President
Trump’s initial pick to become the U.S. Attorney General, Matt Gaetz,
has claimed that he was briefed on a secret alien breeding program while
in office.
Gaetz, a former representative,
said he was told that alien-human hybrids are being created to enable
government officials to communicate with beings from other worlds.
Speaking
on The Benny Show with prominent right-wing influencer Benny Johnson
yesterday, the ex-lawmaker revealed that he received the information at
his office in Florida in a “non-classified setting.”
“I
had someone come and brief me, who was in a military uniform, worked
for the United States Army, that was briefing me on the locations of
hybrid breeding programs where captured aliens were breeding with humans
to create some hybrid race that could engage in intergalactic
communication,” Gaetz said. “An actual uniformed member of the United
States Army briefed me on that.”
What
do you say to that? I would start with: If breeding is taking place,
why would anyone discuss it with Gatez who is known for assaulting
underage females? Most likely, the reality is that Matt Gaetz is once
again talking out of his ass.
JD Vance’s forthcoming memoir about becoming a Catholic features a United Methodist church on its cover.
The
vice president, 41, announced the 304-page memoir, titled Communion:
Finding My Way Back to Faith, on Tuesday, posting on X that it captured
his “personal journey” to Catholicism after a period of atheism.
But
the photogenic rural church pictured on the book’s cover is actually
Mount Zion Church in Elk Creek, Virginia—a congregation of the United
Methodist Church’s Holston Conference on Mt. Zion Road with an average
Sunday attendance of 17.
Just
looking at the photo, I knew it wasn't a Catholic Church. You have to
wonder about the 'great minds' involved. JD, of course, never went to a
Catholic Church until a few years ago and his comments have made clear
that he doesn't understand the beliefs and practices of Catholics. So I
guess we shouldn't be surprised that he didn't know it wasn't a
Catholic Church on the cover. Idiot.
Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Chump due to address the nation tonight
regarding his Iran War, federal judge rules against him in his attack on
NPR and PBS, Kristi Noem gets some attention, Secretary of Education
Linda McMahon deserves some attention for being named in a pedo lawsuit,
and much more.
As former secretaries of defense, we
understand the profound responsibility of deploying our men and women in
uniform into harm’s way. It is critical that there be a clear
objective, a strategy to achieve the objective and an endgame to bring
our forces back home. The president, Congress and the American people
should be unified when a country goes to war.
There are now over 50,000 troops stationed in the Middle East, with President Trump reportedly considering sending forces on missions to extract Iran’s uranium or to occupy Kharg Island. Both operations are very risky and could result in heavy casualties and prolong the war.
Because
their lives are on the line, we owe it to these committed American
service members and their families to be truthful about the risks
involved and why we are at war. There was a case to be made that Iran
had a history of threatening the stability of the United States, Israel
and other nations in the Middle East. Its leaders’ support for
terrorism, arming dangerous proxy forces, developing large numbers of
missiles that could strike regional targets and efforts to develop
nuclear capability represented a genuine threat to peace and stability
in the region.
But it is also true
that the 12-day war waged by Israel and the United States against Iran
in June weakened Tehran and its proxies, damaged missile and airstrike
capabilities and set back the project to develop a nuclear bomb. By
July, Iran was no longer an imminent threat — a conclusion supported by
our intelligence agencies.
President Trump is set to address the nation on the Iran war at 9
p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday night, with White House press secretary
Karoline Leavitt saying he would be providing "an important update,"
without providing further details.
On Tuesday, Trump said he
expected the conflict to be over in two to three weeks, adding, "we'll
be leaving very soon," and promising gas prices would then "come
tumbling down."
Trump shrugged off what would happen to the
blockaded Strait of Hormuz – which has cut off one fifth of the world's
oil supply – saying, "we're not going to have anything to do with it."
He said that it wouldn't affect the U.S. and would be something for
other countries to deal with.
"They'll be able to fend for themselves," he said, having previously
told European allies who have refused to enter the war to "go get your
own oil!"
The assertion to wrap up the war quickly comes just
days after Trump threatened to up the ante if there was no deal and
Tehran didn't reopen the strait. He said he could seize Iran's oil and
blow up all of their Electric Generating Plants and desalinization
plants. He also said he was considering an invasion of Iran's key oil
export terminal, Kharg Island.
So will Chump
announce that tonight? If so, will he stick to it or will it just be
more disposable words about this war of choice? Will it happen or will
he TACO again? At least 13 American service members have died in
Chump's war of choice, over 3000 more have been left injured, between
1,500 and 3,4000 Iranians are estimated to have been killed.
And after four weeks, Chump's finally going to address the nation about this war of choice he started.
The
Department of Homeland Security permitted a Mexican woman to return
Monday to the United States after a judge found her deportation was
unlawful, a rare reprieve at a time when growing numbers of immigrants
who arrived as children are being targeted for removal.
A
federal judge had ordered DHS to facilitate Maria de Jesus Estrada
Juarez’s return to the United States, after immigration officers
deported her to Mexico even though she is actively enrolled in an Obama
administration program that prohibits her removal because she arrived in
the U.S. as a child.
Stacy Tolchin, her immigration attorney, and Ivonne Rodriguez, an advocate, confirmed Estrada had returned to California.
“This
has been one of the most painful experiences of my life,” Estrada said
after arriving in California. “I followed the rules. I trusted the
system. And for that, I was ripped away from my daughter, Damaris,
without warning. I’m home now — but what happened to me is wrong, and it
should never happen to anyone.”
Estrada, 42,
is one of dozens, if not hundreds, of immigrants enrolled in the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program who have been
arrested and, in some cases, deported, since President Donald Trump
started his second term. Former DHS secretary Kristi L. Noem, who was
ousted this month, alleged that most had criminal histories and were
therefore eligible for removal. But congressional Democrats say Trump is
targeting a group that had cleared background checks and been promised
to be shielded from deportation.
Maria
is just one of the many harmed by Kristi Noem. The freak. Some of her
victims are dead. Some are being tortured in other countries. She has
a lot of blood on her hands. And she has a lot of nerve asking for
privacy. Yes, there's her alleged years long affair with Corey
Lewandowski who is married. And Kristi's married. But that's not what
she's asking for privacy over Do we go there? Let's. Ahmad Austin Jr. (MEDIAITE) covers it:
Former
Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem was reportedly “devastated” by
the bombshell allegations of her husband’s double life involving
crossdressing.
On Tuesday morning, Daily Mail published
a explosive report alleging that Noem’s husband, Bryon Noem, liked to
cross-dress and regularly contacted fetish models. Included in the
report were numerous photos of Bryon dressed in women’s clothing, with
what appeared to be two balloons under the shirts to imitate breasts.
Daily Mail also claimed that Bryon “lavished praise on their
surgically-enhanced bodies” and “confessed his lust for ‘huge, huge
ridiculous boobs.'”
THE DAILY MAIL published photos and texts. TMZ adds:
The
statement reads, "Ms. Noem is devastated. The family was blindsided by
this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time."
According
to The Daily Mail, Bryon snapped photos of himself wearing oversized
fake breasts and chatted with adult performers from the "bimbofication"
fetish scene about their massively augmented boobs.
Kristi Noem has made a career out of policing identity. She has pushed laws targeting transgender
people, restricted access to care, and framed those decisions as moral
clarity about who people are allowed to be. What began as political noise quickly became policy, enforced by the state, often against children. So when a scandal breaks inside her own family, and her response is to ask for privacy, the contradiction is not subtle. It is the system working exactly as designed.
Privacy has never been extended to the people her politics target. Transgender people, and the broader LGBTQ+
community, live under a level of scrutiny that most Americans will
never experience. Our identities are debated in legislatures, dissected
on television, and reduced to talking points in political campaigns.
Transgender
people’s bodies, their health care, their families, and their very
existence are treated as public questions to be answered repeatedly,
often by people with no stake in the outcome. There is no off switch. No
private lane. Just a constant demand to explain, justify, and defend
the simple act of being alive.
This would be easier to
dismiss as a personal scandal if it were not happening in the middle of
a coordinated political project. In 2026 alone, hundreds of anti-LGBTQ
bills have already been introduced across the country, with hundreds
more specifically targeting transgender people, restricting health care,
policing schools, and inserting the state into the most private parts
of people’s lives. The same politicians driving that effort are the ones
now asking for privacy when the scrutiny turns toward them.
So
maybe this is a moment to reconsider the rules. If privacy matters, it
should matter for everyone. If identity is complex, it should be treated
that way in law. And if living honestly is something worth protecting,
there are already people doing that work every day, often in the face of
the very policies Kristi Noem has championed.
Another
ally of former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem
has found herself in legal jeopardy over delays in responding to a
natural disaster, according to a new report.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that Kara Voorhies, who was installed at the Federal Emergency Management Agency by Noem's top advisor, Corey Lewandowski,
is facing a DHS Inspector General probe into her role in responding to
the deadly floods in Texas last year. Voorhies retained outsized
influence on agency contracting and spending decisions while she worked
at DHS, according to the report.
Davis
notes that this ally of Kristi's is "the second Noem ally to come under
legal scrutiny" and that "Tricia McLaughlin, a former DHS spokesperson,
and her husband have also faced allegations of benefitting from a
massive $220 million advertising contract from DHS, according to
reports." Actually Voorhies is the third. It would go Tricia, Corey
and now Kara. That's three, not two. And there will no doubt be many
more. (And I may have forgotten one that's already known.)
Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth’s personal broker allegedly approached a major
asset manager about making a multimillion dollar investment in defense
companies in the weeks leading up to the airstrikes on Iran, according
to a report.
The Financial Times, citing three
people familiar with the matter, has alleged that Hegseth’s broker at
Morgan Stanley reached out to BlackRock in February to inquire about
making a significant investment in its Defense Industrials Active ETF.
The
inquiry from such a high-profile client was flagged internally at the
asset manager, the FT writes, and the investment was ultimately never
made as the $3.2 billion equity fund in question was not at that time
available for Morgan Stanley clients to buy.
Catherine Bouris (DAILY BEAST) adds, "The
Financial Times notes that it is unclear whether the broker
representing Hegseth found an alternative defense-focused fund to invest
in."
MAGA
Rep. James Comer has admitted that President Donald Trump’s Justice
Department has “botched” the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The
Kentucky Republican was asked on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper on
Monday if he had “confidence” in the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein case,
with Tapper noting that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s department has not
been in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The DOJ identified 6 million Epstein files for potential release, but has only disclosed about 3.5 million.
“Well,
I think the Justice Department has botched this,” said Comer, who once
described himself as a “Trump man” shortly after the Jan 6. Capitol
attack.
[. . .]
He
said Bondi blamed the slow release on ongoing class-action lawsuits
involving victims, which he said make it difficult for the DOJ to turn
over some documents.
It’s
unclear what lawsuits Comer or Bondi are referring to. A group of
Epstein survivors filed a class-action lawsuit against the DOJ last week
over its failure to redact victims’ personal information in the
documents, but it’s unclear how that would affect the millions of files
still to be released.
Richard
Kahn was deposed by the House Oversight Committee last month. After
stating that Jane Doe number four received a payout from an Epstein fund
for victims, he then disowned his testimony. Jane Doe number four is
the woman who accused Epstein and Chump of assault. María Teresita Armstrong-Matta (RAW STORY) reports US House Rep Ro Khanna appeared on Jen Psaki's MS NOW program on Sunday and they discussed this issue:
During an appearance on MS NOW, Khanna told Jen Psaki that the FBI interviewed Jane Doe 4 four times, suggesting credibility.
Khanna
proposed that Kahn retracted his statement due to fear of Trump
directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute him or take
retaliatory action. Khanna questioned why Kahn's representatives claimed
they could "neither confirm nor deny" payment of a settlement, stating
they would definitively know whether funds were disbursed.
Today,
the US Supreme Court hears arguments in Chump's efforts to overturn the
Constitution and strip people of birth right citizenship. Chump is
said to be planning to attend the hearing. If so, expect plenty of
photos of him sleeping through the arguments.
A
disgraced attorney who tried to help President Donald Trump overturn
the 2020 election has been revealed as the secret driving force behind
the administration’s effort to end birthright citizenship.
John
Eastman has been working for decades to convince the Supreme Court to
take up his fringe legal theory that the Constitution doesn’t
automatically confer citizenship on virtually all people born in the
U.S., despite the 14th Amendment’s explicit guarantees.
The
justices will hear oral arguments on the subject Wednesday in a case
challenging a Trump executive order that seeks to end birthright
citizenship.
But
the administration has apparently sought to obscure Eastman’s influence
on the topic, even as it has embraced his legal theories, according to Politico.
Trump
did not mention Eastman—who has been barred from practicing law over
his effort to subvert Joe Biden’s election victory—when he signed his
executive order, even though Eastman had been pushing Trump to try to
end birthright citizenship since the president’s first term in office.
The
Justice Department’s briefs also don’t cite any of Eastman’s 100-plus
op-eds, interviews, law review articles, debates, speeches, or
legislative hearings, despite adhering closely to Eastman’s legal
arguments, Politico noted.
The
Trump administration was hit Thursday with a new lawsuit from survivors
of Jeffrey Epstein over what they say was a “deliberate” oversight from
the Justice Department (DOJ).
“The
United States, acting through the DOJ, made a deliberate policy choice
to prioritize rapid, large-volume disclosure over protection of Epstein
survivors’ privacy,” the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said, according to a report from NBC Los Angeles.
“[The DOJ] outed approximately 100 survivors of the convicted sexual
predator, publishing their private information and identifying them to
the world. Survivors now face renewed trauma. Strangers call them, email
them, threaten their physical safety, and accuse them of conspiring
with Epstein when they are, in reality, Epstein’s victims.”
She's
just a con artist and she knows nothing about education. (She served
less than a year on that board.) She also has an Epstein like
connection with the other creeps in Chump's administration per Wikipedia:
In October 2024, McMahon was named as a defendant in a lawsuit
accusing her, her husband, and the WWE of negligence regarding the ring boy scandal, in which multiple WWE personnel, including ring announcer Mel Phillips and executives Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin, either resigned or were dismissed in 1992 after being accused of sexually assaulting young boys.[80][81] The lawsuit alleged that the McMahons fostered a culture of sexual abuse within the WWE.[82]
The lawsuit was paused by a federal judge in December 2024, pending the
outcome of a legal challenge to a state law that could impact the case.[83]
The lawsuit was allowed to proceed in February 2025; in April 2025,
McMahon filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. She has denied the claims
in the lawsuit.[84][85]
Didn't
know that until today. She's accused of being part of a pedophile
ring. I don't think she should be allowed to serve in our government
while she's accused of that. It doesn't look right.
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that President Trump’s executive
order barring the federal funding of NPR and PBS violated the First
Amendment.
Randolph Moss, a judge in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia, said in his ruling that Mr.
Trump’s order, signed last May, was unlawful because it instructed
federal agencies to refrain from funding NPR and PBS because the
president believed their news coverage had a liberal viewpoint.
“The
message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit
because the president disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the
news,” Judge Moss wrote. But the First Amendment, he said, “does not
tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”
The
ruling will likely have minimal effect on the federal funding of public
media. Two months after the executive order, Congress voted to claw
back roughly $500 million in annual funding for the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting, the organization that distributes federal money to
NPR and PBS. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has since shut
down, and public radio and TV stations across the country have sought
alternate forms of revenue.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
ICYMI: Murray, Booker, Lieu Reintroduce Legislation to Ban Conversion Therapy
ICYMI: Murray, Congressional Democrats File Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Support Conversion Therapy Bans
Seattle, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following
statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar.
The decision rejected a Colorado law that protects children from the
harmful practice of conversion therapy, putting at risk the safety and
wellbeing of children in Colorado and 23 states around the country—including Washington state—with similar restrictions.
“Conversion therapy is a dangerous practice based on the
hateful idea that being part of the LGBTQ+ community is an illness that
requires treatment—it’s child abuse. Conversion therapy should be banned
nationwide, and I have a bill to do just that because there is no real
debate in the medical community—the overwhelming majority of mental
health care providers know how harmful this practice is. I’m not going
to stop fighting for a world where every person, no matter their gender
or sexual orientation, can live with dignity and without fear.”
Senator Murray has consistently fought to ban conversion therapy and
ensure that LGBTQ+ people have access to high-quality health care. Last
year, Senator Murray, joined by Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congressman Ted
W. Lieu (D-CA-36), reintroduced her Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act
legislation that would ban conversion therapy—a practice that has been
recognized by the national community of professionals in health,
education, social work, and counseling as being both dangerous and
useless. Senator Murray first introduced the legislation in the 114th Congress and has pushed to pass it every Congress since.
In addition to Senators Murray and Booker, the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act was
cosponsored by Senators Baldwin, Bennet, Blumenthal, Cantwell, Coons,
Cortez-Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Fetterman, Gillibrand, Hassan,
Heinrich, Hickenlooper, Hirono, Kaine, Kelly, Kim, King, Klobuchar,
Luján, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Padilla, Reed, Rosen, Sanders, Schiff,
Shaheen, Slotkin, Smith, Van Hollen, Warren, Welch, Whitehouse, and
Wyden.
The legislation was introduced in the House with 70 original cosponsors. The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act is
endorsed by the Congressional Equality Caucus, Human Rights Campaign,
PFLAG, American Academy of Pediatrics, Equality California, National
Association of School Psychologists, Christopher Street Project, and
Advocates for Trans Equality.
Also last year, Senator Murray joined Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate in filing an amicus brief
urging the United States Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality
of Colorado’s ban on mental health professionals engaging in conversion
therapy for minors in this case, Chiles v. Salazar.
An
Oregon senator has placed a hold on unanimous consent promotions for
three military officers, citing behavior - including war zone misconduct
allegations and a podcast with extremist language and viewpoints - that
he says make the officers "unfit" for higher roles.
Sen.
Ron Wyden, D-Ore., placed a hold Wednesday on the promotions of Marine
Lt. Col. Vincent Noble, Col. Thomas Siverts and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Thomas
MacNeil, saying his objections to a process that would quickly approve
the promotions as a bloc was based on "misconduct or concerning
judgement."
In responses provided to Military
Times, Wyden's office made clear that the holds were a direct response
to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's reported decision to pull two Black and two female military officers from a list of troops up for promotion to general or flag officer.
"Donald
Trump and Pete Hegseth have launched an unprecedented politicization of
the military promotion process, most recently, reportedly blocking
promotions for Black and female officers," Wyden said. "I asked my staff
to vet potential promotions, to ensure the Senate is doing its job to
ensure the officers leading our armed forces continue to meet the
services' high standards."
In the case of Noble and MacNeil, Wyden cited their proximity to highly publicized war crimes cases dating as far back as 2007.
[. . .]
Wyden
told Military Times that he didn't know how the nominations for Noble,
MacNeil and Siverts made it out of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"The
military should not promote officers who violate military codes, were
involved in war crimes, or fail to live up to the U.S. armed forces
standards. Our country is stronger and more secure when military leaders
are promoted based on their qualifications and records, and held
accountable when they fall short of those standards," he said. " … I
won't shortcut the Senate process to help unfit personnel lead our
servicemembers and degrade the fitness of our armed forces."
As
Donald Trump and Republicans scramble to find funds for an illegal,
unpopular war that has spiraled out of their control, they are once
again eying health care funding as a potential target for spending
cuts.
Last week, Politico reported
that House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has floated the
possibility of adding additional defense spending to an upcoming
reconciliation bill, and offsetting the increase through cuts to "state
and social programs." The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion from
Congress to pay for the ongoing American-Israel war against Iran.
Axios confirmed the report
on Monday. "There's other items we're looking at right now, especially
in the areas of fraud and waste and abuse that we're working through
with our members," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told the
publication, invoking the sort of language Republicans have used in the
past to justify their attacks on health care funding.
The
so-called Big Beautiful Bill that Republicans passed last year cut
over $1 trillion from Medicaid and health care spending, and is expected
to cost millions their health insurance. Trump and the GOP claimed the
legislation's cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs were
in service of getting rid of "fraud" from government spending. In
reality, most adults receiving Medicaid already work, fraud is rare, and
most Medicaid fraud that does take place is committed by providers, not
the individuals who were ultimately kicked off of their plans.
Republicans in Congress also last year allowed enhanced health care
subsidies for health care plans purchased through the Affordable Care
Act (ACA) to expire, causing premiums to expire and millions more to
lose health care.
Republicans are once again planning
to target financial assistance for ACA plans. According to an assessment
by the Congressional Budget Office last year, when a similar move to
target cost-sharing reductions was considered but ultimately left off
the table, the cuts now being proposed would result in an additional
300,000 Americans losing health care coverage, and an increase in out of
pocket costs for some ACA plan holders. That's on top of the 14 million
Americans already expected to lose coverage by 2030 as a result of the
Big Beautiful Bill.
This is bad news. Too bad the mid-terms aren't this week.
Monday, March 30, 2026. Chump and Netanyahu continue to terrorize the
Middle East, No Kings protests take part across the US, Senator Alex
Padilla stresses the importance of immigrants to Social Security, and
much more.
As the US and Israel continue their war on Iran -- and surrounding neighbors -- Rory Carroll (GUARDIAN) reports on a world figure speaking out:
Pope Leo
has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have
“hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to the Trump
administration.
The pontiff made the comments
on Sunday as thousands of US troops arrived in the Middle East and days
after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy”.
During
a Palm Sunday mass in St Peter’s Square, the pope said the conflict
between Iran, Israel and the US was “atrocious” and that Jesus could not
be used to justify war.
“This is our God:
Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify
war,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers. “He does not listen to
the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
Quoting a Bible passage, Leo added: “‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”
Josh McElwee (REUTERS) adds, "Addressing tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday, the
celebration that opens the holy week leading up to Easter for the
world's 1.4 billion Catholics, the pontiff called the conflict
"atrocious" and said Jesus cannot be used to justify any wars."
Several hundred U.S. Special Operations
forces have arrived in the Middle East, joining thousands of Marines and
Army paratroopers in a deployment meant to give President Trump
additional options to expand the monthlong war with Iran, two U.S.
military officials said on Sunday.
The
commandos, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, have not yet been
assigned specific missions, the officials said, speaking on the
condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.
But
as specialized ground troops, they could be deployed to help safeguard
the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed. Or they could
be deployed as part of a mission to try to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s
oil hub in the northern Persian Gulf. Alternatively, they could be used
in a mission aimed at Iran’s highly enriched uranium at the Isfahan
nuclear site.
The commandos join 2,500
Marines and another 2,500 sailors, who recently arrived in the region.
Altogether there are more than 50,000 American troops in the Middle East
now, roughly 10,000 more than usual, as Mr. Trump decides on his next
step in the war.
Concern is justifiably growing that a cornered Donald Trump will send US ground troops into combat
on Iranian soil to avoid being personally and politically humiliated in
a war he started, mismanaged and cannot end. Yet such a self-serving
escalation, even if ostensibly limited in duration and scope, could
itself prove catastrophic for him and the American people. Think what
happened in previous US military interventions. In sum, he’s caught in a
modern-day catch-22. Pick your own metaphor for dumb. Trump’s stumped,
hoist by his own petard, stuck between a rock and a hard place, and up
the creek without a paddle. The creek in question is, of course, the
strait of Hormuz.
Firmly ensconced in his
weird parallel universe, Trump insists the war is all but won, Iran is
suing for peace and talks are making good progress. In the real world,
Iran is still fighting on all fronts, Israel is still bombing, the
strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, and the Iran-allied Houthi militia in Yemen has joined the war, attacking Israel and potentially blocking Red Sea trade routes. The US and Iran have each issued maximalist demands,
but there is no sign of actual negotiations. They are even further
apart than they were before Trump, egged on by Benjamin Netanyahu,
abandoned diplomacy last month. Sometime soon, Trump will be forced to
confront the huge gap between what he wants and what’s on offer. At that
point he could turn to the troop buildup in the Gulf and order ground
attacks.
As Chump decides on his next step in the
war -- he makes it up as he goes along. No planning was put into this.
No thought. You had Senator Lindsey Graham whispering to Benjamin
Netanyahu about how to win Chump over on the decision to go to war with
Iran, you had Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth raring to start a
religious war.
Chump is in bed with Netanyahu. Always was. But, hey, Rashida Tlaib couldn't endorse Kamala Harris.
Israeli forces killed at least eight people in attacks on police stations and another location in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Air strikes targeted two police checkpoints in al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, according to local media.
Such police checkpoints had been established across Gaza to help protect displaced families.
Displaced people, including a girl, and three police officers were
among those killed, the Palestinian health ministry said. An additional
four people were wounded.
"For
years, Ali Hassan Shoeib operated as a Hezbollah Radwan Force terrorist
under the guise of a journalist. Turns out the 'press vest' was just a
cover for terror."
This picture accompanied the post from the Israel Defense Forces's (IDF's) official English language account.
The edited image of Al Manar journalist Ali Shoeib was posted on the IDF's English X account. (X / @IDF)
However,
after questions from Fox News, the IDF has reportedly been forced to
admit it edited the photo of Shoeib to show him in a military uniform.
President Donald Trump said yesterday that he would like to “take the oil in Iran” and is considering seizing the export hub of Kharg Island.
“To
be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but
some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But
they’re stupid people,” the president said in an interview with the
Financial Times.
President Donald Trump said yesterday that he would like to “take the oil in Iran” and is considering seizing the export hub of Kharg Island.
“To
be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but
some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But
they’re stupid people,” the president said in an interview with the
Financial Times.
In big cities and small towns across the
world, protesters gathered for thousands of rallies against President
Trump and his policies and actions, with the self-stated goal of
fighting dictatorship.
Demonstrators,
including elected officials and community leaders, chanted defiant
messages and carried homemade signs that condemned the war in Iran,
threats against voting rights and the White House’s mass deportation
push, among other topics. Organized by a coalition of activist groups
under the banner “No Kings,” it was the third such countrywide protest
in the past 10 months.
In New York, the Heat actor
was among those leading the procession, alongside Rev. Al Sharpton and
Attorney General Letitia James. During his speech, he called the
gatherings a “great rallying cry, and hugely successful as millions of
us have answered the call.”
[. . .]
In
St. Paul, Minn., Springsteen was also joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders,
Rep. Ilhan Omar and Gov. Tim Walz at one of the largest rallies in the
country, where he sang “Streets of Minneapolis,” the song he introduced after the ICE killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
“This
past winter, federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of
Minneapolis,” the heartland rock musician said. “Well, they picked the
wrong city. The power and the solidarity of the people of Minneapolis,
Minnesota was an inspiration to the entire country. Your strength and
commitment told us that this is still America, and this reactionary
nightmare and these invasions of American cities will not stand.”
Fonda
also appeared, and read a statement from Becca Good, the wife of Renee
Good. “The world now knows that my wife sparkled with sunshine and shone
with kindness that is unmatched,” Good said in the statement. “We were
robbed of an incredible human. It has made people pause, and take a
breath, and have to choose sides. We choose the side of love.”
People spoke out and shared at the protests. Trish Christakis (6 SOUTH FLORIDA) quotes
Floridian Katy Yankie stating, "I've spent my life standing up for
others, so this is a natural extension of that. There are so many ways
we can get involved and I encourage everybody before the rights are
taken away to find somebody to get involved." Lindsey Toomer (COLORADO NEWSLINE) quotes
health care worker Sarah Williams who took part in the Denver protest,
"I worry for the youth of our nation … I worry about women’s rights. I
worry about our community. I worry about people of color. I believe
that we need to value all people and have the very
simple kindergarten rules of just treat everybody with kindness and how
you want to be treated." Annie Knox (UTAH NEWS DISPATCH) quotes Mecha
de U of U's Samantha Reagan speaking to the crowd in Salt Lake City,
"We must fight for a future where the needs of working class people are
put before racist deportation campaigns and endless wars." Molly Rains, William Skipworth, Maya Mitchell and Dana Wormald (NEW HAMPSHIRE BULLETIN) quote Portsmouth’s Market Square participant Katie Jarvis stating, "I am alarmed, frightened, and
embarrassed right now to be an American citizen. I think the
way rights, the rule of law has been tossed out, whether it's an
immigrant or a citizen, that the administration is trying to intimidate
people." In Philadelphia, Emily Neil (WHYY) quotes college student Mark Laywhyee stating, "I come from an immigrant family, myself. So to see
DHS, and specifically ICE officers, in our airports and in our schools
and hospitals and invading every part of our life, just to attack and
persecute immigrants, the people that are the lifeblood of this country -- it's very disheartening to myself and my family." Sterling Sewell (MISSOURI INDEPENDENT) quotes 14-year-old Leo stating, "I believe we should stop misusing ICE to deport innocent civilians." Christine Condon and Rhiannon Evans (MARYLAND MATTERS) quote
Baltimore's Kerry Bracy, "It's everything. It is the illegal wars, it
is flouting laws. It is ignoring the fact that there are three coequal
branches of government. The racism, the misogyny, cronyism, the
oligarchy." Alex Baumhardt, Shaanth Nanguneri and Robin Linares (OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE) quote
Portland participant Grace Mitchell stating, "All of my outrage can’t
fit on this sign. The way our education is being treated, the money
that's being taken away from science and programs, those are all things
that really hurt me."
Cousins Jennifer and Jackie Arteaga,
of Mexican descent, said current events seemed almost surreal, keeping
the American dream out of reach. They said they feared for family
members who don’t have documentation.
“It feels like our country is a joke …
with a government that’s so unjust,” said Jennifer Arteaga, 25, who
attended with her 3-year-old son. “It’s his future we’re talking about.”
Jackie Arteaga, 20, lives 20 minutes
from the proposed detention facility, and said she worries about seeing
ICE agents in her community.
“It’s a scary feeling to know that I might be seeing them at the Wawa by my house,” said Jackie Arteaga. “What do I do?”
Jennifer Arteaga criticized the use
of the empty warehouse for ICE, saying that resources could be used to
house homeless people in the area instead. Jackie Arteaga also worried
about the impact of the facility on her area’s water and sewage system —
which state officials cited as barriers in administrative orders earlier this month.
Protesters carried U.S. flags, some
of them positioned upside down to signal dire distress. There were many
signs critical of the Trump administration.
Megan McKay, a Madison resident who
grew up in the Chicago area, told the Wisconsin Examiner that
immigration was the main issue that brought her out to protest for a
third time since Trump took office, due to personal experience that has
shaped her outlook. She said her father immigrated to the U.S. from
Belfast, Northern Ireland when he was “wee” but received a deportation
letter in 2019. She said they were lucky to be able to work through the
system to allow him to stay.
“We, quote, unquote, look like we’re
supposed to be here. We speak English. I feel like it’s completely
unacceptable what this current administration is doing,” McKay said.
“Our country was founded on immigrants. We are the land of opportunity,
and we’ve completely lost sight of that.”
McKay said she thinks more people are
having an “aha” moment about Trump, and she is confident there could be
a blue wave in this year’s midterm elections. Wisconsin will have
critical elections on the ballot for governor, the state Legislature and
Congressional seats in November
The war was a central animating force in the Saturday rallies, which
were attended by roughly eight million people, according to “No Kings”
organizers, though their estimates in some cities were higher than those
of local public safety officials. But the fighting in the Middle East
was hardly the only issue on the minds of frustrated Democrats.
Many protesters said that the war had
brought them out on Saturday. And at least in some places, the conflict
appeared to be motivating younger people.
One
large rally was held across the street from the University of Iowa,
where the youth outreach group Voters of Tomorrow signed students up to
join its organizing efforts.
Katy
Gates, 22, an organizer, said the crowd was “a lot younger, more diverse
and more energetic” than those at previous “No Kings” demonstrations.
She attributed the change, in part, to the war.
“Our
generation has grown up with this idea of endless war in the Middle
East,” Ms. Gates said. “And the idea of getting into yet another is
something that people are rightfully really angry about.”
Tom Arndorfer biked to Minneapolis from Edina, Minnesota, to
attend a rally because, he said, “democracy is under threat.”
“It’s absolutely tragic what’s happening in this country and
around the world,” Arndorfer, who held a sign reading “Elvis is the
only king!” told CNN affiliate KARE. “And I just want my voice to be heard with other people.”
Arndorfer said he started attending protests in the wake of an ICE agent fatally shooting Renee Good in January.
Also in Chicago, veteran Chris Holy and his son, Nicholas
Holy, told CNN they’ve become so vexed with the Trump administration
they felt compelled to protest for the first time.
“I see the injustices going on, in my opinion, what’s
happening to the people in our nation, and I wanted to be here to voice
my dissatisfaction with them,” Chris Holy said. The father-son duo said
they plan to attend more protests in the future.
Chris Holy added that he wants “to celebrate with my son,
hopefully bringing a change of a new government, one day. And just be a
voice for the people.”
Nicholas Holy echoed his father’s sentiment.
“When you see things going wrong in the community, when you
see your fellow citizens being attacked, it feels good to give a voice
and to speak up,” Nicholas Holy told CNN.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Alex Padilla's office:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, U.S.
Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary
Immigration Subcommittee, joined a Senate Budget Committee hearing on
the future of Social Security to highlight immigrants’ essential role in
contributing to the United States’ workforce, the economy, and the
long-term financial health of Social Security. Padilla questioned
witnesses on the harmful impacts of President Trump’s indiscriminate
mass deportation agenda on Social Security solvency.
Padilla cited a 2024 Migration Policy Institute report
that found that without immigrants and their U.S.-born children, the
prime working age population would have shrunk by more than 8 million
people between 2000 and 2023. On average, immigrants arriving in the
United States are younger than the native-born population and have a
higher labor force participation rate, paying into a system they may
never become eligible to benefit from themselves.
He underscored that estimates from Social Security Administration
actuaries and the Congressional Budget Office’s 2024 surge report show
that more immigration always leads to a decrease in the trust fund
deficit. Karen Glenn, Chief Actuary at the Social Security
Administration, and Molly Dahl, Chief of the Long-Term Analysis Unit of
the Labor, Income Security, and Long-Term Analysis Division at the
Congressional Budget Office, echoed Padilla’s sentiments, noting that
many immigrants who pay into Social Security and have U.S. citizen
children will never receive those benefits. Ms. Glenn emphasized that
the Trump Administration’s detentions and deportations of legally
working immigrants would hurt Social Security’s solvency.
Padilla also made a statement criticizing the Administration’s
previously undisclosed data sharing agreement that gave the Department
of Homeland Security access to sensitive personal data from the Social
Security Administration on nearly every resident, including full social
security numbers, addresses, and birth dates, for the purposes of
election administration. He warned that the agency’s outdated
citizenship information will inevitably result in errors, potentially
disenfranchising U.S. citizens and making the data of millions of
residents vulnerable to an indiscriminate deportation campaign.
Key Excerpts:
PADILLA: Question for Ms. Glenn: Social Security
actuaries in their estimate of the impact of immigration over 25, 50,
and even 75 years have found that more immigration always correlates
with a decrease in the trust fund deficit and vice versa. Would you care
to comment any further on that?
GLENN: That’s absolutely correct. All the factors
you mentioned, immigrants who are paying into the system, many of them
will never receive benefits, and they also have U.S.-born children.
PADILLA: Ms. Dahl, the CBO’s 2024 surge report made similar findings. Would you care to add any comment?
DAHL: Absolutely. So in that, in that report that
you’re referring to, we looked at the effect of the surge on what we
were calling the immigration surge, that increase in immigration that
you that you referenced earlier, on the federal budget, and in
particular in terms of social security … Immigrants come in, they’re
more likely to be of working age. Many work, pay payroll taxes. That is a
benefit to the program, and then for a variety of reasons, many will
not ultimately claim, and certainly won’t be eligible to claim. They
won’t have their 40 quarters of coverage, for instance, inside the
10-year window.
PADILLA: So is there an impact to the solvency of
the Social Security program being felt by this Administration’s mass
deportation agenda? I mean, imagine if forget — I won’t even say all
immigrants are detained and or deported, but let’s say half because we
have cases and reports of it’s not just undocumented immigrants that are
being deported and or detained. There’s legal immigrants with work
permits that are being deported or, at a minimum, detained, with these
arbitrary goals, not just for daily detentions and arrests, but the
building out of significant detention center capacity across the
country. Does that help or hurt our Social Security solvency?
GLENN: It would hurt. We do some sensitivity
analysis in the trustees report every year speaking to the effect of
more and less immigration.
Video of Padilla’s full questioning is available here.
Last year, Padilla joined 15 of his Democratic Senate colleagues in condemning and demanding the reversal of the Social Security Administration’s decision to list certain immigrants as “dead” in the master files. Padilla previously emphasized the dangers and
immense economic costs of the Trump Administration’s mass
deportation plans during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 2024.
