LIFE IS HARD AND OTHER DESASTERS ON THE HILL WE CLIMB

Life is hard as we all know, and it has been really hard for the extreme members of the US Extreme Court of late. Poor welfare queen Clarence Thomas has been pounded for weeks about his acceptance of largesse by his benefactor Harlan Crow, who incidentally, is terribly fond of mama Thomas’ home cooking…worth millions. Not to mention associate-justice-pro-tem and co-conspirator Ginni Thomas who simply smiles as her coffers are filled quietly, out of sight from the IRS and other prying eyes. But poor Chief Justice Roberts is in such torment over what he described in a speech to the American Law Institute as his most difficult career decision to date – in eighteen years of jurisprudence on the high court! The institute, established in 1923 to promote the simplification and clarification of US common law, is a research and advocacy group for judges, lawyers and legal scholars as it seeks to interpret our changing social needs. We can only imagine that the attendees were all ears, grasping the edges of their seats as they awaited Roberts’ revelation regarding his tough decision. We can also imagine the air hissing out of the cracks and crevices of the room as he voiced his pious, preachy, priggish pangs of anguish over…having to erect fences and barricades around the court building following the invalidation of Roe v Wade! And, how about the Greek Chorus of Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Thomas whining away behind the curtain giving him sustenance to carry on with his, and their, victimhood, lamenting the disregard for their entitlement of respect? The egotistical whining, the pompous, high and mighty conceit reminds us of what President Harry Truman called ‘Potomac Fever,’ which he defined as a “prevalent, ludicrous Washington disease characterized by a swelling of the head to abnormal proportions.”

As Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s The Last Word, and Bocha Blue writing in The Palmer Report were quick to point out, the court certainly has no concern over how many women have died or have fallen into the cracks of an uncaring medical system since their betrayal in reversing Roe. Both critics brought up the case of the ten year-old Ohio rape victim who had to cross state lines into Indiana for an abortion because medical professionals in her state were fearful of the government’s wrath had they accommodated her. Carrying to term a rapists baby is one thing, but for a pre-teen? This is so messed up! Indiana obstetrician-gynecologist Caitlin Bernard was eventually reprimanded and fined $3000 for publicly speaking about the case and violating the patient’s privacy, though she had not provided any identifying details and had complied with all laws. Volumes of women’s appalling horror stories could already be written in the short time since the court’s disastrous decision, and it can’t get any better with this whiny bunch of unsupervised, unfettered lifers who Truman would have hated. A Texas woman during a miscarriage developed sepsis, but was still unable to get medical attention; and, a miscarrying woman in Oklahoma was told to “go sit in the parking lot until you bleed out,” before help would be available. A good start for the Extremes lies in coming up with a code of conduct, written in conjunction with the two other branches of government…seems the justices can only hold a pen to endorse checks, or their lame decisions. With this hard-hearted bunch who don’t grasp the real world, they should heed the advice of one who said, “Don’t bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend thirty-seconds inside my head. That should freak you right out!”

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis finally pulled the trigger in announcing his GOP presidential bid, detonating a flurry of laughter on both sides of the political aisle as his Twitter Spaces feed with Elon Musk fell apart with technical glitches…designated a ‘DeSaster‘ by the multitudes. In trying to out-Trump Trump, he is succeeding in that everything he touches turns to pyrite. Conspiracy theorist and goofball of note, Musk, was the designated conversationalist, with moderator David Sacks, a Sean Spicer wannabe, leading the charge to persuade the masses in this first-of-its-kind campaign intro to join this rambling culture warrior in his sinking crusade. Mickey, Minnie and Goofy are yipping it up on the new ‘It’s A Small-Minded World Ride,’ with certainty. And, Musk may be having second thoughts about rehiring all the competent Twitter personnel he fired…umm, not a chance…it was simply the chocolate pudding-coated control board, hardly a failed rocket launch! Steve Schmidt writes in his ‘The Warning’ blog, that in listening to this drivel, “I’ll be honest, my mind wandered during the event, particularly as DeSantis read his stump speech sitting next to Musk and Sacks in Twitter headquarters. I was overwhelmed by an intrusive thought that placed me in the middle of the ocean on a boat with these three, surrounded by hungry sharks. It was an easy choice. I jumped in.” Steve goes on to say, “What the debacle demonstrated is that Ron DeSantis isn’t a contender, but rather a clown. His $200 million in campaign cash isn’t enough to overcome his narrative of pugilistic incompetence, weirdness and disdain for people. Ron DeSantis has imploded. It’s already over. By the way, has anyone seen these new photos of the Titanic?”

Donald Trump, Jr. launched his attack on DeSantis, in defense of his father, calling the Florida governor “nasally and effeminate” during his Twitter blast with Musk. However, it took a bad turn for the Former Guy when Junior got the names mixed up and misread the script by saying, “Trump has the personality of a mortician, and the energy that makes Jeb Bush look like an Olympian.” Hee-hee!

Governor Ron DeSantis‘ ‘runnin’ up that road, runnin’ up that hill’ toward a presidential bid, gets uglier everyday as he attempts to “Make America Florida.” As a result of his book-bashing fascism, the poem written by Amanda Gorman for President Biden’s 2021 inauguration, “The Hill We Climb,” was removed from the elementary section of a Miami-Dade public school and placed in the middle school section after a one-person complaint and a subsequent school review. The complaint reads, “It is not educational and have [sic] indirectly hate messages, and the poem could cause confusion and indoctrinate students.” Complainer Daily Salinas, a Cuban whose first language is Spanish, later issued a bizarre apology for antisemitic Facebook posts, assuring us that she “loves the Jewish community” and watches an Israeli series on Netflix. She has also challenged books on Black and Cuban history, which the school relocated for older student access. She had to be removed from a school board meeting for protesting approved sex education books. Oh, and Salinas has been photographed at several Proud Boys rallies, in addition to having ties to an extremist Christian group…the list goes on for just a simple, ordinary citizen, nothing to see here. The first-ever Youth Poet Laureate, Gorman, 22 years old when she read her composition, was partly inspired by the J6 Insurrection, and said she was “gutted” to discover this censorship. “I wrote “The Hill We Climb” so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment. Ever since, I’ve received countless letters and videos from children inspired to write their own poems,” she wrote. “Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech.”

Following his campaign launch flame-out, DeSantis reported a “record $8.2 million fundraising windfall in the first 24 hours” after his announcement…the truth being that his people held a separate fundraising event after the Twitter debacle. That money is included within the $8.2M, so who knows how much was actually raised by each function…only DeRon knows! But, not record-setting…just more GOP/DeSantis fakery. Bill Palmer in his ‘Palmer Report’ says, “He spent all of 2021 and 2022 sitting on the sidelines and letting the mainstream media build him up as some super-savvy, super-disciplined, more charismatic and less prickly version of Donald Trump. Then he finally hit the national stage over the past couple of months, and he’s turned out to be an erratic dimwit whose personality ranges from nonexistent to just plain weird.” Palmer believes the media will continue to milk DeSantis for their own ratings, after all, it’s a cash cow for them. If they allow him to become a punchline now, it’s all over for him, so they will prop him up for now and get ratings later if it comes to punching him in the face. Ronno’s poll numbers have now cratered to half of the original numbers from two months ago, so Palmer thinks he is toast unless he can figure out how to discard the Ron DeSantis persona.

Donald Trump and RonDe, being populist politicians, are bullies by nature, but DeSantis is pretty much alone as a visibly relentless, gutless example. He is proud of his acts of far-right cruelty all for show to his followers…he really doesn’t care about any of it, and fears talking about his ‘accomplishments’ before audiences who might care. He won’t share his gutless use of the powers he holds such as attacking LGBTQ+ children, or their teachers, professors, parents who speak out against him, yet he panders to his base with his fake bravery. DeSantis could take some advice from Senators Rubio and Cruz who learned cowardice in their runs for the presidency after meeting up with a name-calling, blundering blowhard in 2016, but he’s simply a coward, evidently comfortable in running from his own shadow.

The NAACP has issued a travel advisory against traveling to Florida as a response to policies initiated by DeSantis that are discriminatory and anti-Black. Most of these policies have received much press coverage, but one of the most dastardly, underhanded plans is the enticement to relocate to Florida, directed toward cops who have histories of excessive violence, and have been cast aside by other jurisdictions. Since initiation of this program, several cops have been arrested for criminality –kidnapping and murder – not to mention their trademark use of excessive violence. DeSantis’ recently signed law, “License to Discriminate,” supposedly to allow healthcare providers and insurers to deny patient care on the basis of religious, moral or ethical beliefs. But who’s to say that it doesn’t also include injuries suffered in an accident if one is ‘driving while Black?’

Many are saying that Casey DeSantis is the driving force behind her husband’s campaign, an indomitable woman some have designated as ‘Lady Macbeth.’ She is said to be more ambitious than Ron, and has a taste for vengeance, never forgetting a slight. A former journalist, she is a breast cancer survivor, who it is said makes her husband more antisocial when she is present, being a standout when they are together on stage. But no matter what she does or how she comes across, Bocha Blue says, “She will never be able to change Ron from a charmless, miserable man into a charismatic candidate.”

In the midst of all this craziness, we can take some comfort as the Justice Department is wrapping up some significant prosecutions and handing out sentences to J6 insurrectionists, most notably, that of Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes. He was found guilty in November and was handed an 18-year term, the longest prison sentence for a Capitol riot leader to date. Rhodes wasn’t actually in DC at that time, but was found to be instrumental in planning and assembling the mob responsible for that day’s destruction, and obstruction of Congress‘ duties. Two other Oath Keepers received sentences of eight years and six months, and four years as a jury acquitted them of the seditious conspiracy charges.

AVOID CLICHES LIKE THE PLAGUE – WILLIAM SAFIRE

Not sure where you might find the sign-up sheet, but according to msn.com, Russia is floating the idea of building a village for US and Canadian ex-pats who are tired of liberal ideology as Russia seeks to position itself as a bastion for “traditional” moral values. The project is supposedly approved…no further details at this time…but, around 200 families have expressed interest, wishing to run away from the North American cultural climate. These curiosity-seekers have no Russian roots – most are Catholics who “strongly believe in the prediction that Russia will remain the only Christian country in the world.” The cost of the new 2024 construction will be borne by the conservative settlers, located near Moscow in the suburbs according to immigration lawyer, Timur Beslangurov. Vladimir Putin signed a decree in September warning of a “battle for cultural supremacy” with global ramifications and cautioned of “the aggressive imposition of neoliberal views by a number of states,” as the country defends and spreads conservative views.

A contributor to Daily Kos cautions those families, saying they need to consider that Russian Orthodox traditionalists will have a dim view of their Catholic beliefs, which dates back to the Great Schism of 1054 AD. These American/Canadian right-wingers will be horrified at the Muslim population, having left countries with 1.1 percent (USA) and 4.9 percent (Canada) populations, taking up residence in a Russia that has a 12 percent Muslim citizenry. As if that’s not enough to dissuade them, they will find that Russia doesn’t have a Second Amendment, so no more stockpiling of their arsenals of military grade weapons to overthrow the secular government. Minor roadblocks might be the lack of indoor plumbing and flush toilets. The only candidate allowed on the city ballot for mayor will be Steven Segal…maybe Trump. But hey! Let’s give these folks some assistance by starting a GoFund Me drive to send them to a better place. Donald Trump already has a head start with his effort…calling it Truth Social, its octopus arms reaching into several entities, so don’t answer his appeals for funds. With any luck, perhaps DOJ can revoke his passport allowing more time for his orange jumpsuit fitting.

Of interest to the Former Guy is a US Eleventh Appeals Court ruling that overturns the death sentence of an inmate sentenced for a murder in 1997, unless the US Supreme Court overturns the appeal filed by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. Previously the murderer was determined to have “significant deficits in social/interpersonal skills, self-direction, independent home living, and functional academics,” therefore violating the Eighth Amendment against punishing a person with intellectual disabilities. Sounds vaguely familiar, eh? AG Marshall argues that the man’s IQ scores have consistently placed his IQ above that of an intellectually disadvantaged person, making his death sentence both just and constitutional. This is of relevance to The Don since the US Eleventh has jurisdiction over Alabama, Georgia and Florida… and who knows when one might glean some form of security provided by the Eighth Amendment?

A cautionary note for the above applicants: due to US sanctions against Russia, their Foreign Ministry announced that it was banning 500 Americans from entering the country, including Barack Obama, Stephen Colbert, and former ambassadors to Russia. No direct complaints were specified, but offenses included spreading Russophobia, arms supplies to Ukraine, and officials “who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called storming of the Capitol.” The ministry also denied a US request for consular access to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in March, charged with espionage. That denial was a response to this country for denying visas to Russian journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit in April. To those ex-pat emigrants, be forewarned that luggage should not contain autographed photos, books, essays, posters, bumper stickers or mementos related to those named on the dreaded List of 500, or Gershkovich’s cell will be awfully crowded.

Russia’s list makes it explicit that Putin is shamelessly aligning himself with Trump and the MAGA-GOP and against those who dare to block the movement’s attempt to overthrow our democracy. Listed is Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensberger, who couldn’t seem to find “11,780 votes” for Trump’s Georgia victory, and Capitol Police officer, Michael Byrd, who shot Ashli Babbitt during her House of Representatives chamber assault. Adoption by MAGA trolls of the language and dictums that enabled Putin to overcome representative democracy, and by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán (hero of Tucker Carlson), endears this bunch of swamp dwellers to Mr. P., who in 2019 declared liberal democracy “obsolete.” Praise of Trump by both Putin and Orbán, especially in light of his pushback against the support of Ukraine by our government, further encourages the demonization of our values, with dismantling of social programs resulting in concentration of wealth and power to a small, dominant group which rejects equality.

Unclear at this time is whether MAGA maniac and Big Lie pusher Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is on the List of 500…the Russian Ministry is likely reading his new book, ‘Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs,’ and gleaning information from the reviews before making a decision. Waxing poetic about manhood by one who was photographed raising his fist in support of the gathered rioters in DC on J6, later being videoed running for his life in the halls of Congress, seems a bit out of place. But, if you know a budding misogynist this might be just the ticket for his library! We can’t forget that DC police officer, Michael Fanone, in his anger after being attacked and injured while defending the Capitol that fateful day, called Hawley a “bitch” upon viewing the videos of his fist-raising and subsequent running like the wind through the building. Reviewers of ‘Manhood’ have not been kind: “I hear they’re making the book out of glass to make it as fragile as his ‘masculinity,” and, “I understand this is a terrific running program, but I also understand he’s a lumberjack and he’s OK.” One reviewer simply posted a photoshopped rework of the cover, making it read ‘Man In A Hood.’ It must be made clear that Josh has a long history of defending white supremacist values…when he was fifteen years old he wrote an early anti-woke piece defending the militias tied to the Oklahoma City bombing. The Guardian reviewer, Lloyd Green, calls him a “Neo-confederate at war with modernity, with a God-given right to be heard.” Add to that, ‘a puke-inducing creepy little punk,’ along with anything else that Officer Fanone wishes to toss into the mix.

Alabama’s rocks-for-brains/Publisher’s Clearing House Senator Tommy Tuberville is sure to favor Putin’s 500 list as he continues to withhold his approval of 200 promotions for military personnel, posing a clear risk for US military readiness. His beef is over a Pentagon policy, initiated in February, providing travel reimbursements and leave for service members to seek abortions out-of-state. Tommy has asked Defense Secretary Austin to rescind this policy, and until it happens he will stand in the doorway, preventing the unanimous consent process to award promotions. Senate Majority Leader Schumer could bring nominations to the floor individually…all 200 of them…requiring votes for each nominee which would eat valuable time to accomplish. Austin defends the policy, acknowledging female service personnel may live in areas lacking adequate care or limitations for reproductive health. However, Tuberville stands by his tweet, “No matter how much disinformation Democrats spread, I will continue to stand up to the most politicized Pentagon in American history.”

After the Trump verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case, Senator Tuberville was so disgusted he remarked that he was ready to vote for the Former Guy TWICE! On the same day, Tommy-boy? He charges President Biden with trying to destroy America by weeding from our military the Nazis, extremists, and white nationalists. Reporters asked him whether those white nationalists, bigots, idiots and misogynists should be in uniform, he shot back, “They call them that, I call them Americans! They just don’t fit Joe Biden’s agenda!” His office later tried to clarify that he was only expressing his skepticism that white nationalists exist in the ranks of the military.

Musician/iconoclast Frank Zappa, in an interview five years before his death in 1993, said, “…when the dogma becomes legislation, that’s when you have danger. I have this horrible fear that the United States could wind its way toward being a fascist theocracy.” Joan Baez, in a New Yorker interview by Amanda Petrusich, agrees that we seem to be tumbling backwards, everything related to propaganda, lying, business, money and power. She says liberals don’t know how to talk, as opposed to MAGA-talk…“Build a wall”, “lock her up”…three words that are simple to remember. Biden, on the other hand, is a “lovely person, who talks for an hour, but you don’t remember anything said.” She tells of meeting a young man in the 1980s who said of the ’60s, “Man, you had it all back then. You had the war, you had the glue, man.” His idealization of that time was centered basically on Beatles, Dylan, Woodstock, the music, the civil rights marches and war protests, not thinking of the danger had a young man been plunked onto a ship headed for Vietnam. She agrees that there was a ten-year period where “we had everything,” then John Lennon was killed and everyone wondered, “Who’s gonna write the next ‘Imagine?” “Well, nobody,” she answers. It might be music or something else, but what will recreate those feeling we had? She goes on to say, “We had that feeling when Obama ran for office. When he ran, not when he was in. You can’t do shit once you’re in office. But that was a moment where people felt an idea of what we had back then.” In a more ominous, cautionary note she observed, “Back then, we sat at lunch counters as an example of what nonviolent action could accomplish, because we were brave on the front lines. I think courage is contagious, but violence is really contagious…easier than nonviolent action. If someone shoots something up, well, the police shoot him, of course. It’s just a given. What kind of insanity is that?”

Speaking of insanity, Qasim Rashid, Esq. posts on Twitter: Every MAGA defense of Donald Trump boils down to these three options – 1) Trump didn’t say or do that, 2) If he did, it wasn’t illegal, 3) If it was illegal, then Biden did the same thing too. Facts don’t matter. Spike Milligan posts, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, which is just long enough to be president of the United States.”

May 15

WE’RE HAVING SOME FUN NOW WITH A FOXIFIED CNN

The residue from CNN’s Trump Town Hall is still raining down on us from his volcanic spewing of b.s. For those who were unfortunate enough to have watched this remake of a Jerry Springer Show it was simply a replay of the Orange Menace’s vulgar jokes, repetitive lies, and ego-spouting malevolent demagoguery…what did CNN expect to be informative or monumental about this irrelevant disservice to the journalism of political integrity? The Wednesday town hall featured our twice-impeached, once indicted, coup-promoting former president and a studio mob of 250 hand-picked hooting and hollering MAGATs who enjoyed every insult and disparaging remark against victim and “whack-job” E. Jean Carroll, and even calling host Kaitlan Collins “nasty” when she tried to control his now well-rehearsed runaway blathering. He has now repeated his complaint about the ‘stolen election of 2020’ so many times he believes the lie to be true, saying, “I think that, when you look at that result and when you look at what happened during that election, unless you’re a very stupid person, you see what happens.” Got that, all you stupids? A questioner in the audience asked, “Will you suspend polarizing talk of the election fraud during your run for president?” Trump answered with a “yes” as he continued with most of his time whining on the same tired subject of victimhood. The Lincoln Project reminds us that, “Trump is no victim. The justice system isn’t targeting a political opponent. They’re targeting a criminal.”

Tom Nichols, in the Atlantic, writes that Americans need to see more of Trump, believing he is an existential menace to American democracy, and that those independent voters who will decide the next election will develop “Trump exhaustion”…the more the better. The MAGA base can’t get enough of him and Tom feels that group has met its saturation point so what does it matter to keep throwing them more red meat. Unfortunately, their kind will outlast The Don and his immediate band of crooks. Calling Trump a “quivering bag of weird verbal and physical tics,” once he gets rolling it’s like standing near a box of cheap bottle rockets as he tosses a lighted match inside. After the salvo of noise, misfires, duds, and smoke passes, all that’s left is stinky air. And that is what interviewer Collins was left with as she tried to interact with the shouting, finger-pointing, out of control, irrational provocateur, even though she was chosen because she knew Trump and has a history of right-wing media history – hardly objective journalism. After the critical furor began, Trump commented that Collins “wasn’t exactly Barbara Walters.” It only took a bit over an hour for CNN’s reputation to take a major hit as it cheapened journalism, undermined our political process and bashed one of their rising stars into her next gig as the weather-girl on local tv in Boondocks, Mississippi.

Aldous J. Pennyfarthing writes on Daily Kos, “I’m not much of an interviewer, and I don’t really like being confrontational in face-to-face situations, but my first follow-up to Trump would have been, ‘Ah, so I see you wore your Pol Pot Underoos today, Donny.’ Because the only way to deal with a ridiculous, scornful person is with ridicule and scorn. Of course, CNN’s Licht has gone on record as saying that Trump’s odiousness needs to be put on full display, though it goes without saying we’d have gotten the gist if they’d just wheeled him around the studio for seventy minutes in a Hannibal Lecter mask.”

Intended or not, the town hall was catered to Trump and his campaign, seventy minutes of prime time – that we’ll never get back – devoted to lies, debunked conspiracy theories, a history re-write, accompanied by the standing ovations and cheering attendees egging him on to sling even more slime, with Kaitlin Collins unable to ward off his onslaught…no conversation, inadequate questioning as he steamrolled her. Indeed, Nichols calls it a “foreordained train wreck,” and CNN’s producers had to know what would result. So is CNN trying to corral the MAGA community now that Tucker Carlson has been fired by Fox News, now with a more relaxed approach toward Trump? The new weather-girl may have an assistant in the person of Anderson Cooper, who attempted to justify his employer’s fiasco by chastising critics about “staying in their silo” and not paying attention to Dorito Mussolini’s lies, insults, defamations, and incitements to violence. Cooper was immediately assailed from all fronts for asking voters to exit the silo and climb into Trump’s bunker. CNN is probably still cataloging all the tweets, texts and emails condemning Coop, and CBS is getting a heavy dose of the same asking ’60 Minutes’ to drop his occasional segments. We are adults, Anderson, and have no need to be scolded for not watching, or being critical, of such trash on CNN!

Other notables have made comments, such as a tweet by Speaker of the House Pro-tem and GOP-VP-candidate-hopeful, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called Trump to praise him for his performance, calling it “outstanding,” while claiming that they “laughed and laughed” on the phone as they discussed his town hall outing. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that CNN “should be ashamed of themselves” in part because they had facilitated “a public attack on a sexual abuse victim.” Trump’s misogyny was transparent and jaw-dropping, while the approval of the crowd was spine-chilling. Steve Bannon called the event “the humiliation of the mainstream media.” The Onion reported “With critics calling the former president’s highly anticipated town hall a ‘disgrace for all involved,’ Donald Trump was widely condemned Thursday for giving a platform to CNN.” Even conservative columnist, Marc Thiessen, says if this was a preview of the coming campaign, then get ready for four more years of Joe Biden. He terms it as a “three-alarm dumpster fire for the GOP which needs this wake-up call.” Jon Stewart concluded that he “learned nothing about Trump and his most ardent supporters I haven’t known since 2016” but learned “a lot” about CNN.

Learning a lot about CNN, originates with CNN’s corporate overseer Warner Brothers Discovery, Inc., whose CEO is David Zaslav, who wants to reposition the network to be preferred by “everybody…Republicans…Democrats.” Zaslav’s motivation is John Malone, a multibillionaire cable magnate who orchestrated the merger of Discovery and CNN, who identifies as a ‘libertarian,’ though he moves in rightwing Republican elements. Noteworthy is the fact that in 2005 he held 32% of the shares of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, is a board member of the libertarian think-tank, Cato Institute, and in 2017 donated $250,000 to Trump’s inauguration. Chris Licht, CNN’s chairman and CEO began his tenure by cancelling Brian Stelter’s commercially successful Sunday show, ‘Reliable Sources,’ a fountainhead of intelligent criticism of Fox News and right-wing sources, and the rightward plunge of the GOP. Licht told the CNN staff to stop referring to Donald Trump’s “big lie” which he felt was a Democratic party argument, while favoring “straight news reporting” along with more conservative guests. Stelter, on his last show, said, “It’s not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue. It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It’s required. It’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those who are lying to our faces.” Right on, Brian! After Wednesday’s Foxified town hall debacle featuring the basket of deplorables, we can dismiss CNN’s having the public’s trust as an unbiased news source after its attempt to normalize candidate Trump’s behavior and feeding this cancer on our democracy.

Chris Licht reportedly told Trump, “Have fun!” as he took the town hall stage, and Donny promised a boost in CNN’s ratings. Licht called it “making news,” believing America was “well served” because we got “answers” – toxic throughout. Bocha Blue on Palmer Report says, “The Washington Post has a masthead problem, proclaiming that ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness,’ but we should agree that it is being choked to death in the plain light of day. The stranglers are America’s political and media elites – one group lies for power, the other lies for money. Together, they are ‘having fun’.” Licht laid into media reporter Oliver Darcy for a critical assessment of the Trump disaster, writing, “It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening.” Darcy was immediately summoned to a meeting with CNN’s suits, who told him he needed to be more “dispassionate in his coverage,” and that he was too emotional. But, he stood by his output and will likely see Licht escorted out the door for his involvement in this firestorm. Blue says Licht has to go or there is no CNN – just a cold, bloodless, robotic echo chamber for ratings. Aldous J. says Licht appears to be trying to woo MAGA conservatives away from Fox News, ‘Bonanza’ reruns, and the clammy stack of Reader’s Digests piled next to their basement toilets.

Karma may have entered the scene in Iowa over the weekend, where both Trump and Ron DeSantis had scheduled events for pressing the flesh of the electorate, and heralded as a clash of the titans. A Des Moines outdoor rally for Trump had to be cancelled as tornado threats were announced, likely not so much for crowd safety, but because the Grifter Bunch was afraid valuable cash and checks contributed would be lost to the winds. DeSantis on the other hand, having less support at this juncture had smaller venues to attend, so was able to sneak around weasel-like without encountering The Orange Menace. One Twitter critic posts that DeSantis always looks guilty, as if he had just stolen PeeWee Herman’s bike.

Der Orange Gropenfuhrer, being upset at the brouhaha over his town hall and unable to stir the base in Iowa, joylessly celebrated Mother’s Day on his Truth Social media site by posting, “Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers of the complete lunatics and maniacs who are part of the radical left…in particular the mothers, wives, and lovers of the radical left fascists who are doing everything within their power to destroy and obliterate our once great country.” No mention of his own mother, or Ivana, Ivanka, Marla or Melania – just his admonition to “please make these complete lunatics and maniacs kinder, gentler, softer, and most importantly smarter.” We have to admit he has given us a more complete education for the past eight years, no?

RETURN TO BRAZILE, BLURRY MEMORIES, BLURRY PHOTOS, RADIOACTIVE MICKEY

Donna Brazile, chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2016, the year of Donald Trump’s presidential election, is telling Democrats to “wake up” in light of a new national poll showing President Biden’s approval ratings in a downward slide. A Washington Post-ABC News showed a 6% difference at the beginning of May compared to early figures in 2023, his job approval taking the hit. With inflation continuing to plague the economy only 18% in the poll ‘strongly approve’ his efforts.
Brazile also points to the poll figures which show the former president beating Biden by 6%, with a favorable preference of 44% to 38%.

“It’s sobering in the sense that the coalition that elected Joe Biden, with the historic numbers that we saw in 2020, that coalition right now is fragmented. That should concern them,” she said. Brazile cautioned the White House in commenting on the slow, low profile mode of the campaign, saying she has serious concerns about his ability to reach voters. “They’re still unable to get a real good, strong message to the American people not just on their accomplishments but where they want to take the country. And so while the Republicans are operating on fumes, the Democrats are operating on policies. If they are unable to make this campaign from the bottom up and talk to the people where they are, its’ going to be a struggle,” she added.

One Democratic strategist described Biden’s plan to do a “really subtle launch” which is a “reflection of the type of candidate he is, but also the stage of his life he’s in.” The launch video was to be a focus, getting over 12 million views, with an outreach to over 5,000 key stakeholders in the Biden coalition; the first week Biden met with donors, had campaign engagements with the Biden-Harris 2020 volunteer community, followed by a handful of public and campaign-related events. Press Secretary Jean-Pierre told reporters he’s had “internal meetings in the Oval Office to discuss issues that matter to the American people.” The campaign has yet to release any significant fundraising figures, which is probably concerning to Donna Brazile. 

Republican frontrunner Trump is calling “Crooked Joe Biden’s” launch a disaster and hearing “crickets” about fundraising, suggesting that Biden can’t compete with his outstanding grassroots donors. Others in the GOP suggest Biden isn’t strong enough to hit the trail and do a big reelection event. “He launched. He didn’t do a rally. So they’re going to hide him,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

Democrats argue that there is no need for Biden to usurp Trump’s spotlight this early in the game, letting the Former Guy’s legal troubles get the attention they deserve. Just let Trump be Trump, as THEY say! Campaigning against an opponent clad in an orange jumpsuit is probably the easiest solution. After all, it is a reelection, no need for drama eighteen months out from an election without a sure opponent, so let the president be the president to show his relevancy to the voters…WE say!

On ‘The Warning with Steve Schmidt,’ Steve launches into CNN and its New Hampshire town hall interview, “either featuring or starring Donald Trump,” and questioning the validity of David Zaslav’s declaring it “the new CNN.” Schmidt goes on to say, “The distinction between featuring Trump in a town hall, and one starring him is not semantic. It is elemental. Should the town hall simply feature Trump then it is possible the new CNN will trend towards journalism. That would be good. If it stars Donald Trump, it would harken the renewal of a dismal partnership, and place CNN in a business arrangement with Trump along his shady axis of partnerships, including Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf, NewsMax, Fox News and Tucker Carlson. The distinction matters in a world in which Fox News has been exposed as the most corrupt news organization in American history. Beyond the moment to moment malfeasance, dishonesty, racism, xenophobia and gaslighting, Bret Baier, Rupert Murdoch’s hard news bard, has been unmasked. He is a conman, not a news man. He lies for profit. He misleads to please the fragile sensibilities of his radical audience. This is the model that CNN has been encouraged to pursue by one of America’s richest and most powerful men.” 

Steve points out that a few years ago, John Malone, the largest shareholder in Warner Bros. Discovery, made critical comments about CNN, and cited Fox News as a model the network might wish to follow, saying, “Fox News, in my opinion, has followed an interesting trajectory of trying to have news news, I mean some actual journalism, embedded in a program schedule of all opinions. And I think they’ve been relatively successful with a service like Bret Baier, and Brit Hume before him, that try to distinguish news from opinion. I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing.”

Schmidt asks,“What exactly is a new CNN, and what will it become? A departure from the reality show ethic would be in the public interest and an unalloyed societal good. Perhaps it will become a news network again. There is certainly a great deal of open space to pursue and amplify ethical journalism. This is among the most corrupt eras of American history. Muckraking is the antidote to the corrupt access model. Partnering with the powerful to communicate to the masses isn’t journalism. It is propaganda. Accountability against the public interest is what this moment requires. Can CNN deliver?” That will certainly be something to watch for after the Trump appearance!

And speaking of Trump appearances, he declined to show up to testify in his defense on the final day of the E. Jean Carroll trial, formally confirming his intent after being given a last chance deadline by the trial judge. The former misogynist/president had teased that he would be in the courtroom, will find it difficult to appeal the verdict which is unlikely to be in his favor, and his trying to run out the clock on all his trials simply isn’t working in his favor as he continues to lose appeal after appeal. Although under the law he will be able to appeal, Carroll isn’t in it for the money, only vindication, to have Prima Donald branded as a rapist…exactly what she wants.

The Don has continually insisted E. Jean “isn’t my type,” so why would he be attracted to her for any reason? Plus, he never met the woman…didn’t know who she is, blah-blah, so why is she doing this to him? Telling was his video deposition shown at the trial, recording when he was shown a photo picturing him with Marla Maples, his wife at the time, and E. Jean Carroll…in happier times. Asked to identify those in the photo, he identified Carroll as his wife…“not my type,” eh? Informed of his mistake, he offered, “picture is kind of blurry” – NOT blurry, dude!

Yet another case of mistaken identity this week involved Senator Ted Cruz in his response to the announced candidacy for his seat by Texas’ US Representative Colin Allred, a former NFL player with the Tennessee Titans. Cruz immediately in a fundraising text to his supporters revealed news of Allred’s launch for his Senate seat, along with a photo of his competitor. Only problem being…Teddy Boy uploaded a photo of New York DA Alvin Bragg instead of Colin Allred. Was his face all-red in this faux pas? It certainly had huevos rancheros dripping down his chin, so it might be time for a quick one to Cancun…see if your daughter and her friends are up for some face-saving assistance, Mr. C!

In Fulton County Georgia’s criminal probe, headed by DA Fani Willis, we’ve learned that eight fake electors/co-conspirators in the attempt to overturn the election results in that state have agreed to flip evidence in return for immunity deals. This would seem to seal the deal against Donnie Dotard, but defeatist hysteria within the media want you to believe he is invincible, and one news outlet thinks these eight fake electors may not know enough to be relevant. However, immunity deals aren’t handed out frivolously, and somewhere within the investigation is revealed the process, and results, where useful information has been found.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is continuing quietly in his multi-pronged investigation into Trump’s criminality, and when former VP Mike Pence showed up to testify, Smith was in the room when it happened, indicating the importance of the testimony of one who was in the room when it happened in the Trump years. Bocha Blue’s name for Smith, ‘Wolfman Jack,’ indicates his belief that the prosecutor is as “tough as nails and wouldn’t know a cowardly moment if he saw it,” as he pursues his quarry, rarely missing in the chase. In the stolen documents case Smith has a Mar-a-Lago insider, probably several if the truth be known, who has testified along with photos regarding the storage and movement of the purloined documents boxes…The Don has to be trembling in his Gucci boots. And the Justice Department continues to sentence many of the key players from the January Insurrection, so things are moving, even as we await the Really Big Show.

Last week’s conviction of leader Enrique Tarrio and three other ‘Proud Boys’ of seditious conspiracy for their involvement in the J6 Insurrection should be an ominous sign for that ilk. The 1861 law states that “if two or more persons conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall be fined or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.” It was concluded that Tarrio was guilty of those crimes, conceding that his physical absence from Washington, DC was not a factor. Are you paying attention, Donnie Johnny T.? It is pointed out that prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi, convicted Charles Manson of murder…nothing to do with seditious conspiracy, of course…even though he wasn’t at the scene of the Tate-Labianca murders, but his plans were carried out by his followers as he commanded. So, even though Trump wasn’t physically present in the Capitol building, defacing paintings and scribbling on random computer screens with his black Sharpie, there is precedent…an inevitability that the Former Guy is liable in the extreme with all of the insurrectionists acting in his name, and probably didn’t even know Enrique Tarrio existed.

In absentia, Trump raises his ugliness again, this time in the personage of Governor Ron DeSantis, who is seeking final approval of the Trump-era EPA’s condoning the use of radioactive phosphogypsum in Florida’s roads. Conservation groups across the Southeastern states are urging RonDe to veto the bill allowing ‘demonstration road projects’ to use the toxic byproduct of the fertilizer industry, which has accumulated one billion tons stored in 25 ‘gypstacks’ in Florida. These stacks are hundreds of acres wide and hundreds of feet tall…far more material than could be stored in the closets of Mar-a-Lago and could probably fill several notorious Florida sinkholes. The current Environmental Protection Agency prohibits the use of phosphate waste as it poses an unacceptable risk to road construction workers, public health and the environment. Florida’s Department of Transportation would be instructed to complete a feasibility study on use of this material with a short timeline and a completion date of April 1, 2024. “No environmentally conscious governor worth his salt would ever sign a bill into law approving roadbuilding with radioactive materials,” says Rachael Curran, attorney with People for Protecting Peace River. “Even the fast-tracked ‘study’ contemplated by this industry-sponsored bill would create harm because that involves a full-scale project that would have very real, very detrimental impacts to the environment and health of Floridians, especially road-construction crews.” One can’t help but think this might be a part of DeSantis’ revenge-factor thrust at Disney. In the meantime, it might be wise to stay off the roads leading to Disney World and its environs.

SLIPPIN’ AND A-SLIDIN’ THROUGH THE COURT SYSTEMS

The US Extreme Court continues to muddy the waters even more as they sink lower in the depths of public opinion. Last week all nine spoke as one as they responded to the heavy criticism of late, saying no fix is needed if it isn’t broken, on the subject of their lack of a code of ethics. Justice Clarence Thomas, along with Associate Justice Ginny Thomas, lit up the internet with their complicity in the Big Lie endeavors of the Trumpsters; which then slid into the charges of undeclared gifts and favors from benefactor Harlan Crow who also has a suspect property deal festering in the background. Charles Geyh, an Indiana University law professor and legal ethics expert says all the details given out this week were outlined by Chief Justice Roberts a decade ago: the justices will set their own rules and police themselves, just in case you missed it the first time, so pay attention!

Next up, the lingering story about the Chief Justice’s wife, Jane, being paid millions of dollars for placing attorneys at organizations – a legit enough vocation –  although some have had cases being decided by the high court, a slippery ethics matter? A former colleague of Jane Roberts has provided reports to both congress and the justice department as she seeks an inquiry, claiming that the Chief Justice has “potential ethics issues.” 

Justice Neil Gorsuch made his recent debut over a property deal that occurred nine days after his court confirmation, selling a Colorado property, along with two partners, to the head of law firm Greenberg Traurig which occasionally has cases before the court. Gorsuch’s 20% stake in the property netted him between $250,001 to $500,000 as noted in his financial report, but he declined to disclose the name of the purchaser. Under federal law, justices are required to file annual disclosures, but are not required to follow any binding ethics code. Should they have ethical questions, the justices simply discuss it among themselves…simple and quick, no? Legal ethics professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Kathleen Clark, views the problem “that the justices have not been subjected to basic accountability that just about everybody else in the federal government has to comply with.” Regarding Roberts‘ two-page letter issued this week, Clark says she sees “a failure to grapple with the fundamental problem of lack of accountability…the justices seem to be utterly clueless about the problem they have…they’re in a bubble apparently.”

The recent revelations has spurred calls for reform and last Wednesday Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and Independent Senator Angus King announced legislation that would require the Supreme Court to create a code of conduct and appoint an official to oversee potential conflicts and public outcry. Additionally, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Court ethics reform. And just to keep the heat on Justice Kavanaugh, it was just disclosed that Senator Charles Grassley had possibly omitted key evidence during that justice’s confirmation hearing in 2018 which led to a botched investigation by the FBI regarding sexual assault allegations, results of a further investigation to be released by the Justice Department by year’s end.

The Tucker Carlson/Fox News breakup continues to resonate as we await word of Carlson’s next landing place, and to see what a miraculous turnaround Fox exhibits after casting off their demon…get real, nothing changes with them! Bocha Blue in a Palmer Report piece writes that the lesson here for Tuck-Tuck is that power is not eternal, nobody is immune from the hubris effect. Once hubris claws its way into one’s soul, anything can happen…ask Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly or Donald Trump. Blue says, “Tucker Carlson thought he WAS Fox news – its mouth and its soul. But there are millions of mouths out there, and the fox has no soul. Tucker is finding out the hard way that he is already yesterday’s news.” Perhaps MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow summed it up best: “You don’t get to call football games on TV for the NFL. You don’t lead hundred-year-long Messianic religious revivals. You don’t persuade Americans to start tanning their testicles en masse,” referring to a Carlson segment pitching a potential solution to lowered testosterone levels in American men.

Dumping Tucker devalued Fox’s stock by more than half a billion dollars, which shows the ratings and revenue quotient his show held, yet Fox carried out the deed fully knowing what was in store for them. Bill Palmer feels that possible scandalous information over and above the Dominion settlement, Carlson’s emails, or pending lawsuits by former staff and investors have nothing to do with the firing of their biggest cash cow. Highly profitable cable news hosts don’t get fired unless they suddenly become unprofitable or are about to become unprofitable, so there’s more to the story. The Daily Beast’s senior editor, Andrew Kirell, feels that Carlson’s ‘bigger than Fox’ attitude has permeated other hosts and that other heads will roll after the recent firing has settled a bit.

The juggernaut of court actions against the Former Guy roll along, with E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit against Trump garnering attention last week. While civil trials don’t result in ‘guilty/not guilty’ verdicts the jury could find that The Donald raped Carroll 23 years ago in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, and is responsible for damages, shackling him with the term ‘rapist,’ a blow to his ego and perhaps devastating politically. Bill Palmer writes, “The thing is we keep hearing how such an outcome to this trial will have ‘no impact’ on Trump’s base, who will keep worshipping him forever. My response to that is a simple one: who cares? In terms of political process, the cretins in Trump’s base are simply not relevant.” He feels that since their votes are locked in anyway, they are 100% irrelevant, since they don’t influence those outside their own ranks, and unable to determine the outcome of any election alone. That base is a disturbing creep show, not a relevant political force now and never was…having no influence in his 2016 victory and unable to show up in enough force to sway the 2020 election, with a pitiful 55% in GOP polls currently. Both of Trump’s opponents in the elections received millions more votes than he, but all across the media spectrum attention is directed toward ‘Trump’s base,’ and not ‘Hillary’s base’ or ‘Biden’s base,’ while pretending those factions don’t exist. The path to winning elections is to see that the base is locked in and will turn out, and then focusing on persuadable voters outside the base. Let’s hope the electorate is paying attention, as well as the jury for E. Jean Carroll!

Georgia’s Fulton County DA Fani Willis released news that movement will be announced perhaps as early as July in the investigation into election interference by the ‘Big Lie’ advocates and maybe an indictment of Trump. She has advised law enforcement to make plans for disruptions and public protests, so it must be big! It appears her investigation is being delayed as cooperation seems to be improving as several ‘fake electors’ are taking advantage of immunity deals, having seen the handwriting on the wall. Trump is assuredly prepared to throw up as many roadblocks as he can muster, but that process is finite…no running out the clock to his heart’s content. Willis probably wanted to get this case behind her before election season, but even with the flippers coming forward, she must feel that those can be included in time to move toward a conviction.

Manhattan’s DA Alvin Bragg was up against a different clock, leading him to make his move to indict the former prez, and while that is true in special prosecutor Jack Smith’s case, criminal charges taking place in federal court will move much more quickly than most state courts. Bill Palmer feels that the “doomsday hype” about courts not having enough time to put The Trumpster on trial prior to the election are simply empty attempts to get retweets…thank you very much Elon Musk.

In the case of DA Bragg, he is still under a siege of sorts by Representative ‘Gym’ Jordan as he attempts to prove that this is all about a political witch-hunt to get Trump. Jordan sought to have materials turned over to his committee and was told to “go pound sand,” so he subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz to be subjected to questioning, following his resignation from the DA’s office, and the subsequent publishing of a book, entitled ‘People vs. Donald Trump…An Inside Account.’ Pomerantz came out of retirement to join DA Cyrus Vance’s team to look into Trump’s business practices and after investigating for a year and concluding that an indictment was in order, ala former mob boss, John J. Gotti, DA Vance left that office to be succeeded by Bragg, who was less enthusiastic about an indictment initially. Pomerantz left, wrote his book under a hailstorm of criticism for revealing aspects of the case, but insists he had not jeopardized pursuit of prosecution, whereupon Bragg initiated a civil case that does not include criminal penalties.

Bragg appealed to the courts to disallow a Pomerantz appearance on May 12 before Jordan’s committee, but later withdrew the appeal to open up the way in Jordan’s favor. The congressman’s charge that political motivation energizes the indictment is going to be a disappointment for him, since Pomerantz’s letter of resignation explains the root of his frustration and why he left the Manhattan team. He felt there was “evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” and further stating that The Don was “guilty of numerous felony violations” making it doubtful that benefit will accrue to Jordan’s so-called investigation. As a former prosecutor, Pomerantz wanted charges to be filed, and Bragg was seemingly not motivated. According to Glenn Kirschner of ‘Justice Matters,’ Jordan is way out of his league in questioning someone of prosecutor Pomerantz’s status and that he will be chewed up and spat out directly back into the Trump Clown Car. Kirschner asks: “Who’s ready to see Pomerantz verbally tap dance all over Jim Jordan’s head?” as he raises his hand with a devilish smile.

We are reminded by Glenn that Jordan ‘blew off’ the very subpoenas to testify that he is now issuing, and makes a suggestion that his committee be renamed “the Congressional Committee to aid and abet Donald Trump.” ‘Do as I say and not as I do,’ eh ‘Gym-bo?’ Present at the testimony will be the DA’s General Counsel to shut down any improper questioning that might jeopardize the ongoing criminal investigation, so Jordan with no power to override refusals to answer questions is facing a brick wall.

The ‘Prove Mike Wrong Challenge’ has come to a semi-satisfying conclusion after a computer forensics expert submitted his report disproving that My Pillow B.S.-artist Mike Lindell failed to produce data showing evidence of foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election. Mikey’s embarrassing “Cyber Symposium” held in South Dakota in August 2021 attempted to show the existence of packet data, but the data scrolling on his big screen had no relation to election data; but, the contest judges, including one of Lindell’s attorneys, declined to pay the $5 million offered to prove the data as invalid. Robert Zeidman, who proved it was a scam, then filed for arbitration under the contest rules with both parties presenting their evidence in January. Finally, in April, the three arbitrators ruled against Mr. My Pillow, saying he had to pay the five mil as promised. Stupid, egotistical, and untrustworthy Mikey has no intention of forking it over, as he doubles down, and it will likely end up in court. With this much at stake we can expect to see Donald Trump try to worm his way into this fray for yet another handout.

GETTING AWAY WITH THE FIRST OFFENSE ON …

THE ROAD TO PERDITION

Take heart…false alarm! Michael Moore hasn’t really endorsed Donald Trump’s 2024 election, despite that claim by the Former Guy, as Moore was included along with endorsements by many Florida GOPers that nobody has heard about. A three and a half minute video shown on Truth Social appears to show Moore giving The Don a thumb’s up, but it represents only the first portion of a six minute video posted by Michael in 2016 purporting to make the case for his candidacy; but a satirical takedown covering the reasons why Trump would be the worst possible president with strong disapproval is explained in the second (and unseen) portion. This has to be akin to the ‘IRS phone call’ asking for your Social Security number to process a ‘refund.’ Or like the contact by a ‘friend’ or ‘relative’ who is in need of funds, being stranded in Timbuktu…or Dade County Florida.

Florida’s Governor DeSantis, being satirized by Andy Borowitz in The New Yorker, says the struggling presidential candidate has decided that instead of building the state’s own amusement park as an alternative to Disney World, or building a state prison next door to the popular destination as a retaliatory measure, he will instead raze the home of Minnie and Mickey and replace it with a ‘Dilbert‘-themed entertainment location. In his estimation “this will attract millions of Americans who were deprived of their favorite Scott Adams comic strip by the left-wing media Reich.” It will be “a woke-free zone, where parents can rest assured that their children will not be exposed to the vile multicultural propaganda that it’s a small world, after all.” DeSantis had some difficulty explaining what rides would be built, vaguely saying only “that they will probably involve cubicles.” Probably repurposed from the equipment and furniture from the shuttered library system across his state.

The months-long buildup of the Fox News/Dominion Voting Systems trial date came to a surprising and disappointing conclusion last week, with Fox capitulating to Dominion just before the opening bell was about to sound in the Delaware courtroom. Dominion sought $1.6 billion in damages for Fox’s malicious lies following the 2020 presidential election and for hosting guests such as Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mr. ‘My Pillow’ Lindell who theorized that their machines stole votes from Trump. The two parties agreed on a $787.5 million settlement, with the jurors standing by and ready for a six-week ordeal which many saw as a mortal blow to Fox should a guilty verdict have been rendered. Since Fox was not obligated to publicly address or apologize for their campaign of misinformation, this ending was less than satisfying for those who had laid in plenty of popcorn for watching during the spectacle. And the Murdochs are still rich even after one of the largest payouts in a defamation lawsuit on record! Still billionaires, so did they actually win?

Dominion will receive less than half of their original demand, but far more than the $80 million evaluation of their company, and many times their revenue of $100 million in 2022. Private equity group Staple Street Capital bought their controlling stake in Dominion in 2018, and their lawsuit claims it sustained $921 million in damage to its business, $88 million in lost profits, and $600 million in lost future profits because of Fox’s false coverage. Comparing this to a Fox Corporation filing, the broadcast giant revealed it had about $4.1 billion in cash and equivalents at the beginning of this year, with a net income of $321 million in the last quarter of 2022. To be sure, $787.5 million is a chunk o’ cash, but Rupert is still rich. Considering that sponsorship of prime-time spots costs around $76,000, Fox will have to run 10,362 ads, perhaps for My Pillow, to make up for their court payout. That amounts to three days, fourteen hours and twenty minutes of Mike Lindell kissing a pillow and cuddling with a sheet. Hannity’s program runs about fifteen minutes of ads, so Fox-watchers could view 345 nights straight of pillow-talk advertising.

As proven by pretrial discovery’s release of hundreds of thousands of emails, texts and other internal communications, Dominion showed that not only the Murdochs, but Fox’s execs, producers and show hosts were knowledgeable about the Trump campaign’s Big Lie, yet were sanctioned to continue the masquerade in order to satisfy their audience. Murdoch chose the trade off of advertising revenues, which he hoped would exceed any Dominion settlement cost, even risking that a jury settlement might give Dominion more than it was seeking. The disclosure of the settlement came after the stock market closed for the day, but in after-hours trading Fox Corp. was down less than one percent. Rupert is still rich…just the cost of doing business in the Murdoch Empire. Economist, lecturer and political activist Robert Reich estimates that Fox Corporation’s value is around $17 billion – they can still insult a boatload of minor corporations and pay them off…by raising their subscription rates to cable channels who in turn will raise rates to their own subscribers, Fox Zombies or not!

Georgia’s Marjorie Traitor Greene, insurrectionist, Trump worshipper and conspiracy theorist tweeted about the Fox/Dominion outcome: “We have food critics that criticize restaurants, consumer reports that criticizes products, auto critics that criticize automobiles, and conservative Americans have just wrapped up a week of nuking a beer company, but you can’t criticize a voting machine company or you’ll get sued for millions and millions of dollars.” She doesn’t get it and never will! In the case of settlements between private entities, the one having to pay can deduct the cost from taxes in its entirety, with the recipient paying corporate taxes on their windfall. In 2022, a combination of Federal and New York corporate taxes amounted to a tax rate of 27% for Fox, and by writing off this settlement to Dominion, a tax savings of $213 million might be realized unless a portion of it is covered by insurance – which can’t be written off – but they can write off any increase in insurance premiums resulting from this debacle. Rupert still has a fat wallet.

One solution for Fox, has satirist Andy Borowitz writing that Fox is selling off Representative Kevin McCarthy for a quick cash-flow solution. In the Fox Corral for only a few weeks, Murdoch expressed sadness that the sale is now necessary. “I wish Kevin well. I hope whoever buys him finds as much use for him as I did.” Many in D.C. were skeptical about his market value, but Marjorie Taylor Greene piped up with, “I have no idea why Fox thinks they can sell Kevin McCarthy…I own Kevin.”

Much online commentary complains that after all is said and done, Fox has “gotten away with it,” since they weren’t even required to apologize and immediately began making excuses and rationalizations, carrying on as usual, and making Americans pay for their misdeeds. Artist and writer, Robert Harrington, is reminded of the scene in Monty Python’s movie, ‘Life of Brian,’ where Brian is languishing in prison, asking his cellmate, “What will they do to me?” His cellmate replies, “Oh, you’ll probably get away with crucifixion.” The astounded Brian exclaims, “CRUCIFIXION?” Explaining, the cellmate answers, “Yeah, first offense.” The still dumbfounded Brian chokes, “GET AWAY…with crucifixion?” Harrington goes on to say that Fox is not going to “get away,” that this is only the beginning, and scene #2 involves a $2.7 billion lawsuit, courtesy of Smartmatic Corporation, another voting systems company with the same charges, same script, same scenario against Fox. As part of any settlement Smartmatic will demand an on-air apology from the broadcaster, giving Smartmatic the option of wording the apology, along with an admission Fox has lied about the ‘rigged election’, and that Smartmatic is completely blameless. Hopes of the mea culpa coming directly from the ‘King of Sleazy Lies,’ Tucker Carlson – Harrington’s honorific for him – won’t be happening officially with Fox and Tuck’s parting. Unable to get what he considered a fair price for Carlson, resulting in his being being placed on waivers, Murdoch will have to sell off Senator Lindsey Graham, or Representative George Santos to make any movement into a Smartmatic settlement.

Harrington writes that there are two types of culprits in this fiasco…first the ‘nutjobs‘ such as Giuliani, Powell and Lindell, “the people who think Donald Trump is God, though the only thing Trump has in common with God is his constant need of money.” The second type are the cynical manipulators like Carlson, Hannity and Ingraham, who knew the election was proper, but chose to give the ‘nutjobs‘ airtime to increase Fox’s bottom line, a “clear case of greedy people manipulating sick and stupid people cynically” for profit. Harrington thinks it’s a litigation disaster for Fox and he looks forward to both Donald Trump and Fox News going down in flames this year. As citizens we can view this recent settlement as a small win, but it’s only a baby-step toward forming and supporting a media framework that protects our democracy and holds its enemies liable for their efforts to deceive America.

A headline on Progressive Change’s website loudly and sarcastically proclaimed: “Another national nightmare ends. Tucker Carlson out at Fox!” Tucker Carlson’s sudden departure from his Fox News throne as a top-rated prime-time host is pretty significant in that he wasn’t allowed to host a final Monday show to tell his viewers goodbye, even though his Friday sign-off was, “We’ll return on Monday,” with Fox’s airing of promos up until the axe fell. The broadcaster’s released statement only said, “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.” A new interim program entitled ‘Fox News Tonight‘ will fill the 8 p.m. slot with rotating Fox personalities until a permanent host is selected, leaving a faithful legion of 3+ million viewers wondering what the hell happened. Tuck’s one hour show began in 2016 as he stepped into Bill O’Reilly’s empty slot, featuring controversial guests discussing subjects on race, immigration and hot news of the day, following his opening monologue. Conservative activists reaching out for new converts and office-seekers pitching for votes and money will need to find a new outlet to achieve their goals…at least until Carlson finds a new home…perhaps as a United Nations spokesperson for third-world refugees. Uh-huh! But horror of horrors, former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill thinks he might announce his candidacy for the presidency, something that would strike fear even into the heart of the Trumpmeister.

The split was characterized as being mutual, but Carlson had made comments about Fox management, brought to light in the Dominion case with his accusations that higher-ups were incompetent, prideful liberals destroying the network’s credibility in calling the 2020 presidential outcome for Joe Biden. Congressman Jamie Raskin called Tucker a “propagandist hitman for Donald Trump who was exposed as a complete fraud” in the Dominion lawsuit revelations. Carlson found traction as a TV personality on CNN, co-hosting with Paul Begala, their ‘Crossfire‘ show, a left-versus-right public-affairs debate presentation on the network with a varied history back to 1982. That partnership’s destruction is attributed to Jon Stewart’s appearance in October 2004 when he confronted the two hosts, calling their show “partisan hackery,” an exercise in “doing theatre when you should be doing debate.” The bowtie-wearing Carlson was so taken aback by Stewart’s mockery he had no response aside from asking the Comedy Central star why he wasn’t telling jokes, drawing Jon’s response that, “I’m not gonna be your monkey! I watch your show everyday and it’s painful to watch the knee-jerk, reactionary talk.” Three months later, CNN’s new president agreed with Stewart that the show was “hurting America,” cancelling the show and Carlson’s contract.

Fox News staffers were in total surprise at Tuck-Tuck’s separation as they shared private insights around the newsroom. An unidentified member said, “This is major. It sends a message that even the guy with the highest ratings of all, by a long shot, doesn’t get to survive this disaster.” Andy Borowitz, not one to let this occasion slip by without a comment says, “Fox News has announced that it has replaced Tucker Carlson with a state-of-the-art lying Chatbot. In a brief statement, Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch thanked Carlson for his service but said the he had been “rendered obsolete by swift advances in lying technology.” A dry run of the Chatbot showed it emitting nine lies per minute, besting Carlson’s average of eight. News of the Chatbot’s arrival sent shockwaves down the corridors of Fox’s midtown Manhattan headquarters. “I’ll be next,” a reportedly shaken Sean Hannity said.” Without a doubt, Rupert has a price tag on his head.

CHEATING FOXES AND TESTING TESTER

One of this week’s highlights may have been diminished with the Delaware judge overseeing the Dominion Voting Systems/Fox News trial delaying the scheduled Monday start until Tuesday…a sign that Fox is trying to broker an out of court settlement. If that succeeds (or has succeeded) the American public will be cheated out of fully seeing how a devious organization functioning as the propaganda arm of the GOP, which has been masquerading as a news network, has led us astray. Not being able to see the likes of the Murdochs, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, or Laura Ingraham on the witness stand, stumbling and flop-sweating their way through the court proceedings is truly a letdown.

Joyce Vance writes in a Civil Discourse post on Substack, that an early settlement appears unlikely, since the judge has already ruled that Fox was pushing falsehoods, leaving the jury to decide if Fox knew they were doing so in their reckless disregard of the truth, and subsequently the jury arriving at a settlement amount for damages. If the trial goes forward, it is estimated to last five weeks, but that won’t mark the end of Fox’s court troubles: voting machine manufacturer, Smartmatic is in the lineup, having filed suit in New York, to include Lou Dobbs, Rudy Giuliani and Maria Bartiromo; shareholders have filed suit alleging a breach of fiduciary duty, which could develop into a class action suit; and, former Fox employee, Abby Grossberg, has filed suit for being ‘coerced’ into providing false testimony which she says was a setup to make her a scapegoat, deleting evidence from her phone, and claiming that Fox has a history of sexism and discrimination against women. Fox has filed a countersuit against Grossberg, leaving this situation in play…so our getting cheated out of one big Fox exposition allows a few minor possibilities remaining in the docket.

Speaking of cheating…The Donald is already making excuses for losing the 2024 presidential election, even though he claims on Truth Social that his numbers are ahead of Biden’s. He posted, “The Dems are working hard on various forms of CHEATING, including Election interference through the illegal use of Prosecutors, on a scale never seen before. Do not discount their ability to CHEAT!!!” Which stage of grief can be attributed to his state of mind if he is already conceding defeat eighteen months ahead of a scheduled election? He is acknowledging the many criminal indictments and trials have already doomed his pathetic candidacy, but that he would have won if only the ‘cheating’ against him had not been allowed to happen. His president-for-life dream is over! As a former business associate of Donny’s, Donnie Deutsch, said on MSNBC, “I’m bored. This latest chapter seems to be enough already; I can’t look at this guy anymore; I don’t want to see this guy anymore.” Boredom! So that’s what killed the campaign…and tediousness?

Another loser in the news is ex-contender for the 2024 GOP presidential election slot, Governor Ron DeSantis, having such a disaster of a campaign rollout this month that one of his major Republican donors bailed on him. Losing a mega-donor because your polling numbers take a dive is a big hit ‘cuz that’s where the power lies, not with Mom ‘n Pop contributors. The donor in question closed his wallet “because of his (DeSantis’) stance on abortion and book banning,” going too far to the right with extremist positions. Decline in the gov’s polling spot show that those supporters became ‘undecideds’ or shifted to other candidates NOT to include The Trumpmeister. Media buildup of DeSantis as a legitimate opponent of Trump, now has no basis with his true character as a weakling being brought to the fore.

The end for DeSantis may lie in the food related incident that Trump and the MAGAts are blowing up. Story is that a few years back, flying from Florida to D.C., DeSantis lacked a spoon with which to eat his pudding dessert, so he improvised by using three fingers, expanding the folklore that he is one messy eater anyway. Being christened with a new nickname, ‘Ol Puddin’ Fingers, by The Don, and now a campaign video showing pudding being enjoyed in the DeSantis style, with a voiceover announcing that Ron has to “have his puddin’ fingers in everything,” where they don’t belong, such as our entitlements!

Possible GOP presidential contender, Mike Pence, showed up in his home state of Indiana for an appearance at the NRA convention, making history by being the first Republican candidate in memory to be booed by the attendees. Stepping onstage, the boos started, rising in crescendo as the gathering heaped its punishment upon the former vice-president. Shouts of “Traitor” could be heard amidst the booing, as Pence stood in the spotlight, waiting for the booing to subside, and as it quieted, he said, “I love you too.” After a short speech, he walked away from the spotlight, and the vicious booing showered over him as he exited. This humiliation won’t be enough to discourage him from his quest, and we can be certain that further rejections await him as he plunges ahead in his useless campaign to win over the old, white, gun toting crowd who drove their DeSotos with the ‘Perot for President’ bumper stickers to Indianapolis.

On ABC’s Sunday presentation of ‘This Week’, Senator Lindsey Graham slammed Marjorie Traitor Greene’s comment in praise of the Air National Guardsman arrested for leaking classified military documents, saying, “If you’re a member of the military intelligence community and you disagree with American policy and you think you’re going to be okay when it comes to leaking classified information, you’re going to jail.” Greene had tweeted: “Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime. And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more.” The documents showed NATO intelligence about U.S. involvement in Ukraine, including deaths and training of Ukrainian troops, some of which officials indicated are doctored. Some Republicans who oppose this country’s support of that war were quick to strengthen their arguments upon seeing the leaked material, even though The Washington Post says there is a video of Teixeira “shouting racist and antisemitic slurs before firing a rifle.”  Figures!

Senator Graham rebuked their arguments, saying it would “destroy America’s ability to defend itself. And for any member of Congress to suggest it’s okay to leak classified information is terribly irresponsible,” being directed toward Marge. Representative Greene then responded to his criticism by posting a Photoshopped image of him holding a can of Bud Light beer with the image of transexual-influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Following last week’s brouhaha of the ‘Tennessee Three,‘ two of whom were kicked out of office in that state’s House, reinstatement was made by their home districts in just days. The House Speaker, Cameron Sexton, drew attention to himself with a report that he had purchased a home in Nashville, and not two hours away in Crossville which he supposedly represents. The Tennessee Constitution then makes him ineligible to represent Crossville since he isn’t a ‘qualified voter’ living within that district. He admitted that he and his family live in Nashville even though the Legislature is in session only four months out of the year. To obscure his purchase and the move, he established an anonymous trust to buy the property, with his financial advisor listed as trustee, with ability to sign all documents. Sexton’s wife, Lacey, signed the warranty deed for the property as the ‘affiant,’ but her name is not printed on the document and the signature looks iffy. The bank which handled the sale lists Sexton as a director and he assists in ‘business development.’ Tennessee law provides for a temporary residency, if the person intends to return to the original residence, but investment in a $600,000 property looks highly suspicious to say the least, since the Crossville house was sold.

During the legislative session, members receive a per diem to “cover meals and incidentals equal to the allowance granted Federal employees for such expenses in the Nashville area,” being about $79 daily. However, members who live more than fifty miles outside Nashville are given $313 to cover cost of lodging in Nashville, and per diem is available when Legislature is out of session if a trip is necessary to conduct official business. Of course, Sexton would claim the round trip to and from Crossville, which has cost the taxpayers $92,071 since 2021. Sexton’s new home is in District 56, six miles from the state capitol; the actual representative of District 56 has collected $10,885 in that same period. Karma is a bitch.

In a similar vein, Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal requested $2 million from the city council to fill 79 vacant deputy positions. Said Bilal, “Our office is consistently under-funded, and this jeopardizes the lives and safety of our sworn and civilian personnel.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, checking city records and internal documents has found that the awarded funds were rerouted toward hefty pay raises for her executive staff, with an attempt to raise her own pay by 109% which would have made her the highest-paid elected city official. She wisely declined comment in later testimony to the city council. A call by Rochelle to House Speaker Sexton for sharing an attorney might be a prudent move.

A recent vote in Missouri resulted in a ban for care of trans youths, with bans from sports to “protect kids.” The GOP-controlled Assembly passed the bill 106-45, and now needs another House vote to move it to the state Senate. The sponsor of the legislation, Senator Moon, when asked about a vote on child marriage, defended the custom by saying he personally knows some who “are still married.” Moon ran on a platform toward “putting an end to abortion” along with his support of eliminating corporate taxes and limiting sex education classes. Next up is a bill to ban drag shows in public venues. Sounds as if Missouri has mixed feelings about being ‘The Show Me State.’

As it now stands, we as a nation are just six state votes away from holding an Article V Convention. Four major campaigns exist for such a gathering: the Balanced Budget Amendment, the Convention of States campaign, the Wolf-PAC campaign, and the term limits campaign…each with different goals but convincing 28 states that this is necessary. If six more state legislatures call for a constitutional convention, Congress will have to hold one because that rule exists, the catch being no rules for an Article V Convention are outlined in the Constitution. The danger is that those who convene such a group to rewrite our sacred document might be unelected and unaccountable, so many of our cherished rights might be revoked – right to peaceful protest, freedom of religion, or right to privacy! What’s to keep corporations from dumping money into the process to see their wishes are followed? Bottom line points to a disaster, leading to extensive and expensive legal fights, with uncertainty about the functioning of a democracy, and assuredly economic instability would follow. Extremists and wealthy special interests see a chance to pursue their far-right agenda, putting it into the Constitution, working fervently to convince those allies in the state legislatures to make the push. The issue is sneaking below the radar and needs to have the attention of us all!

Montana’s GOP is trying to change the rules for next year’s Senate primary to take down Democratic Senator Jon Tester and take back the U.S. Senate. A bill to change the structure of elections in the party primary system to one in which the top two preferred candidates would advance to the general election regardless of party – no Libertarians to muck up the results, thank you! Tester is in his third-term, and getting third party voters to switch to the GOP would be their best bet to oust him, though these voters like neither party. The GOP is calling this an experiment, is not applicable to congressional races, and would sunset in 2025, affecting only Tester’s race. Angry Democrats are being told by Republicans that it simply wants to ensure that the winner has more than 50% support of Montana voters. Democrat Jayson O’Neill charges that it is a D.C. implemented ploy – the Montana legislature didn’t come up with this on their own. “It’s a Hail Mary throw…throw deep and see if they get a catch. They are desperate to find the magic pathway to success, willing to throw anything at the wall to see if it sticks.” The NRSC declined to comment…fill in the blanks on your own.

INCENSE, PEPPERMINT, BUD LITE AND CIGAR SMOKE

Donald Trump, after his Manhattan court appearance, immediately fled for refuge at Mar-a-Lago where he feels safest. In a speech he proclaimed, “I never knew something like this could happen in America. The only crime I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those that seek to destroy it,” in his belief that if it is said ad infinitum his complete innocence becomes a reality. As he enumerated all the crimes of which he is accused he said, “This is a persecution, not an investigation, but our heads are held high.” His two oldest sons, Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dweeb, though not named, were thanked for their support, yet naming Tiffany and Ivanka as he complimented them…even predicting “Barron will be great someday. He’s tall and smart.” There was no comment regarding The Onion’s headline: Trump Revealed To Have Paid Hush Money To Conceal Children He Had In Wedlock.

Continuing, The Don said, “But I have a great family and they’ve done a fantastic job and we appreciate it very much.” No mention of truant wife, Melania? It appears that she chose not to attend – neither did she watch his cringe worthy blather on those outlets who capitulated to airing it. Sources say she is angry about his extramarital affairs, doesn’t care to hear it mentioned, while being aware of who she’s married to, as she socializes with her own friends and family who know better than to mention reality. Staying at Mar-a-Lago offers her some safety, a retreat from the environs of Washington, D.C. and New York, despite the physical deterioration some have reported about the complex. Disclosures by some visitors of peeling paint and a general feeling of neglect may indicate that Trump may have his eyes on a dacha in Russia as his legal options narrow down. Will Melania be on that Underground Railroad escape? It’s a good bet that son-in-law Jared Kushner will hitch a ride as far as Saudi Arabia.

The net has gathered tighter now that several of the former prez’s administration associates have been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, most notably former chief of staff Mark Meadows who attempted to stay out of the limelight by claiming executive privilege. Meadows is seen as instrumental in providing information leading up to the January 6, 2020 Insurrection, and in the attempt to overthrow Biden’s election in the weeks prior to the inauguration of the new administration, especially in his dealings with Ginny Thomas. Others subpoenaed by Smith are John Ratcliffe, former Director of National Intelligence; Robert O’Brien, former national security advisor; and, Ken Cuccinelli, former Department of Homeland Security official. Former VP Mike Pence has ended his opposition to testifying, with ‘Mother’s‘ acquiescence, and can be expected to comply in the near future.

Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest rolled over in his grave with a smile on his face this week, as the GOP controlled Tennessee House expelled two of its Black members over a peaceful protest against gun violence on the chamber floor. General Forrest, founder of the KKK, would have been glad to see that a White member was spared removal from the body – heaven forfend that it had to be a woman accused of the same impropriety! Republican members are obviously attempting to solidify their race to the bottom of the heap by doing such things as overriding police accountability measures passed by voters, stripping civilian boards of power, making it more difficult to investigate abuse and excessive force by law enforcement, and generally ignoring wrongdoing by their own members. Candace Owen, a Hitler admirer, was honored for her ‘criticism of creeping socialism and leftist political tyranny,’ but they declined to honor Renata Soto for working with undocumented immigrants. Former basketball coach, Representative David Byrd, was accused of sexually assaulting three teenage girls as their coach, and while he did not seek reelection, he was allowed to serve out his term. Several years ago, two GOP lawmakers raised hell during a Capitol building renovation about a Muslim foot-washing sink being added to a bathroom – which was actually intended to be a mop sink. And on and on!

Mark Zaborowski on Quorum writes, “The lower chamber in Tennessee has just solidified Democratic control in these three districts for years to come. Special elections will be held, and these same folks can run again, if they wish. Meanwhile, the state is getting a lot of attention for this high-handed and frankly juvenile act. If the House had voted instead to censure the lawmakers for breaking the ‘rules of decorum,’ the point would have been made and the whole thing would have blown over quickly. Now, it’ll be brought up and re-examined after the special elections and beyond. It’s not as though these Democrats were invited into a club and then kicked out. They were elected by Tennesseans to represent their interests. Lawmakers ignore that important fact at their peril. Expulsion for committing a crime is one thing. Taking a political stand opposite the majority is viewed by most Americans as a right, not a privilege to be granted or denied by the majority.”

We can see the GOP errors in judgment with their continuing to harp about Hunter Biden and his laptop. They fail to disclose any information on why his hard drive is a smoking gun for Biden family criminality and voters are growing weary of this time waster. A study by the Congressional Oversight project indicates 63% of voters want Congress to look into issues like health care, rising costs and climate change instead of their petty distractions. But they have their base, who haven’t noticed that the wheels have come off, and a serious political party doesn’t exist anymore, able to handle new and relevant insights.

One Trumper has shown us the proper use of the AR-15 in getting rid of some anger and frustration. Kid Rock was disgruntled that Bud Lite had chosen actress, musician, comedienne and trans woman Dylan Mulvaney for an ad campaign in celebration of her milestone year of identifying as a woman. Taking to an Instagram video, Rock used his weapon to destroy a crate of Bud Lite, then consigning the leaking, foaming beers to the trash while yelling, “Know your audience, BUD!” Untroubled by this hillbilly’s elegy, Budweiser issued a public statement that it was standing by its decision to honor Mulvaney, uncaring that ‘this Bud’s obviously not for you, Kiddo!’

ProPublica blew the roof off the Supreme Court this week with the revelation that real estate magnate, right-winger and Hitler memorabilia collector, Harlan Crow was the benefactor of two decades worth of lavish vacations for Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Insurrectionist Ginny – all of which were not disclosed by the unethical twosome. Texas billionaire and GOP mega donor Crow bestowed gratuities totaling millions at this juncture, far above the threshold of $415 which would require reporting, and a violation of disclosure law. ProPublica cites flight records, internal documents and interviews to back up its charges of Thomas’ failure to include this generosity on his financial records, thumbing his nose at the 1978 Ethics in Government Act. Crow’s response was to claim that the Thomas duo never asked for anything and have been friends for over twenty-five years, to whom he was only extending hospitality which many of his “dear friends” have received. Thomas has vacationed on Crow’s 162-foot yacht around the world, as well as being flown to destinations in a private jet both domestically and internationally. In 2019, Clarence and Ginny were treated to an Indonesian vacation reputed to be worth around $500,000 had they footed the bill themselves. Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks hosted the Thomas’ numerous summers, via private jet, of course.

The Supreme Court’s spokesperson had no immediate response for comment, but we can rest assured there are plenty of strategy sessions to provide some upcoming Justification. Justice Thomas finally managed a response (HE SPEAKS AGAIN!) – pleading ignorance, saying he had been “advised” it was unnecessary to this largesse since there was “no business before the court.” It must have been information from the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who had invited Thomas to accompany him on a Texas hunting trip, leaving the invitee behind because he couldn’t “arrange a ride.” So, casting aside his oversights, he promised to follow more stringent guidelines in the future. Hearing that, Crow may decide to provide only his 98-foot yacht and the little-used Piper Cub as a gift for his old friend’s next vacation, provided Chief Justice John Roberts doesn’t butt in wanting a piece of the action.

Roberts may be a bit late in this sort of bid (or not?) with calls for an ethics investigation into Thomas‘ secretive activity, primarily by Democrats, with Republicans responses amounting to little more than, “Oh, look over there at the bunny!” Looking into Harlan Crow’s background we find he was a backer of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which attacked John Kerry’s war record during his presidential campaign in 2004. In 2011 Crow donated $500,000 to a Tea Party group founded by….wait for it!…Ginny Thomas, which paid her an annual salary of $120,000. Currently, he gives support to FreedomWorks, one group opposed to Biden’s student loan relief plan, and for 25 years he has served on the board of the American Enterprise Institute and on the board of the Hoover Institution, both being conservative think tanks. Many groups that benefit from his generous patronage are unknown, since he only discloses what is necessary to keep him within the law.

Although both Crow and Thomas vow there was never any discussion about court cases, it doesn’t pass the test since conservative politicians manage to get massive contributions with nary a discussion about what the donors want in return. A fireside chat, or cigars and wine following dinner has to influence one’s thinking. ProPublica concludes,‘When a justice’s lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust.” Bruce Maiman of HuffPost says, “A fundamental problem with our democracy is that bribery is legal and baked into the system. In closing, I’ll just say this: I believe you, Anita.”

Former conservationist, now anti-vaccine and anti-science extremist, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was encouraged by Steve Bannon, to throw his hat into the ring as a 2024 presidential candidate. The nephew of President John F. Kennedy has abandoned his family’s legacy of public service and is now a self-serving libertarian bent upon spreading conspiracy theories and deceitful anti-vaccine messages, associating with the likes of not only Bannon, but Roger Stone at ‘Reawaken America’ events. He has attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci in a tiresome commentary, comparing COVID-19 mandates to Nazi Germany, and being condemned by his own wife, Cheryl Hines. His siblings have attempted to convince him to mend his ways to no avail, as he sinks deeper into his destructive misinformation campaign. COVID-denier Trump appointed him to a vaccine safety panel during his administration, but quickly backed away after more rational heads prevailed. His pathetic political campaign is going nowhere but it still poses a danger since he has an established base and we’ve seen where this type of demagoguery gets us.

In other news, a Florida suspect was arrested for two home invasions after fleeing from police. The man, naked and covered in wheel bearing grease, peppermint oil and blood, and under the influence of drugs, dived into a swimming pool, then bounced on a trampoline before being restrained by three medics. He was charged with occupied burglary, battery on a police officer, criminal mischief, and violently resisting arrest. To the disappointment of Governor DeSantis, he couldn’t be charged with carrying a library card.

April 3

STORMY WEATHER REMOVES TEFLON FOR A MUG SHOT

Well, it finally happened this week, and now Ivanka Trump’s kids can have matching photos of both their grandfathers’ mug shots sitting on the mantel…maybe, unless The Donald gets his way and is/was able to opt out of that part of his booking on Tuesday. The former TV showman is being thwarted in his attempt to borrow from a collector, O.J. Simpson’s white ’93 Ford Bronco, as he shows up at Manhattan Criminal Court for his appearance to hear the charges prepared by County D.A. Bragg and the grand jury. Senator Lindsey Graham asked to be the driver, but the Secret Service determined that his teary-bleary eyes disqualified him, handing him a box of facial tissues and telling him to go stand in the corner and straighten up. As reported, the Trump defense team of Susan Necheles and Joe Tacopina declared, “President Trump has been indicted. He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court. Substantial legal challenges will be filed and a plea deal is not gonna happen.” Trump was caught off guard by this action…Bragg’s strategy, with the grand jury previously announcing a recess until late-April and the defense team preparing for a break from the case amid hopes that it was perhaps being dropped. Trump’s call for court house protests resulted in more reporters showing up, with a large contingent being present celebrating the indictment news.

Critics of DJT’s ‘political persecution’ are calling his caper with Stormy Daniels ‘a personal matter,’ ignoring the likelihood that there are numerous charges in the sealed indictment, as they beat the drums loudly about the unfairness of a perceived, but deceptively characterized, single charge. So, take the rag away from your face, Lindsey, now’s not the time for your tears. D.A. Bragg seemed reluctant to take on the ongoing Trump case when he assumed his position, having reservations about the testimony given by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. With the passage of time, Bragg became more focused, especially as other legal actions against the former president were resulting in successes, and speculation is that over 30 counts against Trump lie within that sealed envelope…in hindsight, were these predictions correct? Defendant Trump views the court action as working in his favor, energizing his base and winning new sympathetic adherents who may not like him but feel that a former chief executive should not face the music for an alleged extramarital affair. Team Trump’s email says they raised over $4 million in the hours after indictment was announced. They offered no comment on reports that Melania Trump was once again wearing her ‘I Really Don’t Care, Do U?’ jacket once again.

As expected, the GOP has rushed in to protect the Defendant’s sainted orange halo, the tearful Lindsey G. begging for contributions to fight this ‘injustice’, and Governor Ron DeSantis expressing his refusal to cooperate with any extradition orders from his state of Florida. In vain, House Republicans have asked D.A. Bragg to testify before their committee, as they interfere with the prosecution, but he has sternly told them to stay on their side of the fence…as in “Butt Out…go pound sand!” Fox News is firmly back in Trump’s camp, calling for protests and inciting unrest, with Tucker Carlson saying, “…probably not the best time to give up your AR-15.” Even Senator Graham showed his colors with a sure fire plan to have his idol escape prosecution, by attacking Bragg as being soft on crime, and suggesting that The Don on his journey to the Criminal Court he could “smash some store windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY!” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted his support, criticizing Bragg, saying, “He routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public.” Governor DeSantis added, “Bragg consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal conduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent.” Former Trump side-kick, Mike Pence, says the indictment “sends a terrible message to the world,” about American justice, and will encourage dictators to abuse power. Uhh, Mikey, isn’t that what we are fighting against in your old buddy? Oh yeah, ‘now’s not the time to talk about…blah, blah, blah.’ Let’s talk after Tuesday, ‘kay?

Non-candidates Pence and DeSantis continue to hedge their bets in their non-presidential race declarations as they keep their attention on Trump’s base – don’t want to offend anybody, guys! Never know when you’ll need a good word from Dorito Mussolini and his minions. Former Arkansas governor, Asa Hutchinson, on the other hand has jumped right into the race, joining Nikki Haley and a couple of other minor players, as an announced candidate, and will make a formal bid official later this month. He claims that in touring the country he hears Americans asking for “leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not appeal to our worst instincts. I believe that I can be that kind of leader for the people of America.” Prior to his governorship he served in the House of Representatives, and was a federal prosecutor, and has suggested with the indictment, Trump should drop his presidential aspirations, “For the sake of the office of the presidency.” It has become too much of a “sideshow and a distraction, and he needs to concentrate on his due process…I’m not supportive of Donald Trump. I want to provide an alternative, but I’m happy if the voters make that decision and choice. I don’t like the idea of the charges from what I’ve seen coming out of New York. But the process has got to work, and we have to have respect for our criminal justice system, but also for the office of the presidency.”  Ace, did you clear this with Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders?

Robert Reich on Inequality Media Civic Action, writes, “The indictment of Trump is a victory for the rule of law and democracy. It shows that no person is above the law and that our justice system will not be bullied by threats of violence. But make no mistake: This indictment also makes Donald Trump more dangerous than ever. You see, for the tens of millions of people who still believe the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen, this indictment simply confirms Trump’s narrative that the system is rigged against them. They believe the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was a patriotic act of resistance, and Trump will use this indictment to further galvanize his supporters, laying the groundwork for another, possibly more violent, coup attempt in 2024. That’s Trump’s plan, clear as day, and we ignore the threat at our own peril…Our democracy is facing another major stress test, with Trump’s rhetoric more apocalyptic and dangerous than ever, and no one in the Republican Party seemingly able or willing to stop him. The bottom line is this: Donald Trump’s next coup attempt is already underway, and we must start now fighting back to defend our democracy.” That should be the perfect call for us to start scraping the Teflon coating from Defendant Prima Donald.

With all the ruckus around Manhattan this week, it would be understandable that the big news was overlooked…our U.S. Senate voted to end the Iraq War, a symbolic vote which took no bravery whatsoever! The 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force to invade Iraq, a historical hangover of the first degree, and a reminder of the game of chicken played with then-president George W. Bush and his war party…repealed! The vote will have no impact on the 2,500 or so military advisors and trainers remaining in that country, as Congress tries to reclaim its war-making duty after Bush won several skirmishes for funding to stay in Iraq, while refusing to be forced into a withdrawal timetable. With troops already in place, Congress blinked, feeling it had no choice but to protect our military with even more money and materiel. That portion of the Authorization that covers counterterrorism operations worldwide remains intact, but evidently feeling their oats, Congress went so far as to repeal the authorization for the 1991 Persian Gulf War because…why not? Makes you proud that two wars were ended on the same day by such an august body which is mostly in the September of its years.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was so shocked this week when he discovered a poll revealing Americans are less focused on religion and child-bearing, equating that with loss of pride in America. “Why can’t we be proud of America?”, he asked. So there you have it folks…raise the flag, have more babies and read your holy book. Oh, and keep the AR-15 handy…genuflect, genuflect. Look for a House investigation into this matter by Bonehead Kev, coming to a committee near you to appease his favorite alleged billionaire and other demented pols.

According to Daily Kos a 2013-2014 video clip from the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) is circulating which will set Marjorie Traitor Greene’s hair on fire. “CBN has brought you all the greatest fundamentalist and evangelical hits over the years: homophobia, racism, climate change denialism, bad science, and hydroxychloroquine cures for COVID-19,” says Kos. Baptist media mogul Pat Robertson, on one of his call-in shows, was asked by a caller if it was wrong to refer to two co-workers as females after legally changing their gender status in light of the Bible’s admonitions against homosexuality. Robertson was slightly dismissive of “all that,” stating, “There are men who are in women’s bodies, rare but true; or women that are in men’s bodies, and they all say they want a sex change. And that is a very permanent thing. I don’t think there’s any sin associated with that. I don’t condemn anybody for doing that. It’s for you to decide or to judge.” Kos goes on to say, “There has been homophobia in Judeo-Christian religion for a very long time…evangelicals and Christian conservatives in our country did not invent it…many people whose faith is connected to Old or New Testaments have continued to apply context to their religion and history, while also keeping the concept of metaphor alive. The problem with these two groups, while pretending to be stoic and unyielding in their beliefs and readings and teachings, continue to change and move the goalposts of their religion as political norms ebb and flow…it bears repeating: Evangelicals and Christian conservatives are simply politicians, and if you follow them you are receiving the same amount of spiritual guidance that you would get from a politician.” Fire extinguisher, Marjorie?

Another freight train derailment involving about 25 cars in Montana on Sunday sent several freight cars into the Clark Fork River near Lolo National Forest with no resulting injuries. A butane tanker car was undamaged but many of the cars were empty, aside from several cars carrying hundreds of cases of Coors Lite and Blue Moon beers, several of which ended up in the river. Most of the spillage was confined and it was reported that fish in the river could detect no difference in water quality. Ouch! Take that light beer imbibers!

QUESTIONING ETHICS IN THE BATTER’S BOX

As we await the arrival of Godot and the adoption of an ethics code by the US Supreme Court, not to mention absence of results in an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into Representative George Santos‘ indiscretions, the Senate Ethics Committee is finally admonishing Senator Lindsey Graham for his solicitation of campaign contributions for Senate candidate Herschel Walker in November of last year. During a Fox News interview, inside a federal building, the Senator asked for donations to Walker’s campaign five separate times, in violation of the prohibition of campaign activity in federal buildings. It must be noted that Graham turned himself in to the committee following the interview.

Even though this is Graham’s second violation, criminal penalties could result, but likely won’t. He solicited contributions for his own campaign in 2020 when approached in a hallway for an unscheduled interview, and while the committee sent a private letter to him after concluding that it was “inadvertent, technical, or otherwise of a de minimis nature,” the public never learned of it at the time, and the complaint was dismissed. Committee members, Senators Coon and Lankford, wrote Graham that prohibitions on campaign solicitation in federal buildings and the use of federal resources for campaign activity “have been consistent and clear throughout your years of Senate service…and despite the Committee’s specific guidance following your October 2020 violation, your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate. You are hereby admonished.” Hardly the shot heard round the world, but in a released statement Graham said, “It was my mistake. I take responsibility. I will try to do better in the future.” Do we have any other suggestions out there in how he might do better? How about a walk across the aisle for a talk with Representative Weasel McCarthy?

Kevin McCarthy in a tweet last week, responded to Master Donny J’s tweet about a possible Tuesday arrest, putting himself in the middle of the indictment excitement. One Twitter responder told The Mac that he was surprised he had cell service from inside Trump’s colon. Anyway, the stupidest man in the country howled, “An outrageous abuse of power…all politically motivated prosecutions!” His tweet suspiciously followed one by Marjorie Traitor Greene who might actually be in command of this bunch of Trumpsters. She probably told Kev, “Relax, you got your job…now leave the rest to me, ‘atta boy!”

The Durango Herald newspaper in Colorado criticized Representative Lauren Boebert after her visit to a local high school last week, where her session with students went beyond “governance and into political territory.” Her speech, followed by a Q&A mentioned “moral decay” as she inveighed against infringement of liberties during the COVID-19 period. Parents of the Dolores High School students had misgivings leading up to the event, but were somewhat reassured when she confirmed that she would not be armed with a weapon, though brimming over with QAnon conspiracies. The editorial board of the Herald wrote, “Like her or otherwise, Boebert is a polarizing politician. Apparently, she also told students they should know about these issues and let it motivate them to stand up for their freedom. Come on! This is Boebert’s brand on stage in front of students without parents present…she didn’t separate herself and her politics from the mechanics of government.” The editorial continues, “She could have inspired students with her personal journey from a manager at McDonald’s to a representative in the hallowed halls of Congress.” Since she has not advanced her ‘personal journey’ for the better, how about we remove her from those hallowed halls with a return to where she surely mastered the phrase, “Want fries with that?”

Meanwhile, in Arizona, gubernatorial election loser, Kari Lake, fights on to have the election overturned in her favor or to re-run the election as she refuses to concede to declared winner, Katie Hobbs. She filed a lawsuit contesting the legitimacy of the results, blaming problems on printers and tabulating machines, which prevented some same-day voters from casting a ballot. Maricopa County Judge Peter Thompson and the Arizona Court of Appeals determined her case lacked evidence of devious intentions by the county to disenfranchise her supporters, so was thrown out. An appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, which declined to hear her case, did send back one of her claims to the county for review, which involves improper signature verification procedures. With six of her seven claims dismissed, Loser Lake’s response was, “They have built a house of cards in Maricopa County. I’m not just going to knock it over. I’m going to burn it to the ground. Signature verification has been the third rail for Maricopa County for the past few years. They have thrown every obstacle at Arizona election integrity activists to prevent them from reaching it. Unfortunately, they messed with the wrong woman.” Kari, Kari, Kari – put down that blowtorch! Don’t you know that Master Trump favors the baseball bat? Don’t jeopardize your standing for possible VP consideration!

Who hasn’t seen the Truth Social post made by Combover Caligula where he placed a photo of himself preparing to swing a baseball bat at a photo of New York D.A. Bragg? It was widely distributed over all social media sites, and notably picked up by the Rupert Murdoch newspaper, The New York Post, with the classic tabloid headline, “Bat Hit Crazy,” taking its place above the previous classic headline, “Headless Body found in Topless Bar.” The lead to the headline, “Deranged Trump threatens violence against Bragg who gets death note,” which refers to a letter enclosed in an envelope with white powder sent to the Manhattan D.A., threatening death with the possible indictment of The Donald. Conclusion was that the powder was harmless; but concern about the message, which followed Trump’s Social Media that his arrest could lead to “potential death and destruction,” would provide impetus for his followers to “stand back and stand by.” Legal experts feel that the former prez theoretically could be charged for such posts, not only for ethically crossing the line, but also legally, facing charges for menacing, of aggravated harassment, or inciting a riot, a charge which he still faces resulting from J6. Because of Trump’s social media comments and the undercurrent of threats circulating because of his impending arrest, security has been especially tight in Manhattan, ranging from deliveries, to placement of barricades, and patrols by bomb-sniffing dogs. Bragg’s office staff of 1600 is constantly fielding threatening phone calls and emails, as they attempt to complete their work.

An attempt by three House GOP chairmen – Jim (Gym) Jordan, James Comer and Bryan Steil – to investigate D.A. Bragg for his Trump investigation as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority,” to cloud, and possibly delay any charges has fallen flat on its face. Their letter to Bragg insisted that congressional scrutiny about how funds appropriated by Congress are implemented is valid and that he must submit to their probe. A spokesperson for Bragg responded by saying, “We will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process, nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law.” Kevin McCarthy, momentarily emerging from his sheltered perch said, “Republicans are just asking questions…let them ask questions. There’s nothing wrong with asking the question.” So, reporters posed a question – about whether he could support Trump with all his potential indictments pending. “It’s a political play,” he says. Good, solid answer, Kev.

Bragg tossed the letter back to the chairmen with, “We will not be intimidated by this. Many false claims have been lobbed out, so let’s set the record straight. New York remains one of the safest big cities in the U.S,” – in response to their urging him to spend more time on controlling local crime rather than pursuing Trump. When the Proud Boys and their adherents react to the indictment we can bet on continued job security for the D.A.’s office with increased New York criminality. Trump continues to deny any involvement with porn actress Stormy Daniels, aside from having a side by side photo taken at a golf course. His post on Truth Social claims, “I did NOTHING wrong in the ‘Horseface’ case. I see she showed up in New York today trying to drum up some publicity for herself…Never had an affair with her, another false acquisition (sic) by a Sleazebag. Witch Hunt!” Stormy, in a tweet shot back a photo of her horse, replying, “My horse is prettier than me. There is nothing about Tiny that would remind anyone of a horse.”