement sink in. That is not a mission focused on public safety, and that simply is not and cannot be the mission of federal law enforcement and the United States military.”



The recordings of the moment show him stating  clearly that he is Senator Alex Padilla before she gives the nod for her goons to attack him.


While we're on the fornicator -- per THE NEW YORK POST -- Kristi who cucked her husband last year and broke The 7th Commandment but wants to pretend she's the Christian and everyone else is not, Krystina Alarcon Carroll also reports:


Immigration and Customs Enforcement could “run out of money by next month,” according to a report from Axios.

The outlet reports the agency is “already $1 billion over budget” as it carries out multiple raids across the country. Axios' lawmaker sources said the Department of Homeland Security, which is in charge of ICE, could be violating “U.S. law if it continues to spend at its current pace.”
“Trump's DHS is spending like drunken sailors," Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the outlet.


Kristi is a liar.  She lies to her husband, you think she won't lie to you?  She's a liar.  So is Chump.

Angry e-mails came in right after Chump announced that he was pausing raids on farms and had heard how this was hurting people (business owners).  Why, oh, why, the e-mailers babbled on, wasn't I giving him credit?

I'm sorry, what website did you think you were at?  We avoided a lot of nonsense in his first term by not falling into those traps.  We didn't run with a story that painted him nicely and we didn't run with ones that painted him badly.  We waited to see what would happen.  And we didn't have to do corrections as a result.  Yes, I ignored his announcement a few days ago.  And, yes, I was right to do so.  Joseph Gedeon (GUARDIAN) reports:



Donald Trump has abandoned his brief immigration and customs enforcement (Ice) reprieve for farm and hotel workers, ordering the agency’s raids in those sectors to resume after hardliners crushed a pause that lasted just four days.

The whiplash reversal, first reported by the Washington Post, exposes the dysfunction gripping the president’s deportation agenda, where competing advisers battle over policy while Trump lurches between contradictory positions.


So the most vulnerable are yet again targeted.  The worst criminals are not toiling on farms.  But these are the immigrants Chump targets.  And he gets a lot of help.

There's a Socialist running for mayor NYC.  I'm like the editorial board of THE NEW YORK TIMES here, I don't see the point of him and he doesn't appear at all qualified to be Mayor of NYC -- a job that a lot like being governor of a small-to-medium size state.  While the Socialist hides away behind celebrities -- ones that do not work or live in NYC, see Ava and my "Media: If MSNBC could just clone Rachel Maddow . . ." -- one person running for mayor does stand up for immigrants.  Jennifer Bowers Bahney (RAW STORY) reports:


New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D), who's running to be the city's next mayor, was arrested by ICE agents at an immigration court in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

Politico's Jeff Coltin posted the arrest video to X, writing, "Mayoral candidate Brad Lander was cuffed and detained by ICE agents after asking to see a warrant for people who were detained after an immigration hearing. Video from the city comptroller’s press secretary @chloecbristow. She says he’s still being held in 26 Federal Plaza."

amNewYork reported, "The city’s elected financial watchdog, and a Democratic candidate for mayor, appeared at 26 Federal Plaza on the morning of June 17 to observe immigration hearings involving individuals marked for potential deportation. Lander’s arrest, which amNewYork observed, occurred as the comptroller and his staff walked arm-in-arm with an immigrant whom federal agents — representing ICE, the FBI and the Treasury Department, each of whom wearing masks to conceal their faces — moved to seize after a court hearing. Moments earlier, the immigrant had their case dismissed pending appeal."


Some video coverage.







So one candidate for NYC mayor really put it on the line -- and made clear in doing so that he'd be more likely to back NY Governor Kathy Hochul in standing up for the residents of NYC -- something disgraced Mayor Eric Adams refused to do.


Brad stood up Tuesday morning.  And Tuesday afternoon?  The always useless Bernie Sanders endorsed . . . the Socialist.  What, you thought Bernie was going to stand up for immigrants?  No, no, no.  Only if they're Palestinian is Bernie going to say a word and most immigrants in the US?  They're Latinos.  Bernie doesn't care about them.


April 21st, in his own state of Vermont, eight migrant workers were rounded up by ICE.  Two days later, Bernie found the 'guts' to issue a brief statement.  Brief?  "NEWS: Sanders Statement on Trump Detaining Vermont Farm Workers" was 46 words from big mouth Bernie.  About an issue.  In his own state. 

One statement.  46 words.

No follow up.


His own state.  And, as of May 23rd, only one had been released.  May 23rd, Dan D'Ambrosio (BURLINGTON FREE PRESS) reported the following bullet points::


Jose Edilberto Molina-Aguilar, a Vermont dairy worker detained by Border Patrol, was released on $10,000 bond.
Two other detained farmworkers, Jesus Mendez Hernandez and Adrian Zunun-Joachin, were denied bond and remain in custody.
Molina-Aguilar's release follows that of Diblaim Maximo Sargento-Morales and Arbey Lopez-Lopez, who were also detained.
Four other farmworkers arrested in the same incident have been deported to Mexico without hearings.
Migrant Justice continues to advocate for the release of the remaining detainees.

One month after his pathetic and weak and tiny statement, he didn't care apparently what happened.  

Wait-wait-wait.  That "apparently" isn't fair to Bernie.  Let's rephrase that: He didn't care.

No apparently.  He did not care.  That's why he's ignored the round up of two more people.  Migrant Justice notes:


Free Nacho! Free Heidi! Not one more deportation!
Posted Sat, 06/14/2025 - 6:14pm

Two Migrant Justice leaders were detained by Border Patrol agents in Vermont on June 14th. Jose Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz was driving with his stepdaughter Heidi Perez in Franklin County when they were pulled over. Agents smashed their car window and violently detained the two community leaders. Both are now at risk of imminent deportation. 



Two more people.  And, again, his own state.  But no press release, no comment for 'big' and 'brave' Bernie.  Since April 23rd, he has issued 28 press releases.

And . . .

not . . .

one . . .

has been about . . . 

Latino immigrants rounded up -- not even when it happened in his own state.

There's a reason Black people have always had a problem with Bernie and a lot of White people don't want to see it.  But look at the immigrants and start noting how big and brave Bernie is when it's a Palestinian immigrant not from his state versus when it's a Latino or Latina.

Democrats will emerge on this issue.  Bernie is not a member of the Democratic Party.  He caucuses with us.  But he's not a member.  And he's clearly not going to stand up for Latinos just like he spent his entire career refusing to stand up for Black people.  If you've read even a little bit here, you know I don't play on the issue of South Africa's apartheid.  Bernie did.  For years and years, he played dumb.  
 
Again, Bernie endorsed today.  And he didn't endorse Brad Lander who put it on the line today to step up and stand for and with immigrants.  For those who are confused, Brad is DSA -- he's a Socialist as well.  But the decisions of which Socialist to support are far above the American citizen's paygrades.  MSNBC and others in the clubhouse decide who's going to get the coverage and who is not.  That's also what has protected do nothing Bernie for years.  And what protects him when he starts in on his nonsense about how we have to get along with MAGA and bend to their issues and beliefs.  

 




 






"While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE," Lander's wife, Meg Barnette, wrote on X.

"This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely," Barnette wrote.

Video of the incident posted online showed Lander outside a courtroom at the city's main immigration court when he is approached by officers, including some wearing masks.

Lander repeatedly asked the officers to show him a judicial warrant before he is handcuffed, per the video posted by Barnette.



Have we shamed Bernie enough to make him speak out in defense of Latino immigrants?  Probably not.    Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) reports:


An Atlanta-based Spanish-language reporter who has covered Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids up close could now himself be deported, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Mario Guevara, an immigrant from El Salvador, was initially arrested at an anti-deportation protest in DeKalb County.
"Online police records show Guevara was arrested by the Doraville Police Department and charged with obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly, and pedestrian walking on or along a roadway," said the report. "On Monday, Guevara’s attorneys successfully petitioned DeKalb County Magistrate Court for a bond, then learned of the ICE detainer which prevents him from being released."
According to attorney Giovanni Diaz, Guevara has work authorization and a pending green card application through his U.S. citizen son, but none of this is a deterrent to his deportation.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office.



Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered the following remarks at a press conference on Republicans’ efforts to ban abortion nationwide as part of their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which they are pushing through Congress via the budget reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority to pass in each Chamber.

In addition to kicking 16 million people off their health insurance through massive cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the legislation also seeks to make abortion care impossible to access everywhere by defunding Planned Parenthood—which would threaten the closure of 200 health centers across the country and rip away care from 1.1 million patients—and by banning ACA marketplace health plans from covering abortion services.

Senator Murray’s full remarks are below and HERE:

“Well, you know there is a lot to be mad about in Republicans’ big, ugly, betrayal, and I want to make sure one hugely important issue does not get missed.

“Because I’ve come to know by now there is not a day that ends in Y, where Republicans are nottrying to ban abortion here in Congress. Republicans just can’t help themselves! If they can find a way to attack abortion care—they do it.

“And wouldn’t you know it? They snuck what essentially amounts to a backdoor abortion ban into the health provisions of this big, ugly, betrayal. That’s right, not only does this Republican monstrosity of a bill make health care more expensive, and harder to get—they are trying to stop health plans from covering abortion care altogether.

“This bill would effectively ban health insurance on the ACA marketplaces from covering abortion. This would send a shock wave through the country and put abortion care out of reach for countless women.

“It would be a nightmare for states like mine that require these plans to cover abortion. And it would be yet another blow for women across the country, as abortion access gets pushed farther and farther out of reach by right-wing politicians who think they should get to make deeply personal decisions about women’s health and lives.

“And the attacks don’t stop there. Because Republicans want to shut the doors of one of the biggest health care providers in the country. They want to defund Planned Parenthood.

“That is wildly unpopular with the American people. And it is widely dangerous for patients who turn to Planned Parenthood for a wide spectrum of care—including cancer screenings, and pap smears, and birth control.

“And if it were successful, Republicans would be closing the doors to 200 health centers—and that includes cutting the number of Planned Parenthood health centers in states with abortion access by half—and stripping away people’s access to abortion and other reproductive health care.


“It is hard to understate how devastating that would be. We are talking clinics shuttering across the country, overwhelmingly in states where abortion is legal. We are talking women left with no options for the care that they need.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a rape survivor, or you have a medical emergency, or if you simply do not want to become a parent. Whatever your reason—and whatever state you are in—if Republicans get their way, abortion care will be a lot more expensive, and a lot less accessible. For some patients, it will simply be impossible to get the care they need regardless of how badly they need it.


“We have already seen, with painful clarity, how dangerous abortion bans can be for patients. We have already seen patients pushed to the brink—and even killed—because they could not get the care they needed. And now, Republicans are about to mark the anniversary of the Dobbs decision by taking their extremism to new heights.

“We are not going to be silent about this big, ugly, betrayal, including what it means for reproductive rights. We are not going to be silent about Republicans’ backdoor efforts to ban abortion nationwide, and we are not going to stop pushing back to make sure this bill goes nowhere—except the garbage bin.”

###


The following sites updated:





Posted by at

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Chump and the sewer rats who glorify him


Donald Chump is disgusting and so are his fans. They really are sewer rats.  Daniel Orton (NEWSWEEK) reports:

President Donald Trump said he would not call "whacked out" Minnesota Governor Tim Walz following the assassination of state Representative Melissa Hortman and the attempted assassination of state Senator John Hoffman over the weekend, calling a condolence call a "waste of time."
Trump made the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday as he returned from an international summit in Canada.

It is the second time since Saturday's shootings that the president has publicly attacked Walz's character.

That his fans/cult tolerates this sort of nonsense goes to the reality that they are sewer rats, scum of the earth.

The president of the United States is not supposed to be insulting governors.  At a time when the state is dealing with a tragedy?  Even more of a problem.

A condolence call is a waste of time?

No doubt, it's that attitude that explains why it was a Chump groupie who killed the couple and wounded another.  As C.I. has repeatedly noted, the killers remarks echo those of Donald Chump.

You are garbage if you accept or normalize Chump's remarks.  This is out of bounds.  It is not what we expect from any kind of a leader.  Shame on you.



Tanks roll in Washington D.C. while federal troops battle immigration advocates in Los Angeles. An assassin in the nation’s heartland — reportedly a Trump supporter — kills one Minnesota Democratic legislator and severely wounds another.

Sounds like a Hollywood political thriller. But this was real life last weekend. Our nation is at war domestically, and democracy is in peril in our great republic.  
Trump’s political career started ten years ago this week, when he glided down the polished golden escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for president. His first major act as a candidate was to deliver a speech demonizing Mexican immigrants. For ten years now, he has sowed chaos and confusion, keeping the passionate issues of race and immigration at a high boil to distract Americans from his abject inability to fix major systemic problems such as the spread of COVID-19 and the rise in prices for consumer goods. 

Trump is like a kid who wants to play with toy soldiers and acts like a bully. He is a poor president, but a great showman. He has taken Shakespeare’s words to heart, knowing that “all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” 

Saturday was a big day, on which capital area residents sat out the military parade but millions across our great nation stood up for democracy in “No Kings” rallies. Meanwhile, the tinpot dictator orchestrated a Soviet-style parade of military hardware as he bullied immigrants and stood idly by as prices soared.  


He thought that parade was going to put him on Mount Rushmore.  Instead, it just left him a tired, old joke.


"Media: If MSNBC could just clone Rachel Maddow . . ." (Ava and C.I., THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW):

But one thing she needs to do is book better guests.

 

Last week, our mouths dropped in horror as she did a segment on artificial information and digital data and blah blah.

 

Our mouths dropped because of the freak show guest.

 

One of us (C.I.) has known Ronan Farrow his whole life.  


WHAT THE F**K HAS HE DONE TO HIS FACE?

 

That's all caps because the whole world should be yelling it.  His face looks like an overstuffed pillow and his addiction to altering his looks now surpasses that of Michael Jackson -- and don't get us started on those eyebrows.  Not since serial plagiarist Gerald Posner have we seen someone associated with the news industry work so hard to destroy their face with so much bad plastic surgery. 

 

TV is a visual medium.  That alone should prevent Ronan Farrow from ever being brought on as a guest again.  

 

But there are other reasons as well including that Ronan already bombed with MSNBC viewers a long, long time ago.

 

Did no one learn from 2014?  That's when Ronan bombed on MSNBC -- when more people were watching THE GOLDEN GIRLS repeats on HALLMARK than watching RONAN FARROW DAILY -- and awful, awful show -- see our  "TV: Another idiot for the idiot box" from March 2014.  A ton of money was spent promoting that show and no one could stand to watch it.  That was due to Ronan and we explained that and his personal habits/problems/ticks that resulted from his childhood (and his mother) and rendered him too odd for TV.  

 

Maybe if he'd stayed with Jon Lovett, he could have addressed those problems.  But Ronan didn't want to deal and screwed up the only real thing he ever had in his personal life just like he screwed up his chance at TV fame.

 

Keep the weirdo away.  People don't need to look at that face before bedtime -- no one wants nightmares.


Ava and C.I. did a great job dissecting MSNBC, read their piece in full. 


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, June 17, 2025.  Donald Chump spreads hate and killings ensue -- that is the pattern and it must be the plan or he would stop spreading hate.  The tourism industry in the US continues to tank.  You might be able to ignore it right now but by end of summer the money lost will not be something the country can ignore.  Randi and other idiots who think this is the time to attack Democrats need to leave the party immediately, and much more.


What does it say about the presidency and our country when the occupant of the Oval Office sounds just like a crazed killer?   Donald Chump sounds like killer Vance Boelter who sounded like Chump because the two are intertwined in mind.  Klaus Marre (WHO WHAT WHY) notes Chump's social media posts from Sunday: 

“These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities — And they are doing a good job of it! There is something wrong with them,” Trump added about 48 hours after a man who, according to his friend, is a staunch supporter of the president, assassinated one Democrat (and her husband), wounded another, and had a target list of many more. 

Posting this is the height of irresponsibility. It is essentially an incitement to violence. 

For good measure, the president also explains to his followers what is at stake by stating that Democrats want “open borders, transgender for everybody, and men playing in women’s sports” – just so they understand that it is more important to take over Democratic cities than deporting the undocumented immigrants in the communities where Trump voters actually live. 

They’ll believe him, of course. 

And that brings us back to those GOP lawmakers who will have to answer questions tomorrow like “Do you agree with President Trump when he says that Democrats are sick and hate our country, and do you think that this was the right moment to tweet something like this in light of the events of this weekend?”

What do you say to that? How do you defend the rantings of a nutjob who can end your career (and possibly endanger your family) with a social media post?


You can't.  He sounds exactly like the Minnesota shooter Vance Boelter. AP's Jim Mustian and Michael Biesecker note:



Friends and former colleagues interviewed by AP described Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota where voters don’t list party affiliation.
Near the scene at Hortman’s home, authorities say they found an SUV made to look like those used by law enforcement. Inside they found fliers for a local anti-Trump “No Kings” rally scheduled for Saturday and a notebook with names of other lawmakers. The list also included the names of abortion rights advocates and health care officials, according to two law enforcement officials who could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Both Hortman and Hoffman were defenders of abortion rights at the state legislature.



Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The attack, which has shocked Minnesotans and the nation, comes amid rising political violence since the emergence of President Donald Trump, who has made repeated threats of violence against his political enemies and praised his supporters who, for instance, attacked officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He later pardoned all of them. He survived two assassination attempts in 2024.


How is that any different from what Chump posted on social media Sunday night or from the hate he spews nonstop?  It's not different at all.  It is exactly the same.  And that's why so many of us have been so bothered by Chump's violent rhetoric.  And we realized when he got shot last July that he'd brought it on himself with violent remarks.  You get what you put out and that's always been known better as "you reap what you sow."



 Until he was named the suspect in the shootings last Saturday morning, Vance Boelter seemed like just another member of the MAGA universe. He was a registered Republican and a Trump supporter. He was also an evangelical minister who ran a security business.
Boelter is alleged to have shown up at the home of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband Mark Hortman early Saturday morning, impersonating a police officer. He shot and killed both. He used the same ruse at the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, critically injuring both. Boelter was arrested yesterday.

Both Hortman and Hoffman were supporters of the LGBTQ community. As speaker of the House in 2023, Hortman was instrumental in shepherding through trans rights protections, including a “trans refugee” bill that prohibits other states from interfering with gender-affirming health care in Minnesota.

Following a shootout with police, Boelter escaped. Police found in his car a list of 70 people that Boelter allegedly marked for assassination. The list included politicians and abortion rights activists.

According to a friend, Boelter was rabidly anti-abortion. But it turns out he was equally anti-LGBTQ+. Boelter traveled abroad to preach, and a video of a sermon he gave in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023 is a diatribe against the community. African nations have been a target for American evangelicals looking to spread homophobia.

 “There’s people, especially in America, they don’t know what sex they are. They don’t know their sexual orientation. They’re confused,” he said. “The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.” (Not surprisingly, the anti-LGBTQ+ legal group Alliance Defending Freedom was among the groups “liked” by Boelter on social media.)


 This is the hate that they have sewn.  Do not mistake it for anything else.  Chump gives permission to attack LGBTQ+ members, he encourages it.  There is no difference between his incitement and the actions of the shooter.  Daniel Villarreal (LGBTQ NATION) reports:

A federal judge has ruled against President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze $2.4 billion in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants allocated to research on gender identity and other fields tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The judge said the Trump administration must immediately restore the grants, but he didn’t officially rule on whether Trump’s anti-DEI orders are illegal — the case under the judge remains ongoing and could eventually result in an important ruling against Trump’s anti-DEI crusade.

“This [freezing of NIH grants] represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” said Judge William Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan. “Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I’m going to do it,” he added, promising a possibly more sweeping future ruling on the grants and Trump’s orders, NBC News reported.

[. . .]

Ports read an NIH statement which said DEI-related studies “are often used to support unlawful discrimination.” However, in response, Young said, “I see no evidence of that.”

“I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this,” Young said during oral arguments, referring to Trump’s anti-DEI orders. “Is it true of our society as a whole? Have we fallen so low? Have we no shame?”


The shooter didn't have any shame.

Chump doesn't have any shame.

This hate speech is not just words.  It puts people at risk.  There's no defense of it.  People need to stop pretending and acting like this is just opinion.  People are getting killed from this 'opinion.'  It is hate speech and there is no place for it in the United States, certainly not in the White House. 


But Chump uses it, He spreads the hate.  He uses it to target veterans.  He uses it to scapegoat.  MB Mack (LATIN TIMES) reports:

 
New guidelines implemented under an executive order by President Donald Trump now allow VA hospital staff to refuse healthcare to veterans based on political affiliation and marital status, prompting concerns that Democratic and unmarried veterans may be denied treatment.

On January 30, Trump signed an executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." While its primary aim was to curtail federal protections for transgender individuals, the order also triggered sweeping changes within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), according to the Guardian.

The VA, which serves over 9 million veterans across more than 170 hospitals and 1,000 clinics, revised its internal bylaws to strip longstanding protections against discrimination based on political party, marital status, sexual orientation and national origin.

The updated policies allow doctors, psychologists, dentists and other healthcare workers at VA hospitals to refuse treatment to veterans based on characteristics not explicitly protected by federal law. While veterans are still legally entitled to care, there is now no rule preventing staff from declining service to individuals based on their political beliefs or whether they are unmarried.

Internal documents reviewed by the outlet confirm that the changes are already in effect at some VA centers. The VA's press secretary confirmed the revisions were made to align with Trump's executive order but did not clarify what federal law required such shifts.


He's attacking veterans care.  I hope we grasp that.  He attempted to use the military on Saturday.  He even saluted a group of veterans of the Vietnam War -- this despite his getting five deferments that Daddy bought so Chump wouldn't have to serve in that war.  He has no respect for veterans and he makes that clear with his latest attack o them.  Anna Carlson (THE MIRROR) adds:


Meanwhile, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz maintained that the updated guidelines are aligned with an executive order issued by Trump, yet he fell short of clarifying which federal statutes necessitated such revisions.

"All eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they've earned under the law," he claimed, emphasizing that the shift is merely procedural.



In interviews, veterans said the impact of the new policy would probably fall hardest on female veterans, LGBTQ+ veterans and those who live in rural areas where there are fewer doctors overall. “I’m lucky. I have my choice of three clinics,” said Tia Christopher, a navy veteran who reported being raped in service in 2000.

Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Christopher advocates on behalf of military sexual trauma survivors throughout the country. Under the new policy, some may have to register at a hospital in another region and travel more than a hundred miles to see a doctor. It “could have a huge ripple effect”, she said.

As concerned as they were about the new policies themselves, medical experts were equally worried about the way they came about. Sources at multiple VA hospitals, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation, told the Guardian that the rule changes were imposed without consultation with the system’s doctors – a characterization the VA’s Kasperowicz did not dispute.

Such a move would run counter to standards established by the Joint Commission, a non-profit organization that accredits hospitals. Kasperowicz said the agency worked with the Joint Commission “to ensure these changes would have no impact on VA’s accreditation”.

At its annual convention in Chicago this week, the American Medical Association’s 733-member policymaking body passed a resolution reaffirming “its commitment to medical staff self-governance … and urges all healthcare institutions, including the US Department of Veterans Affairs, to ensure that any amendments to medical staff bylaws are subject to approval by medical staff in accordance with Joint Commission standards”.


If you watch THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE on MSNBC regularly you know that Leigh Ann Caldwell is now with PUCK.  Leigh Ann is often a panelist on Stephanie's show.  So for KPFA listeners, Aaron's now with THE GUARDIAN and Leigh Ann is now with PUCK. 

Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following on Chump's latest attack on veterans:

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, released the following statement on new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital guidelines from the Trump administration explicitly eliminating language requiring healthcare professionals to care for veterans regardless of their politics and marital status, and allowing doctors and other medical staff to be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity:

“Health care isn’t just a special privilege Trump gets to dole out to veterans who agree with the President—it’s a moral obligation our country owes to every single man and woman who serves in uniform. Anyone who doesn’t understand that has no business leading our armed forces in any way.

“It’s outrageous that President Trump and Secretary Collins are effectively green-lighting discrimination against wide swaths of our veteran population and the doctors who serve them. Under Trump’s new rules, veterans can be blocked from getting care, and doctors can be barred from working at VA hospitals for the sole reason that they may be unmarried, belong to a union, are registered Democrats, or identify as gay or trans—it’s appalling and un-American. Servicemembers defend our country in uniform whether they’re Democrat or Republican, married or unmarried, they have already proven they are worthy of VA care.  They shouldn’t have to fight again when they’re home to get benefits they have earned.

“President Trump is going out of his way to discriminate against veterans and ripping up the sacred contract we make with our veterans that we will take care of them when they come home, and that they are entitled to the best health care our nation has to offer. This is bigotry, plain and simple, and it cannot be allowed to stand—and I sincerely hope my Republican colleagues would agree.

“It’s disgusting that this policy was ever allowed to go into effect, and I will not let it fly under the radar. This policy must be rescinded immediately—this administration is not immune to public pressure and now is the time for everyone to speak out.” 

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been a leading voice in the Senate speaking out forcefully against President Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firing of VA employees and VA researchers across the country and Elon Musk and DOGE’s infiltration of the VA, including accessing veterans’ sensitive personal information.

Last week at a hearing on veterans’ mental health, Senator Murray pressed administration officials on the importance of transparency and communication with Congress and how the Trump administration’s mass firings might undermine care for veterans who have dealt with sexual trauma. In February, Murray grilled Trump’s then-nominee for VA Deputy Secretary, Dr. Paul Lawrence, on the mass firings of VA employees and VA researchers. After pressing Doug Collins on EHR and protecting women’s access to VA health care, including lifesaving abortion care, at his nomination hearing, Senator Murray voted against Doug Collins’s nomination to be VA Secretary in early February, sounding the alarm over Elon Musk and DOGE’s activities at the VA and making clear that the Trump administration’s lawlessness is putting our national security and our veterans at risk.

Recently, Senator Murray released a report on how Trump’s mass firings at VA are already hurting veterans’ services and health care in Washington state and across the country. Senator Murray and her colleagues have demanded that VA swiftly reverse moves to cut VA researchers, and have sent multiple letters pressing Secretary Collins to sever Elon Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or other government system with information about veterans, and protect veterans, their families, and VA staff from unprecedented access to sensitive information.

Last month, Senator Murray grilled Secretary Collins on how the Trump administration’s mass firing of VA employes is hurting veterans’ ability to get the health care they need—from jeopardizing VA research, to creating new risks around the deployment of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to additional VA Medical Centers, which the Trump administration is insisting on moving ahead with despite persistent and unresolved issues at the sites where it is currently deployed. Murray also pressed Secretary Collins on new policies the Trump administration recently rolled out that severely limit Congressional engagement with veterans and VA for no legitimate reason.

###



Chump's destroyed the economy and it's only getting worse.  B Wellington (STYLE ON MAIN) reports:

You’ve probably heard whispers that tourism is “down a bit” in America this year, but the reality is far more dramatic than most are willing to admit. While industry leaders cautiously mention “temporary adjustments” and “market corrections,” the numbers tell a harsher truth: the United States is losing international visitors at an unprecedented rate. 

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, America is the only major destination among 184 global economies projected to see a decline in international tourism revenue in 2025, with a $12.5 billion shortfall already expected.

As the world turns away from the U.S., it’s not just vacations being canceled. The very idea of America as a welcoming destination is slipping, and the consequences are adding up fast.
Canada’s quiet boycott of American travel has turned into a full-blown economic rupture. Between February and March 2025, Canadian visits to the U.S. fell 23% by land and 4% by air. Flights? Down by as much as 76%. The reasons go beyond politics or tariffs. 

A growing number of Canadians now view the U.S. not as a friendly backyard escape, but as unwelcoming territory. Travel agencies report U.S. bookings are down 40%, with that $20.5 billion in spending heading to Europe, Mexico, or closer to home. A once-effortless relationship between two nations has chilled, and the emotional distance may prove harder to fix than any policy dispute.

European travelers are backing away too, and fast. March 2025 saw visits from Western Europe drop 17%, with Germany, Spain, and Ireland leading the retreat. These are Visa Waiver Program countries, but the real issue isn’t bureaucracy, it’s perception. Stories of tourists being detained, professors canceling trips, and travelers denied entry over political views have flooded European media. 

Official travel warnings from countries like Germany and the UK have only added weight. For many Europeans, America now feels risky, unpredictable, and unwelcome. When lifelong dream vacations are being scrapped over conscience, the U.S. isn’t just losing tourism. It’s losing hearts and minds.
Khaby Lame’s detention at a Las Vegas airport was more than a celebrity mishap, it was a global turning point. With 160 million TikTok followers, his forced removal lit up social media and stoked fears worldwide. The alleged tip from a pro-Trump influencer made it even more volatile. 

Platforms turned one moment into a viral storm, and soon every visa denial, every airport horror story was gaining traction. Algorithms fed the fear, and perception became reality. If a mega-celebrity isn’t safe in America, what about everyday travelers? Social media didn’t just echo the problem,it magnified it into a worldwide warning.


People don't want to grasp how important tourism is to the US economy.  Take Florida.  In 2024, it was responsible for over 2 million jobs and, in 2023, brought in $127,700,000,000 to the Florida economy -- that's 127 billion dollars.  But Chump has destroyed the tourist industry.  People don't want to come to a country where they might be arrested and sent off to El Salvador or Guantanamo.  People don't want to come to a country run by a hate monger.  



And our economy's being harmed as a result.  Jen Rose Smith (CNN) explains:       

             

Like maple syrup and lakeside lounging, an annual influx of Canadians tourists has long been a part of life for the border-hugging New York region known as “North Country.”

“I don’t ever remember a summer where I wasn’t at the beach, hearing the French language and seeing Quebec license plates,” said Kristy Kennedy, who grew up in the area.

But Kennedy, now vice president of marketing and business development for the North Country Chamber of Commerce, has seen (and heard) far fewer Canadian visitors in recent months, as travel has dipped amid international tensions.     

Reservations are down at hotels and campgrounds, she said; local marinas, which depend on Canadian boaters, have watched bookings slow.

“There’s definitely a decline,” she said. For the rural area, such losses could mean economic pain. “Our leisure travel market is about 70% Canadians — it’s a very large part of what we do.”

Business is down 30% this spring, said Paul Dame, owner of Bluff Point Golf Resort in Plattsburg, New York, in a recent interview with CBC, and pinned the “disheartening” decline on the political situation.     


That's just New York.   

This is the year the US hosts the World Cup.  It's not a time to scare people from traveling to this country.  But that is what Chump is doing.  Suzanne Rowan Kelleher (FORBES) notes:

FIFA’s projections that World Cup 2026 will drive $30.5 billion in economic output in the U.S., according to an analysis from FIFA and OpenEconomics (OE), is predicated on the assumption the U.S. will see an “influx of visitors” from foreign countries to fill stadiums and hotels. Philadelphia projects the six matches it hosts next summer will draw 500,000 visitors who will fill more than 100,000 hotel rooms and drive $305 million in direct tourism spending and $770 million in total economic impact, Meg Kane, chief executive of Philadelphia’s World Cup organizing committee, told Forbes. Kansas City is also hosting six matches—four group stage matches, a round of 32, and then a quarter final, “which is really important from both a tourism standpoint and a global visibility standpoint,” Pam Kramer, chief executive officer of KC2026, the nonprofit organization leading the city’s World Cup planning, told Forbes. Kramer said Kansas City is expecting to draw 650,000 visitors over the course of the tournament and an estimated $653 million in direct event impact. The other nine U.S.-based World Cup host cities are: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle.


Jade Wilson (SKIFT) observes, "The tourism industry argues that international visitors are crucial to the U.S. economy, typically spending more per trip than domestic travelers. Before the pandemic, international visitors contributed roughly $240 billion a year to the U.S. economy."

Donald Chump is destroying the US economy. 

Let's talk polls.  Khaleda Rahman (NEWSWEEK) notes:

The number of Republicans who "strongly" approve of President Donald Trump has declined in recent months, according to a new poll.

Republicans were 5 percentage points less likely to say that they strongly approve of the president compared to April, according to the latest poll from NBC News Decision Desk and SurveyMonkey.


There's a lot of talk about polling and mainly from people who honestly shouldn't be writing about polling.  If you haven't taken a research & methodology course, for example, you shouldn't write about polling -- especially not political polling.   Rahman, for example, misses the point.  As a general rule, when you lose a section of your supporters, you have lost them.  They are not coming back.  You can lose more -- and usually will -- but you do not gain.  Chump is a known quantity.  If he's losing support that is how the polling should trend over the next months and years.

Some presidents could do a temporary reversal.  How?  Declaring a war.  But that really won't work for Chump because he's billed himself as the anti-war candidate.  He's already having spit fights with Mother Tucker Carlson over that issue and he will lose even more if he actually sends the US to war.  


There is a YOU GOV-CBS NEWS poll that's been reduced in headlines to say that the majority of Americans approve of Chump's deportations:


Views of the Trump administration's deportation program headed into this weekend with positive net approval from Americans, including continued strong backing from the Republican base — but also heavily shaped by contrasting views about which people, and how many, are being targeted for deportation.

A slight majority feel the administration's deportation efforts are prioritizing people they believe are dangerous criminals. Those who say this are very supportive of the program, and feel the program is making people in the U.S. safer. 

But if people don't think it is dangerous criminals who are the focus of the deportation effort, support drops dramatically. 

The survey was completed just prior to Saturday's protests and events in Los Angeles.

In terms of how many people the administration is trying to deport, more is not necessarily better in the public mind. 


I'd argue that's not what it says and would do so as someone who (a) holds degrees in poli sci and (b) grasps polls and what they actually mean.  I would further point out that in our 21 year history here, when we're talking about polling on issues, I've called it ahead of the so-called experts starting with when the country turned on the Iraq War. 

The margin of error renders the two sides very close in the YOU GOV-CBS NEWS poll.  

Most important with regards to this issue there is the messaging.  



Barack Obama Tweeted the following yesterday:



Thirteen years ago, my administration acted to protect young people who were American in every single way but one: on paper. 

DACA was an example of how we can be a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. And it’s an example worth remembering today, when families with similar backgrounds who just want to live, work, and support their communities, are being demonized and treated as enemies. 

We can fix our broken immigration system while still recognizing our common humanity and treating each other with dignity and respect. In fact, it’s the only way we ever will.


Joe Biden has health issues to deal with.  The Democratic Party has a large number of useless people in office.  There is no Barack in office championing immigrants.  Barack may start leading on this and it would be great if he did.  But, in 2025, Democrats have been cowardly as a collective group on the issue of immigration.   Yes, there is Senator Alex Padilla and Senator Patty Murray to name two.  There is US House Rep Dan Goldman.  But as a group they don't want to touch immigration because some have labeled it a "losing issue."  It is not a losing issue. Not if you fight on it.  And, by the way, that's what the poll actually finds.  

With no real national leadership on this issue, it's not polling poorly.  But if this was a real national dialogue, it would be polling much better.  And the thing there is?  It's becoming a national issue because of the people.  We The People are seeing the reality of what's going on and we are speaking out and we'll continue to do so.  This is not a static issue and anyone with a poli sci background would grasp that.  At US NEWS & WORLD REPORTS, Oliver Knox writes:



It’s one thing to send someone who murdered an American to El Salvador, which the U.S. is paying to lock up hundreds of immigrants in a prison notorious for alleged human rights abuses.
It’s quite another to ambush a teacher’s aide and try to force her to self-deport.

Or to go after elementary schoolchildren. (The Department of Homeland Security says its agents were conducting a wellness check. The local school superintendent says the agents lied about having been given permission to speak to the kids by the parents.)

Or to detain a U.S. citizen who is nine months pregnant, allegedly because she obstructed the detention of her husband, who did not have the proper immigration documents.

Or send heavily armed agents to arrest a father with no criminal record who had been doing regular required check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Or send what The Wall Street Journal called “a phalanx of military vehicles” to arrest someone not for violating immigration law but for posting “fliers alerting neighbors to the presence of ICE agents.” (One local news version of this is here.)

Or detain a man in the final stages of obtaining his permanent legal resident status.



Members of Congress, like news outlets, are stuck responding to so much and still can't do everything.  No one can.  But if Barack or someone else would come out as the designated heavy hitter on this issue, it would help tremendously.  And we shouldn't forget the DNC.

We've had to endure weeks of whiny Hogglette.  Now that he's finally shut up we've got whiner Randi Weingarten  taking up oxygen.  FOX "NEWS" couldn't shut up about her  yesterday and how she'd just left the DNC and how Ken Martin, DNC chair, is out of step and --

Shut up, Randi, just shut up.

Ken Martin is from Minnesota and he was the chair of that state's Democratic Party before, at the start of this year, becoming head of the DNC.  

I'm not understanding how Randi thinks she's helping anyone.  Ken's not only dealing with the DNC issues, he's also got a personal stake in the tragic shootings on Saturday.  He knew the people who got shot.  I really don't know how a selfish fat ass like Randi thinks she's helping as she grumbles  (and is then quoted as "unnamed sources" in media reports)?  I also don't know who she thought she was helping before this past week because I didn't hear her out there defending immigrants or any targeted population.

I don't like Randi and never have.  But I did defend her in December when MTG was carrying out her homophobic attacks on Randi.

And I'm sure she appreciated being defended by so many people but it's equally true that she herself defends no one.  (That includes the Palestinian people.)  So let's stop acting like she had anything of value to give and let's just tell her to shut her fat lip because we don't need to hear her.


And that's honestly my attitude to anyone who's working to divide the party.

You want to criticize the party?  Do so.  I just did.  I called them out on their collective silence when it comes to immigrants.  And someone will step forward. I believe that.  But right now, nope and I called them out.

I am not, however, trashing them and offering some ridiculous statement such as, "And this is why we must vote Green!"  To save our country, we must vote Democrat in the mid-terms.  That's reality and if you can't grasp that, your name just might be Rashida Tlaib.  But the rest of us do grasp reality. 

And realize how important this moment is.

I also realize, again, that the violence on Saturday has hit Ken Martin hard and I question anyone who knows him that choose this moment in time to stab him in the back.

 Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Warren calls on Republicans to join Democrats in demanding investigation into the incident

“If this is how federal agents treat a United States senator who peacefully asks questions of this administration, then we all have to ask: how far will they go? How violent will they get?” 

Video of Floor Speech (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. — Following the violent assault on U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke out on the Senate Floor.

“This is a horrifying moment in our nation’s history,” said Senator Warren. 

During Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference, Senator Padilla identified himself, saying, “I am Senator Padilla. I have questions for the Secretary.” In response, he was shoved to the ground and eventually pinned down and handcuffed. 

Senator Warren called out ICE’s recent excessive use of force and aggressive detention tactics, saying “what happened to Senator Padilla, today, is happening every day all across this country, every day. DHS agents are throwing people to the ground and violently handcuffing them while they are not resisting, detaining them for exercising their First Amendment rights of free speech.” 

“Every day Donald Trump is making this nation look more and more like a fascist state,” Senator Warren continued. 

Senator Warren called for Republicans to join Democrats in demanding a bipartisan investigation into the incident. 

Transcript: Floor Speech on Assault on Senator Alex Padilla
U.S. Senate Floor
June 12, 2025

As Delivered

Senator Elizabeth Warren: This a horrifying moment in our nation's history. Today, United States Senator Alex Padilla was violently removed from a public briefing for asking questions on behalf of the people he represents. People in California who deserve answers about the brutal crackdown on protesters. 

I've watched the video, as many of you have as well. Let me just describe what it shows. 

Officers pushed Senator Padilla backwards out of the room as he said the words, “I am Senator Padilla. I have questions for the Secretary.” He was then shoved to the ground. When the Senator complied with the officers and went on his knees, he was forcibly pinned onto his stomach. He was ordered to put his hands behind his back. He can be heard on the video saying he is trying to comply with their orders. Officers then put handcuffs on the senator while he was lying on the ground. His staff was then told to stop recording the handcuffing. 

He was put in handcuffs for asking a simple question. 

He was put in handcuffs for doing his job as a United States Senator. 

He was put in handcuffs for standing up for the Constitution of the United States. 

He was put in handcuffs for representing the people of California. 

Now, if you're not yet convinced that President Trump and his administration are trying to suppress free speech, then just watch the video. Watch the video. 

If you are not yet convinced that President Trump and his administration are trying to undermine the foundations of our democracy. Watch the video. 

If you are not yet convinced that President Trump and his administration are hell bent on punishing people with differing opinions than those of the President, then watch the video. 

And here is the really chilling part. 

Make no mistake, what happened to Senator Padilla, today, is happening every day all across this country, every day. 

DHS agents are throwing people to the ground and violently handcuffing them while they are not resisting, detaining them for exercising their First Amendment rights of free speech. 

Every day Donald Trump is making this nation look more and more like a fascist state. 

If this is how federal agents treat a United States senator who peacefully asks questions of this administration, then we all have to ask: How far will they go? How violent will they get? 

I know my Republican colleagues can see what happened today was wrong. But will any Republican senator speak up for our democracy? 

They know Senator Padilla's character. 

They know that Senator Padilla is a kind man. A man who is concerned for his children. A man who is concerned for his home. A man who has dedicated his life to public service. A man who is a patriot. 

Where are our Republican colleagues? 

Where is the Republican Senate? 

Where are you? Stand up and speak out. 

This is a continuation of what we've been seeing, intimidate every other check on presidential power in this country. 

Fire the civil service. 

Get rid of those people. 

Threaten to imprison judges. 

Criminally charge House members who try to visit an ICE facility. 

Arrest senators who ask questions. 

This is not a drill. This is an assault on our democracy. 

I am calling on my Republican colleagues to join us in demanding a bipartisan investigation into this incident. 

What happened at this press conference was disgraceful. It was un-American. And every member of the United States Senate should condemn it and condemn it now. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

###



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