Like Maria Said Paz

Monday, June 02, 2025

Losers Lindsey Graham, MTG and Kristi Noem

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Cosplay Kristi"

From Ava and C.I.'s "TV Review: Veronica Mars is from Mars" back in 2005:

Veronica Mars, for those who've missed it, airs on UPN although Friday night an episode we like to call the "Knock Down That Closet Door, Mary!" aired on CBS. Since this is no Joan of Arcadia, you can forgive viewers who were caught unaware and left to wonder if same-sex flirting is the new machismo for the young male set?

Knock down that closet door, Mary. I think of that whenever Senator Lindsey Graham speaks and another purse falls out of his mouth. The 69 year old continues to firmly believe that the whole country doesn't know he's a closet case. He is America's Beverly Leslie (Karen's nemesis on WILL & GRACE). He's in the news:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is coming under fire for what some called a "threat" he made aimed at Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Over the weekend, Thunberg joined other activists on a ship carrying aid from Sicily to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The supplies included baby formula, flour, rice, and diapers, and was described by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as "limited amounts, though symbolic".

[. . .]

"Hope Greta and her friends can swim!" he wrote.

Social media users immediately pounced on Graham's comment as a "threat."

"Why is a 69-year-old U.S. senator joking about the drowning of a 22-year-old Swedish activist? Is this where American politics is now?" wrote journalist Brian McDonald.

"Why would a US senator be threatening a young climate activist?" wrote the account of @xIsraelExposedx to their 66,000 followers.

The account @Darkiora, followed by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie wrote, "Just casually threatening the life of a young girl that wants to feed a starving besieged population where half are children. How do Americans accept this behavior."

I don't see it as a threat; however, I do see it as bitchy and wonder, along with others, what an almost 70-year-old drama queen is doing picking on a 20-something kid.

Bitchy? Did someone say Marjorie Taylor Greene? Vishesh Raisinghani (MONEYWISE) reports:

In a digital post dripping with outrage, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed the claims made by Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, alleging widespread fraud within the Social Security system.

"Our own government just blindly sends checks to anyone and everyone whether citizen, non-citizen, dead or alive,” Greene said in a recent post on X, formerly Twitter. "We must end this malpractice and outright waste, fraud, and abuse. This is the mission of DOGE."

To be fair, the Congresswoman has a reputation for making baseless allegations and promoting conspiracy theories. In previous tweets, she has claimed that 9/11 was an inside job, Jewish people control a space laser that causes wildfires and that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged.

Her latest assertion — that cracking down on “widespread” fraud can save the Social Security Administration (SSA) $1 trillion — has also been debunked.

Poor little liar MTG. Join me in laughing at her and, tonight, let's laugh at the notion that she could ever be in the US Senate. Let's laugh at her thinking she could. Let's chortle over the reality that she was going to run until last month when Chump told her that even his pollsters showed she wouldn't win.

Poor dumb Marjorie.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS)):

Monday, June 6, 2025. Donald's dementia gets worse as he continues to risk the safety and economy of the United States. Anti-trans Glenneth Greenwald outed as the ultimate bottom after his whoring around leads to a taping and a leak. And much more.

The out of control and dementia stricken Donald Chump continues to terrorize the American people. Most recently, he sent his gestapo agents into the office of US House Rep Jerry Nadler. Peter Wade (ROLLING STONE) reports:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler criticized Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after officers detained a crying staff member in Nadler's district office.

While protesters gathered outside an immigration courthouse, DHS officers attempted to enter Nadler's Manhattan office in the same building and accused his staff of "harboring rioters."

The incident, first reported by Gothamist, was captured on camera. In the video, which the outlet said was recorded by a person who was monitoring activity in immigration court, DHS is seen handcuffing an unidentified staff member.

"No she did not. That is not what happened," another staff member said off camera.

"She pushed him back," an unidentified officer responded.

"I'm a federal officer," a DHS official said to a staff member who was stopping him from entering a private section of the office and asking if they had a search warrant. The officer said no, they did not have a warrant, but the staff member eventually allowed him to enter the area.

Jerry Nadler gets it. Troy Matthews (MEDIASTOUCH NEWS) notes:

Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) issued a statement following a DHS raid on his Manhattan office, during which one of his staffers was detained. In footage originally published by Gothamist, DHS officers can be seen aggressively handcuffing a crying woman and forcing entry into Nadler's office without a warrant despite the protests of his staff.

[. . .

"DHS agents forcefully entered my Congressional office and handcuffed a member of my staff," Nadler said in a statement, adding that he was "alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics DHS is employing in New York City and across the country."

"President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner."

"If this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone — and it is happening," Nadler continued.

He is exactly right. The gestapo is here and it reports to Chump. They were turned away and they stormed in any way. They now lie and try to invent excuses for what they did. Because they think they can get away with this -- take illegal action and then make up excuses and lies afterward. Jerry needs to sue on behalf on behalf of his staff and on behalf of his physical office which was invaded. There was no search warrant. They don't even claim that they followed anyone inside.

There are so many outrages here Over the weekend, THE NEW YORK TIMES' Peter Baker appeared on MSNBC.

Jonathan Capehart: So, Peter, why hasn't this blatant corruption and monetizing of the White House promoted backlash.

Peter Baker: I think, first of all, he does so many things, all the time, it is hard to focus on any single action. It is hard to focus on any single action. The plane kind of penetrated. The plane broke through. People got the plane. But for the most part, they're not paying attention to the crypto currency, that he's made 320 million dollars -- he and his family and a related business -- 320 million since he took office.

I agree with Peter to a degree but he's looking at a different media landscape.

The plane is outrageous and should be condemned by every American. It's an illegal bribe and Chump's lied about it from the start.

People have been outraged.

Offline.

Some online have been as well. Some. Not all.

It was disgusting to watch left YOUTUBERS do segments where they whined -- WHINED -- that the media was focusing on this instead of something else.

These are the David Hoggletts. They want to lead the party but they don't understand the party nor do they understand the media landscape.

If Trump has done something outrageous that, for a change, the media is finally covering (the legacy media and that's what Peter was referring to), that's a good thing. A smart person can jump onto that coverage and amplify it further. If a smart person doesn't think it's important, she or he can shut their damn mouth about it and instead focus on what they think is important for their YOUTUBE segment.

But to segments insisting the plane doesn't matter?

Are you trying to sabotage us all or are just that much of an idiot that should shut down your YOUTUBE channel?

Donald Dementia got even nuttier over the weekend. Most clearly, the dementia shone early Sunday morning. Savannah Kuchar (USA TODAY) reports:

President Donald Trump reshared a post falsely saying former President Joe Biden was "executed in 2020," among other incorrect allegations.

The false claims, made by another user on Truth Social and reposted by Trump on May 31, also included that "clones doubles & robotic engineered soulless mindless entities" have since substituted for the ex-commander-in-chief.

Biden was not executed, and he is still alive today. He served four years in the White House from 2021 to 2025. He sought a second term as president before ending his campaign last summer following a bombshell debate against Trump.

So we've gone from the children's story of our first president, George Washington, stating that he couldn't tell a lie to Chump stating, "I cannot not tell a lie." Isabel Keane (THE INDEPENDENT) adds:

Trump’s supporters were quick to get behind his message, some sharing side-by-side memes of Biden claiming “these are not the same people,” and others egging on Trump for “trolling.”

Some commentators pointed to Biden’s earlobes, claiming that before 2020, they appeared to be unattached to his head, whereas now they are. Another even insisted that the government televised giving Biden a “funeral cannon salute at Arlington” on his Inauguration Day.

Detractors of the president, meanwhile, branded his sharing of the post “concerning.”

Trump’s wife, Melania, has also been the subject of similar conspiracy theories, with some claiming a body double replaced her during his first term. The White House at the time dismissed the theories as a “non-story.”

Keane notes that Chump also lied on social media Friday when he insisted that a 2015 interview he did with Stephen Colbert had been deleted from the internet despite it still being available all over the internet including at the YOUTUBE channel for THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT.

The mind is going, going, gone. Chump's sinks further senility with each day.

And he leaves the country and the people at risk, as a result.

Matt Sedensky (AP) notes, "President Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum could hit Americans in an unexpected place: grocery aisles. The announcement Friday of a staggering 50% levy on those imports stoked fear that big-ticket purchases from cars to washing machines to houses could see major price increases. But those metals are so ubiquitous in packaging, they’re likely to pack a punch across consumer products from soup to nuts." Augusta Saraiva (BLOOMBERG NEWS) adds, "U.S. consumers hit the brakes in April while goods imports plummeted by a record as companies adjusted to higher tariffs." Ali McCadden (CNBC) news continues:

Consumers who hoped tariffs would not hit their wallets keep getting bad news.

As they reported earnings in recent weeks, multiple major retailers said they have already raised some prices or plan to hike them in the coming weeks to offset the duties. They include major grocers and consumer goods sellers Costco, Best Buy, Walmart and Target.

President Donald Trump's ever-changing trade policy has roiled retailers as they try to plan their supply chains. On earnings calls, they faced the difficult task of trying to appease investors who want them to protect their bottom lines and shoppers who could balk at price hikes.

In some cases, companies have been explicit, citing the estimated toll tariffs will take on their bottom lines and breaking down which countries their supply chains rely on. Other retailers have been less forthcoming, avoiding the word "tariff" and instead blaming strategy shifts or price hikes on "macroeconomic uncertainty" — or simply refusing to point the finger at all.

Many retailers have reduced or withdrawn their full-year guidance because of tariffs. Companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's and Best Buy have slashed their profit outlooks. Meanwhile, American Eagle, Canada Goose, Ross and Mattel pulled their full-year guidance.

Lisa Eadicicco (CNN) zooms in on the reality for small businesses:

The confusion has made it challenging for some small companies to plan, business owners told CNN. In certain cases, they have had to consider changing their product strategy, looking into shifting their supply chains, reducing staff hours or delaying products.

“My fear is, if this continues, there’s going to be like the mass extinction of small businesses,” Julie Robbins, CEO of Ohio-based guitar pedal maker EarthQuaker Devices, told CNN.

Trump announced blanket tariffs across the globe on April 2, and since then, his plans have changed on a regular basis.

In early April, he issued a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs almost everywhere except China. Then, after ratcheting up total tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%, he declared smartphones and certain other electronics would be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs. The US and China agreed in May to roll back reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. And in late May, he threatened smartphone makers like Apple with 25% tariffs if they don’t make their phones in the US. He also agreed to push back levies on imports from the European Union until July 9.

Those are only some of his changes, which can come at any time of day via the White House, social media posts or other avenues.

The whiplash has been hard for companies to keep up with. Even major brands like apparel giant Gap are feeling the impact of tariffs, but small companies with far fewer resources are in an even tougher spot. The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index fell by 1.6 points in April, dipping below the 51-year average for the second consecutive month. The organization’s chief economist, Bill Dunkelberg, cited uncertainty as a “major impediment” for small business owners in a press release.

“It’s the sort of more smaller, kind of more niche… brands that are going to really, really get hit by this,” Jack Leathem, an analyst at market research firm Canalys, told CNN in April.

Some small business owners have had to make difficult decisions as they’ve grappled with the impact of tariffs. EveAnna Manley, whose company Manley Labs makes high-end electronics for recording studios, has had to cut her employees’ hours by 25%.

You can't plan with a crazy person trying to crash the economy and changing his plans to do that every five minutes. Katherine Li (BUSINESS INSIDER) notes:

US manufacturing is struggling to fill existing jobs as tariffs aim to bring back more.
The manufacturing industry faces a skills gap, an aging workforce, and negative perceptions.
Trade experts say China has advantages in manufacturing from subsidies and low-cost labor.

The US manufacturing renaissance may need a lot more than tariffs.

President Donald Trump wants to bring back manufacturing, but even if his tariffs manage to stimulate growth in this sector, the industry faces a skills gap, an aging workforce, and negative perceptions — not to mention the potentially mounting cost of hiring domestic labor in comparison to countries like China.

Experts and researchers in trade told Business Insider that the manufacturing sector is struggling to fill the existing open positions.

"Manufacturers have faced a structural challenge for multiple years now," said Carolyn Lee, president and executive director of the Manufacturing Institute. "The heart of that is most people don't know what modern manufacturing is all about, that we still are challenged by a perception of what the industry used to be."

"Our workforce, a lot of them are also retiring, and they are older," Lee added. "Manufacturers have averaged about 500,000 open jobs every month for several years now."

Here's a thought. Maybe next time we don't trust the US economy with a failure who's had to declare bankruptcy -- let alone had to do so multiple times.

Why should anyone like Chump? He's wrecking the economy. He's leaving the country at risk. He's not doing his job. The American people are at risk in every way that a population can be at risk. The economy we've already noted. How about groceries?

Jessica Kwong (METRO) notes, "An ongoing recall of tomatoes in the US has been upgraded to the highest risk level with a ‘reasonable probability’ of death. Tomatoes from Williams Farms Repack LLC on Wednesday were designated as a Class I recall by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is responsible for protecting public health." And the CDC notes the cucumber recall:

Recalled food

Whole fresh cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers Inc.

Distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. between April 29, 2025 and May 19, 2025.
Distributed to stores, restaurants, and other facilities.
Several people ate cucumbers on cruise ships leaving ports in Florida.
Cucumbers may have been sold individually or in smaller packages and the types could be labeled as "supers," "selects," or "plains."
These cucumbers are not organic varieties.

For all recall information of cucumbers and foods made with them, visit FDA's website here.

Additional recalls include foods such as cucumber salads, and made-to-order subs.

An additional recall is being conducted by Target for products that used recalled cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers, Inc.

Tomatoes and cucumbers. Which would suggest we need to spend more money on food safety. However, that's not what's happening. Instead, Chump's cutting regulations and gutting the programs that protect the American people. For instance, AP reports, "The Trump administration is cutting health spending on an unprecedented scale, experts say, including pulling $11 billion of direct federal support because the pandemic is over and eliminating 20,000 jobs at national health agencies that in part assist and support local public health work. It’s proposing billions more be slashed." Stephanie Armour (KFF HEALTH NEWS) notes, "In addition, the administration withdrew a proposed regulation to reduce the presence of salmonella in raw poultry, a plan that could have saved more than $13 million annually by preventing roughly 3,000 illnesses. It is also disbanding a Department of Justice unit that pursues civil and criminal actions against companies that sell contaminated food and is reassigning its attorneys, according to a former FDA official, a publicly posted memo from the head of the department’s criminal division, and a white paper by the law firm Gibson Dunn." Yuki Noguchi (NPR) reports:

Paula Soldner inspected meat and poultry plants around southern Wisconsin for 38 years: "I'm talking brats, hot dogs, summer sausage, pizza."

Her Department of Agriculture job required daily check-ups on factories to ensure slicers were cleaned on schedule, for example. Her signoff allowed plants to put red-white-and-blue "USDA inspected" stickers on grocery-store packages.

Last month, Soldner took the Trump administration up on its offer of early retirement, joining an exodus from the Food Safety and Inspection Service that began under President Biden's reorganization of the agency last year. Soldner, who also chairs the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, says remaining inspectors must now visit eight facilities — double the usual number — each day.

That's not possible, she says, so it's unclear how much food is legitimately earning that stamp of approval.

"Did that plant receive that daily inspection from inspection personnel? In my mind, that's a huge question mark," Soldner says.

She says further staff retirements, hostility toward federal workers, and plummeting morale are creating conditions that make consumers more vulnerable to outbreaks of foodborne illness, like the deadly listeria contamination that hit Boar's Head deli meats last year, killing 10 people and hospitalizing dozens.

"Do I foresee another Boar's Head situation? Absolutely," she says. "I worry about the public."

Experts who study the nation's food supply say the safety of everything we eat — from milk and macaroni to meat and lettuce — is called into question because of massive cuts by the Trump administration to the three federal agencies charged with monitoring it: the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Who is this helping?

The answer is no one. It's putting Americans at risk. And Chump doesn't give a damn. No one has ever been less qualified to be president than Donald Chump.

The crazy does not go unnoticed on the world stage. Simon Marks (THE I PAPER) reports:

A fortnight ago, government officials in Singapore wondered whether US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was even going to attend this weekend’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. On Saturday, the former Fox News presenter used his speech at the year’s most prominent Asian security summit to sound loud alarm bells about China.

But those assembled are not buying the latest offering for laughable Pete. Marcks notes:

But the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, rejected Hegseth’s proposals, telling the Shangri-La Dialogue that European and Asian security issues were “literally interlinked”. Citing efforts by Chinese-flagged ships to disrupt undersea cables in the Baltic, and Chinese cyber attacks on European nations including the Czech Republic, she insisted the bloc would not outsource its ongoing efforts to confront China and will continue “standing up for international law because it protects us and everybody else”. She pointed to Europe’s deepening security ties with Asian partners, citing defence alliances with Japan and South Korea, and saying plans were now afoot to enhance security relationships with India and Australia as well.

For the UK, Admiral Sir Anthony Radakin, the Chief of the Defence Staff, also asserted a determination to remain engaged in the Asia-Pacific theatre, with Royal Navy ships participating in freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea. He told the forum that “freedom of navigation in this part of the world matters to us, just as it matters in the English Channel … we are an active, responsible and reliable partner in the shared cause of global stability”.

Hegseth’s coming-out party at the Shangri-La Dialogue presented him with a new world order in which European and Asian governments are not buying the US-dominated vision that Trump is attempting to sell. In Singapore, they made it clear that they do not believe they can automatically trust Trump to take the lead role in the region, nor to come to their own aid in the event of any Chinese or Russian attack. As China expands its “Belt and Road” development initiative to more than 140 countries, its partners in that endeavour now include Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore itself.

Hegseth's coming-out party bombed and the world's not interested in Chump's lies.

Hegseth's cosplay of manly is hilarious -- especially with his 'bitch tits' (look it up and note that his are natural and not the result of steroids). Happy Pride, Pete.

Happy Pride to one and all.

Even Glenneth Greenwald who, per multiple Tweets at POST LEFT WATCH, has been outed on video as a submissive bottom. Haven't seen the video and don't need to -- his voice is so annoying and he's always smacking his lips like he just put Dr. Pepper flavored Bonnie Bell on them,

We've talked of bottom boy Glenn for years here. And the reason is because he took the kink public. When your realize he wants to be torn apart on camera -- not talking the sex tape -- you understand why he lies and makes outrageous claims. He's a joke and has been one forever. But then you get bad writers writing bad books (see Ava and my "Media: OWNED finds Eoin Higgins owned by bad journalism") and things just get more obscured because closeted Socialists don't want to do the work required to actually explore a topic and write a book.

Now that we all know Glenn is the ultimate bottom (does the video show him drinking pee from 'the tap'?), he can stop trying to be his laughable version of butch and maybe also stop attacking transgendered people.

Happy Pride, Glenn. Be glad the leak wasn't of that fisting video. Is there a time stamp on the video? Does it expose you as cheating on your husband while he was in the hospital? Or have those videos not leaked yet? Now stop attacking trans people and go and be the most submissive bottom in the world that you can be.

Sunday, Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Cosplay Kristi" and Kat's "Kat's Korner: Miley Cyrus' SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL indeed" went up. The following sites updated:

Friday, May 30, 2025

Joni Ernst doesn't feel the need to defend people since "we're all going to die"

Joni Ernst holds the Distinguished Senate Coward Medal. She earned it. A number of people tried to defend her and claim that as an assault survivor and a combat veteran she wouldn't vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. But then the coward did just that -- despite her earlier statements. She waited months and months to confess why: People said mean things about her.

Aw. Poor thing. Is she trying to take over Dianne Feinstein's old role as "girl senator"?

Well Joni's now gunning for another 'decoration' to match her Distinguished Senate Coward Medal.

Dareh Gregorian (NBC NEWS) reports:

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, was repeatedly pressed on cuts to Medicaid in the House's budget bill at a town hall in her home state on Friday, and pushed back on an attendee who said the cuts would lead to deaths.

"People are not — well, we all are going to die, so, for heaven’s sakes," she said, prompting resounding jeers.

Yes, Joni, we are. Yes, we are.

So since we're all going to die, what's the point of anything you do?

If that's your attitude, there's no point to any of your actions -- all your faux ones and even the tiny amount of genuine ones you have offered over the years. You are a joke.

Speaking of sad and disgusting, check out this video report of how US House Rep. Nancy Mace In The Face tormenting her staff and making them be her sock puppets online posting defenses of her.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Friday, May 30, 2025. Musk prepares to leave the administration and he's taking a 'trophy' wife with him, Leavitt and Junior try to match Chump with their own public lies, Chump's immigration tragedy continues, how Dems shouldn't speak to prospective voters, and much more.

Let's start with Alien Musk. DOGE is a failure. Despite being cheered on by many assorted right wing nut jobs -- including Ben & Jerry's Ben Cohen who didn't just Tweet praising it but actually created a website to applaud it (DOGE VS BLOG -- see Marcia's "MAGA and Jerry ice cream? Pass and pass on the hideous Ben Cohen" and Ann's "DOGE and the DOGE loving, fake ass Ben Cohen"), DOGE is a failure. It came nowhere near even one trillion in 'savings.' Brad Heath, Jason Lange, Andy Sullivan and Grant Smith (REUTERS) explain:

In the four months since Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency began slashing federal spending and staffing, a handful of the agencies he has targeted trimmed their combined spending by about $19 billion compared with the same period last year, according to U.S. Treasury Department summaries reviewed by Reuters.

That is far below Musk's initial goal of $2 trillion in savings and amounts to about a half of 1% of total spending by the federal government.

DOGE is a failure. It led to massive firings which increases unemployment, it's leading to major problems for people trying to access everything from our national parks to their local Social Security agency. Only foul fools -- like Ben Cohen -- would ever applaud this nonsense. It's such a failure that Musk is using exit interviews to lash out and blame others. Chump's handed him the perfect gift . . . his budget bill. That bill will steal from every American to give only to the extremely wealthy. And Musk is pointing to it to pretend as though DOGE would have worked but now this big budget bill is going to knock out all of his hard work.

Hard work?

Does he men apparently having sex with a White House staffer -- a married White House staffer? Is it okay if the White House staffer's husband was involved and it was a thruple? Was it a thruple gone wrong and is that why the wife is leaving with Musk?

Sarah Ewall-Wice (THE DAILY BEAST) reports:

Katie Miller, a top adviser and spokesperson for the Department of Government Efficiency at the White House is headed out to work for the tech billionaire, according to CNN.

It’s prompted rumors to swirl across the internet that there’s trouble in West Wing paradise.

Miller is married to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller who on Wednesday fired off a lengthy post on X over Musk criticizing Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Katie Miller, who also served in the first Trump administration, was named to work with DOGE in December.

So Musk was her supervisor?

Propaganda Pig Karoline Leavitt stuck her snout in the air earlier this week to prove that she can't pronounce words and to insult LGBTQ+ graduates of Harvard. Hmm. Let's go back to her problems with words. Donald starred in the tacky TV show THE APPRENTICE. Is there a reason his staff struggles with the term "apprenticeship."

Oh that's right, she cant hear clearly because of the mud in her ears because no one hosed her off after she crawled out of her pigsty.

So Propaganda Pig is slamming LGBTQ+ people and for what?

It appears Chump presided over an administration where his bro had sex with one of his bro's employees -- one of his bro's married employees.

Remember that the next time Chump's bringing up LGBTQ+ people.

And right now let's just take a moment to ponder whether it was just Musk and the cheating wife or whether it was a thruple. As disgusting as it is to picture Stephen Miller having any kind of sex at all, it could have been a thruple.

Later today, Chump will host Musk in the Oval Office in a press conference to mark the end of their FAREWELL TO DEMOCRACY TOUR. Chump will continue solo on his DEGRADE AND DESTROY AMERICA tour which he's hoping will wind down in January of 2029 but, with any midterm luck, could be shut down a lot sooner.

Al Root (BARRON'S) observes:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is leaving Washington -- to the relief of Tesla shareholders everywhere. The personal and corporate brand damage done during Musk’s turn to politics was real, but it can heal if Musk takes his medicine. Will he?

The Musk political whirlwind is well-documented at this point. He backed President Trump’s candidacy after the Pennsylvania assination attempt. Tesla stock soared after Trump’s victory, hitting almost $490 in December. Investors were convinced the budding bromance between Musk and Trump would yield benefits for Tesla. Then Trump tapped Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

After that, Musk was seen more in Washington and less at his companies. DOGE’s controversial actions turned off left-leaning voters, the ones most likely to buy Tesla vehicles. Tesla stock traded below $222 in April, or more than 50% from its peak, as concerns mounted.

Though he's not officially gone yet, his departure is already being weldomced. Farrah Tomazin (DAILY BEAST) reports:

The Pentagon has ended Elon Musk’s directive for federal workers to provide a list of five of their accomplishments every week as it distances itself from one of DOGE’s most contentious policies.

[. . .]

The department has required weekly emails from staff since March, shortly after Musk demanded in February that federal employees explain their work to him as he began to take an axe to the government.

The DOGE directive resulted in 2.3 million people receiving an email titled “What did you do last week?” from the government’s Office of Personnel Management.

But it prompted widespread anger and confusion, particularly when Musk declared on X: “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

Now we're going to come to a stop for a moment.

Why do Democrats lose?

First off, believe Carole King said it best.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and most times you choose between the two. Like Kat, I loathed it when Carole changed those lyrics on THE LIVING ROOM.

So there's that at any period in time.

In our period of time, we keep hearing about this poll or that poll and Dems are just doing awful. It has nothing to do, please pretend, with the backstabbers (can Socialists be backstabbers when they're stabbing Democrats in the back?) like Norman Solomon who can never stop trashing the Democratic Party?

In this period of time when an out of control Chump is in the White House, we're all on edge and the polling is reflecting that though some are trying to use the polling to insist that Bernie and his small number of lemmings should be followed off a cliff and others use it to insist that the party needs to make a hard right.

Reality is the party's just fine in and of itself.

It needs to learn to speak better.

I don't like all the nonsense pile on the Democratic Party that Dean Phillips, Socialists and Republicans are doing of late. It's a distortion in oh, so many ways.

But last night I did catch a Democrat damaging the party.

Maxwell Frost is in the House of Representatives. He's got a great voting record. He often gives great interviews and he can be very inspiration and motivational when he speaks publicly.

Last night he was interviewed by Jen Pskai for her MSNBC show -- MSNBC has not posted it on YOUTUBE.

If they do, I won't post it here. I would've included in this snapshot so you could see what I'm talking about for yourself but, again, it was awful and I'm not posting it as a stand alone.

His remarks might have worked on a college campus (I think they would have).

On primetime cable they turned most people off.

Democrats, to win elections, need Democrats to turn out. Maxwell didn't encourage that with his remarks.

I'm going to personal for a moment. I'm tired. I'm tired of being online, I'm tired of speaking to groups of people. I'm exhausted. I'm having seizures. Sometimes, when I'm speaking, I can feel one about to come on and I'll cross my hands across my chest with my hands in my armpits so that people don't see them shaking while I try to wrap it up quickly so I can down some orange juice or something else for my blood sugar. Now I'm trying to hold it together to the mid-terms. Too many people screwed us over in November of 2024. Not just Rashida but certainly her. People are on edge and I see it everywhere we speak.

Again, I'm trying to maintain this schedule up through the midterms.

So when Maxwell Frost goes on TV and starts talking about what people -- citizens -- need to do?

Stop.

Most people are exhausted -- and that's in good times, non Donald Chump days. They have all these bills that they're struggling to pay, they're working long hours.

They are doing their job.

Why don't people vote? Some people don't vote because of the remarks Maxwell Frost made.

I can't think of anything more stupid to say, more turn down the vote to say.

He went on about how vote and then after and then --

No.

Most people see their job as voting and voting is the end of it. They are voting for you to do your job. Maxwell's holistic answers would please a college audience. But when you're talking to people out there struggling to pay their bills, struggling to take care of family members, struggling to make it through the day and you're telling them that they need vote but then after they're also going to need to do this and that and . . .?

No.

They're going to vote for someone who says they're going to work and do the job they were voted into.

When you start adding other duties?

You're not their boss and people don't like being told what to do. You also come off rather lazy because you're saying that voting for you isn't enough.

Again, I grasp that we need to hold people's feet to the fire. And I'm doing that.

But I speak to voters five days a week, sometimes six. And in every large group I hear people talk about how depressing it is right now and about how they are stretched to the limit, they took off work to go to a protest or they made time to go to their reps office and it may seem simple to you but these are people who have very limited free time and already taxed with duties and obligations.

And your answer is to tell them: Vote for me and then after the election, you'll need to . . .

Why don't people believe politicians?

Because they've always got an excuse don't they?

I don't want hear anyone running for election telling voters that, after the election, there's a honey-do-list that the voter will need to accomplish. No. There's no chore wheel. You're being elected to do a ob. And those of us who are fortunate enough to have the time to hold your feet to the fire will. But we're also going to vote regardless. Likely voters who might bow out? You give them a chore list and that's one more reason that they won't show up on election day.

Maxwell's very bright and a budding star in the party for so many reasons -- and I've re'Tweeted' him many times on BLUESKY -- but that interview? If you want to talk about attitudes towards our Democrats in office, that interview is a reason why there are so many negatives right now.

Tariff refunds?

Leave it (always) to Lawrence O'Donnell to catch the meat of the story that others reporting on it and commenting on it miss. He did so again last night.

The stay is motivated in part due to Chump's promise of tariff refunds.

The administration lies non-stop. Chump sets the tone from the top, but they all lie. They especially lie when it comes to money. Steve Bennen (MADDOW BLOG) reports:

At an Oval Office event on Wednesday, a reporter asked Donald Trump why he never followed through on his threats to impose economic sanctions on Russia. The president never quite got around to answering the question, but he did seem eager to emphasize a completely unrelated point.

“I went to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and [the United Arab Emirates], and we brought back $5.1 trillion,” Trump claimed. “So, I made that money in about two hours, the money that we’re talking about.” After briefly suggesting — without a shred of evidence — that Ukraine has misused U.S. security aid, the Republican went on say, “I’m more interested because I picked up $5.1 trillion and, by the way, got a beautiful big, magnificent free airplane for the United States Air Force, OK? Very proud of that, too.”

For now, let’s not dwell on the fact that the plane from Qatar wasn’t free, and it’s proving to be far more controversial than the White House cares to admit. Let’s instead consider that statistic the president is apparently quite excited about.

If the “$5.1 trillion” figure sounds at all familiar, that’s because Trump can’t seem to stop talking about it. He referenced it a week ago when unveiling the “Make America Healthy Again” report, which came two days after he pushed the same line during a visit to Capitol Hill, which came one day after he repeated the talking point at the White House.

For reasons unknown, the president went on to say last week that the figure might even be “$7 trillion” at some undetermined point in the future.

To be sure, the boast certainly sounds impressive. Americans are apparently supposed to believe that Trump went to the Middle East, met with some officials for “about two hours” and left with investments so enormous, they represent roughly a sixth of the United States’ GDP.

But that’s not what happened.

For one thing, as The Washington Post reported, Trump has started referring to Biden-era foreign investments as his own, pretending that they’re new and that he deserves credit for them. The Post’s report added:

Around the same time, The New York Times took a closer look at the data and reported, “The list of some of the agreements published by the White House left many details vague. The value of the agreements appeared to total about $283 billion.”

Chump's lies and self-aggrandizing statements have always been bad but with the dementia setting in, things have just gotten worse. At least he now has dementia as an excuse. Propaganda Pig Karoline Leavitt can't offer the same excuse. She's just a liar. And a sow.

Krystina Alarcon Carroll (RAW STORY) reports:

Social media users railed against Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for saying the House spending bill, aka “the big, beautiful bill,” will not increase the nation's deficit.

Independent journalist Aaron Rupar was the first to flag the questionable remarks, uttered at an event Thursday.

"Leavitt: ‘I also want to take the opportunity to debunk some false claims that have been circulating in the press. The blatantly wrong claim that the one big beautiful bill increases the deficit is based on the CBO and other scorekeepers who use shoddy assumptions.’"

[. . .]

On Bluesky, Peaceful Progressive posted a red alert emoji saying, "BREAKING: KKKaroline Leavitt says Trump's Big Beautiful Bill won't increase U.S. national deficit, despite Elon Musk expressing 'disappointment' that it will add TRILLIONS of dollars to the debt. This Administration can't even keep their own propaganda straight!" They added a clown emoji at the end of the post.

Riverboatjack told her followers, "I would love to hear Leavitt describe how on earth this thing doesn't add 5 trillion to the deficit. There's no way to squint the math."

But one of the biggest liars in the administration this week was Junior. ABC NEWS reports:

Certain studies within the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" report do not exist as cited, ABC News has confirmed.

Dr. Katherine Keyes, a researcher cited in the report as a first author of a paper on rates of depression and anxiety among teens during the pandemic, confirmed to ABC News that she did not write a paper cited in the report that the White House's Make America Healthy Again Commission headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled last week.

"I was surprised to see what seems to be an error in the citation of my work in the report, and it does make me concerned given that citation practices are an important part of conducting and reporting rigorous science," Keyes wrote to ABC News in an email.

Keyes is cited in a paper titled "Changes in mental health and substance use among US adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic," which appears on page 52 of the MAHA report and lists JAMA Pediatrics as the journal. A representative for the journal confirmed to ABC News the paper does not exist.

Keyes noted she has done research on the topic cited in the MAHA report, but that she and her listed co-authors did not write the paper cited. "I would be happy to send this information to the MAHA committee to correct the report, although I have not yet received information on where to reach them," she noted.

Betty did a great job covering this last night ("Junior gets caught cheating on his homework"). When I first heard of the controversy yesterday, I thought, "Oh, ____, he's distorting again."

When we used to speak he had a real problem with anything requiring thought. He could parrot very well. But on at least two times, a mutual friend drug me into a disagreement saying, "Tell him that's not what it says." It wasn't on both times. I consulted the text he was referring to and it wasn't what was being said. He was taking it out of context and could only read it in the most literal way. Looking back, I wonder if he's been undiagnosed because he clearly has a learning disability. (That's not meant as a slam. I'm dyslexic.) So I thought, until I read Betty's post, that people were laughing because he had so obviously misunderstood whatever he was quoting from.

But that's not it. He just lied. He just made it up.

What has to be in his mind? Besides that worm, what has to be in his mind? He knows the paper was a lie. Did he think he could charm his way out of it? As Betty noted:

Instead of owning up to their mistakes, they try to lie. Adrianna Rodriguez and Ken Alltucker (USA TODAY) reports:

Citation errors and phantom research used as scientific evidence to bolster Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s landmark “Make America Healthy Again” commission report were apparently due to “formatting issues,” according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Propaganda Pig. They trotted her out to vouch. Which is how you know it's a lie. Everything out of her mouth and snoot is a lie.

Let's turn to the topic of immigration. Chump continues his disaster and cruel and illegal policies as he targets immigrants and those who look like they might be immigrants. Jen Psaki covered the topic last night on MSNBC.

She also spoke with US House Rep Dan Goldman about this issue. Again, not posted at MSNBC. However, she did air some of this video that Dan posted.

On the topic of all the lives being ruined, these are people we know and we love. And they're being ripped from our communities. Uriel Blanco (CNN) reports:

A year ago, Andry José Hernández Romero left Venezuela to seek a better future in the United States.

He wanted to continue growing his career as a makeup artist. He left behind his lifelong home in the little town of Capacho Nuevo, where he lived with his mother, father, and younger brother.

On May 23, 2024 – just two days after his 31st birthday – Andry left with the hope of one day opening a beauty salon in the US, or making a living from one of his other passions: design and tailoring. But all that hope has turned to anguish.

The Venezuelan makeup artist made it to the US, but his journey became “tragic,” his mother, Alexis Romero, told CNN. Andry is one of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who were deported by the US government to El Salvador in March. His loved ones have had no news of him; they are completely out of touch.

As of now, there is no certainty about what will happen to him or the rest of the detainees in the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) prison.

“Please bring him back, it’s been two months of anguish. We can’t take it anymore. Please, put your hand on your heart and send him back. This anguish is eating us alive … I hope these people say, ‘Yes, he’s coming back.’ That they say something, anything, just a little thing,” pleads Alexis, 65.

Andry Hernández Romero turned 32 this Wednesday. He is from Capacho Nuevo, a town in the Venezuelan border state of Táchira that, according to official estimates, has fewer than 30,000 inhabitants. He is passionate about design, makeup, costume making, and acting. These artistic skills have made him well known in his hometown, where he has been an essential part of a local festival.

We're winding down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s abrupt cancellation of a contract with Moderna to develop an mRNA vaccine to combat bird flu in humans.

“As bird flu continues to spread across the U.S.—and infect humans—it’s hard to imagine something more shortsighted than canceling the contract for a new vaccine that’s shown promise in protecting people from the disease. mRNA technology has shown incredible promise and helped save millions of lives—but now this administration is casting doubt on the very technology this president propelled in his first administration that ultimately ended a pandemic. We are all now suffering the dangerous consequences of Republicans confirming an anti-vax conspiracy theorist to serve as the nation’s top health official. This contract has helped fund an early trial with promising results. Now, all that work is being put in serious jeopardy—talk about government waste and inefficiency. Donald Trump and RFK Jr. want to stop lifesaving vaccines from being discovered, and they are very intentionally pushing this country down a dangerous path: we will be less prepared for the next influenza pandemic, putting the lives and health of the American people at real risk.”

Senator Murray has been a leading voice in Congress against RFK Jr.’s destruction of HHS and America’s health infrastructure, raising the alarm over HHS’ unilateral reorganization plan and slamming the closure of the HHS Region 10 office in Seattle and the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Spokane Research Laboratory. Senator Murray has sent oversight letters and hosted numerous press conferences and events to lay out how the administration’s reckless gutting of HHS is risking Americans health and safety and will set our country back decades, and lifting up the voices of HHS employees who were fired for no reason and through no fault of their own.

In particular, Senator Murray has been leading the charge against the Trump administration’s efforts to gut lifesaving research at NIH and pushed out nearly 5,000 NIH skilled scientists, grants administrators, and other employees at the agency. When the Trump administration attempted to illegally cap indirect cost rates at 15 percent, Senator Murray immediately and forcefully condemned the move, led the entire Senate Democratic caucus in a letter decrying the proposed change, and introduced amendments to Senate Republicans’ budget resolution to reverse it, which Republicans blocked. Murray has led Congressional efforts to boost biomedical research. Previously, over her years as Chair of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Murray secured billions of dollars in increases for biomedical research at NIH, and during her time as Chair of the HELP Committee she established the new ARPA-H research agency as part of her PREVENT Pandemics Act to advance some of the most cutting-edge research in the field. Senator Murray was also the lead Democratic negotiator of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which delivered a major federal investment to boost NIH research, among many other investments.

Senator Murray forcefully opposed the nomination of notorious anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. to be Secretary of HHS, and she has long worked to combat vaccine skepticism and highlight the importance of scientific research and vaccines. Murray was also a leading voice against the nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon to lead CDC, repeatedly speaking up about her serious concerns with the nominee immediately after their meeting. In 2019, Senator Murray co-led a bipartisan hearing in the HELP Committee on vaccine hesitancy and spoke about the importance of addressing vaccine skepticism and getting people the facts they need to keep their families and communities safe and healthy. Ahead of the 2019 hearing, as multiple states were facing measles outbreaks in under-vaccinated areas, Murray sent a bipartisan letter with former HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander pressing Trump’s CDC Director and HHS Assistant Secretary for Health on their efforts to promote vaccination and vaccine confidence.

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The following sites updated: