HUSH…NOTHING FOR LOSERS, SUCKERS, AND SCUMBAGS

The winner of the haiku contest, identified only as AJ, and held by Andy Borowitz of The Borowitz Report, was announced at a very opportune moment. Contestants submitted haikus on the theme, ‘Trump’s innermost musings as he sits in court.’ AJ says that he would not have incited a riot had he lost the contest, while lauding the community for their submitted taunts against a “wannabe dictator.” Rather than write a haiku in it’s original form of three lines or phrases containing seventeen syllables, with the phonetic units in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, he realized Trump would break the rules just as he breaks everything, so he bent the rules to fit the former- and now felonious-president’s character. Exaggerating his greatness, as he insults others smarter than him, AJ submitted Trump’s likely musings:       

I write the best haikus
You’ve never seen anything like these
Counting syllables is for losers

MAGA princeling, Eric Trump, drew slings and arrows after his Memorial Day weekend post on Xtwitter, when he shared another user’s post of a photo of Daddy Don, Melania, Eric and Lara, and DJT, Jr., with Kimberly Guilfoyle, crediting the clan with “giving up everything to Save America.” “And we will do it again,” added Eric, sans Ivanka, Jared and Tiffany, evidently. Former Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger pounced with, “Your family has sacrificed nothing, your name will become synonymous with ‘Benedict Arnold’ and how dare you tweet this, THIS weekend. You don’t know the first thing about service you child.” Other posters called out The Don’s derogatory comments on US service members and veterans, and fallen soldiers as “suckers,” mentioning his five deferments to avoid the draft. Snark Tank posted, “Yup, Donald even sacrificed his bone spurs after the draft was over.” One poster asked, “How many years in service or number of deployments do you all have? FYI, taking part in the events leading up to J6 doesn’t count as military service.” Of course we got the usual respectful, solemn but upbeat Memorial Day message from the Orange Bully…to all the, “human scum that is working so hard to destroy our country.” To his credit he also posted an image of himself saluting at the tomb of the Unknowns…Photoshopped? Bocha Blue on The Palmer Report took a jab at Mr. Trump with, “We know you’re stressed, Donnie. However, you need to know that Memorial Day isn’t all about you. You see, on this day, we honor those who are your direct OPPOSITE. We honor the courageous, not the cowardly. We honor the strong, not the weak. We honor America, not those who hate her. It is fitting that the jury will decide your fate on the week of Memorial Day. How lovely to see you get what you so richly deserve.”

The Borowitz Report divulges that, “In what has become a Memorial Day tradition for him, on Monday Donald J. Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Podiatrist. Trump made his annual pilgrimage to pay homage to the heroic doctors who issued bogus diagnoses to ensure that their privileged patients never answered the call of duty. In an emotional tribute, Trump thanked the fallen foot specialists who bravely risked their medical licenses so that others facing military service could be free. Choking back tears, he said, ‘They gave everything so people like me could give nothing.'”

And it came to pass, that on May 30, 2024, history was made with the New York jury convicting The Trumpmeister of all 34 counts in his business records coverup case, commonly known as the Stormy Daniels Hush Money trial. The rule of law asserted itself, that no man is above it…and with certainty, not even the former leader of the country. The jury glossed over the defense’s attempt to criminalize Michael Cohen, quickly considering the preponderance of evidence that would have taken Trump down anyway…emails, texts, phone recordings galore and twenty witnesses. Steve Schmidt on The Warning, applauds the results of the trial, saying, “Donald Trump is a convicted felon and the Republican nominee for president. He is running on a platform of rage, revenge and payback, and his party stands behind him. A great tragedy is at hand, and the American people should understand the last nine years have been a short preface to what is coming next. Something terrible is building in America, and the only political question that matters is: how do we get through this? The corruption of this era is deep, wretched and everywhere. We are about to pay the bill, and it will be brutal. Things will get better, but not before they get much worse. Much worse.” Steve believes that one day people will look back on this era with the profound contempt it deserves, and ask: how did this happen? The answer will always be the same: one day at a time.

Trump teased for weeks that he might take the stand and testify (test-a-lie?) in his own defense, with legal experts warning it would be a risky undertaking. On WABC Radio, he blamed Judge Juan Merchan’s rulings throughout the trial while other witnesses were on the stand, when he often ruled for the prosecution. “Because he made rulings that makes it very difficult to testify. Anything I did, anything I did in the past they can bring everything up. And you know what, I’ve had a great past. The other reason is because they have no case. In other words, why testify when they have no case? There’s no crime, so when you say, ‘Why not testify?’ they have no case, other than it’s a corrupt system.” Trump’s most laughable post sent out with a fundraising appeal is, “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged!” Got that? With the guilty verdicts, there has been no rioting in the streets…so far…just the expected overdose of whining. With Judge Merchan’s scheduled sentence hearing on July 11 we might look for more activity, all dependent upon what combination of penalties are levied…a fine, probation, probation with supervision, or prison time. Merchan also has to consider Trump’s age, his lack of previous conviction, and possibly his violations of the court’s gag orders as he arrives at a decision. With the threatened appeal of the verdict, Trump will likely remain free on ball in this process, as his legal team prepares to face the Appellate Division Court in Manhattan, or possibly the Court of Appeals.

Professor Anna Cominsky of New York Law School says grounds for an appeal might be that evidence provided by adult film star Stormy Daniels could be viewed as not necessary, where it becomes irrelevant and prejudicial. For the prosecution, her detail makes her a credible witness, and during her testimony the defense twice called for a mistrial, both denied by Judge Merchan. Falsifying business records are usually a low-level misdemeanor in New York, but the Class E felony charges arise from Trump’s crime of an alleged illegal attempt to influence the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege that violations of federal and state election laws, along with tax fraud apply to Trump’s case, but it was not specified to the jury exactly which was broken, which might form a basis for appeal. There is no precedent of a state prosecutor invoking an uncharged federal crime, which then questions whether or not Manhattan DA Bragg has jurisdiction to do just that. Trump’s impeachment counselor, Norman L. Eisen has calculated that during Bragg’s first year in office his team filed 166 felony counts for falsifying business records against 34 people or companies, with about 1 in 10 cases resulting in some term of imprisonment, with other charges possibly tipping the scales toward incarceration. Bet that raises a red flag for our former president!

Many legal minds believe that if only Trump had kept his mouth shut during the trial, and not violated the gag orders which resulted in multiple fines, he might have expected lighter sentencing. But his breaches, not holding back in public, raises the possibility of incarceration, not to mention that Class E felonies are punishable by 16 months to four years in prison. Michael Cohen raised the specter that a “loose-lipped” jailed Trump might spill US “secrets,” jeopardizing national security, from which he might garner financial benefits, or simply “bragging rights.” “You now have a Republican leading candidate, who’s a felon, who’s going to be debriefed on national security issues, knowing how loose-lipped he is, and how he’s willing to give away America’s secrets to Vladimir Putin…with the Australian billionaire at Mar-a-Lago…with the Russian foreign minister and Russian ambassador. So, my concern is, in a prison situation, he is willing to give away these secrets. He will do it because he does not care. If America turns against him, he’d rather see America burned to the ground. And that’s who Donald Trump is.”

“It’s time for everybody to realize that the world is not trying to unfairly screw Donald Trump. In fact, it constantly seems like Donald Trump is trying to screw Donald Trump. Nobody tricked him into having an affair with a porn star. Nobody made him assault E. Jean Carroll in a dressing room. Nobody forced him to become a grifter and commit fraud in every aspect of his life. He ran for president the first time because he wanted to appear powerful and finally do something successful. Ironically, it screwed him. He was exposed. And now, no matter how badly he wants his old tabloid cover life back, he can’t have it. He has to run again in November. It’s the only way to stay out of prison. He’s a felon. We all know he’s going to appeal, it’s the only way to delay the inevitable. But if he wins, it all goes away. This conviction, and three more potential ones that won’t even begin until after November. We have to stop him. Justice has to be served.” – The Lincoln Project

David Frum writes in The Atlantic: “The wrong case for the wrong offense just reached the right verdict. Donald Trump will not be held accountable before the 2024 presidential election for his violent attempt to overturn the previous election. He will not be held accountable before the election for absconding with classified government documents and showing them off at his pay-for-access vacation club. He will not be held accountable before the election for his elaborate conspiracy to manipulate state governments to install fake electors. But he is now a convicted felon for all time. It says something dark about the American legal system that it cannot deal promptly and effectively with a coup d’état. But it says something bright and hopeful that even an ex-president must face justice for ordinary crimes under the laws of the state in which he chose to live and operate his business.”

“He’s trying to sell me an America that doesn’t exist,” says sports pundit Colin Cowherd. Nor did it EVER exist, Colin. “Donald Trump is a felon. His campaign chairman is a felon. So is his deputy campaign manager, his personal lawyer, his chief strategist, his national security adviser, his trade adviser, his foreign policy adviser…they’re all felons. If everybody in your social circle is a felon, I don’t think it’s rigged,” Colin goes on to say. Authoritarianism expert at New York University, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, wrote, “These MAGA acolytes also came to New York to wage information warfare and discredit the judge and the democratic justice system that dare to try and hold their idol accountable for his crimes. Republicans have been on a larger crusade to delegitimize democratic institutions, turning the public against the courts, judges, the press and politicians who uphold the rule of law, truth, and accountability.” John Bolton echoed her in warning of the danger of undermining the system, saying prior to the court’s verdict, “It’s dangerous to question the integrity of our entire legal system. Our enemies in Moscow and Beijing believe that anything that undercuts America’s general faith in the Constitution weakens America. A lost faith in our Judicial Branch is a win for our enemies.” The lies that flowed following the 34 guilty verdicts are coming from those who should be educating and informing the public about how our laws work…they should know better! Just remember, Trump says he is doing this for YOU!

And, according to Andy Borowitz, Trump would like to do even more: “Calling the situation a ‘rigged disgrace,’ Donald J. Trump said on Thursday it is ‘totally unfair’ that he is not on the jury of his trial. ‘You have these twelve losers in a room, trying to figure our what the hell was going on,’ he told reporters. ‘Meanwhile, I was there the whole time and know everything, but I’m not allowed to be a juror? This is like some kind of banana republic. I saw the movie ‘Twelve Angry Men.’ I should be one of those angry men. I would be the angriest man, by far.’ Blasting Judge Juan Merchan, Trump said, ‘Look at him. Look at where he’s from. I’m not going to name the place, but he’s from a very bad place. That’s why he won’t let me be a juror. I’d be a juror if Aileen Cannon was the judge.'” That’s right, Donny…just keep pitching it and you may succeed…for us, of course!

INJUSTICE IN TEXAS, REAGAN’S GHOST, DURBIN’S DILEMMA

Last week, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas further emphasized that laws are enacted to regulate the actions of progressives and not conservatives when he pardoned a convicted murderer, who had killed a Black Lives Matter protester, making a mockery of the justice system. The governor invalidated the decision of the dozen jurors who spent time away from family and jobs, to hear the forty witnesses in reviewing sufficient evidence to convict Daniel Perry of his crime; but, because Abbott was not supportive of the BLM protest, and because he had a grievance against the DA who prosecuted the case after a grand jury investigation found ample evidence for a trial, he ignored the systems available to address any wrongful conviction. Indeed, if Daniel Perry felt the jury was in error, he could have appealed on his own. This should be viewed as a consequential decision no matter where one’s political affiliation lies, but to date Abbott has offered no reasonable explanation for his repugnant action, obviously taking as his example that of former President Trump who pardoned a batch of criminals as his term expired. Many Texans take advantage of the state’s open carry law, which loosely supports a ‘stand your ground’ aspect, with being in control its only political philosophy or motivation. The Austin American-Statesman editorialized that Greg Abbott should have a face-to-face with the jurors to explain his decision and that he should be willing to listen to them regarding their conclusion…fat chance!

Thom Hartmann in The New Republic writes that a theory from the slaveholding South “explains a whole spectrum of Republican behavior that otherwise seems baffling and self-defeating.” The 1858 “mud-sill theory of labor” by South Carolina Senator James Henry Hammond, asserts that for a society to function smoothly, it must have a “foundational” class of people who equate to a mud-sill that stabilizes a house upon its foundation, to perform manual labor which produces most of the wealth – a menial class, locked into that strata, that benefits an upper class. With no upward mobility, this group justifies for Hammond, the quote by Jesus in the Bible, “The poor you will always have with you.” Right-wing billionaires have urged states to ghettoize red state public schools by subsidizing middle- and upper-class children’s schooling, with poorer students flailing in sub-standard, underfunded facilities. Further, GOP states make it difficult for unionization by labor, a sure-fire deterrent to upward mobility, with its “right to work for less” outlook. Hartmann believes we can blame the Reagan revolution for the change since the 1950-1980 decades when the USA led the world in social mobility, ending when Reagan killed the union movement and defunded public education, bolstering the “mud-sill theory.”

President Lincoln was resentful of Hammond’s theory, as his goal was to promote social mobility, and he signed legislation creating over 70 land-grant colleges where tuition was free or quite affordable…until Reagan came along. Hartmann mentions a 1951 book, ‘The Conservative Mind’ by Russell Kirk, which is held in high regard by today’s GOP, for advocating societal “classes and orders” to ensure stability. Kirk’s argument was that if the American middle class grew too large and was well paid, this access to “wealth” would result in social disaster, with minorities forgetting their “place,” with women demanding sexual equality, and youth losing respect for their elders. He foresaw social chaos, moral degeneracy, revolution and collapse of the American social order. With eccentrics such as Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley, Jr. quoting Kirk’s theory, the GOP leaders later pronounced ‘The Conservative Mind’ prophetic as the Civil Rights Movement took hold, women were making new demands, with draft cards and bras being burned. Ronald Reagan to the rescue in complete repudiation of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president! Now we have former president Trump, Justices Alito and Thomas, House Speaker Johnson, Governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Ron DeSantis, and their retinues nearing the finish line at fulfilling the mud-sill vision of Russell Kirk and Ronald Reagan.

Justice Samuel Alito is still catching flak for the revelation that he flew the upside-down American flag at his home following the insurrection at the US Capitol, for which he blamed his wife, Martha-Ann. The story is that she flew the flag in response to a neighbor’s anti-Trump yard signs, a statement that might be true according to a Washington Post reporter who discussed it with her at the time, later discounting it as a non-story. Justice Alito didn’t disavow or reject the message of the “stop-the-steal” symbolization, hoping the brouhaha would simply die, but his wife’s expressed concern that children would read the degrading and profane language on the neighbor’s signs as they walked, or were bused, to school doesn’t hold water. This was during the COVID pandemic…Alexandria, VA schools were closed at the time. So now, The New York Times just released photos of yet another flag being flown at the Alito’s New Jersey beach house…the “Appeal to Heaven” flag prominent at the January 6 event, which is rooted in John Locke’s “appeal to heaven,” implying “a responsibility to rebel, even use violence, to overthrow unjust rule,” now embraced by Christian Nationalists. Coincidence? Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin doesn’t think so, saying, “This is not a chance discretion. This is a conscious decision by the Alito family to advertise their political feelings. That doesn’t help the Supreme Court one whit, and he ought to accept the responsibility of recusing himself from cases involving the Trump administration.” Senator Brian Schatz said he was disturbed by the sense that Alito, or someone close to him, appeared to be advocating for more “religiosity” in government by flying this flag which dates back to the Revolutionary War.

Jennifer Rubin writes in The Washington Post that Senator Durbin had responded that he hasn’t “anything planned” in response to the Alito’s upside-down flag, aside from issuing “a terse Tweet or letter,” prompting Rubin to ask, “What more does Alito have to do before Durbin gets serious?” Rubin termed as weak-kneed Durbin’s excuse that if Alito doesn’t recuse from Trump decisions, “the recourse is impeachment, and we’re not at that point at all.” With discovery of the second, ‘Appeal to Heaven’ banner, Durbin “got huffy on social media,” saying, “This incident is yet another example of apparent ethical misconduct by a sitting justice, and it adds to the Court’s ongoing ethical crisis. Justice Alito must recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection.” Durbin’s hollow words prompted constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe to declare the issue as no longer “just about the insurrection-abetting Sam Alito, but about the AWOL Senator Durbin. He has no excuse for not holding hearings about Alito now.” Sam can’t point a finger at his wife or another unmannerly neighbor for the second flag; neither can he continue to insist on the veracity of the first flag excuse. His favoring an undemocratic, White Christian group which repudiates separation of church and state, which views the country as being under siege from secularism cannot stand.

It likely wasn’t Senator Durbin’s intent, but his one statement points to his dereliction in his chairmanship: “The Senate Judiciary Committee has been investigating the ethical crisis at the Court for more than a year, and that investigation continues. And we remain focused on ensuring the Supreme Court adopts an enforceable code of conduct, which we can do by passing the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act.” Jennifer Rubin is indignant, writing, “More than a year? At least we know he has remained “focused” on ethics reform.” She thinks Alito’s misconduct also brings Chief Justice John Roberts to a crossroads…if he does nothing, Roberts is complicit in the destruction of the Court’s reputation. “Such spinelessness might even snatch from Roger B. Taney, the author of the majority opinion in ‘Dred Scott,’ the title of ‘worst chief justice ever,'” she maintains. Both Durbin and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse have sent a letter to the chief justice, requesting a meeting as soon as possible, though Roberts will likely make himself unavailable…spurring Durbin to honor his oath of office to protect the Constitution? Rubin says Democrats must be prepared to offer solutions toward rehabilitating the Court to rid it of the stench of scandal and insulate it from MAGA extremists.

The flag stories will pitch further scrutiny toward the High Court when it is already facing considerable blowback, particularly with Justice Thomas and honorary justice, conservative-activist-wife, Ginni Thomas, who attended the Trump rally preceding the J6 Capitol attack, and who exerted tremendous effort in the months after to discredit the election results. Clarence Thomas just recently at a conference in Alabama accused his critics of “nastiness and lies,” for not having recused himself in Trump-related court cases. Democrats say Alito and Thomas have cast aside decorum and judicial ethics, letting their personal views and friendships reign over any sense of obligation to avoid the appearance of bias or political favor. Dick Durbin is pushing for a vote on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act, requiring Justices to adopt a binding code and setting up a mechanism for investigating alleged violations of that code or other laws. Both Thomas and Alito should not be able to rule on the Trump cases before them, and those that will surely arise, but they won’t! So, peel them a grape, fetch their slippers and put another log on the campfire…and then prep the bedding in the RV!

Ian Millhiser on Vox, writes, “Samuel Alito is one of the worst judges of his generation. He rejects the very basic idea that courts must decide cases based on the law, and not based on their partisan views. He routinely embarrasses himself in oral arguments, and in his published opinions, with legal reasoning that no sensible lawyer can take seriously. And he even tries to distort public debate and silence critics. But most of all, Alito is one of the most uninteresting thinkers in the country. Here he is, in one of the most powerful and intellectually rigorous jobs on the planet – a philosopher king, presiding over the mightiest nation that has ever existed – and his only big idea is ‘Republicans should win.'” He goes on to say, “Alito – a judge with no theory of the Constitution, and no insight into how judges should read ambiguous laws, beyond his own driving belief that his team should always win – is the perfect fit, in other words, for what the Republican Party has become in the age of Trump. Alito lashes out at his colleagues when they accuse white lawmakers of racism. Indeed, one of the unifying themes in Alito’s race cases us his desire to write a presumption of white racial innocence into the law – and especially into American voting law.”

Last week Donald Trump was greeted with boos repeatedly at the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington, a switch from his usual raucous rally receptions. Taking the stage to boos and jeers from the majority, a smaller contingent clad in their MAGA hats and t-shirts attempted to cheer him on with chants of “USA, USA,” and “We want Trump.” Shortly before his appearance, one Party member yelled, “Donald Trump should have taken a bullet,” an apparent reference to the MAGA lie being bandied about, that the FBI during their ‘raid’ and search of Mar-a-Lago for purloined classified documents was authorized to assassinate him…of course, the ‘visit’ was planned with knowledge that he would not be on the premises. A request for a comment on the hostile reception to which the former president was subjected was met with silence by his campaign as they searched the video for clips that show their candidate in a good light. Trump’s appeal to the gathered conventioneers was, “We should not be fighting each other, but work toward defeating Biden,” which was met by more jeering. A mix of applause and jeers was heard when he said, “The Libertarian Party can make a big difference. If we unite we will be unstoppable.” Trump tried to poke fun by claiming that if they chose not to back him, they would continue to get their 3% of voter support in the upcoming election. His pledge to appoint a Libertarian to his cabinet if he wins was countered with cries of “b.s.” from a large segment of the disbelieving crowd. One attendee holding a sign that demanded “No Wannabe Dictators” was disappeared by security, and after Trump called President Biden a “tyrant” and the “worst president in the history of the US,” many screamed back at him, “That’s you!” So, in the end Trump’s handlers couldn’t find ten seconds of his Libertarian debut video where he was speaking coherently or not being jeered, resulting in posting of right-wing articles proclaiming his success, where thousands upon thousands of participants had his back. “Who does not know the truth, is simply a fool…yet who knows the truth and calls it a lie, is a criminal.” – Bertolt Brecht.

But, Rudy Giuliani is still searching for just a bit of success himself, having declared bankruptcy to escape his mountain of debt. His unwitting disclosure of his whereabouts, after thumbing his nose at authorities for weeks, allowed the servers of his Arizona indictment to pounce on him at his 80th birthday party. This ranks high on Rudy’s résumé…almost matching the infamous news conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping…you remember, the one next to the adult sex toys store, across from the crematorium? Jill Twiss of The Daily Beast reports that during a Zoom meeting last week, Rudy had to use the bathroom, forgetting to turn off his Zoom microphone while standing at the urinal…an added contribution to the streaming event, so to speak. Jill gives Rudy a bit of leeway by saying we’ve all done it, or will do it…totally normal. “Just being Rudy Giuliani for the past 80 or so years? Pretty embarrassing,” she hastens to add.

TRUMP COUNTING SHEEP, RUDY BREWS ESCAPE
Don’t hold your breath for this one, but Representative Lauren Boebert co-sponsored House bill H.R. 8386 to award the twice-impeached, indicted felon Donald Trump the Congressional Gold Medal for his “dedication to strengthening America’s diplomatic relations.” The former president’s diplomacy is notable for his attempt to extort Ukraine to get incriminating information on Joe Biden, and most recently encouraging Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to our allies. The Congressional vault probably has a few extra medals on hand after Boebert voted ‘No’ on awarding such to the Capitol Police officers for defending the lives of Congress members during the January 6 Insurrection.

Perhaps we’ll get to see Trump exercise his diplomacy bona fides at the upcoming debate with President Biden on June 27 at CNN’s Atlanta studios. Catching the Trump team off guard, Biden challenged Mr. Trump to two debates on ABC and CNN, with Trump’s immediate acceptance and his keepers probably gagging at the prospect, especially with Biden’s taking the lead on the debate issue…will they or won’t they? Many are saying we will only see a walking corpse, with Trump stumbling his way around, no idea what’s going on in a nonexistent campaign where his babysitters keep a tight rein on his appearances. Former Fox News host, Chris Wallace, who moderated the first 2020 debate between the two candidates, says it will be “suicidal” if Trump conducts himself as he did in that flame-out of a debate. Trump interrupted both Biden and Wallace in excess of 100 times, with his own team saying he “came on way too hot.” Wallace suggests, “If I were giving Trump advice, I would let Biden talk, because sometimes Biden gets himself in trouble. And then I’d counterpunch…I think Trump thought, ‘I’m going to be able to throw Biden off his game, I’m going to be able to get him confused.’ It didn’t work, Biden kept his cool, and the person who ended up looking bad was Trump. If he does the same thing again, he’s a fool.” What will Trump do without a teleprompter?

It does seem that Mr. Trump is able to scribble notes to pass on to his Greek Chorus of GOP acolytes who have started to show up at his hush-money trial, which they then elaborate from outside the New York court house, sounding very much like a limited vocabulary Trump with endless, whining recitations. New York Magazine’s Andrew Rice noted that during the trial the former president was seen editing the statements of witnesses that he wanted his cohorts to feed to the media gathering. MSNBC’S Alex Wagner questioned the legality of this activity since the gag order prohibits Trump from directing others to say those things he is not allowed to utter. Case in point being, Senator Tommy Tuberville admitting that “one of the reasons” for his attendance and commentary was “to overcome this gag order” imposed on Trump, who is enduring “mental anguish” in this “depressing” courtroom. And, chiming in was Senator J.D. Vance, who criticized Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter which Trump himself had done previously but is now gagged against doing so. Parroting Vance was North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who denied that Trump had instructed him to speak of the judge’s daughter. Tuberville doubled down later on Newsmax’s Chris Salcedo Show, saying, “Hopefully, we’ll have more and more senators and congressmen go up every day to represent him and be able to go out and overcome this gag order, and that’s one of the reasons we went – is to be able to speak our piece for President Trump.” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said he sees it as “both thuggish and pathetic” how Trump appears, via his stooges, to be trying to circumvent the gag order which bans him from talking about witnesses, jurors, court staff and their families.

Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC was in attendance, reporting that Vance and Tuberville sat in the “vice presidential nominee audition bench” behind the “Eric Trump bench” during the court proceedings. At the first recess, the two senators left their seats, going straight to the reporters outside the courtroom, with Vance questioning Michael Cohen’s credibility and criticizing the judge’s daughter, while Tuberville questioned the citizenship of the jurors, wisecracking that “supposedly American citizens were in that courtroom.” O’Donnell described Vance as being “on his phone the entire time…there was really no reason for him to come if he wasn’t going to take in everything that was happening,” referencing Vance’s statement that he was there “to show support for a friend” and to be a “friendly face in the courtroom.” For a friend who will soon select a VP running mate?! Co-host Willie Geist on ‘Morning Joe’ described the duo’s commentary as performative outrage on behalf of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. “Vance is a US Marine, for God’s sake, where it’s all about honor. It’s very sad,” he added. Joe Scarborough reminded him of Vance’s previous disdain for Trump, when he said in 2016, “If you love Jesus, if you were a Christian, you cannot support Donald Trump. Now furiously on the vice presidential treadmill, he has changed his mind and has decided that this is the most noble of men in his porn star trial.”

The following day, the Greek Chorus saw House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with Florida Representatives Donalds and Mills fill the space for “friendly faces,” joined also by Vivek Ramaswamy and Governor Burgum. A fed-up Senator Lisa Murkowski, who voted to convict the former president in his second impeachment trial in 2021, unloaded on fellow GOPers who have attended Trump’s hush-money trial, saying to HuffPost, “Do we have something to do around here other than watch a stupid porn trial? I mean, this is ridiculous.” But Trump appears happy with such visible support from his MAGA base, commenting, “I do have a lot of surrogates, and they are speaking very beautifully. We have a lot of great people here to talk to you.” Speaker Johnson declared, “President Trump is innocent of these charges. This is the fifth week of a sham trial…they are doing this intentionally to keep him here and keep him off the campaign trail.” But Trump has squandered his days off from the trial by playing golf or holing up at Mar-a-Lago…talk to his babysitters! Senator Mitt Romney says the entourage of GOP leaders showing up outside the New York City courthouse is “a little embarrassing…a little demeaning where we’re talking about an allegation of paying a porn star. Really difficult to watch. There is a level of dignity and decorum that you expect from people who are running for the highest station in the land, and going out and prostrating themselves in front of the public to try and apparently curry favor with the person who is our nominee.”

After Tuesday’s trial, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow expressed her surprise at the “sad” way in which the latest batch of GOP grovelers attended the proceedings, dressing like the former guy…“It was like they were the Rockettes,” she observed. However, she mockingly suggested that Speaker Johnson was allowed to wear a striped tie because of his leadership role, but they all used “the same language, describing Trump as their friend. I don’t know if Trump has friends. I don’t think Vivek Ramaswamy is one of them, if he does have friends. And this is a display of sycophancy and a job interview,” she added. Panelist Nicolle Wallace’s one-word description hits the bullseye…“clownish.”  This is a sensitive subject for many Republicans who prefer anonymity, who feel that Johnson, a supposedly devout Southern Baptist who built his political career on his fight for Christian values and moral conservatism, is undermining the party’s family values image for Trump’s favor. One House GOPer feels that Johnson has to answer for that dichotomy at sticking his neck out in light of his previous standing. Johnson disclosed a couple of years ago that he and his son monitor each other’s porn intake with the app, Covenant Eyes, “a platform that helps you live porn-free with confidence,” according to its website. The Speaker bragged back then that, “I’m proud to tell you, my son’s got a clean slate.” “I wonder if he had to report the New York visit to his son?” one lawmaker asked facetiously. Former Representative Liz Cheney accused Johnson of abandoning his commitment to advancing high-minded moral principles, by admitting he wants to be in the “I Cheated On My Wife With A Porn Star” club.

While some Republicans have veered from the path by ignoring the actual charges, and defending the former guy from the process, a familiar refrain being, “I don’t think it has anything to do with what he’s charged with. I think it’s all about just the way the trial itself has been conducted and the fact that there’s a lot of unfairness that’s going on.” That coming from Representative Aderholt of Alabama. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats argue that it was irresponsible for the Speaker, a figure who is third in line to the presidency, to disparage the country’s judicial system, undermining the public’s trust in a foundational institution that’s long been a source of national pride. California’s Pete Aguilar said, “It’s disappointing to see the Speaker speak negatively of independent criminal investigations, but that’s the price House Republicans have to pay; specifically, Johnson, for Trump to have his back.” Another anonymous House Republican raised concerns that Johnson who is a constitutional lawyer was casting doubt on the judicial branch, saying, “What I really didn’t like was the fact that as an officer of the court, he walked out and bashed the proceedings, the court, the judiciary, and that’s not fair. And as an officer of the court you have a duty to uphold that. It’s one thing when Trump, who’s not a lawyer [nor a president…yet], does it. It’s quite another thing for a member of the bar.”

‘Late Night’s’ Seth Meyers says it was probably inadvisable for Trump’s entourage of “MAGA weirdos” to show up at his criminal trial, especially where character is essential to the case…and Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert aren’t the role models you want in the room. “Man, Beavis and Butthead are everywhere! That’s like if O.J.’s buddies at his trial were Charles Manson and Hannibal Lecter,” he quipped, adding, “I’m surprised to see Boebert there. Not surprised she showed up…just surprised she hasn’t been kicked out yet. Seriously, there are more Republican members of Congress at Trump’s trial than there are in the Capitol. Just going to throw this out there…might be a good day to storm it.” He goes on to say that they had to sit next to Eric Trump because they got their tickets from Seat Freak. Stephen Colbert commented about Trump speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, complaining about his prosecution, calling the trial “a scam, and it’s a sham.” “Coincidentally, ‘scam’ and ‘sham’ are the Secret Service code names for Eric and Don Jr,” Colbert disclosed. Desi Lydic on the ‘Daily Show’ said, “Michael Cohen is the linchpin of the government’s case, because his testimony directly ties Trump to the falsification of business records, which, remember, is the actual crime here. The porn star hush-money part is just a little thing we keep saying because it’s fun. Trump’s defense attorneys have been doing their best to make Michael Cohen seem less credible than a Boeing in-flight safety video.” Bill Maher on his ‘Real Time’ show asks, “Why can’t everybody live in my world, in the middle, where we’re not nuts?” He also comments about Republicans showing up at the trial dressed like Trump with this observation: “J.D. Vance was there, and Vivek Ramaswamy, Tommy Tuberville, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. No wonder Trump falls asleep in the trial…he’s counting his sheep.”

You’re probably too late to get in on the special sale during the launch of America’s mayor’s new coffee enterprise. Rudy Giuliani, saddled with his $148M debt amid his bankruptcy filing is attempting to at least maintain his lifestyle, the debt being secondary to him…no doubt. A two pound bag of his beans…regular price $29.95…was available at $17 with the first 100 bags adorned with his signature, as he aims for a June ship date! So, let’s see…how many $30 bags does he have to sell to even approach his outstanding debt…yikes!? Better keep those roasteries hot! Poor Rudy was indicted by an Arizona grand jury last month for his attempt to reverse Trump’s 2020 election loss in that state, but the servers were finding it difficult to serve him with the summons as he eluded their efforts to find him. The prosecutors were faced with issuing an arrest warrant as the appointed date for this flibbertigibbet’s appearance approached, with Rudy seeming to relish the game of taunting the authorities by posting clues of his whereabouts, while bragging that you “can’t catch me!”…which would result in some kind of exoneration? Actually, an arrest would have landed him in jail, while being denied bail. But his boldness led to his downfall as he sent a tweet from his eightieth birthday party held in Palm Beach, boasting that he had avoided being served with only a day to go! Within the hour process servers had their own celebration by handing Rudy the summons, thanks to his hot tip on Xwitter. Andy Borowitz, in ‘The Borowitz Report‘, says the process server followed a trail of jet-black hair dye to locate him, and “the former mayor willingly accepted the summons, apparently mistaking it for a cocktail napkin.”

REOPENING PANDORA’S BOX FOR A NEW OUTCOME ON DAY ONE

The much-trumpeted TIME magazine interview with Donald Trump by Eric Cortellessa a couple of weeks ago, further emphasizes the danger he poses to our democracy should his presidential campaign be successful in November. The former president diagnoses pivotal mistakes in his term in office as “being too nice” to those who disagreed with him. Cortellessa questioned him why he has the trust of a wide swath of voters, yet many of those who worked closely with him refuse to endorse him for a second shot at the Oval Office. Without meeting the question head on, he replies, “I let them quit because I have a heart. I don’t want to embarrass anybody. I don’t think I’ll do that again. From now on, I’ll fire.” The interviewer admits that Trump is stronger and better positioned for a win than in either of his two previous campaigns despite facing criminal court proceedings which he characterizes as a badge of honor, and in spite of his fascist tendencies which he is embracing more fully as the election year progresses. He has expressed his desire to deport more than 11 million people, and is willing to build migrant detention camps with use of US military forces for border control. His wishy-washy standing on pregnancies and abortion has become more cruel by the day, and he is ready on “day one” to free the imprisoned “hostages” who were involved in the US Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021, who he terms as the “J-6 Patriots”…unless someone “was evil and bad.” And how would someone like him even know? NATO’s existence is in jeopardy, as is the security of our European allies who may not be “paid up” with their protection racket monies.

Still stuck in his craw is the existence of the White House pandemic-preparedness office, so that will go by the wayside…just like COVID-19, “one day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” His future staffing will include only those who will back him in his insistence that the 2020 election was stolen, loyalists who will adhere to his detailed agenda to grant him complete power. Trump feels he knows the ins-and-outs of DC, having done the drill once, when he had to depend upon others to guide him through the mysteries of Washington politics…plus, he will have more support in Congress than previously. He told TIME he would not attempt to overturn the Constitution’s barring of a third term, with public opinion providing a check on any attempt to do so. Cortellessa quotes George Orwell who wrote in 1945, that the ability of governments to carry out their designs “depends on the general temper in the country.” The true believers of the Trump base see his election as one of revolutionary promise, but to much of the country and the civilized world it personifies alarming probabilities. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley says a second Trump presidency could bring “the end of democracy, and the birth of a new kind of authoritarian presidential order.” His cohorts are planning a restructuring of the underpinnings of the office into that of a unitary executive theory, removing those impediments imposed by Congress and the courts, favoring a more powerful Commander in Chief, with a heavier thumb on the Department of Justice. Now attempting to downplay his earlier threats of retribution toward his perceived enemies, he leaves a slight opening saying, “It would depend on the situation. We’re gonna look at a lot of things. What they’ve done is a terrible thing.” A previous threat to appoint a “real special prosecutor” to go after Joe Biden for his “crimes” was soft-pedaled with a confident “I am sure Biden will be prosecuted for his crimes,” though no evidence of such has been brought to light.

When asked about his remark to Sean Hannity on not being a dictator – “except for day one. I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill” – he claims it “was said in fun, in jest, sarcastically,” comparing it to 2016’s asking Russia to hack and leak Hillary Clinton’s emails…which seemed to bring results. Yet he maintains of his dictatorial aspirations, “I think a lot of people like it,” which is unfortunately true. Jeffrey Engel of Southern Methodist University said, “This was a president who did to like the results of an election, did not like the fact that he was being voted out, and decided that his personal interests were more important than the constitutional process.” And of 2024, Trump was asked if he’s worried there would be violence if he loses, saying, “I don’t think we’re going to have that. I think we’re going to win. And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election,”  or as he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “If everything’s honest, I’ll gladly accept the results. If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country.” And the only fair election is in Trump’s favor? Or so it would seem from all his supporters who offer only insipid, pathetic answers when questioned about the election outcome and its ramifications. Then we have to consider Arizona’s Senate candidate, Kari Lake, suggesting supporters “strap on a Glock” prior to the election, or Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton advocating tossing protestors off the Golden Gate Bridge, and the latest by Governor Kristi ‘It Had to Be Done’ Noem in offing her 14-month old puppy because it was too puppy-ish.

In January, Trump warned us that if his four criminal indictments prevent him from winning, the result will be “bedlam in the country. It’s the opening of a Pandora’s box.” “He’s telling us what his intentions are, as he did before January 6,” says Harvard University terrorism expert, Juliette Kayyem in a PBS interview. “The language of incitement. If he loses, we certainly know from what Trump has said – and we know from what the FBI is telling us – that there are large groups and organizations that are preparing to continue the fight.” He claims Hillary Clinton and the Democrats rigged the 2016 vote to prevent his achieving a popular vote dominance, and the 2020 election will never be settled for him, saying, “2024 is our final battle.” Aldous J. Pennyfarthing says, “The best way to interview Trump is to…not interview him. But since TIME magazine did that very thing, with his latest fibs being just fragrant fish heads in a whopping seafood ‘n’ BS paella, it’s important to at least take as taste if we want the full picture of his depravity.”  To fact check Trump’s claims, go here.

Alas, poor Donald Trump saw the departure of a member of the Florida delegation headed to the July GOP convention in Milwaukee…son Barron who was to join his two half-brothers and half-sister, Tiffany, has bowed out due to prior commitments. Or was it because mama Melania decided he didn’t need to follow in the sleazy footsteps of the other family members? Most media outlets gave him bad coverage after the announcement so Barron may not be labeled a monster after all…at least until his next misstep. Delegate, and son, Eric Trump claimed on Fox News Saturday that his family has never done anything wrong! Interviewer Mark Levin asked about the criminal hush money trial against his father, with Eric replying, “Well, Mark. A hundred and ten subpoenas in the last seven years. Those are ones that I’ve received personally…I’ve never gotten so much as a traffic ticket. We’re a good family. Never done anything wrong. The way they’ve come after my father since he’s gone down that elevator is unthinkable.” He failed to mention that in the last year alone, Pops has been found liable in separate civil cases for fraud, defamation and sexual abuse, compounded by hundreds of millions of dollars in punitive actions; or, how about the four criminal indictments for stealing classified documents, for attempting to overthrow the US government, for attempting to subvert the election results in Georgia, or falsifying business records after romping with a porn star? So, Eric, what about the ‘family’ of current and former allies who are now convicted, and in the hoosegow, for their white-collar crimes?

Xtwitter was quick to respond to Eric’s claim: “I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that if you have received 110 subpoenas in just the space of a few years, you might be either a head of agency or a criminal,” “Your family is a bunch of con artists, traitors, crooks, and all-around miserable human beings,” “Eric needs his head examined. This is a factual statement,” “We’re a vegan family. We’ve never harmed any chickens. – Colonel Sanders.” A rough estimate of fines and penalties for Trump and his enterprises since 1988 total approximately $710,528,000, which seems just a tad into the criminal realm. Which brings up the report from last Saturday from The New York Times and ProPublica – a lengthy investigation by the IRS indicates Donald Trump could owe more than $100M in underpaid taxes for losses he claimed on his Chicago skyscraper, Trump International Hotel and Tower – by double-dipping in his filings. Eric claims this matter was settled years ago, supported by tax experts including the former general counsel of the IRS, but was revisited only when his father ran for the presidency. Donald bullied his way as a TV personality and a supposed real estate mogul into building his own political movement, refusing to release his tax filings “because we are being audited.”  Well, maybe he was being truthful, after all…not justification for hiding his IRS returns, however! Trump has a history of ‘tax mishaps’ and underpayments, and it is known that he paid no federal taxes for a decade before winning the presidency.

And just when we think Trump’s Sleaze-athon can’t get any worse, he can barely hide his wide-open corruption tendencies. In a meeting at Mar-a-Lago with the country’s top oil executives, he responded to one of the attendee’s complaints of burdensome environmental regulations and futile lobbying of the Biden administration to the tune of $400M in 2023, by making an offer that stunned many. He asked them to raise $1B to put him back in the White House, whereupon he would reverse many of Biden’s rules and policies, and head off any new regulations from enactment, while making their tax burdens lighter. Aldous J. Pennyfarthing comments, “Of course, while a Trump promise is usually worth less than the sallow flap of neck skin his prison tattoo will eventually be printed on, you can rest assured he’d keep this one. For one thing, he wants that money spigot to stay open. For another, he hates anything that might save the planet and/or muss his golden tresses. And, well, he’s not exactly a policy maven so much as a clean slate that anyone with a couple billion dollars can write on like a yard sale Etch-A-Sketch.” Politico reports that the US oil powerhouse is completing ready-to-sign executive orders for Trump, aimed at pushing natural gas exports, cutting drilling costs and increasing offshore oil leases in the event he wins his second term, but then loses focus on energy issues for a quick reversal of green policies. Aldous adds, “And you should remember this excerpt in four years when you’re squatting in an ice bucket in northern Alaska, celebrating Earth Day by watching oil refineries explode. All this is particularly sad considering the clear benefits of Biden’s green infrastructure initiatives, which Trump would no doubt seek to roll back out of ignorance, spite, love of money, and a presumed hatred of narwhals. Well, as the old saying goes, ‘you got to dance with them what brung you,’ and it’s clear Trump is dancing for dollars – when he’s not fixing to jitterbug his way out of jail.”

Quoting The Atlantic magazine, Shirley Kennedy writes on The Palmer Report, “The Atlantic called Trump’s action ‘entirely legal and absolutely corrupt.’ The magazine wanted to put this information in the public eye so that people can learn to look at every aspect of Trump as a candidate. Promising favors to people for money is despicable, and that sort of behavior does not deserve a position of power to change laws. While Trump and his cronies may think they know what’s best for all of us, they don’t even give us an opportunity to contribute, by holding these meetings behind closed doors. Kudos to The Atlantic and Washington Post for bringing this vile information too light. As The Atlantic said, Trump is ‘arguably worse’ than other politicians who use these methods to gain entrance to the highest office in the land. Should he be elected, Trump will do nothing for anyone but himself. For this and reasons too numerous to name, Trump cannot be allowed to resume the presidency.”

Robert Harrington posted on The Palmer Report, “Of course we don’t know what their [the oil executives] decision will be – yet. But we do know something else about them. Of the couple dozen oil criminals on hand at MAGA-Lardo, only one person came squeamishly, anonymously forward to tell about it. The rest were going to just let it slide. Maybe they wouldn’t make a deal with the devil after all. Maybe instead they’d just hope the devil would do it anyway without their having to pony up a billion bucks. And you know what? They’re probably right to think just that.”

PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE AND THE FAIRNESS OF THE OUTCOME

Surely you all celebrated the Congressional decreed National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of the month, despite the Constitution’s First Amendment demand that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” A groundswell of Christian Nationalism in 1952 brought this about, along with a National Prayer Breakfast and the adoption of “under God” being added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and “In God We Trust” becoming the national motto, which is also stamped on our metal currency. The Reverend Billy Graham provided the dynamics for these changes, with POTUS annually issuing a proclamation for recognition of the NDP. A scattering of local and state governments also recognize the day, which purports to welcome all participants, yet ostracizes the nonreligious, those who don’t pray and most religious minorities, making it clear historically and rhetorically that it’s a Christian observance. Graham’s pomposity was a call to Christian Nationalism, saying, “Our nation was founded upon God, religion and the church. Christ, through his men, directed the affairs of this Nation for many years. We have dropped our pilot, the Lord Jesus Christ.” A side note: Tennessee’s US Representative, Percy Priest, introduced the bill that resulted in 36 USC § 119 proclaiming the day of prayer, while crediting Reverend Graham, but clouding his Nationalism in ecumenicalism…which the Rev did not do.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force, with its militaristic sword-and-shield graphic, is in the vanguard of the day’s activities emphasizes Nationalism with their 2024 prayer, “Jesus, we profess our faith in You. Lead us forward to dispel the darkness and bring light throughout the Church, Family, Education, Business, Military, Government, and Arts, Entertainment, and Media.” Task Force president, Kathy Banzell, wrote this prayer, and is author of her book, ‘Prayer Warrior: The Battle Plan to Victory.’ A pernicious element of Christian Nationalism called ‘dominionism’ references in the prayer, the Seven Mountains Mandate, a demand that adherents take dominion over seven “mountains” or spheres of sway in our society. The Washington Post’s columnist, Kate Cohen, wrote, “We shouldn’t ignore it. We should get rid of it.” “Our government should not be involved in telling our citizens when or how to pray, or that they should pray at all, our democracy depends on it,” writes Rachel K. Laser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Arizona’s extremist Republican Senate candidate, Kari Lake, recently told a crowd, “We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side just in case.” What? No prayer to start off the violence? She is blatantly manipulating Christianity for political and personal gain, with religious website Faithful America naming her a top Christian-Nationalist False Prophet in 2022, as she continues to undermine our electoral system, promoting conspiracy theories and propping up MAGA and Trump. Lake’s referencing “the armor of God” appears in the New Testament’s Ephesians 6 as a metaphor for spiritual strength, not a call to arms but to spreading a message of peace. But the far-right, clergy as well as politicians, insist on misusing the verse to motivate warfare toward the opposition, threatening to kill lawmakers and judges, while calling for the nullification of the 2020 presidential election. The New York Times wrote of Lake’s encouragement of violence, “Political violence experts say that even if aggressive language by high-profile individuals does not directly end in physical harm, it creates a dangerous atmosphere in which the idea of violence becomes more accepted, especially if such rhetoric is left unchecked.”

Billy Graham is quoted as saying, “I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it.” He got that right, but his religious blindness and science-denial led him to believe the Bible would solve racism and poverty, being grounded in apocalyptic prophecy. Then his embrace of both Nixon and Reagan opened the entryway for the hard right’s takeover of Republican politics…enter the son, Franklin Graham. The Critical Mind writes on Daily Kos, that father Billy was a mensch compared to Franklin. TCM says, “Conservative evangelicals say they agree. They will not stop bleating about the 10 Commandments, moral absolutism, family values, and leading ‘a good Christian life.’ So when Franklin Graham implores his tribe to pray for Trump, I would expect the rest of the message to demand that Trump repent his sins – and take time away from public life to work on his faith and his relationship with his Savior to become born again into God’s grace in the expectation of eternal salvation. Just kidding. This sanctimonious hypocrite has no shame.” Trump only wants to be borne again…to the Oval Office! After all, Graham, like Trump, is blaming everything on political enemies who are creating this legal peril. The prosecutors, the judges, the grand jury all share the blame! Graham implores, “I’m not asking you to vote for him – I’m asking you to pray for him.” That’s the ticket…pray away the rape and defamation, the business fraud, the charity fraud, the educational fraud, and we may as well pray that all the little people stiffed by Trump over the years receive manna from heaven. Trump would be happier if we all just bought a bunch of his Bibles…get one for Mom when you buy one of Melania’s exclusive $245 Mother’s Day necklaces. Prey for money!

Axios released a leaked audio of the RNC/MAGA cult’s two-day confab at Mar-a-Lago last weekend, with the Orange Leader discussing the traits and strengths of his possible running mates who were out in force to parade their wares as an added bonus before the assembled donors. Trump took the stage to the recording of the national anthem by the ‘J6 Prison Choir,’ or as it is known to most MAGAs, ‘The Biden Administration Hostage Choir.’ The former president’s 90-minute tirade attacked Biden and his “Gestapo administration” as he rehashed the indignity of having to endure his unfair trials and the 88 felony charges across four different jurisdictions…with an extra helping of the 2020 “election fraud” thrown onto the plates of the luncheon attendees. Trump’s use of Nazi-like language seemed to go over just fine with the donors, being met with applause, especially when daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, presented him with a plaque commemorating the triumph of the ‘J6 Choir’ on the Billboard music charts. MAGAman introduced the auditioning wannabe running mates, revealing that they all had one extremely important trait in common – they really, really like him…and, a prerequisite, they all agree that acceptance of the upcoming election depends on the “fairness of the outcome.” Stand back and stand by!

Wearing her Sunday best as she paraded her bonafides at Mar-a-Lago was South Dakota’s Kristi Noem from “one of America’s top rectangular states,” as Aldous J. Pennyfarthing describes her, having added to her résumé, “capricious dog killer.” Noem endured quite a week after revealing in her new book that she gunned down her “untrainable” 14-month-old hunting dog, Cricket, after it attacked the neighbor’s chickens. There it is in black and white, an example of her grit, determination and wisdom, which was her only recourse when Cricket spoiled a pheasant hunt by her excitement having a great adventure chasing the birds and doing dog stuff. Speculation was that her braggadocio had destroyed the possibility of her ever becoming considered a VP selection, but there she was rubbing elbows with dog-hater Trump in spite of her cruelty, her reprehensible audition evidently meeting his approval. Noem says she had tried an electronic collar to train Cricket to no avail…“I hated that dog…she was dangerous to anyone she came in contact with and was less than worthless as a hunting dog.” The solution was to take her to the killing field of a gravel pit which only stimulated her blood lust. The “nasty and mean” family goat made her list because the “smelly, disgusting, musky, rancid” male goat chased her children, knocking them down and ruining their clothes. Back to the gravel pit! Tied to a stake, the goat caused her to miss the first shot, so she had to boot-scoot back to her pick-’em up truck for another shotgun shell to dispatch the animal. Pennyfarthing is drawn to his conclusion: “This is exactly the kind of cruelty GOP voters want. And they’re increasingly bad at hiding it.” The Onion was quick to capitalize on Noem’s doggy tale with this headline: “Kristi Noem Euthanizes Son After Disappointing Basketball Season. ‘I hated that kid,’ she is quoted as saying.”

Not so confident about Noem’s favorability is odactionnews.com, which posted: “It’s been a rough week for South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem, who until recently looked like a strong contender for Trump’s #2 on the GOP ticket. In the midst of a PR tour she surely hoped would be a victory lap of sorts, hyping the release of her new memoir, ‘No Going Back,’ Noem has spent the last several days, well, going back, feebly defending the indefensible – she once shot and killed a puppy because it was a poor hunting dog – and haplessly trying to explain away the unexplainable – she invented a fantastical story about once meeting and ‘staring down’ North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But wait, there’s more! Noem also wrote in her career-killing autobiography that her first priority should she ever make it into the White House would be to personally put down President Biden’s dog, Commander. Looks like Noem will have plenty of time to work on volume two of her life story, ‘No Going Forward.'”

Let’s not forget those GOP dog stories that are still in circulation: Who can forget Richard Nixon and Checkers? Or Seamus who rode on the roof of Mitt Romney’s car for a 12-hour road trip? Then there’s Florida governor Rick Scott’s adopted dog, Reagan, which was abandoned in 2012 for doing dog stuff. And Ronald Reagan’s dog – famous for humping Ed Meese’s leg? Two guys were walking their leashed dogs on a hot day when they passed a bar, so one suggests they pop in for a cold one. The other reminds him of health laws, believing it was improbable that dogs would be accepted inside. Determined, the first guy tells his companion to wait and watch. Adjusting his sunglasses, he walks into the bar with his dog and is immediately told to leave…no dogs! The guy protests that he is blind and has a seeing-eye dog, which gets him an apology, a beer, and a water dish for the dog from the bartender. The second guy, encouraged, tries the same tactic, whereupon the bartender tries to bounce him. The guy responds, “Hey, can’t you see I’m blind? This is my guide dog!” Response from the bartender is quick, “Guide dog? That’s a chihuahua!” Momentarily taken aback, the guy says in disbelief, “What?? They gave me a chihuahua??”

Dale will be back!

A MOTION TO VACATE THE COURTROOM FOR COKES AND HAMBERDERS
Reporter Olivia Beavers of Politico posted a report last week that a sub-group of the House Freedom Caucus activated its Floor Action Response Team (F.A.R.T.) to thwart any attempts by associates of Speaker Mike Johnson from making moves to diminish the Caucus’ power…this coming prior to the key votes on foreign aid to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Calls for Johnson’s removal from his Speaker’s position in the debate leading up to the aid vote was precipitated by Marjorie Taylor Greene who has since been joined by a handful of other disgruntled House members who are decidedly in the minority at this point. Of the $95 billion, $61billion will go to Kyiv, $9 billion of which is in the form of “forgivable loans.” Kentucky’s Representative, Thomas Massie, one of the ‘F.A.R.T.’ supporters has asked Johnson to resign, as his team works to monitor the chamber to block any sudden rule changes by the GOP leadership which might lead to a reduction in power of the Freedom Caucus through raising the vote threshold governing removal of a House Speaker. Johnson has said he would attempt no changes to the ‘motion to vacate’ rule, as did Kevin McCarthy when he held that post…but his concession is likely to be in vain as his position is very tenuous. Author and former House Republican, Denver Riggleman, responded to Beavers’ post, “Actually, I have a source that tells me it’s the ‘Wrong Every Time Floor Action Response Team,’ a loud and slippery crew. Beware.” A New Yorker, ‘BrooklynDad_Defiant,’ posted, “House Republicans have just formed a Floor Action Response Team in order to fend off silent but deadly attempts to curb their influence. Total clown show, folks.” MSNBC contributor, Charlie Sykes, added his post: “Beyond parody.”

Finding no humor in the House’s new team formation will be those sitting in the courtroom of Judge Juan Merchan, where one flatulent sleepyhead, Donald J. Trump, is being tried for falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels as part of his strategy to influence voters in the 2016 presidential election. The former president has appeared to be dozing off several times during the trial, but Jimmy Kimmel is convinced that his attorneys are tranquilizing him to knock back his outbursts, with Judge Merchan having to caution the defense team on one occasion to instruct their client to remain quiet as prospective jurors were being questioned. Stephen Colbert couldn’t hold back with his comments, saying, “Yesterday, Trump fell asleep during the proceedings. He took a little ‘white power’ nap. But today he was sharp, focused but he fell asleep again. And in a totally unrelated story, there’s a national Adderall shortage. No relation. Trump must have snoozed for awhile because the court sketch artist had time to draw him. Well, I think we have a new mascot for Celestial Seasonings: Sleepy Crime Tea.” Social media jumped on the bandwagon with new nicknames: ‘Sleepy Don’ and ‘Don Snoreleone’…where’s the MyPillow guy when he’s really needed? JoJoFromJerz posts: “Honestly, let him sleep. Wheel him into a fake Oval Office on the back nine of Trump National Golf Course, tell him he’s president, hand him a Diet Coke and a “hamberder,” play a nature video, quietly close the door, and walk away.”

Defendant Trump dozed off intermittently during the first two days of his criminal trial, and though this could land him in prison, ending his political ambitions, he doesn’t show an interest, or understand what’s occurring, a sign of worsening senility? Day number three saw him pulling out his cell phone to check messages, prompting an attorney to stop him, which earned him a glaring look of annoyance. Trump will only continue to show his defiance, since it will have a magical ending for him in his thinking, but this immature behavior only points to mental incompetence. The Don is not one to sit around for eight hours at a time on public view, a very boring sentence for the candidate who does a rally speech, then disappears to tally the money flowing into his coffers as the highlight of his day. Unable to focus or stay awake, even forgetting that a trial is in progress, is what most clinical observers would expect from a patient with severe dementia, or is it too much posting of his rants on Truth Social until the early hours?

Bocha Blue posts on The Palmer Report that he sees something terribly wrong with Trump’s hair. At first, he thought it could only be his imagination, but a Morning Joe segment validated his concern about Trump’s appearance…verbal gaffes aside. Trump’s vanity is well known, always wanting to look ‘spiffy,’ but now DJT’s hair is beginning to “look worse than Matt Gaetz’s.” The Morning Joe panel calls the usual hair color ‘Carrot Orange.’ Blue now terms it as a cross of “orange algae coupled with bits of baby food…our insurrectionist has invented a new color.” He says Trump has taken his hair color to new heights, but hasn’t noticed how horrible it looks…looking harsh, an unbecoming color that makes him look old. The only advantage being that this newly named “Algae Orange‘ “might match his orange prison jumpsuit.” Porn star, Stormy Daniels, in the recent documentary entitled, ‘Stormy,’ tells Seth Rogan about a conversation she once had with Trump regarding his hair. He told her about a Samson-and-Delilah-like dream from which he concluded that his power rested in his hair, and losing it would mean a loss of power and stature, a superstition he still observes quite obviously.

Speaking of mental incompetence, Aldous J. Pennyfarthing writes that Trump’s first campaign ruined everyone’s mental health for a full decade, while claiming he hired “only the best people” for his administration…which translates to hiring the best in his estimation, only to fire them almost immediately. Or, keeping them around long enough for them to realize the president was a dangerous affront to democracy, resulting in a departure and becoming unqualified “losers” to their former boss. Of course, as everyone knows by now, Trump’s greatest weaknesses are compassion and generosity of spirit, so he simple couldn’t help himself at hiring awful, unqualified losers who were begging him for a job. Pennyfarthing says, “Unfortunately, when you make over your party to appeal strictly to lowlifes, your applicant pool becomes pretty shallow, and the dose of chlorine needed to disinfect it could melt the eyeballs out of every skull within a 15-mile radius.”

Which brings up the subject of GOP vetting as revealed by a HuffPost article: A DJT county campaign chair in New Hampshire lost his job as a police officer after threatening to kill colleagues in a shooting spree, to murder the department chief and rape the chief’s wife, simply as retaliation for his suspension over a relationship with a high school girl…Trump’s kind of guy? Ten years later, this guy, Jonathan Stone, currently a second-term state rep, was picked as Trump’s Sullivan County chair in June 2023, because he gifted Trump an inscribed AR-15 assault rifle at a 2016 campaign stop. Aldous J. comments, “Just a few bad apples? Well, no…sadly, this is kind of a pattern. Ever since Sarah Palin made addlepated-ignorance great again, Republicans have been trying to extra hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, but unfortunately, they tend to throw out both the wheat and the chaff, keeping Herschel Walker instead. In other words, when it comes to vetting candidates, employees, and county campaign chairs, Republicans are simply awful, and arguably getting awful-er. It should have been clear from the outset that Walker was a terrible candidate, but apparently no one knew his Georgia Senate campaign wasn’t the only abortion he’d been financing.”

Continuing, we can consider “New York Representative George Santos, the biggest vetting fail in American political history…if you disregard Trump himself. The Jew-ISH congressman was a font of scandals and controversies, all of which slipped under the GOP’s glowing red Eye of Sauron. And, we can’t forget the current Hitler-quoting Lt. Governor of North Carolina and gubernatorial hopeful, Mark Robinson, who never saw a forced birth he didn’t like. Robinson and wife, Yolanda, have filed for bankruptcy three times since 1998, and failed to file income taxes for years 1998 to 2002. Next up is Montana’s GOP senatorial candidate, Tim Sheehy, who lied to a national park ranger about the origin of a bullet wound in his arm, claiming it was a war wound. Sheehy was fined in 2015 for discharging a gun in Glacier National Park after a hospital reported his injury to law enforcement, about which he claimed his Colt .45 had accidentally discharged when it fell to the ground. Later, he told the Washington Post he sustained the wound in Afghanistan as a Navy Seal in 2012, but failed to report it in fears that it may have come from ‘friendly fire’ that would spark an investigation of his platoon. He deserves the Purple Chickenheart medal.”

It has now come to light that Texas Representative Ronny Jackson (former White House doctor who concluded that Trump could live to age 200, with a better diet, or by eating Kentucky Fried Chicken & Donuts Sandwiches, acknowledged to be a superfood chock-full of antioxidants) allegedly over-prescribed meds during his DC tenure with Trump. Sleeping/wakefulness medications were freely handed out, precipitating a power struggle with another physician, resulting in decimated morale in the Medical Unit. Jackson is also facing allegations that he drank on the job, but evidently that didn’t stop his boss from nominating him to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, from which he withdrew after charges of inadequate vetting for the position. CNN is suggesting a pattern of deliberate negligence, one example being that Representative John Ratcliffe in 2019 withdrew from consideration as Trump’s director of national intelligence over concerns that he was dangerously unqualified, having exaggerated portions of his résumé. So, what does Trump do? According to Pennyfarthing, “In 2020, Trump would renominate Ratcliffe – who remained dangerously unqualified – and he skated through on a party-line vote.”

It didn’t matter to Trump that his administration had failed to perform even a cursory vetting of Ratcliffe, or any nominee, and that he made announcements without the participation of any adults…besides, that kind of work was best left up to the enemy of the people…the press! Trump explained to a reporter that he likes to disclose a name to journalists, who then do background checks, saving “a lot of money” for the government, as they uncover embarrassing details about the nominee, who then slinks away into hiding. Pennyfarthing concludes, “Of course, the half-assed vetting goes way, way back to the OG GOP embarrassment, Sarah Palin, who announced shortly after becoming John McCain’s running mate that her unwed teenage daughter was pregnant, très gauche to 2000s-era Republicans! The McCain camp had also somehow failed to discover before it was too late that her head was stuffed with newspapers – ALL OF THEM! So what does that tell us? That the party that elevated Donald Trump is lazy, irredeemable, and a really horrible judge of character? Well, yeah. But also: They don’t seem to care much about any of that. After all, what are they going to do? Hire sane, qualified people? If they did that, they wouldn’t be Republicans, now would they?”

And, just for clarification…as Trump recently stated in a New Hampshire speech, “Which is incapable of salvin’ even the swollest, smallest problem. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on. And they calmly walk to us see, and ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They’ve only got 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out. Bomp. Okay. Missile launch, psheem, pfoom.” Sounds akin to the anonymous haiku: “Haikus are easy. But sometimes they don’t make sense. Refrigerator.” We have just over six months to arrive at our own sense of clarity.

REPENTANCE STILL STANDING ON THE PRECIPICE OF 1864

Well…seems that most of us are still standing after Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene warned after the 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered in New Jersey was a warning from God for our citizens to “repent,” whatever that means. Mentioning the upcoming eclipse, she said, “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent…earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.” While earthquakes are still unpredictable, we have all been informed about common occurrences of eclipses long before they happen. Her faith, and reliance on conspiracy theories explains complex or tragic events for her, a self-described “Christian Nationalist” who calls anyone who doesn’t agree with her an “America and God-hater.” The Southern Poverty Law Center has called out “white Christian Nationalism” as extremism that stands against Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community, and other minority groups. Greene’s current temper tantrum is directed at House Speaker Johnson for dealing with Democrats on the budget, and over his waffling on the US aid to Ukraine issue, prompting her to file a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair, and throwing the House into turmoil once again. ‘House Screamer’ Marge compared Johnson to Senate Minority Leader McConnell, saying, “People are fed up with Republicans that say one thing and turn around and literally join the flock and just continue the same old crap everybody’s tired of…Johnson has turned into Mitch’s twin, and worse, he’s a Democrat. There’s not even any daylight between him and Nancy Pelosi at this point.” Whew! Last week’s meeting between Johnson and former president Trump at Mar-a-Lago may cause her to repent and temper her tantrum after Trump praised the speaker’s efforts. As for ousting Johnson from his speaker position, Representative Matt Gaetz cautioned that in doing so, “We may end up with a Democrat in that slot,” recalling the difficulty in landing Johnson in the spot. And, Greene could never qualify for the position, as much as she probably desires…indeed, who could possibly fill the ‘screamer’ position? Marge may not be the dumbest person on the planet, but she’s probably glad that Lauren Boebert is still standing.

Actually, a non-office holder who would certainly qualify for that ‘screamer’ title would be comedian Roseanne Barr who distinguished herself recently at a Mar-a-Lago fund raiser for Arizona’s senatorial candidate, Kari Lake. Facing the camera and holding her glass of wine, she said to college students in particular, “Hey, Old Row, how are you doing? I’m here at Mar-a-Lago supporting Kari Lake, and it was a fantastic evening. And our Trump is here being the DJ, and I’ve just danced and everyone’s amazed. So, I’m just saying to you, please drop out of college, because it’s going to ruin your lives. Do me a favor, drop out, they don’t teach you nothing good. Email me, or Twitter me, or whatever you want, call me and I’ll help your with your life, but you gotta get out of college ’cause it isn’t nothing but devil-worshiping, baby-blood-drinking Democrat donors. Love ya.” Ms Barr is known for her support of QAnon and delving into political conspiracies, especially the alleged secret plot by the ‘deep state’ and a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles opposing Trump. It is known that Barr dropped out of school at age 17, and about the same time she sustained a traumatic brain injury from being hit by a car which led to her hospitalization in a Utah mental health facility for several months. In 2012, she went after the Green Party’s presidential nomination and eventually received votes from the Peace and Freedom Party. Upon Trump’s entry into the 2016 presidential race, she supported him, saying, “I think we would be so lucky if Trump won. Because then it wouldn’t be Hillary. I like Trump because he financed his own campaign. That’s the only way he could have gotten the nomination. Because nobody wants a president who isn’t from Yale or Harvard and in the club.” Barr was fired from her self-titled ABC network show in 2018 after posting a racist tweet about former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett, and last year she had a YouTube podcast pulled for screaming hate speech about Jews and the Holocaust. Maybe she can get an endorsement from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Peach and Freestone Party now.

With no heavenly, or MTG, retribution following the big eclipse event, Stephen Colbert made light of news coverage of the celestial happening. A CNN broadcast ran the chyron “Animals at Dallas Zoo react to total solar eclipse,” about which Colbert joked, “Thank you, CNN. That is news you can use. I wish they’d give more animal takes on current events. I want to see “Breaking: Ringtail lemur reacts to RFK Jr.’s VP pick.” An item about an ostrich laying an egg brought his response: “No offense but laying an egg is one of the things that ostriches do. Not sure if that’s news. Call me when an ostrich poaches an egg.” He then called out FoxNews for having “the dumbest coverage of this event.” The cable news channel declared that immigrants were dressing in dark clothing and using the eclipse to sneak across the US-Mexico border. “They won’t get another opportunity like that until tonight,” Colbert smirked. Of course our former president had to be called out for running a fan-base-created ad of a photo-enlarged Trump head slowly eclipsing the sun, making the occurrence “all about him.”

Another made-to-order event for citizen Trump popped up at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta last week, all arranged by Michaelah Montgomery, a conservative activist and founder of Conserve the Culture. The organization recruits and educates college students and young alumni at Atlanta’s historically Black colleges and universities, mainly Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, which have turned out many prominent and influential graduates, as well as Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College both of which have been strongholds pre-dating the Civil Rights era. The area is noted for supporting Democrats, and the GOP is making a thrust to win Black support based on Trump’s messages criticizing Biden’s economic and immigration policies. The campaign’s playing on racial stereotypes, emphasizing Trump’s $399 sneakers, and stressing the many felonious charges against Trump, has offended the African American community from which support is needed. Michaelah Montgomery says, “People find it hard to believe that there are young Black people who would have loved the opportunity to meet Trump,” and she moved quickly upon finding that he would visit the Vine City neighborhood during a fund raiser. Notifying a group of like-minded students, she found interest in gathering at Chick-fil-A to meet the president’s entourage, and she is offended by the media’s depiction of the meeting as a coincidence.

Bill White, a businessman and friend of Trump felt the entire day was a success and bodes well for events across the country aimed at Black voters. Jasmine Harris of the Biden campaign criticized the restaurant meet-up, saying, “Thinking Black voters relate to Donald Trump because he spent twenty minutes handing out freebies at a fast food restaurant is yet another insult to our intelligence – and perfect example of just how disingenuous Trump’s outreach to voters continues to be.” Nevertheless, the ostentatious visit was not met with accolades by students on campus, or in the local community, while Montgomery denounced the criticisms of those she had brought together for the gathering. “They are claiming that the students made a mockery of their institutions and saying that they are disrespecting their ancestors. It is really, really bad,” she lamented. Trump’s argument that he is a victim of political persecution has culminated in his comparing himself to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Alexei Navalny, and Jesus, with his comment, “And a lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.” Bryan Tyler Cohen’s website, @Advocacy, reports, “A video of a Trump supporter who hugged the presumptive Republican nominee and shouted out support during a visit to an Atlanta Chick-fil-A turned out to be a Republican operative according to social media posts reviewed by Meidas Touch: ‘Nothing about Trump and his campaign is authentic. Every event is carefully set up ahead of time and staged. They all fit into the same pattern every single time. On every road trip to an event or rally, the campaign sets up an excursion to a fast food restaurant either before or after his speech. It is all supposed to craft an image that there is a groundswell of spontaneous support for Trump from the grassroots. But it’s all staged.’ Well, color us shocked, folks.” And we shouldn’t be shocked that he ordered 30 milkshakes for patrons and promised food, but no mention about whether he actually bought and paid for any of it…the last time he made a big fuss about paying for people’s food at a restaurant he didn’t.

Social media comments were quick to appear, with one posting, “How much do we bet that he walked out without paying??” Another wrote, “Better enjoy ’cause I heard prison food sucks.” Gen-Z celebrity Jake Paul was promoting his upcoming celebrity boxing match with former heavyweight champ, Mike Tyson, saying during an interview, “I’m probably gonna be at Chick-fil-A with Mr. Trump trying to gain weight for this fight.” One social media poster remarked, “Must be serious…He broke out the regular Coke and what could be cocktail sauce, which I think throws stronger than regular ketchup.” Former Trump employee Cassidy Hutchinson has said that Trump’s peculiar preference for Heinz glass ketchup bottles is linked to his fear of being poisoned, using the small bottles because he wants to hear his server make the small popping noise as the cap comes off. Some observers have noted that Trump has a fitter figure of late, with one commenting that, “Ozempic does wonders.” And speaking of wonders, even Stevie Wonder can see that everything Trump touches turns to crap despite his King Midas fixation.

Claiming the Outrageous Trophy last week was the state of Arizona as the state Supreme Court revived a near-total abortion ban from 1864, when only White men could vote, slavery was not fully abolished (slavery was disallowed in Arizona and it was illegal to entice Black people to leave the state to be sold into slavery), most women couldn’t own property, and the age of consent was only nine-years old. We can only conclude that ban was adopted in the dark of night since there were no light bulbs in existence, which offers no excuse for the way our current US Supreme Court is operating, as an aside. For instance, Justice Alito for the majority wrote in overturning Roe v. Wade, “Roe’s failure even to note the overwhelming consensus of state laws in effect in 1868 is striking.” Laws from the 1860s in our states and territories, as was Arizona at the time, were enacted decades before the suffrage movement was even a glimmer; however, those precedents led the Supremes to the “inescapable conclusion…that a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and traditions.” Therefore, the Court concluded with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, in overturning Roe v. Wade, that the 1970s idea that women shouid have certain rights harkened back to the 1860s giving the states jurisdiction…leaving a patchwork of abortion-rights states and abortion-ban states. So, Arizona’s knuckle-dragger Republican-appointed Supreme Court concluded the old law is valid because the state legislature “has never affirmatively created a right to, or independently authorized, elective abortion.” Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, citing the decision as “a dark day for Arizona” called on the Republican-led and -controlled legislature to repeal the 1864 law, but both state House and Senate leaders are both supporters of the old law, being active in the court case. The Civil War era law would ban nearly all abortions, except to save the life of the mother, carrying a prison sentence for abortion providers, although the state’s Democratic attorney general issued a statement saying it would not be enforced…despite the court’s ruling that it “is now enforceable.”

The law as written reads: “[E]very person who shall administer or cause to be administered or taken, any medicinal substances, or shall use or cause to be used any instruments whatever, with the intention to procure the miscarriage of any woman then being with child, and shall be thereof duly convicted, shall be punished by imprisonment in the Territorial prison for a term not less than two years nor more than five years: Provided, that no physician shall be affected by the last clause of this section, who in the discharge of his professional duties deems it necessary to produce the miscarriage of any woman in order to save her life.” So wait a sec! “Imprisonment in the Territorial prison?” Consider that Arizona is now a STATE! And the former location of the territorial prison is now a STATE PARK! Does that mean prisoners will be provided with a tent or perhaps a small RV, with privileges at the park store for supplies, and maybe a can of bear spray per month?

President Lincoln signed the act creating the Arizona territory in 1863, appointing judges to administer it, one of whom was native New Yorker William T. Howell. The appointed governor, John Goodwin, saw that the territory’s laws, based on those of New Mexico, weren’t adequate, so ended up appointing Howell to write laws and procedures with the assistance of Coles Bashford, a former Wisconsin governor. Toward the end of 1864, the Howell Code came into existence, now the bane for 21st century womanhood in Arizona. Other parts of Howell’s output point to a legal framework for a frontier territory…such as sanctions for refusing to join a posse and rules governing citizen’s arrests. One section establishes a process for holding elected officials accountable where third parties can level accusations of misconduct against office holders, forcing them to appear at a hearing. Barring admission, a jury can be assembled, possibly ending in a trial that forces the person from office. Now we’re talkin’ – let’s see how long that one remains in effect! You can take your 1864 and….

Perhaps Philip Bump of The Washington Post says it best: “It isn’t that the law is old that makes it a dubious fit for the moment. After all, the Bill of Rights is old and it contains rules and guidelines that deserve to be maintained. Instead, the point is that the Howell Code was a product of its time and its time’s morality, a point that is made more obvious when considering other elements of the law that clearly do not conform to 2024 beliefs.” Time for the courts to repent!

HEADS SOMEPLACE OTHER THAN IN THIS GAME…SPLIFFICATED?

The presumptive GOP presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, is still catching flak for his posting of the video on Truth Social, of a pickup truck’s tailgate with the image of President Biden hog-tied, gagged, and lying in the bed of the truck, in his continuing subtle hints of violence against his detractors. Michael Steele, former chair of the RNC, warned of what’s to come with the cast of characters Trump is assembling for his return to the presidency and a return to power. Steele says, “All hell’s gonna break loose. This is all in and the team will be out and about enforcing a strategy that will take no prisoners and I don’t think people really appreciate exactly what we are going to be in for.” The former president is reportedly talking to Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort who advised him in his 2016 campaign, in addition to campaign consultant Roger Stone who earned a pardon from Trump upon his exit from the Oval Office in 2021. Steele chides Democrats who are “still walking around with their heads someplace other than in this game,” despite the fact that The Don has told us exactly what he wants to do in his second term where he will declare his absolute power. Roger Stone has been a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago, as has Paul Manafort who is expected to set up rules control of the GOP convention to ensure a smooth flow with no slippages, or unwanted nominations and controversies.

The state of Ohio threatens to hog-tie Biden with a conflict in the late scheduling of the Democratic Party convention on August 19. According to Ohio Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, a state statute requires certification of candidates nominated by party conventions by August 7, which would be on or before the ninetieth day before the day of the general election. LaRose failed to mention that the RNC in 2020 held its nominating convention in late August of that year in the letter sent to his state’s Democratic Party which read, “I am left to conclude that the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating convention, or the Ohio General Assembly must act by May 9, 2024 to create an exception to this statutory requirement.” In a recent opinion piece, Secretary LaRose criticized “cravenly partisan” officials who sought to keep Trump off their state ballots for inciting the J6 insurrection in DC, and warning that the US Supreme Court’s overruling of the Colorado’s Supreme Court’s attempt to disqualify Trump from that state’s ballot did not go far enough because it still allows secretaries of state to block candidates. He wrote, “Fortunately, the US Supreme Court put its foot down on the abuses of authority, but the matter remains unresolved as it relates to non-federal candidates.” The Biden-Harris campaign reports, “We’re monitoring the situation in Ohio and we’re confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states.”

In his radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt, Trump insinuated that Biden uses cocaine, referring to the president’s State of the Union speech when he delivered a notable, fiery message to the nation and before Congress. Trump accused Biden of being “higher than a kite,” and called for him to be “drug-tested” before he will even consider having a debate prior to the election. A baggie of cocaine was discovered in a heavily-trafficked area at the White House last year, and Trump is pointing fingers at both Hunter and his dad as the culprits, though the Secret Service found no evidence linking it to anyone. Hewitt asked Trump if he believes Biden is open to a debate, to which he replied, “I don’t think so, but I hope he does…I think something is going on there, because he was all jacked up at the start of the SOU speech, and did a poor job, and by the end, he was fading fast. There’s something going on there. I want a drug test.” Biden has said that a debate would depend on the former president’s “behavior,” recalling that Trump also asked for a Biden drug test prior to their debates in 2020. RNC chair, Lara Trump, said on Newsmax, “Joe Biden needs to be asked multiple questions about a whole host of different things going on in this country and around the world. He has a lot of answers to give the American people. I can only assume he doesn’t have the answers to the questions that he will be asked.”

Trump continues to rail against his legal troubles, particularly after the New York judge scheduled his hush money trial to start on April 15, and in spite of his efforts to postpone the case. His characterization of the scheduling is “election interference” that should not be allowed during a campaign season. Calling the cases against him “ridiculous” and “a shame,” he said, “I don’t know how you can have a trial that’s going on right in the middle of an election. Not fair. It’s not fair at all,” as he blamed President Biden, with no evidence, for pushing the trials forward while taking away as much money as possible from the campaign funds. Trump maintains he has “no problem testifying” in a trial, even as it’s being appealed by his attorneys. Reporters asked if a conviction would derail his reelection bid, with the former president suggesting it could have a positive effect. “It could also make me more popular, because the people know it’s a scam,” which brought forth a Biden campaign statement calling Trump “weak and desperate.” Biden campaign spokesperson, James Singer, commented, “His campaign can’t raise money, he is uninterested in campaigning outside his country club, and every time he opens his mouth, he pushes moderate and suburban voters away with his dangerous agenda. America deserves better than a feeble, confused, and tired Donald Trump.”

MAGA propagandist, Charlie Kirk, of Turning Point USA, refusing to admit that women can think for themselves, has an interesting theory on why young women tend to vote Democratic …birth control pills cause brain damage! To a crowd at a recent church event streamed on Rumble, the far-right web site, he claims the pill “increases depression, anxiety…and suicidal ideation. It creates very angry and bitter young ladies and young women which manifests itself into a political party that is the bitter party. I mean, the Democrat Party is all about ‘bring us your bitterness and, you know, we’ll give you free stuff.” This from a MAGAt whose entire pitch is bitterness! Research shows that the pill affects half a percent, or 1 in 200 women, so Kirk’s bad math demonstrates why he dropped out of community college…sorry, Charlie, your figures are nothing but a MAGA lie! However, these same lies are a part of a disinformation campaign financed by billionaire Peter Thiel, whose teams of messengers falsely claim that hormonal birth control “tricked our bodies into dysfunction and pain,” which according to doctors, is precipitating a health care crisis in fearful women now seeking valid medical advice. MAGA leaders don’t care for birth control as it gives women freedom and opportunities…or as ‘Kinky’ Friedman’s song asserts, “Get your biscuits in the oven and your buns in bed!” Kirk and his cohorts are only recapping a typical right-wing deceit of being chivalrous, with the underlying message being that women don’t have the mental capacity to handle freedom, and male control would make them happy.

The angry male population realizes that they have a hard sell, politically and legally, so to hide their sadism, it’s touted as “protecting women” from health risks. The fake science rule book used for decades regarding abortion, with mandatory waiting periods and fallacious claims for ‘medically necessary restrictions’ is mostly fabricated nonsense, but anti-choice advocates are not giving up on their “alternative facts.” US Supreme Court MAGA mouthpieces, Alito and Thomas, are digging into the Victorian Era legislation of the Comstock Act, an 1873 anti-sex law that was never repealed and hasn’t been enforced in decades. Revival of this law is being loudly bandied about in right-wing circles, as a way for a re-elected Donald Trump to unilaterally ban abortion without having too ask GOP congress members to take an unpopular vote to ban abortion. This all-encompassing act ignores details regarding health and safety, as it bans abortion and many aspects of human sexuality from contraception to nudes in art, and forbids shipment of every “obscene, lewd, lasciviousness, indecent, filthy, vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance.” All sex education was outlawed, even for married couples…and no sharing of information! So long Michaelangelo, James Joyce and Anais Nin!

Misogynist Anthony Comstock, responsible for the Act, operated in the same mode as Charlie Kirk does at present. Comstock liked to brag about how many women he had driven to suicide in prosecuting them for aiding others to get reproductive health care or explaining the mechanics of sex to newlyweds; indeed, he gloried in his claim that he had forced 15 women to take their lives within the first five years of the bill’s existence. MAGAts are hesitant to give Comstock much glory, instead expressing a false concern about imaginary damage caused by the pill taken by women who are too dim-witted to be trusted to make rational decisions. Right wingers want women to be punished, which reflects their fears that women are managing quite well with freedom and equality in reality. Male fear and anger is being borne out in the streets of New York City with women being punched in the face at random, an alarming occurrence which may or not be coordinated assaults. The assailants are men of varying races and ages, the victims mostly young and attractive who were just going about their business, talking to friends, reading books or viewing their cell phones. And that may be the impetus for the attack: the angry man is indignant that he isn’t the subject of the woman’s gaze, so he gives her no choice but to look at him, in fear…how dare she concentrate on something apart from his wonderfulness! Simply a tidal wave unleashed by Donald Trump and his MAGA base! MAGA misogynists are having a hissy fit as they attempt to recapture male dominance, but the fear is that women aren’t buckling under to the bullying as they are supposed to do…women owe them nothing for their maleness! This male aggressiveness is pathetic and scary, a last gasp of macho men who are unable to justify their sexism except through thuggish behavior…and women aren’t knuckling under.

On the Palmer Report, Bocha Blue writes that the Trump campaign team is rattled that the female electorate cannot stand Donald Trump, and their candidate continues to make himself even more repulsive, discarding any chance he has to make changes. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that female voters are crumbling away from the former president, with almost 60% favoring Biden. In the 2020 election, Biden got 55% of the women’s vote, so we are seeking a shift, in all likelihood, from attitudes over abortion and IVF. Blue sees Trump’s support falling even further as the New York criminal trial exposes (so to speak) the Don’s reported liaison with porn star, Stormy Daniels, after Melania had just given birth to Barron. The campaign team fears that further erosion may occur with Evangelical women who won’t be happy about his infidelity…naah, that ain’t gonna happen…the Orange Messiah must have a reasonable explanation? He is making his misogynistic situation even worse by attacking Fani Willis, E. Jean Carroll and Letitia James as his bullying continues on Truth Social, prompting Blue to say, “He might as well be wearing a t-shirt that says, ‘Women Don’t Matter To Me.’” In his arrogance, Trump is ignoring his advisors which may cost him dearly in November…yep, keep chasing those women…away!

And speaking of turned-off females, Melania Trump turned up at a campaign fundraiser in Palm Beach at the home of billionaire John Paulson on Saturday after being a no-show at a Friday event where she was to receive a “Child Advocacy Award.” Her husband accepted the award on her behalf. Some weighed in with their observations that she was “checking the clock”a and had little interest in being at the Saturday event, looking as if “she’s in a hostage video. Blink twice if you need help.” Mike Sington, Senior Executive at NBCUniversal, posted a photo of the Trump couple, writing, “Melania Trump looks thrilled as ever to be with Donald Trump at his fundraiser in Florida last night.” This marks the second public appearance by the former first-lady on the campaign trail, which reportedly raked in over $50M for the Trump coffers. “It took three Democrat presidents to raise $25M, and one president to raise over $50M, Donald J. Trump,” said spokesperson Danielle Alvarez in her statement afterwards. Around 100 wealthy guests showed, paying $250,000 each to be on the “host committee” and up to $824,000 each to serve as “chairman” and earning a seat at Trump’s table at dinner. No word from the fly on the wall who was busy eating ketchup, with no concern about helping his bottom line or protecting democracy.

Luckily, Lauren Boebert wasn’t invited to the fundraiser, and she may be short-changed for all future events after her behavior at a December event headlined by Trump, according to CNN. The servers refused to“bring her any more alcohol” as she had obviously been “over-served,” as in blitzed, tanked, whiffed, or splifficated. Her attempts to take selfies with Trump finally caused his security detail to intervene, telling her to knock it off. CNN’s Kasie Hunt reported, “This is how it went down and I want to remind viewers here that this came a few months after she got in trouble and had to apologize for her conduct at a Denver theater performance of Beetlejuice, getting kicked out for vaping and being loud, all on security footage. There was much than vaping!” MAGATs seem to have lost control of this woman…look on the good side, perhaps.

Dateline March 18, 2024

NUCLEAR CODES AND RAGIN’ BEDLAM IN THE PIT OF FIRE

‘Ragin’ Cajun’ James Carville is still undoubtedly dodging the slings and arrows of Democratic Party honchos, and women in particular. In a recent not-politically correct interview with New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, the freewheeling, outspoken Democratic strategist declared that “preachy females” are driving some men from the Democratic side who feel they aren’t being acknowledged by the feminine, ‘woke’ messaging. Carville feels the condescension is telling men “Don’t drink beer, watch football, or eat hamburgers…but eat your peas.” He takes offense that “party elites” are putting too much emphasis on the power of women, in particular women of color, in deciding election outcomes…“well, 48% of voters are males…where’s the consideration?” He has concern about the electorate pointing to President Biden’s age and the low approval ratings, but he has nothing but praise for the incumbent, saying, “He is tenacious, has had a real life, and doesn’t have an iota of elitism. When I look at these polling numbers, it’s like walking in on your grandma naked. You can’t get that image out of your mind.” Carville is noted for his marriage to the Republican assistant and consultant to President George W. Bush and VP Dick Cheney, Mary Matalin, who founded Threshold Editions, a conservative publishing imprint of Simon and Schuster. Matalin is currently on the syndicated radio show, Both Sides Now with Huffington and Matalin, aired on 120 stations each weekend. A couple of preachy women, without question.

Pundits are theorizing which major party presidential campaign will be hurt most by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. since he has now chosen Nicole Shanahan as his third-party  running mate. Shanahan is an unknown, but her selection will now allow Kennedy to be placed on the ballot in those states that require a complete ticket for ballot access. There will be much legal maneuvering and signature-gathering in other states to qualify for the ballot, a time-consuming and expensive process, but Shanahan’s wealth will undoubtedly be a factor as they go forward. She has spent extravagantly on Kennedy’s campaign already, footing the bill for the much-criticized Super Bowl ad that used JFK’s imagery from the 1960 presidential campaign. So far, only the states of Utah, New Hampshire and Hawaii will have RFK, Jr. on their ballots, and the 15,000 signatures he collected in Nevada may be for nought, since he didn’t have a VP candidate’s name on the filing document…back to square one according to the Nevada secretary of state. This doesn’t seem to show the sort of diligence and efficiency needed in a presidential administration, and Aldous J. Pennyfarthing asks, “How will he navigate his inevitable first-term measles crisis if he can’t even get his ballot signatures right? You can’t mix the measles kids with the polio kids…It would be medieval medical malpractice. And bedlam. Let’s not forget bedlam.”

St. Patrick’s Day saw the beginning of Biden’s counteroffensive with a photo-op picturing dozens of the Kennedy clan with the president to show their support. RFK, Jr. has downplayed his family’s passionate support for Joe Biden, saying that only a small percentage of his kin think he’s an irresponsible threat to democracy and the health of every last human being on the planet, according to Pennyfarthing. In an interview with Chris Cuomo, Kennedy claimed the photo showed only a small percentage of the family, and they are smiling only because they got to visit the White House, a visit facilitated by him he added, taking credit where none is warranted.

Running mate Shanahan is an East Bay philanthropist and patent attorney, described by Kennedy as a “brilliant scientist” and a “fierce warrior mom,” and his choice was made, in part, for her ability to “identify abuses in our government,” saying she has been “battle-tested” and “overcame every daunting obstacle” to achieve “the American dream.” One of her ‘obstacles’ was her five-year marriage to Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, reportedly severed after her affair with Elon Musk, but which left her with a hefty portfolio of investments, now benefitting Kennedy’s ailing campaign for the foreseeable future. Not to be discounted is the MAGA-backed bankrolling of the campaign for Trump’s advantage. Super PAC, Clear Choice, is attempting to expose ties to Trumpism, including videos of Kennedy saying he’s “proud” that Trump “likes” him, while showing his advocacy of conspiracy theories, his opposition to vaccines, and a history of anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Semitic remarks. Matt Bennett, of public affairs group Third Way, says, “RFK, Jr. and Nicole Shanahan have only one chance of seeing the inside of the Oval Office: if Trump wins and invites them in to say ‘thank you.'”

Chris Devine, co-author of the book ‘Do Running Mates Matter?’ said the choice of Shanahan “is not a pick that bodes well for his campaign. This was an opportunity for him to demonstrate that he could pull together an experienced team with broad appeal, and he hasn’t done that.” Democrats worry that Shanahan will attract some voters because she is a young 38 years old, and a bi-racial woman. She is described as having vague, eccentric political ideas, having bounced from support of Marianne Williamson to Pete Buttigieg to Joe Biden in 2020, and initially criticized Kennedy when he announced his candidacy. She once told The New York Times, “I do think that the increase of vaccine-related injuries is very alarming, and I do think we need to understand the screening mechanisms.” Aldous J. Pennyfarthing is eagerly awaiting word on whether Nicole Shanahan has all her shots.

The big news splash of Easter Week was provided by Mr. Trump when he launched an ad campaign for his newest grift…selling Bibles! Even though his dorky Truth Social going public netted him close to $4B…on paper, at least…he keeps coming up with goofy marketing ideas. His Bible is unique, in that it features Lee Greenwood’s patriotic anthem, ‘God Bless the USA,’ plus copies of the US Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence…and as Hunter writes on Daily Kos, if YOUR Bible doesn’t have those attributes, “you’re probably going straight to Hell, because Jesus isn’t going to put up with it.” This Christian Nationalist-themed book goes for $60 and includes a special note emphasizing that “GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates.” It’s a bit shady but it doesn’t say that Trump is NOT getting a portions of the proceeds, but using his name, likeness and image is never free for anyone. Hunter says, “You could give this guy all the money in the world, and he’d still be staring into the camera, droning out a Krusty the Clown-level endorsement of a Trump-branded steak, or bottled water or godawful shoes.” The ballyhooed “handwritten” chorus of Greenwood’s hit song may be written in Sharpie, so beware!

The Bible rollout was timed for Easter, though buyers will have a four to six week wait due to “high order volume.” Public responses have called the Trump endorsement “sacrilege,” “heresy,” and “borderline offensive” while citing lessons from the Bible that suggest taking advantage of people’s faith for money should be condemned. Originally, the ‘GBTUSA’ Bible was published in 2021, with HarperCollins passing on the chance to be publisher. EliteSource Pro, is the current marketing company, which has yet to comment. The media was quick to jump on this rollout: on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon joked that Trump’s Bible venture is like former VP Pence trying to sell the erotic novel, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey;‘ MSNBC’S Nicolle Wallace said, “This is also a fraud. I mean, if he were selling waterbeds or condoms, fine.” Wallace then pulled up a 2015 clip in which Trump refused to name a verse from his “favorite book,” and claimed that he liked the Old and New Testaments “probably equal.” Wallace’s guest commentator, Democratic strategist, Basil Smikle, questioned how in one breath the Bible could be Trump’s favorite book and in another, he’s keeping “speeches of Adolf Hitler on his bedside.” “Probably equal!” Wallace declares.

Smikle observes that this Bible hawking “mimics the behavior of a televangelist,” and those in his political base are funding his lifestyle…not sending him to the White House, but to the golf course. Trump’s niece, Mary, tweeted that, “He’s never prayed in his life…if that were a real Bible, it would burst into a ball of flame.” Joy Behar of The View commented, “The last time he was on his knees, he was picking up a french fry.” Saturday Night Live’s cold open, with James Austin Johnson playing Trump, noted, “It’s Easter…the time of year when I compare myself to Jesus Christ. That’s just the thing I do now and people seem to be okay with it. I’m gonna keep doing it. And if you think that this is a bad look, imagine how weird it would be if I started selling Bibles. Well, I’m selling Bibles, this beautiful Bible made from 100% Bible.” Johnson ended the bit with the Lord’s Prayer: “Our father who are in heaven. Hallowed, beep, beep, beep, bing, bing, bing bong, trespass, daily bread…” SNL’s Weekend Update co-anchor, Colin Jost, commented, “This Bible is mostly the same, but Trump’s version ends with Jesus’ disciples storming Jerusalem to overturn the results of the crucifixion.” Jost made note that Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ lyrics were included, “And, I assume, God’s letter of resignation.” And, The Borowitz Report divulges that the first printing of Trump’s Bible hit a snag when it was found to include stolen nuclear codes, the error appearing in the book of Genesis, where Noah starts shouting random numbers for no reason as he loads animals into the ark. Borowitz reports, “Trump is furious that he has to take the nuclear codes out of the Bible…it’s the only part he’s read.”