Today was a rough day for administration officials on Capitol Hill as Senate committees held hearings on the 2026 budget requests for the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of State.
I am in utter shock at the inadequacy of this administration to even know the law never mind follow it, but their dismantling of so many of our agencies and utter disregard for the law is intact. The lies and disregard for our citizens wellbeing is astounding. Pushback, resist, do not be quiet. Professor, thank you . Your love for our country and your willingness to keep us informed gives us the confidence to continue with the fight for our Democracy.
Are we witnessing cult fanaticism? Every time one of these cabinet members appears in public they know trump is listening and watching, therefore they MUST express the extreme views which he promotes and believes in. Cult behavior is always about mind control and conformity accompanied by extreme outcomes.....
It's always a pirouette done for the entertainment of a single customer, isn't it? They are ALWAYS dancing for Trump, no matter the question, the situation. I don't know how people can just clap their ears and eyes and go LALALALALA like that, but it's clear they do. And they infect those around them who might speak.
Rubio is the worst because he so obviously knows better. The others belong in cult or slasher movies as one-dimensional characters out of Central Casting. And while Bessent lies every day he says anything to the press, he has -- at the very least -- stopped a 3-year-old toddler from enacting his idiot 3,785% tariffs against China, or whatever it is --- for now.
It's not just Trump but the club of billionaires that has yearned to covert the US to plutocratic autocracy for many decades. I would argue that the that figures in the roots of the Civil War. It in certainly hiding in plain sight in the present. Not for nothing an exclusive obsession obsession with money and power have long been connected to cruelty and the loss of ones "soul".
And on top of that not a trace of shame or even embarrassment! Fellow senators publicly denouncing Marco Rubio's 180 into Maga-world and he just stone-faced doubled down. Indigestible....
I will never get over the willingness to appear a complete idiot to play to Trump. Of course, Kennedy is the exception because he is a complete fool. But Noem, Rubio, even Bessent know what they’re saying is a lie and they are not afraid to behave like bullies, completely disrespectful of Congress.
Then there’s Mace. I bet she made this video herself and is using it to lie. I never believed she was previously raped because she has no qualms about supporting rapists. Remember what’s his name in the wheelchair that was drummed out for spilling the beans about sex and drug parties… Mace is never afraid to debase herself for attention.
Is that a serious question? What else other than exactly that have we been seeing since Trump first ran for President? What do you think MAGA is? This question is a little late imo.
From Heather yesterday: "...12 swing-state Republicans who don’t want drastic Medicaid cuts, and 31 hardliners who do. House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can afford to lose only three Republican votes on the measure. Nicole Lafond of Talking Points Memo reported today that Trump will go to Capitol Hill tomorrow to talk Republicans into voting for the measure."
We need to encourage Don Bacon R. NE. and other Republicans who are standing up to Trump and MAGA Mike. He and Reps. David Valadao, R-Calif., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., Rob Bresnahan Jr., R-Pa., Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., Jen Kiggans, R-Va., Young Kim, R-Calif., Robert Wittman, R-Va., Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Jeff Hurd, R-Colo signed a letter:
“Many hospitals — particularly in rural and underserved areas — rely heavily on Medicaid funding, with some receiving over half their revenue from the program alone,” the representatives wrote. “Providers in these areas are especially at risk of closure, with many unable to recover. When hospitals close, it affects all constituents, regardless of healthcare coverage.”
Besides the Medicaid issue, Republican Reps have called out Trump/Musk on national security and tariffs.
On MSNBC Saturday, Velshi asked Bacon about tariffs. He said, in essence, any Reagan Republican would remove Trump tariff authority. To do that, they need all of the House Dems.
Plus Bacon said Trump has a "moral blindscape" re Ukraine. Retired General. Russia is not a superpower. Mexico with nuclear weapons.
Says anyone who served has to oppose Hegseth, SIGNAL.
Says we are better than any other country in agriculture. Says Trump has broken free trade. In essence, we are losing the trade war
This is helpful. One way Dems can fight back is to have good information and use it to their advantage, as they did in the hearings. I am not a constituent of any of the states mentioned, but I have friends who are. And what Don Bacon and others vote on affects us all. Perhaps there is a tipping point and maybe it is rural hospitals. So be it.
Penny, I have written about this in the past, so apologies to any who've already heard.
I spent my career in urban major medical centers as a medical techologist in the laboratory. The stories I could tell!! (But, HIPPA). Anyhow, for me, the most stressful assignment was working the Coagulation bench.
Our medical center was so huge, we had multiple ICU units. Nearly every ICU patient was on heparin, and their dose was dependent upon their PTT test results. It was absolutely critical to get these results to the RNs, and if one of our two top of the line analyzers was non-functional, it got hairy. What compounded that, was if a stroke victim was delivered to the ER.
The blood for that patient would be drawn IN THE AMBULANCE. One of the ER staff literally trotted down the hall to the lab and handed the tube off to a tech, who had to stop loading any more bloods into the analyzer while this tube spun for 6 minutes. Then it was loaded onto the machine to get the patient's baseline PT result before the docs could administer clot busting drugs and save brain. There was no way to hurry this: the centrifuge spun the blood into layers so the machine could sample the plasma above the cells, but the top layer of cells was the thin layer of platelets. This layer couldn't be disturbed or it would rended false results. Trust me, you lifted those tubes out carefully, as if you accidentally shook them, you had to recentrifuge.
Results were called directly to the doc, and were timed. We were to deliver the results within 30 minutes of it being DRAWN from the patient, as the doc had only 60 minutes from time of draw to administer the drugs.
THIS is why I will never live more than 30 minutes from a major medical center. I've seen strokes in too many friends and family. Some people quickly recover, others will spend years laying in a medical bed.
How can rural hospitals save people? They are already at a disadvantage by virtue of distance from their patients. A rural 20 bed hospital isn't going to have a neurosurgeon on staff. (Our med center had a heliport and it was used all the time.)
So, now the patient might have over 100 miles to the nearest hospital, which then will be understaffed (there is a doc and RN shortage--and an even WORSE shortage of trained and certified lab techs!) These victims are unlikely to retain as much brain function as they could, so now what happens?
Did those rural nursing homes stay open? Are they staffed appropriately? Who is caring for those patients--as at least in the nursing homes I am familiar with, quite a few immigrants provide care? I knew we needed to check in on my mother in law frequently and on an irregular pattern. (Stories there, too.)
When I call these Congressmen, I point blank tell them that THIS BILL WILL KILL THEIR CONSTITUENTS. I think so little of Steven Miller, I could imagine him thinking "so what?" as it will lower the number of Medicaid, Medicare and SS recipients. That sounds so harsh and heartless, doesn't it? But pretty believable, too, right?
Medical staff is so short now we never see that kind of care. Of course the wealthy have their own private wing in hospitals that I’m sure have staff that does nothing until their private patient arrives.
These days the ER will leave you sit even with chest pains. Many of the people in the waiting room wouldn’t be there if they could get into their doctors office. I had a doctor send me to the ER for an MRI in the middle of the day because she said it was life or death. But the ER didn’t know anything about it, no notes from the doctor and 4 hours later I was finally seen and nothing was done. I quit seeing that doctor.
sharon, I see you were an oncology nurse. KUDOS to you! I respect all nurse, but I have a fondness for oncology nurses. If I called you with an absolute neutrophil count of <0.5, r other critical lab result, you'd know exactly what I was talking about.
Miselle, thank you for this detailed post from the ground in real situations. Our one R representative (a wealthy twit) has eastern and southern Oregon as his district. This is the most rural part of the state. Yet he still defends what death star is doing. A lot of his constituents are pretty unhappy with him as they are starting to suffer. He comes from a wealthy family near Salem and has that hubris that many with money develop. They are in their bubble and nobody can break it down.
Why does this remind me of Lakers sportscaster Chick Hearn back in 2002. I think it might have been the case that he would have had a better chance of surviving the head injury he suffered in a fall, if they had been able to get him to a hospital sooner if memory is correct. See https://www.deseret.com/2002/8/4/19669928/hearn-critically-injured-in-fall/
That's the closest I can find to what a former EMT who lived in the area described, I think mentioning that some hospital closures around there had increased the time it took to get him the more immediate care he needed. At least it seemed to raise concerns that care could be delayed even in areas that seemed to have some of the best coverage anywhere.
People represented by the above mentioned R's need to know this information, and encourage their Reps to stand in support of them against the damage that will be inflicted by the administration. They need to assure them they will support them if they do the right thing and vote against that bill. In the face of the threats the administration hands out, the Reps need to know the public stands with them if they work for the needs of the public and not the wealthy few.
Most likely the Senate will either kill or vastly change this bill but it is importantly to get people on the record for voting to screw the everyday American for the benefit of billionaires and multi national companies.
Oh, news today Europe thinks they will be pulling back investments and looking elsewhere. Pertly because of our divided politics and idiocy on tariffs but mostly because they don’t want to invest in a place that is being so mismanaged.
We need to think of this as a simple investement in tangy company. If Bezos was purposefully talking his successful business model and taking money from mobsters, investing in monopoly coins, would you?
Even though it’s a usual lie from Trump….the fact he says casually that his plan to start the Holden dome that will cost 5 times as much as he says, most going to Musk, because SAUDI ARABIA is giving us 5 trillion dollars?
So American should rest easy that SAUDI ARABIA owns our Holden Dome defense as well as the water rights that literally grow a huge amount of our economy?
Ladies, you think having forced birth is bad, wait until you’re in a burka without a car and becoming a property of a man…like a horse or a goat.
My granddaughter takes with kids from European countries. WE were shocked when she said the other kids were talking about pamphlets they were given, preparing for war.
Marcus, I can’t understand why any self respecting women would vote for any republican for exactly that reason. Many things can happen in a pregnancy. Some women require a D&C after a miscarriage. For example, a friends baby died in the ninth month of what appeared to be a normal pregnancy. She had been to the doctor that day and all was well. The cord separated later that day and she went to the ER, because she didn’t feel well. The baby was gone and she almost died. They induced labor to deliver the dead baby boy and save her life. What would the doctors be allowed to do today? We have lost the right to make a choice about our body and so have our doctors. They are beginning to assault certain types of birth control, next will come voting rights. Sorry, I remember growing up in the early 1950’s and graduated from high school in 1963. Things weren’t so great back then ladies. Sex before marriage, you were considered a “tramp”. No credit cards or bank accounts in your name, without a husband or father’s signature. My girlfriend was a teacher, she had just begun her career, keep in mind that she was a college graduate. She needed her father’s signature to by a modest car. She was not married.
I fear for my granddaughters. The oldest is in a STEM program and a straight A student. She has a math tutor, because she has completed the math at her grade level. She told me she is going to finish college and move to Europe. This young women is only 17 and sees where this country is headed. My God help us, wake up America!
Old, right now the only political ad we are seeing on TV, twice during the local news, is one hailing all the wonderful things death star is doing in contrast to what D have done. It is financed by a dark money group.
I am seeing them when Jeopardy is on which is watched by many people. It's disgusting to see when I'm watching a show that has smart people on and engages me for awhile from all the bad news then to have it polluted by an ad touting all the so called "good" tRump is doing! Is there no refuge from this cult of madness?!! Watching Jeopardy to keep my sanity is being poisoned like everything in our country.
Elections are run by the states, so he can’t suspend them. If he calls some kind of false emergency then there will be a strong reaction that either end in his impeachment or be the end of the UNITED States.
Correct, but then what will the States do. The Democratic Governors must insist that the Elections be held in their States and take any action necessary to ensure that.
I believe that Trump will try to cancel the mid-terms. If not and the Dems win a Majority he and the Republicans will refuse to accept the results. At a forum of Gubernatorial candidates in the NJ Democratic Primary I asked what they would do to ensure that the Election went forward as scheduled and I didn't get an actual answer from any of them. They all just talked in general about fighting Trump
The fight is real, and it is imperative we avoid violence. The present regime is looking for an excuse to declare a national emergency and send the military onto our streets. Elections would be cancelled, and there is no return from that for generations. Now is the time to get people to be active participants in preventing the worse from this regime, and then vote them out in droves in 2026.
They shouldn’t even be talking to them except in this format to get it on the record. The Dems need to take the fight to the people, ala Sanders and AOC.
MAGA will go down the toilet if they think they got the libs to be angry. MAGA is not a rational movement. It’s completely irrational. All emotion, no thought.
The only way out of this is to make it clear to the people who voted against this that the fight will be daily and get through to those who stayed home or did a protest vote that they made a huge mistake and will be forgiven if they fight FOR democracy, not against it or maybe they give up and that’s fine. And then the speech needs to be clear and truthful to those who were not thrilled to vote for MAGA but did.
We’re in an abusive relationship that we need to open our eyes to see we are not loved by MAGA. We are distain Ed by them and the more power they are allowed to accumulate, the more pain they will inflict because they enjoy it.
How have the three demons of vanity, selfishness and ambition joined hands to create these people? Who in their daily thoughts plan out their treacherous deeds. Who enjoy no thought higher than a selfish enjoyment of and a virulent hatred for the country and its citizens. Whose thoughts and actions have given way to a torrent of despicable impulses. What life experiences have brought them to this day? Will there come a day when they realize a life of serious work and application of usefulness to their fellow Americans? Or will WE have to battle earnestly and unflinchingly every day of our existence?
These are good questions, Stephanie. I think that it boils down to a simple desire to belong, and to be powerful. In their sick minds, this is the route for them. Hurt rather than help. Squash rather than support. Hate rather than heal.
My sister-in-law relates the following story: She lives in Virginia and attends her local university's basketball games. The team consistently lost when it had all white players. After they recruited black student athletes, they began winning and being fun to watch . Attendance at the games soared. For me, this illustrates why white men are frightened of blacks and need to defend white supremacy.
My SIL and her husband are very conservative R's (but not MAGA). I'm not sure if they see the lesson here, however she is beginning to be unhappy with tRump.
They have become extensions of their leader who is driven by greed, grievance, and hate. The concept of public service for the common good has been abolished.
The Harry Potter novels were much better than that! Even the fake Latin she used for spells were at least related to what they were supposed to do. Noem obviously has no education.
"Administration officials today (seemed to) illustrate their utter disregard for the work their jobs require and their refusal to govern for Americans. Instead, they (seem to) see their offices as ways to get access to large amounts of money and power they can use to impose their will on the country." Professor ends her letter with this paragraph, summarizing the state of Trump administration. American citizens need to find a way to save themselves. What can they do? AOC and Sanders town halls go only so far. Court orders are disregarded, and the congress is silent.
I am all for resistance, if I get off my gravitational hiney. We need push beyond shock, however, to define a positive end we all seek together. We do not need specifics and we need to be wide open to help from whatever source we can. Inasmuch as she was a Baptist and her husband a Jew, Vice President Harris embodied this diversity with grace and humor. 🙂
This remarkable snip-it from Pope Leo XIV is important, not because he is an R.C.; not because he floats in the flashy nebula of being 'of faith'; not because he is in a position of authority; not because he is educated; but, because what he states here is true or, at least, it ought to be. That expression of affectionate humility ought properly to be our end as a society. 💡
In the comment below, I present some snip-its of the opening homily of Leo XlV; with religious terms removed as much as possible so the reader can remember, and focus on, the wisdom Vice President Harris brought to us with her joy. 🥳
"I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant . . . walking with you on the path . . . [as one] . . . united in one family." (Reminds me of President Truman asking for prayers when he found of President F.D.R. had died and Vice President Truman ow ascended to the presidency.) 😱
"Peter is thus entrusted with the task of 'loving more' and giving his . . . self-sacrificing love . . . [that] . . . presides in charity . . . It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda, or by means of power. 🛑
". . . . Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him (cf. 1 Pt 5:3). On the contrary, he is called to serve . . . his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them . . . in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity. 🙏🏾
"In this, our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy . . . [to] . . . all women and men of goodwill . . . build a new world where peace reigns!" 🤝🏻
"This is the . . . spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer . . . love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.
"Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! ❤️
"Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk toward . . . [Justice] . . . and love one another." ⚖️
You know what used to “ shock” me but now just angers me and disgusts me? That these goddamn imbeciles are getting away with this and the “ good guys and gals” are so incredibly inadequate and helpless in ensuring that the guardrails hold. Liberty and Justice for all? My eye. I wonder how many everyday Americans are sitting in prison or are on probation or parole for petty infractions. Oh wait a good start are those immigrants sent to a foreign country profit prison in some totalitarian country
It would be a good thing to remember, most Americans today 1) don't care or trust anything coming out of Washington, DC... and 2) so many Americans can not see/understand/know/care about anything #47 says or does only what he blathers on about, not with any clarity or benefit for anyone but himself. Folks, it has been said and it is very true, the US of A is in danger of becoming, or already is, a third-world country. Thank you, failed president donny j. frump.
to be our job to impeach all the people who vowed loyalty to our Constitution. These blatant liars embarrass this country around the world.
Aren’t you embarrassed at our casual acceptance of this idiot state? trump is a sick creep. But the real criminal is sitting on piles of money Americans gave him. The Heritage (so called )foundation is a treasonous group of money maniacs. Jesus , please open the eyes of those who pretend to follow your goodness.
America, being “just rich” is the last choice of any good person. It means nothing. What one does after making money( either legally or criminally like this maggot group) is what builds character. Being rich means shit if shit is who you are.
Building character :number one: you believe in truth. Lying is a sin.
Two: trump dump is not the “most powerful man on earth. He is a turd. Turds go back into the earth being just that, a turd.
"Kristi Noem simply talked over" "RFK Jr. continued to talk over"
This is the GOP/MAGA "strategy" - anyone who says anything you don't like, or don't want to answer - talk over them. No questions answered, no discussions or debate - jut yap, yap ,yap getting louder and louder.
We are being governed by a bunch of screaming toddlers.
Trump and his cabal of fools all wishing to crown Trump king, deny all allegations against them and their departments. They should all be impeached by the House and the Senate or forced to resign. It's not like the next batch of Trump nominee's could do a worse job than these fools.
People are literally dying of starvation and lack of medical attention but there isn't a single Republican that gives a damn.
This is exactly right. These cabinet secretaries are profoundly unqualified, inept, ignorant, and dangerous. What is the procedure to impeach or recall them? Is it too much to ask our senators and representatives to do their jobs and act on our behalf, and replace them immediately? And while they are at it, take back their authority which includes the power to impose and withdraw tariffs.
It is apparently the only job of congress to get reelected; the actual business of governance is secondary. For the life of me, I do not know why the fear of being primaried by ffpotus and his henchmen is enough to trade in your ethics card for a "go along and get reelected" card, when it means selling your soul.
Dear Ally - the real fear of not being reelected is the fear of losing out on lucrative deals. Graft and corruption isn't only at the executive level it trickles down.
The worst thing is the Congress and Senate are just using words and with a toddler that never works well. I have been writing and callingmy representatives to do action. One cannot not show up, one can refuse to ask any questions. This is just a series of breads and circuses without any real change to the status quo. Who pays the salaries? What if the Treasury Department was frozen? Money talks. Or if even if C Span walked away for 48 hours of nothing blank screen no zero zip coverage? The new documentary on Gallaudet College students stopping a new president and got their non hearing president instead is inspiring and gives a very exhausted and depressed citizen a bit of hope.
I have to say, the present mob do NEED to be treated like toddlers. The Democrat/Indie opposition need to get some advice from child care experts. I don't mean that Kristi Noem should be literally sat on the Congress "Naughty Seat" - but what works on a toddler DOES also work on "adults" - if adjusted slightly for the adult mindset. We need some strategy to get them to STFU and actually ANSWER some questions.
Unfortunately, I think the main reasons they don't answer are either a) They don't know or b) the realise what complete swine they would appear if they actually said it out loud.
They know that Trump (Dear Leader) would be watching, and they do not want to lose favor. The number one rule is never to admit any wrong. They have sold their souls to Trump, and they do it proudly.
Lady Emsworth, you are so right on this one; we do need some child psych experts to help us. We also need more media to stand up and put out regularly the stupid and distracting things said by the people our Senate has put into office so people will understand why FEMA, for example has not helped after storms, floods, and other disasters. Red states Missouri and Kentucky are learning just how nasty this administration is and how they care for no one but themselves. I am betting all of FEMA's resources will be put into play if Mar a Lago is threatened by a hurricane or some other jerk's property is under threat. Why are we tolerating this insanity?
Another thought. People who know toddlers! Rev, William Barber and the Poor People’s Campsign and his Repairers of the Breach. ADAPT old organization they fought for the AFA they are there as well. So at least two groups with real action. If we could support abd the legislators also support. Senator Duckworth should do abreast a photo op with ADAPT folks. There are ways abd there are ways to handle toddlerhood. All the groups NASW, APA both groups AMA abd Dr Bandy X Lee is also trying though APA threw her out. Her group if nothing else because of their elder status know about trauma and toddlerhood.
There are other groups mentioned here and other places. One person has
created the call list. We need a telephone tree of groups that are active and connections that run through . Also highlighting all the people who are trying to help in their own way. A list of heroes from not only our country but all over the globe.
A name and also a group. I did my shout out who are the others for tomorrow and ongoing?
Russell, you are right, but it will continue because there are no consequences for them, only for the people who need the services ?RFK,Jr. and Noem don't want to or are too ignorant to provide.
I agree Ruth but public denunciations are nevertheless important. Trump succeeds by endlessly repeating his lies. I like the late night shows' satirical coverage of the administration's bumbling management of the nation's affairs but relentless indignation and clear messaging is more likely to work as a form of resistance in the public sphere. Trump's agenda has already been substantially held up in the courts and soon people will begin to notice the harmful effects of his policies in their own lives. I think the business with the Qatari plane has finaly galvanised the Democratic party.
I like Jon Stewart's approach - he starts off by giving you something to laugh at - but always ends with a knife thrust to the heart of the matter. The main problem is that whatever Democrats may say, and however many of them say it - the media don't report.
In Nazi Germany Hitler's gang had the edge because they just went in and destroyed presses. Thank God that (so far) they haven't worked out a way to take down anti-trump SM.
Democrats should do commercials using the Jon Stewart approach. Show how they lack empathy & their lack of knowledge on the departments they are supposedly running.
If Trump can do a commercial on his "Big Beautiful Bill" - Democrats should do rebuttal commercials.
And billboards. The very few that have been erected in Red states have been very successful in raising questions from people who never get the chance to see the truth.
Cyndy, and it is pretty sure the Democrats will present the ruth. The ads Toddler-Trump and his playground have put out are lies from beginning to end. They make all kinds of claims about how great things are under Trump and imply that it is because of Trump. It's amazing that so many media are willing to play such blatant lies. It would be great if there could be a disclaimer somewhere in the ad, just a flash that says, "this is all a lie, of course."
Which is why Democrats need to be on the ball - and experts in parsing. Once the idiots have finished their half hour of gibber, the questioner should be able to respond "You have literally just said (and break it down into two sentences max)"
Perfect, Lady Elmworth!! And I was thinking of Rick Sender, our fellow Commenteer on this Substack believes in “facts and logic” and abhors “feelings and hate.” Facts and Logic are also FUN!! (And refreshing, especially in Washington, DC.) FUN = (in this case) F-ing Unbelievably Nuts.
Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) might have illustrated Habeas Corpus to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem by saying, “Well, for example, if someone comes and, oh, let’s say, shoots your dog in the face, you have every right to say, ‘Habeas Corpus - show me my poor puppy’s body,’ right, Dear? That must have been soooo sad….Oh, wait….YOU made a corpse of your puppy dog!!! Or, was that bullet just an ‘administrative error,’ huh?”
And when Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was unaware of cuts to ALS research,” Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) responded with, “I just read them to you!” But, Kennedy then repeated that he didn’t “know about them until you told…me about them at this moment.”
Senator Durbin should then have replied, “Well, sir, perhaps you should come to my office every day so I can keep you informed about your responsibilities. It will be FUN! I’ll serve bear ribs, compliments of my Chicago Bears!! See ya tomorrow!”
Adding to that FUN would have been Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) saying, “Hey, Senator Durbin, can I meet with you guys, too? I can bring some brewskis, compliments of my Milwaukee Brewers??? Brewskis go good with bear ribs!! It’ll be FUN!”
And on and on it goes! MAGA - Money Always Great, Amen!! Money is FUN, too!!
Surely the correct reply to "I was unaware of cuts" is Well, isn't that the definition of your job? Haven't you been given the power of your position to BE aware?"
Hey Pancake Paradise, I like your idea. Maybe what Democrats need to employ is someone who is really good at coming up with appropriate comments and questions that would work with the various lying fools in the Toddler-Trump playground. Make those comments as simple, straightforward and repeatable as possible. Since Toddler-Trump and his cronies in the playground have rehearsed a lot of what is said, Democrats should be playing the same game in the same field. There is no high ground beyond the truth in this game. The MAGA liars have the advantage of money, but the Democrats who choose to use it have the truth at all levels in all areas of life, and should choose to use it and demand truth of those representing us and holding positions of significance in our government.
You hit the nail right on the head, Ruth! TRUTH is the name of the game!! Of course, Trump owns the Truth, doesn’t he? I mean Truth Social! Hey, maybe that a good place to start! Hit UNTruth Social with the Truth. And PRACTICE!! Yup, the Trump folks are well-practiced and really start stumbling when they are facing Truth as well as Competence.
Yeah, we know he is a fierce advocate of “facts and logic” and the FACT that Kristi and Bobby, Jr. don’t know the facts that pertain to their jobs must jar Rick’s LOGIC button. He might despise the warm FEELINGS that Sen. Hassan might have displayed for poor, old puppyless Kristi or that Sens. Durbin and Baldwin might have displayed for old Bobby, Jr. inviting him to daily beer and bear briefing sessions. Oh, well…We can only try to eradicate incompetence. The good and HOPEFUL thing is that Trump knows how to FIRE people!
This is why I keep pushing for people to tune into the Substacks and YouTubes of those who are calling out the insanity. Many of them do have MAGA viewers who watch, and I particuarly like when the MAGA comments get read and called out.
This is the crux. The system is so broken that there is absolutely no recourse when a group of creeps has infiltrated the government and is dead set on destroying our lives. The courts may be holding the line but there is no one to actually DO ANYTHING about the regime’s will to flout the law. Who will put them in jail for contempt? No one. Who will stop them? No one. The only way this kind of thing gets stopped is, unfortunately, is a military coup, a civil war or a revolution. The assumption that we will have free and fair mid-terms is questionable.
unfortunately Jane I have to agree with your comment not because I think a military coup it's a good thing but because I don't think any other way would render results. It's a question to determine which situation is worse.
I am thinking more of the expiatory victims of Trump's decadence and corruption - Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Allen Weisselberg, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn etc. (the list of Trump roadkill goes on and on). And let's not forget Trump himself - the first president to be impeached twice; the first sitting president to be convicted.
Cohen is now part of the Meidas Network, and also has his own YouTube channel. I am amazed he doesn't have more subscribers! Which pundit knows Trump better than Cohen?!?!
He really nails the Trump motives behind the actions. I know it's difficult to keep up will the many good folks working to save democracy, but Cohen is worthy of the free subscription, and tuning in at least a couple times a week.
Trump himself sets the example to his minions for obdurate stupidity. I didn't think that I would see a more cringeworthy Trump press conference with a world leader than that infamous meeting with Ukraine's Zelensky in February - until I watched his press conference today with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. He was accusing Ramaphosa of 'white genocide' with some rubbish he'd pulled off the internet and the personal testimony of a South African golfer (I mean FFS!!).
I told my husband yesterday that had Miller's life taken a different turn early on, I could see him in shed writing insane manifestos. He seems very unbalanced to me. If I were Trump, I'd be very wary of him.
Trump admires the insane as long as they show total allegiance. Look at the crazies in his orbit- Miller, Kennedy, Mace, Noem, Cheung (OMG what a psychopath!), etc.. All so cruel. Oh, and JD is quite a mess, as well. A polished little mess.
Lady Emsworth, thank you so much. I have been referring to Toddler-Trump and his toddler pool for quite some time and appreciate that others see it too. They are like the worst parented toddlers always wanting and threatening to do something if the adults or older siblings don't do exactly what they say. We need to also acknowledge that the Republicans in Congress and in many of our state legislatures are also toddlers who want to hurt as many people as they can to prove just how powerful they are and how much they can break the law and get away with it. We all need to be the good, quality parents who say things like "OK, Mr. or Madame Chair, my time stops now until Mr. Kennedy stops talking and addresses my question. I guess we can wait but I demand my time!" If Republicans will have no respect for the law and for proper decorum, Democrats are going to have to step up and cause some good trouble and make it public, keeping their cool, but demanding straight answers and sometimes telling the questioned person that they have just lied to the committee or to Congress, etc. The word "lie" is important and needs to be used when what is said is a lie. People don't think a falsehood is a lie or incorrect or not true. Those sound like just quibbling. A lie is a lie!
Ruth, a lie is intentional. By definition. There are lies that can do more good than harm, but they are few and far between. Such as telling a terrified child that everything will be okay to keep the child quiet if you're both hiding in a closet and assassins are in the house.
But right now Americans need to hear the truth from their elected officials and Senate-confirmed bureaucrats, and yes, the press, too. And the Democrats need to be unrelenting in telling the truth to these GOP monsters and imbeciles, right to their faces, directly to Trump, on camera whenever possible. Piss him off.
And soon, barring a miraculous change of heart by a handful of GOP Senators and Reps, we will need to physically block them from doing their damage. A few million peacefully enraged citizens camping out in every public space in DC might just do the trick, given that all else is failing.
I wish that a there was a way to cut off their microphones while these cabinet morons are spewing their streams of nonsense.
But I can imagine that, were a policy of controlling the mic’s to be implemented, MAGA Congress members would be eager to play tit-for-tat and gleefully silence the microphones of any witnesses presenting valid evidence with which they disagree.
Thinking about it, toddlers isn't really what they are. Toddlers respond to love and cuddles. This lot are more like nasty spiteful five year olds who have learned all the wrong lessons in life. That suggestion of "We'll wait until you behave" is a good one - though I'm not sure how the Chair would respond. Time the Democrats realised that they need to dig their heels in. It's very exhausting re-training a badly behaved child - I just hope the Dems have the stamina to do it.
Lady M, I agree with all of your comment, but quibble with your assertion that we are being governed by a bunch of screaming toddlers.
Indeed, they are screaming toddlers, but the problem is that they are not governing.
Donald isn't governing. With the intellect of a pre-adolescent, he is playing at being president. He sits behind "the big desk," expatiating imperious pronouncements, mugging for the cameras as he scribbles his unintelligible Sharpie zigzag on meaningless and/or illegal orders bound in fancy folios, riding in "the big airplane," meeting with Very Important People who entertain him with impressive dog-and-pony shows and promise him large amounts of cash.
At his gaudy/tacky golf motel, he regales supplicants with untrue stories of his adventures as they stuff cash under the table in exchange for favors. And when he isn't rage-posting on his phone on his golden toilet, he cheats at golf.
But when it comes to the actual hard work of being president, he isn't doing it. He fobs that off on Stephen Miller and Russell Vought, who are only too happy to use their positions to advance their own shady, inhumane schemes.
All of Donald's cabinet members are Donald's "mini-me's," who, to keep their "very important jobs," must cosplay and bloviate, but do nothing.
Oh, I totally agree - but, right at the moment, they ARE "The Government." The fact that most five year olds have a better grasp on morality and reality doesn't mean they don't have an enormous amount of power - and like toddlers with a flame thrower, they are immensely dangerous.
Dale you are so right about Trump and most of his playground not governing. Leaving Miller and Vought to govern is a terrible mistake because those two guys are just plain evil and they have trained to let their sadism out on anyone they have decided they don't like, and they hardly like anyone as far as I can tell. We need to have folks ask Toddler-Trump how Steve Miller and Sec. Vought are today and if he likes the information they prepared for him today. How many millions of people will what they prepared harm? There is such a distraction now about Biden's "cognitive decline" but none about Trump's, which is far more serious than Biden's is and was. Biden was governing even with his weaknesses; Trump is not, just playing the president on TV and online, of course.
Republicans have without a doubt become the ‘Waste, Fraud and Abuse Are Us’ party. I’ve seen dog turds with more integrity and better manners than this bunch of f*ckwits. I’m not a religious person but the thought of this lot meeting their maker on ‘judgement day’ and being sent ‘express to the basement’, is genuinely satisfying.
Kazz, I agree; the only WFA that I see is coming from their destruction of the country's human infrastructure. I also love "f*ckwits"; it allows me to use a pejorative without demeaning good people whose cognitive and intellectual abilities are below the norm. I have been using a term I took from a spicy RAF pilot who used "f*ckknuckles. She's disappeared from social media, and I suspect she has passed.
Yes Ally, we need to be careful about the words we use, thanks for the reminder. I get so fired up after reading Heather’s letters, I’m reduced to expletives. The term f*ckwits is a great one, but doesn’t come close to describing the character and deeds of these despicable people. Being part of Heather’s LFAA community really helps me keep the faith.
The results of appointing only fierce loyalists, lack of expertise a non-issue or perhaps a perk. Although they know 100% that they're wrong, and 100% that they don't have a full grasp on the issues, they are willing to wear it--unpleasant and uncomfortable for them, but they won't give in now. They've tipped beyond the point of no return.
Carol, as you and most of us know, the answer to cabinet members being qualified, none are qualified, which is why they were shoved through with little to no thought by our Senate, mostly Republicans. Trump may have recommended a couple of them, but the Project 2025ers came up with the slate. I am sure Kristi Noem was considered when the 2025ers heard she had killed her dog and thrown her into a quarry. That is the temprerment for Homeland Security, of course. RFK,Jr.'s brain worm made him the perfect nominee for HHS because, well, he knew he had a brain somewhere and it had a worm in it and . . . Then there's Hegseth, he could do crappy interviews for Fox whose only standards involve their "hosts" being ignorant, basically incompetent and somewhat attractive so they could repeat lies and do gaslighting without questioning it. The rest of the team is just like that, each in their own way pathetic and unqualified but worthy of Republican support. Even some Democrats went along with the BS, all of them going for Marco Rubio, for example, with no evidence that he could really fairly represent this nation abroad (he is a white wannabee who despises anyone not white and will buy into the BS of any country that will give him and Baby Donnie some kind of money, promise, or something which Rubio should know is illegal according to our Constitution. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that Rubio doesn't care about our Constitution either. Amazing!
If these "highly paid time servers" have no answer to your pertinent question, let's find a newspaper person to relate this utter waste of Federal time! "The best revenge is always best served cold". I'd interrupt, keep asking the question, never take a chunk of "boilerplate" for an answer!
If only there were the technical expertise to ... cut off the microphone of a non-responsive witness. I bet China could invent that magical technology, even if Congress cannot even imagine it.
When my kids were small, if we were having a round the table about who did what, the person speaking got to hold an old wooden spoon. And an egg timer set for two minutes. High tech stuff!
"The Gish gallop is a debating technique where a person overwhelms their opponent by presenting a rapid series of arguments, often false or misleading, making it difficult for the opponent to respond to each point. This strategy prioritizes the quantity of arguments over their quality, aiming to confuse or mislead the audience."
Every single media outlet should have at least one REAL reporter (not just some talking head) specifically assigned to covering - and reporting upon - every word that Heather publishes. Of course this simply isn't going to happen, but if it did I'm convinced that the swamp, er, excuse me, the cesspool that trump and his goons have built would meet its end in relatively short order. I believe that the greater good in humanity outweighs evil and that this will ultimately turn things around as history once again cyclically repeats itself. I have often thought to myself of - and paraphrased - Michelle Obama's great line, "When they go low.....flush."
Peter, a REAL reporter would be doing what Heather does. But the real reporters have mostly fled to independent media.
The hacks who've remained with corporate media are doing what their owners want them to do: scribble stories that magnify Trump. Because Trump is the goose that lays the golden eggs of readership and audience share, which transmogrify into revenue. Cash. Moolah. Greenbacks. Simoleons. Shekels. Big bucks.
The corporate overlords are not about – or allow their scribblers – to kill the goose that lays those golden eggs. They're going to ride that goose until he dies of heart failure or Alzheimer's.
Of course you're right, Dale, that REAL reporters would be the sort of hard work Heather's doing. A pox on the MSM bosses who are sucking up to trump. I believe that at some point (soon, one hopes) the tide will turn and start running hard in the other direction....I believe it's a matter of time. In any event, we ALL need to keep doing ALL we can......repeat ALL/ALL.
Some good news was sent to me by a friend this morning.
According to the Intercept:
"Massively good news: The provision that would have let the trump administration strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit organization they wanted simply by declaring them to be a "terrorist supporting organization" has been removed from the budget bill. Pushing back against these people works."
And from Bolts: In Philly,
1) DA Larry Krasner, one of the best-known 'reform DAs' in the nation, has won today's Democratic primary as he runs for reelection.
2) voters have overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to bolster oversight over city jails. There's a human rights crisis in these lockups, and the measure creates a new board with powers to investigate.
I also appreciate that Robert Hubbell pointed out today that you can be active from abroad and not active at home. I am mostly living abroad, although I will be in the US this summer, basically taking care of things for family. I know many people, like me, who have brown skin, or are trans, or LGBTQ+, or are politically active, or have an illness that is no longer treated in the US, or are female of child bearing age, might feel safer doing their activism from outside the US. I wrote this piece in November and it still seems relevant to people who need to plan their red line.
My aunt told me yesterday they don't notice anything going on. She is taking care of her husband who has cancer, and is getting therapy for it, and her grandchildren who just lost their mom, and her son-in-law who almost died and had heart surgery that saved him, but he is not fully fit yet. She also helps out with my mom, her sister, who has dementia, so I can see why unless they lose benefits, like medicare or social security, she is not going to notice what is going on. I am hoping that she does not lose these supports she relies on, or the millions of other people as well.
I am so sorry for your families health battles. The cruel Republicans want to add a work requirement for people receiving Medicaid, plus they are making it next to impossible for disabled people to apply for SS disability benefits because they fired thousands of SSA trained staff.
Their cruelty knows no bounds. And not a single Republican in Congress has mentioned reducing the tax cut extension for the wealthy.
All of my health care coverage problems existed before Trump took office, because somehow the US has not joined the rest of the wealthy countries in ensuring universal health care insurance. Friends who moved to Portugal got their permanent residency cards about 3-4 months after they moved there and they were in the health system right away. She needed immediate coverage because she was pregnant.
My group in Democrats Abroad is working on a website where we are gathering stories of expats in regards to health care and we are going to be sharing it with US politicians on health care committees so that they can compare what is going on here with other countries.
Caregivers are the unsung heroes in the system. The endless doctor visits and the care and attention you give to your family takes a huge toll on your mental and physical well being. And there are tens of millions of you across the country.
So the Republicans answer to this dilemma is to cut Medicaid and to add a work requirement to receive benefits.
So the Republicans continue with their Big Lie that they care about the people they represent, when they absolutely do not! Pretending that they are protecting their constituents from people getting benefits that they do not "earn" as they like to put it, when really they are hurting their constituents that need the money. However, those who need money are not cared about by the Republicans. Thus, the US engaging in shameful health care practices, which will lower the quality of health care for everyone.
I recommend getting out of Red states now, and looking for Blue states that provide health care. This does not talk about the details of the kinds of coverages and health care that are disappearing under Kennedy. Anyway with a health care challenge needs to be looking at what countries they might move to for better medical care and coverage.
"Some pushback"...in a single day - that was MORE THAN some pushback! And what a circus of misfits and idiots being in over-their-heads from Noem to Kennedy to Long and even Rubio! This has to be - with NO Bout A'doubt It - the dumbest assembly of people in a presidential cabinet in our nation's history...and it's apropos as look at the idiot-in-chief who assembled and who occupies the White House...Really America, what an embarrassment!
And I felt my stomach turn when - I believe - almost each and every Democratic Senator voted in favor of Rubio for Secretary of State!
Hard to know if they're the dumbest, or the most uneducated, or the most willfully ignorant, but whatever the cause, the result is total incompetence. And the result of that is scary--policies enacted with no understanding of the consequences.
I agree, Ellen. Betsy, I believe they know exactly what they are doing…following the script of Project 2025 without any concern for the folks it affects.
This is from the book, Project 2025, Plan for Economic Reform for Trump's Second Administration, by Alarcon.
“While critics argue that Project 2025's approach may not address the immediate needs of those facing poverty, supporters believe that a growing economy filled with opportunity offers the best chance to reduce inequality in a meaningful way. They see Project 2025 as a roadmap to a stronger, more resilient society where individuals have the tools and resources to build wealth and improve their lives.”
The MAGA Repubs have not only consumed the Koolaide, but have swallowed this propaganda hook, line, and sinker😡
By the way…I couldn’t stomach purchasing the book, but felt it was important for our public library to have a copy so we can understand the roadmap this disgusting administration is following.
Exactly so. The consequences are well understood. Incompetence by design to instill fear in the electorate, and thereby subjugate the people. It is the price of empire. A theocratic empire.
If one takes but a cursory look at 1930's Germany, this regime is a mirror image. In my humble opinion, there is no other description for them. And we need to amplify that fact before the exterminations begin, if they haven't already.
Betsy, I’m convinced that the whole barrel o’ monkeys is the laziest group I’ve ever seen. They don’t bother to learn anything before they face their confirmation hearings and they don’t bother to learn the job once they are “hired.” I guess that could be intentional laziness because it’s harder to decimate the government when you know what it actually does for The People. But laziness it is, and incredibly dangerous for the health and safety of us all.
They should have known that Rubio took the job so he could audition for the big job. He is a ruthless shape shifting lizard - naked ambition is his biggest trait.
Rubio left his credibility at the door when he flipped in favor of $trump - after running vehemently against him.
This young punk knows that $trump can't be president forever. He is currying 47s favor and working the "base" by trying to sound tough on immigrants.
Watch:
"47" will be pulling Rubio's strings even after he has left office.
47 and Rubio - two traitors who should share a cell.
Senato Van Hollen as he smacks down (~ 4 min) Rubio and asks…”Have you no sense of decency?”….You have shown, through your words and your actions what the answer is.”
Hello Lady Emsworth... Stephen Miller is no Baby.... I wonder if he needs anti-Psychotic Drugs... Talk Therapy only works slowly if someone is willing to do the Hard-Work of changing oneself... I suspect that after DJT 2.0, Stephen Miller will slither off into some Dark Reactionary Cave/Swamp...
For four years SM (that's Stephen Miller not to be confused with S&M), has been working in concert with the Project 2025 folks to dismantle and defund the Federal government. He has to be giddy over all of the people that are suffering because of the cruel and hateful actions of the administration.
I have never met Stephen Miller in person. But the evidence revealed in his eyes – even in photographs – is so strong, I have no doubt that he is a psychopath. His speech confirms it. He's escaped consequences because he comes from "a good family." Santa Monica authorities should have been investigating Miller for unsolved cases of animal torture in the 1980s and 90s.
I posted above my opinions that in a different turn of life, he'd have ended up like the Unibomber. I mean the following very seriously: if I was Trump, I would be very wary of him and I wouldn't be alone with him.
The Secretary of Homeland Security does not know what "Habeus Corpus" is.
Think about that.
How incredibly unaware of how the law actually works, it's framework and its history, do you have to be to NOT know that?
And she is IN CHARGE of Homeland Security. She's not sitting at a desk addressing envelopes. She's not making the coffee for her boss. She's not 9 to 5 doing data entry.
She.
Is.
In.
CHARGE!
Well, that must cheer any terrorist up who is planning how to do what next - "Hey, guys! this will be easy! The person in charge is a complete dimwit!"
"Tacticool" is the word I've been looking for! Thank you!
Tacticool, adjective, describes household items encased in black plastic shells having unnecessary lumps, bumps, grooves, latches and buttons. Apparel items are sewn from black or camouflage-printed nylon, with unnecessary pockets, flaps, vents, zippers, snaps and D-rings.
We used to say “Make it black/camo, put Velcro on it, and cops will buy it”
Like the camo 8”x5” holder for those small yellow notepads that I bought when the SWAT team trained at Camp Rilea and we got to go to the PX. TactiCool!!
Yesterday, on our frequent commentor TCinLA's excellent Substack ("That's Another Fine Mess") I said due to the amount of lip filler, false eyelashes, beachy-wave producing hair products, and makeup, they should be referred to as "The Real Housewifes of DC".
TC noted I forgot the hair extensions. Duly noted!
It's clear, watching the performances today of ICE Barbie, Doctor Mengele, Widdle Marco and the Dumb Peckerwood, that Maladministration II's collection of broken toys have decided to use performative mendacity and nastiness to try and dominate the legislative branch and demonstrate their contempt for the rule of law. The fish rots from the head - Rick Wilson is again proven right that Everything Trump Touches, Dies.
TC, I have decided to re-name the women in this maladministration (which is what I too have dubbed them!) Stepford Wives, because the association with Barbie is an insult to Barbie. They are anything but Barbies, which can be astrophysicists, ballet dancers, physicians, etc. and they also come in different colors. These females are automatons, without independent thought, without any ethical or moral center. The BBC Radio 4 comedy program "Dead Ringers" depicts deranged and drug-addled nepotism baby Elon as a malfunctioning robot; I look forward to their presentation of these "women" as something similar.
Is this the point at which you need to hang the sign on the big door that says "back in four years (hopefully). By the way, you're on your own".
From memory the Republican Governors all praised Biden when they needed FEMA, many times throughout his Presidency. They received the help they needed... and expected.
And the fact is….they often were horrible to him, Christie got run out on a rail for giving Obama a “bro” hug.
Democrats weren’t holding A,Eric an citizens hostage even when they had to deal with vile actors. Maybe he wasn’t charged, but under CHRISTIE, his administration shut down a bridge to make a political opponent (a Democrat) suffer and someone DIED.
These people do not care about America. They care about making people they don’t like or don’t think are human suffer so they can feel powerful.
And then they LIE….
Demcirats need to constantly hammer home in anecdotal terms stories about what is being lost. Kids in Milwaukee, ALS research. Every just loved the ice bucket challenge and inspriration from sports figures, right? Most people had no clue what Harvard actually did. It wasn’t just little classroom gabfests where rich kids yak about how dumb Appalachia is. It’s research for YOUR disease. It’s Mass General, Dana Fabre, Childrens that share that information and their trained doctors with hospitals all over the country. That life saving technique that saved your 17 year old after a car wreck in Missouri probably trickled out of the teaching at Haravard and it’s teaching hospitals. The family who now has to welcome back grandpa or grandma into the home where they don’t have the ability to care for them because of cuts to Medicaid and !edicare. You think the middle class is stressed now…wait til they lose their job to a robot and there’s three generations, possibly four, living under one roof. But the Trumps made 3 billion in 100 days. I guess that’s why they don’t think it will hurt too bad when everything gets more expensive
Thank you for your work. Its truly exquisite. I have a question that I ask daily. When is the media going to start covering this as it truly is... a hostile coup from a foreign adversary. This entire "thing" is constantly being covered like a "baffling case of bad / horrific governing." Most speculate for more money, power, personal gain etc. But no one in their right mind would vote against their OWN safety in the air, poison food, poison water, poison air, the devaluing of the dollar etc. Especially when the bullseye is circling the drain of their own political positions / appointments. If we put on the TRUTH COLORED GLASSES and revisited every single crazy action, every unqualified appointment, every horrifying gaslighting response and see it as a part of a massive crime of treason by traitors who have a completely different boss than the US constitution, one who is based overseas... along with a criminal enforcer who has companies that control space, the whole thing makes sense and can then be dealt with as treason and crime which opens a whole different war chest of tools to take it down WHY do we have to go around and around trying to point fingers at bad governing? ITs time.
Just like Jake Tapper they will wait until they can publish a book and get rich and famous. All those anonymous sources he claims came forward after to tell the “truth” because Trump would have been worse than even a mentally incompetent Biden. All of this is based on one bad debate and one extremely stressful interview by Hur. Every good speech, successful meeting and great protections Biden ever did are ignored. Come on, they’re even making up conspiracies about the prostate cancer when the fact is his last test was in 2014 and then stopped when he turned 70. Just like every other man in this country. These are the same people that believe Trumps medical reports when we can see they’re a lie with our own eyes. Wait until we see the books about that, but not until he’s dead.
Jake Tapper is a hack and so is CNN. I think that is well timed propaganda planned for the first 200 days as deflection. The rest of it is much bigger. My gut is that the Supreme Court is waiting for the case to come to their desk demanding his immunity to be overturned and they will do it. An unprecedented set of actions need to be taken now.
Except, to make the U.S. much more crippled than Putin's murderous, lawless Russia, the fat, fat, waddling fat orange felon went out of his way to select incompetents for office. Heather's today just scratches the surface of their cynical attitudes, their bumpkin clunker clunkiness.
And I also don't think they're just in it for robbing the U.S. treasury and other forms of graft. Rather, it's the messianism of joining in their cult hero's vicious scenario -- same as dictators everywhere -- for seeing everyone not in the in-group (here, white supremacists) as "they're eating the dogs and cats" drama histrionics.
Like Putin, like Orban, like Mohammed bin Salman, like Netanyahu -- like them all -- the U.S. criminal-in-chief preens himself on the extents he can hold himself above the law, above decency -- and his followers all just eat it up. Even as their living standards, too, stand poised to sink due to the massive stupidity coincident with sycophancy and cynicism.
Can Dems up their game? Can ours such as Heather keep energy up to meet the cold-blooded menace as all their intransigence just morphs crueler and crueler, worse and worse?
They’ve succeeding in making people exhausted and depressed. A headline yesterday said that the goal of DOGE was to terrify the civil service work force, and that had succeeded. Who really thought it was about efficiency and fraud prevention. Just more thinly-veiled robbery - of our personal information for future use.
Yes Phil, chump went out of his way to select incompetents for office. What better way to obey Vlad, get revenge, and own the libs. Yep, the “ins” are a relatively small group, but like ravenous dogs, on the hunt. (Apologies to all canines.). The “outs” are all of us who will now have our noses pressed to the glass. Looking for some cake to eat,
But remember, the goal of the far right foundations since the Powell memo was to rid schools (and, thus, media) of humanities.
It worked. Those foundation succeeded in voiding humanities in education. So America now has tens of millions who cannot imagine others as decent individuals. These tens of millions are all ripe for the most vicious stereotyping, which they got by the sewer-full.
And now, all live in those sewers, schools all having been master-minded to their lowering.
Welll I still though exhausted and depressed I still think on the college students in the height of the protest time felt exactly the same way. So one needs to think long abd short abd also move those toddlers out of the store or playground. It still can be done. June 14 I still have hope maybe of a massive movement which would be a good parenting action and activities all at once.
I think the goal was to get into the secure computer systems and make a back door so they can control everything. He’s got all his ducks in a row and all the contracts coming together so he can claim he’s stepping back now when really he’s setting us up for destruction.
We are all the way through the looking glass -- in a bad way. For Kristi Noem to have an ass-backwards definition of habeas corpus should have been enough to get her fired on the spot. They all continue to say 'I don't know about X' -- well, why not and who does know about X? They have no concept of what their agencies are supposed to do and who has been fired and what programs have been cut. My husband has ALS -- the fact that this research has been cut is gutting.
It's true they - the figurehead Cabinet secretaries- don't know. Who does know is DOGE, who are running everything, "embedded" in every agency, now. Musk may not be in the rooms now, but his boys are. Burgum at Interior is the only one who has said it in so many words.
Our Secretary of Homeland Security doesn't know the meaning of Habeas Corpus, a piece of knowledge that should be required to graduate high school, One has to shudder about what else she does not comprehend. Even more frightening is how willful she is in her ignorance. She believes that far more important than her misunderstanding of the bedrock of Western legal system (and by extension much of Western civilization itself), is her effort to spin the question to advocate for autocracy.
Each day, I think it is impossible to be less proud of my government, and every day, mty regard for my own government sinks deeper in the mud. At the same time, I am proud of those members of Congress who continue to oppose this nest of vile parasites who have gotten hold of the government of the country I love. And I am very grateful to you, Heather, for giving us this lifeline of daily accurate, documented information. I know it isn't easy.
This is amazing work Professor. I wish this entire newsletter would be published in every national and local print and online newspaper. I wish this detail would be talked about through every podcast, news show and late night shows. I wish this newsletter would show up in every SCOTUS mailbox and every Federal employee- elected and appointed. This recounting of a week in Congress- every detail here, needs to be broadcast to the world! The proof is in front of us each that every Trump Adminstration officials lie without pause. Nothing but public outrage from every corner of this land will stop this catastrophe.
Once the Trump cancer is finally excised from America and the world, I wonder how Historians will be able to distill his gigantic avalanche of guano into a single coherent book or even a trilogy? Something equivalent to Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire might be the minimal summation of this terrible debacle!
I am in utter shock at the inadequacy of this administration to even know the law never mind follow it, but their dismantling of so many of our agencies and utter disregard for the law is intact. The lies and disregard for our citizens wellbeing is astounding. Pushback, resist, do not be quiet. Professor, thank you . Your love for our country and your willingness to keep us informed gives us the confidence to continue with the fight for our Democracy.
We must resist. We must fight back. I will not be silent while my country and it's values are shredded into oblivion. We must stand up and speak up.
Are we witnessing cult fanaticism? Every time one of these cabinet members appears in public they know trump is listening and watching, therefore they MUST express the extreme views which he promotes and believes in. Cult behavior is always about mind control and conformity accompanied by extreme outcomes.....
It's always a pirouette done for the entertainment of a single customer, isn't it? They are ALWAYS dancing for Trump, no matter the question, the situation. I don't know how people can just clap their ears and eyes and go LALALALALA like that, but it's clear they do. And they infect those around them who might speak.
Rubio is the worst because he so obviously knows better. The others belong in cult or slasher movies as one-dimensional characters out of Central Casting. And while Bessent lies every day he says anything to the press, he has -- at the very least -- stopped a 3-year-old toddler from enacting his idiot 3,785% tariffs against China, or whatever it is --- for now.
It's not just Trump but the club of billionaires that has yearned to covert the US to plutocratic autocracy for many decades. I would argue that the that figures in the roots of the Civil War. It in certainly hiding in plain sight in the present. Not for nothing an exclusive obsession obsession with money and power have long been connected to cruelty and the loss of ones "soul".
I call him Marco Reek, after the Game of Thrones character. Or maybe we should call him Lil' Marco Castrato.
Reeks like the rotten garbage he has become.
Besides cult fanaticism what bogles the mind about the members of this cabinet is the astonishing stupidity they all share....
You are so right! I am amazed by the idiocy shared by cabinet members... and they're not afraid to show their stupidity at every opportunity.
And on top of that not a trace of shame or even embarrassment! Fellow senators publicly denouncing Marco Rubio's 180 into Maga-world and he just stone-faced doubled down. Indigestible....
I will never get over the willingness to appear a complete idiot to play to Trump. Of course, Kennedy is the exception because he is a complete fool. But Noem, Rubio, even Bessent know what they’re saying is a lie and they are not afraid to behave like bullies, completely disrespectful of Congress.
Then there’s Mace. I bet she made this video herself and is using it to lie. I never believed she was previously raped because she has no qualms about supporting rapists. Remember what’s his name in the wheelchair that was drummed out for spilling the beans about sex and drug parties… Mace is never afraid to debase herself for attention.
Is that a serious question? What else other than exactly that have we been seeing since Trump first ran for President? What do you think MAGA is? This question is a little late imo.
From Heather yesterday: "...12 swing-state Republicans who don’t want drastic Medicaid cuts, and 31 hardliners who do. House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can afford to lose only three Republican votes on the measure. Nicole Lafond of Talking Points Memo reported today that Trump will go to Capitol Hill tomorrow to talk Republicans into voting for the measure."
We need to encourage Don Bacon R. NE. and other Republicans who are standing up to Trump and MAGA Mike. He and Reps. David Valadao, R-Calif., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., Rob Bresnahan Jr., R-Pa., Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., Jen Kiggans, R-Va., Young Kim, R-Calif., Robert Wittman, R-Va., Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Jeff Hurd, R-Colo signed a letter:
“Many hospitals — particularly in rural and underserved areas — rely heavily on Medicaid funding, with some receiving over half their revenue from the program alone,” the representatives wrote. “Providers in these areas are especially at risk of closure, with many unable to recover. When hospitals close, it affects all constituents, regardless of healthcare coverage.”
Besides the Medicaid issue, Republican Reps have called out Trump/Musk on national security and tariffs.
On MSNBC Saturday, Velshi asked Bacon about tariffs. He said, in essence, any Reagan Republican would remove Trump tariff authority. To do that, they need all of the House Dems.
Plus Bacon said Trump has a "moral blindscape" re Ukraine. Retired General. Russia is not a superpower. Mexico with nuclear weapons.
Says anyone who served has to oppose Hegseth, SIGNAL.
Says we are better than any other country in agriculture. Says Trump has broken free trade. In essence, we are losing the trade war
This is helpful. One way Dems can fight back is to have good information and use it to their advantage, as they did in the hearings. I am not a constituent of any of the states mentioned, but I have friends who are. And what Don Bacon and others vote on affects us all. Perhaps there is a tipping point and maybe it is rural hospitals. So be it.
Penny, I have written about this in the past, so apologies to any who've already heard.
I spent my career in urban major medical centers as a medical techologist in the laboratory. The stories I could tell!! (But, HIPPA). Anyhow, for me, the most stressful assignment was working the Coagulation bench.
Our medical center was so huge, we had multiple ICU units. Nearly every ICU patient was on heparin, and their dose was dependent upon their PTT test results. It was absolutely critical to get these results to the RNs, and if one of our two top of the line analyzers was non-functional, it got hairy. What compounded that, was if a stroke victim was delivered to the ER.
The blood for that patient would be drawn IN THE AMBULANCE. One of the ER staff literally trotted down the hall to the lab and handed the tube off to a tech, who had to stop loading any more bloods into the analyzer while this tube spun for 6 minutes. Then it was loaded onto the machine to get the patient's baseline PT result before the docs could administer clot busting drugs and save brain. There was no way to hurry this: the centrifuge spun the blood into layers so the machine could sample the plasma above the cells, but the top layer of cells was the thin layer of platelets. This layer couldn't be disturbed or it would rended false results. Trust me, you lifted those tubes out carefully, as if you accidentally shook them, you had to recentrifuge.
Results were called directly to the doc, and were timed. We were to deliver the results within 30 minutes of it being DRAWN from the patient, as the doc had only 60 minutes from time of draw to administer the drugs.
THIS is why I will never live more than 30 minutes from a major medical center. I've seen strokes in too many friends and family. Some people quickly recover, others will spend years laying in a medical bed.
How can rural hospitals save people? They are already at a disadvantage by virtue of distance from their patients. A rural 20 bed hospital isn't going to have a neurosurgeon on staff. (Our med center had a heliport and it was used all the time.)
So, now the patient might have over 100 miles to the nearest hospital, which then will be understaffed (there is a doc and RN shortage--and an even WORSE shortage of trained and certified lab techs!) These victims are unlikely to retain as much brain function as they could, so now what happens?
Did those rural nursing homes stay open? Are they staffed appropriately? Who is caring for those patients--as at least in the nursing homes I am familiar with, quite a few immigrants provide care? I knew we needed to check in on my mother in law frequently and on an irregular pattern. (Stories there, too.)
When I call these Congressmen, I point blank tell them that THIS BILL WILL KILL THEIR CONSTITUENTS. I think so little of Steven Miller, I could imagine him thinking "so what?" as it will lower the number of Medicaid, Medicare and SS recipients. That sounds so harsh and heartless, doesn't it? But pretty believable, too, right?
Medical staff is so short now we never see that kind of care. Of course the wealthy have their own private wing in hospitals that I’m sure have staff that does nothing until their private patient arrives.
These days the ER will leave you sit even with chest pains. Many of the people in the waiting room wouldn’t be there if they could get into their doctors office. I had a doctor send me to the ER for an MRI in the middle of the day because she said it was life or death. But the ER didn’t know anything about it, no notes from the doctor and 4 hours later I was finally seen and nothing was done. I quit seeing that doctor.
sharon, I see you were an oncology nurse. KUDOS to you! I respect all nurse, but I have a fondness for oncology nurses. If I called you with an absolute neutrophil count of <0.5, r other critical lab result, you'd know exactly what I was talking about.
Miselle, thank you for this detailed post from the ground in real situations. Our one R representative (a wealthy twit) has eastern and southern Oregon as his district. This is the most rural part of the state. Yet he still defends what death star is doing. A lot of his constituents are pretty unhappy with him as they are starting to suffer. He comes from a wealthy family near Salem and has that hubris that many with money develop. They are in their bubble and nobody can break it down.
Why does this remind me of Lakers sportscaster Chick Hearn back in 2002. I think it might have been the case that he would have had a better chance of surviving the head injury he suffered in a fall, if they had been able to get him to a hospital sooner if memory is correct. See https://www.deseret.com/2002/8/4/19669928/hearn-critically-injured-in-fall/
That's the closest I can find to what a former EMT who lived in the area described, I think mentioning that some hospital closures around there had increased the time it took to get him the more immediate care he needed. At least it seemed to raise concerns that care could be delayed even in areas that seemed to have some of the best coverage anywhere.
The data on TAT (turn around time) was monitored and posted in our lab. Any outliers were investigated. We were always told "time=brain"
People represented by the above mentioned R's need to know this information, and encourage their Reps to stand in support of them against the damage that will be inflicted by the administration. They need to assure them they will support them if they do the right thing and vote against that bill. In the face of the threats the administration hands out, the Reps need to know the public stands with them if they work for the needs of the public and not the wealthy few.
Good point.
Most likely the Senate will either kill or vastly change this bill but it is importantly to get people on the record for voting to screw the everyday American for the benefit of billionaires and multi national companies.
Oh, news today Europe thinks they will be pulling back investments and looking elsewhere. Pertly because of our divided politics and idiocy on tariffs but mostly because they don’t want to invest in a place that is being so mismanaged.
We need to think of this as a simple investement in tangy company. If Bezos was purposefully talking his successful business model and taking money from mobsters, investing in monopoly coins, would you?
Even though it’s a usual lie from Trump….the fact he says casually that his plan to start the Holden dome that will cost 5 times as much as he says, most going to Musk, because SAUDI ARABIA is giving us 5 trillion dollars?
So American should rest easy that SAUDI ARABIA owns our Holden Dome defense as well as the water rights that literally grow a huge amount of our economy?
Ladies, you think having forced birth is bad, wait until you’re in a burka without a car and becoming a property of a man…like a horse or a goat.
Europeans ready for war...https://globalpost.com/stories/the-prep-europeans-feeling-abandoned-get-ready-for-war/?lh_aid=35942&lh_cid=3eocl4r6t4&lh_em=apaalj%40gmail.com&di=7fe269a3ca5d18c19ba1b5dd4a74c728
FWIW, I downloaded the Swedish Emergency booklet in English. It's quite useful even in the US. I can only wish that we were that prepared.
My granddaughter takes with kids from European countries. WE were shocked when she said the other kids were talking about pamphlets they were given, preparing for war.
Yikes
Marcus, I can’t understand why any self respecting women would vote for any republican for exactly that reason. Many things can happen in a pregnancy. Some women require a D&C after a miscarriage. For example, a friends baby died in the ninth month of what appeared to be a normal pregnancy. She had been to the doctor that day and all was well. The cord separated later that day and she went to the ER, because she didn’t feel well. The baby was gone and she almost died. They induced labor to deliver the dead baby boy and save her life. What would the doctors be allowed to do today? We have lost the right to make a choice about our body and so have our doctors. They are beginning to assault certain types of birth control, next will come voting rights. Sorry, I remember growing up in the early 1950’s and graduated from high school in 1963. Things weren’t so great back then ladies. Sex before marriage, you were considered a “tramp”. No credit cards or bank accounts in your name, without a husband or father’s signature. My girlfriend was a teacher, she had just begun her career, keep in mind that she was a college graduate. She needed her father’s signature to by a modest car. She was not married.
I fear for my granddaughters. The oldest is in a STEM program and a straight A student. She has a math tutor, because she has completed the math at her grade level. She told me she is going to finish college and move to Europe. This young women is only 17 and sees where this country is headed. My God help us, wake up America!
Thanks,Daniel. Also news yesterday that cuts in Medicaid will trigger related cuts to Medicare.
https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/top-house-dem-cbo-says-trump-budget-bill-contains-500b-in-medicare-cuts-240005701759
A Cut to Medicaid is a Cut to Medicare
https://justiceinaging.org/a-cut-to-medicaid-is-a-cut-to-medicare-fact-sheet/
📲📲📲 your legislators !!
https://5calls.org/
I hope the Democrats are already choosing candidates in those districts and running ads so everyone there is aware of the impact of those votes.
It’s not just the incompetence, it’s the depth of the corruption and the total lack of concern about how many people will suffer and die.
Old, right now the only political ad we are seeing on TV, twice during the local news, is one hailing all the wonderful things death star is doing in contrast to what D have done. It is financed by a dark money group.
I am seeing them when Jeopardy is on which is watched by many people. It's disgusting to see when I'm watching a show that has smart people on and engages me for awhile from all the bad news then to have it polluted by an ad touting all the so called "good" tRump is doing! Is there no refuge from this cult of madness?!! Watching Jeopardy to keep my sanity is being poisoned like everything in our country.
All for naught if Trump suspends elections.
Elections are run by the states, so he can’t suspend them. If he calls some kind of false emergency then there will be a strong reaction that either end in his impeachment or be the end of the UNITED States.
The House dominated by Republicans will not impeach him or even consider it.
Correct, but then what will the States do. The Democratic Governors must insist that the Elections be held in their States and take any action necessary to ensure that.
Has he brought this upnad a possibility?
I believe that Trump will try to cancel the mid-terms. If not and the Dems win a Majority he and the Republicans will refuse to accept the results. At a forum of Gubernatorial candidates in the NJ Democratic Primary I asked what they would do to ensure that the Election went forward as scheduled and I didn't get an actual answer from any of them. They all just talked in general about fighting Trump
Unfortunately, in the end, these guys fall in line.
So what's Bacon going to do about it?
Thank you for the information!
It's getting close to time for armed insurrection. They just don't listen.
The fight is real, and it is imperative we avoid violence. The present regime is looking for an excuse to declare a national emergency and send the military onto our streets. Elections would be cancelled, and there is no return from that for generations. Now is the time to get people to be active participants in preventing the worse from this regime, and then vote them out in droves in 2026.
Protect our free and fair elections now.
Good point. I'm taking Zoom classes on nonviolent resistance through Pace Bene in Corvallis, Oregon. It's helping keep me sane and focused.
Thanks for the tip on Pace e Bene. Just signed up for their newsletter.
Great! I think you’ll like it😊👍
Absolutely correct, celeste.
They shouldn’t even be talking to them except in this format to get it on the record. The Dems need to take the fight to the people, ala Sanders and AOC.
MAGA will go down the toilet if they think they got the libs to be angry. MAGA is not a rational movement. It’s completely irrational. All emotion, no thought.
The only way out of this is to make it clear to the people who voted against this that the fight will be daily and get through to those who stayed home or did a protest vote that they made a huge mistake and will be forgiven if they fight FOR democracy, not against it or maybe they give up and that’s fine. And then the speech needs to be clear and truthful to those who were not thrilled to vote for MAGA but did.
We’re in an abusive relationship that we need to open our eyes to see we are not loved by MAGA. We are distain Ed by them and the more power they are allowed to accumulate, the more pain they will inflict because they enjoy it.
The only folks who actually benefit from the Big Beautiful Bill are the top tenth of the top 1% of weathy Americans.
Should document it...broadcast it on MAGA media.
I'm calling it the Billionaires' Boondoggle bill.
I am concerned that armed insurrection will not go well for us.
We are fighting back. My civil service colleagues and I are gathering evidence of the muskrat’s many crimes. I write a poem inspired by Heather and this community: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/heather-cox-richardson-letters-history-democracy?utm_source=publication-search
I read that poem when you first posted it; it rings true still!
Thanks for staying in and fighting from within.
Yes! He reminds me of Nero, fiddling with his fortune while the world goes up in flames.
I believe Nero wasn't actually in Rome when it burned.
Thank you!!
June 16th! Protests in 50 states, more than 650 events as of 10 days ago.
How have the three demons of vanity, selfishness and ambition joined hands to create these people? Who in their daily thoughts plan out their treacherous deeds. Who enjoy no thought higher than a selfish enjoyment of and a virulent hatred for the country and its citizens. Whose thoughts and actions have given way to a torrent of despicable impulses. What life experiences have brought them to this day? Will there come a day when they realize a life of serious work and application of usefulness to their fellow Americans? Or will WE have to battle earnestly and unflinchingly every day of our existence?
These are good questions, Stephanie. I think that it boils down to a simple desire to belong, and to be powerful. In their sick minds, this is the route for them. Hurt rather than help. Squash rather than support. Hate rather than heal.
n.) Rake in as much cash personally before the whole scheme implodes.
Let’s not forget reason n.
Don’t underestimate the power of racism.
My sister-in-law relates the following story: She lives in Virginia and attends her local university's basketball games. The team consistently lost when it had all white players. After they recruited black student athletes, they began winning and being fun to watch . Attendance at the games soared. For me, this illustrates why white men are frightened of blacks and need to defend white supremacy.
My SIL and her husband are very conservative R's (but not MAGA). I'm not sure if they see the lesson here, however she is beginning to be unhappy with tRump.
Yes. Let’s never ever do that. It lurks. Sometimes in the most unexpected places. Like a shadow that needs no sun.
Agreed. But what event or experience or influence in their backgrounds led them here, to this, at this time? Power only, monetary gain only?? What???
Excellent questions!
It makes them feel manly, I suppose. Including the R. women in Congress!
They have become extensions of their leader who is driven by greed, grievance, and hate. The concept of public service for the common good has been abolished.
Exceptionally succinct list Larry; Three of the horsemen identified. A major corrosive affect named. Nice focus; Bravo
After hearing Kristi Noem's response when asked to define "habeus corpus," I'm convinced she thinks it's a term coined in a Harry Potter novel.
That is an excellent line! I hope our own TCinLA, or Jeff Tiedrich uses it!
Thanks, Miselle. They're welcome to it. Sadly, it seems all of the powers that be strongly believe in magical thinking.
The Harry Potter novels were much better than that! Even the fake Latin she used for spells were at least related to what they were supposed to do. Noem obviously has no education.
"Habeus Corpus!" and with a flick of his magic wand, Trump commands "I banish you!".
I’m on it. Already writing a song about it. The title, “I’m Gettin’ the F Outta Here.”
Seriously, I knew this would happen. It happened the first go round. Wadda expect. But now the 10th power.
Are the Kitty! Kitties! well? Still indignantly insistant at breakfast time?
Kudos again for HCR❤️
"Administration officials today (seemed to) illustrate their utter disregard for the work their jobs require and their refusal to govern for Americans. Instead, they (seem to) see their offices as ways to get access to large amounts of money and power they can use to impose their will on the country." Professor ends her letter with this paragraph, summarizing the state of Trump administration. American citizens need to find a way to save themselves. What can they do? AOC and Sanders town halls go only so far. Court orders are disregarded, and the congress is silent.
I am all for resistance, if I get off my gravitational hiney. We need push beyond shock, however, to define a positive end we all seek together. We do not need specifics and we need to be wide open to help from whatever source we can. Inasmuch as she was a Baptist and her husband a Jew, Vice President Harris embodied this diversity with grace and humor. 🙂
https://nedmcdletters.blogspot.com/2014/05/letter-98-just-what-is-human-dignity.html (more conservative then; not a Xian.) ✍️
This remarkable snip-it from Pope Leo XIV is important, not because he is an R.C.; not because he floats in the flashy nebula of being 'of faith'; not because he is in a position of authority; not because he is educated; but, because what he states here is true or, at least, it ought to be. That expression of affectionate humility ought properly to be our end as a society. 💡
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264191/full-text-pope-leo-xivs-homily-at-inaugural-mass-beginning-his-petrine-ministry (The text of the Pope's inaugural homily.) 😇
In the comment below, I present some snip-its of the opening homily of Leo XlV; with religious terms removed as much as possible so the reader can remember, and focus on, the wisdom Vice President Harris brought to us with her joy. 🥳
EXCERPT FROM POPE LEO XIV's OPENING HOMILY
-----
"I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant . . . walking with you on the path . . . [as one] . . . united in one family." (Reminds me of President Truman asking for prayers when he found of President F.D.R. had died and Vice President Truman ow ascended to the presidency.) 😱
"Peter is thus entrusted with the task of 'loving more' and giving his . . . self-sacrificing love . . . [that] . . . presides in charity . . . It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda, or by means of power. 🛑
". . . . Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him (cf. 1 Pt 5:3). On the contrary, he is called to serve . . . his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them . . . in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity. 🙏🏾
"In this, our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy . . . [to] . . . all women and men of goodwill . . . build a new world where peace reigns!" 🤝🏻
"This is the . . . spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer . . . love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.
"Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! ❤️
"Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk toward . . . [Justice] . . . and love one another." ⚖️
Yes, yes, YES!🙌🏻 🙌🏻🙌🏻💙👏👏👏
"I am in utter shock at the inadequacy of this administration"
When does the shock wear off ? I feel like I've stuck my finger in a light socket.
You know what used to “ shock” me but now just angers me and disgusts me? That these goddamn imbeciles are getting away with this and the “ good guys and gals” are so incredibly inadequate and helpless in ensuring that the guardrails hold. Liberty and Justice for all? My eye. I wonder how many everyday Americans are sitting in prison or are on probation or parole for petty infractions. Oh wait a good start are those immigrants sent to a foreign country profit prison in some totalitarian country
It would be a good thing to remember, most Americans today 1) don't care or trust anything coming out of Washington, DC... and 2) so many Americans can not see/understand/know/care about anything #47 says or does only what he blathers on about, not with any clarity or benefit for anyone but himself. Folks, it has been said and it is very true, the US of A is in danger of becoming, or already is, a third-world country. Thank you, failed president donny j. frump.
And it obviously going
to be our job to impeach all the people who vowed loyalty to our Constitution. These blatant liars embarrass this country around the world.
Aren’t you embarrassed at our casual acceptance of this idiot state? trump is a sick creep. But the real criminal is sitting on piles of money Americans gave him. The Heritage (so called )foundation is a treasonous group of money maniacs. Jesus , please open the eyes of those who pretend to follow your goodness.
America, being “just rich” is the last choice of any good person. It means nothing. What one does after making money( either legally or criminally like this maggot group) is what builds character. Being rich means shit if shit is who you are.
Building character :number one: you believe in truth. Lying is a sin.
Two: trump dump is not the “most powerful man on earth. He is a turd. Turds go back into the earth being just that, a turd.
"Kristi Noem simply talked over" "RFK Jr. continued to talk over"
This is the GOP/MAGA "strategy" - anyone who says anything you don't like, or don't want to answer - talk over them. No questions answered, no discussions or debate - jut yap, yap ,yap getting louder and louder.
We are being governed by a bunch of screaming toddlers.
Trump and his cabal of fools all wishing to crown Trump king, deny all allegations against them and their departments. They should all be impeached by the House and the Senate or forced to resign. It's not like the next batch of Trump nominee's could do a worse job than these fools.
People are literally dying of starvation and lack of medical attention but there isn't a single Republican that gives a damn.
This is exactly right. These cabinet secretaries are profoundly unqualified, inept, ignorant, and dangerous. What is the procedure to impeach or recall them? Is it too much to ask our senators and representatives to do their jobs and act on our behalf, and replace them immediately? And while they are at it, take back their authority which includes the power to impose and withdraw tariffs.
It is apparently the only job of congress to get reelected; the actual business of governance is secondary. For the life of me, I do not know why the fear of being primaried by ffpotus and his henchmen is enough to trade in your ethics card for a "go along and get reelected" card, when it means selling your soul.
I think they have sold their souls. There's something very Zombie-like in their behavior..
Dear Ally - the real fear of not being reelected is the fear of losing out on lucrative deals. Graft and corruption isn't only at the executive level it trickles down.
The worst thing is the Congress and Senate are just using words and with a toddler that never works well. I have been writing and callingmy representatives to do action. One cannot not show up, one can refuse to ask any questions. This is just a series of breads and circuses without any real change to the status quo. Who pays the salaries? What if the Treasury Department was frozen? Money talks. Or if even if C Span walked away for 48 hours of nothing blank screen no zero zip coverage? The new documentary on Gallaudet College students stopping a new president and got their non hearing president instead is inspiring and gives a very exhausted and depressed citizen a bit of hope.
I have to say, the present mob do NEED to be treated like toddlers. The Democrat/Indie opposition need to get some advice from child care experts. I don't mean that Kristi Noem should be literally sat on the Congress "Naughty Seat" - but what works on a toddler DOES also work on "adults" - if adjusted slightly for the adult mindset. We need some strategy to get them to STFU and actually ANSWER some questions.
Unfortunately, I think the main reasons they don't answer are either a) They don't know or b) the realise what complete swine they would appear if they actually said it out loud.
They know that Trump (Dear Leader) would be watching, and they do not want to lose favor. The number one rule is never to admit any wrong. They have sold their souls to Trump, and they do it proudly.
Lady Emsworth, you are so right on this one; we do need some child psych experts to help us. We also need more media to stand up and put out regularly the stupid and distracting things said by the people our Senate has put into office so people will understand why FEMA, for example has not helped after storms, floods, and other disasters. Red states Missouri and Kentucky are learning just how nasty this administration is and how they care for no one but themselves. I am betting all of FEMA's resources will be put into play if Mar a Lago is threatened by a hurricane or some other jerk's property is under threat. Why are we tolerating this insanity?
Both your (a) and (b) are true. Astute observations!
Another thought. People who know toddlers! Rev, William Barber and the Poor People’s Campsign and his Repairers of the Breach. ADAPT old organization they fought for the AFA they are there as well. So at least two groups with real action. If we could support abd the legislators also support. Senator Duckworth should do abreast a photo op with ADAPT folks. There are ways abd there are ways to handle toddlerhood. All the groups NASW, APA both groups AMA abd Dr Bandy X Lee is also trying though APA threw her out. Her group if nothing else because of their elder status know about trauma and toddlerhood.
There are other groups mentioned here and other places. One person has
created the call list. We need a telephone tree of groups that are active and connections that run through . Also highlighting all the people who are trying to help in their own way. A list of heroes from not only our country but all over the globe.
A name and also a group. I did my shout out who are the others for tomorrow and ongoing?
Except in both cases the more RFK and Noem talked the bigger the hole they kept digging for themselves.
And they don’t care. They don’t even flinch.
They certainly don't care but if you watch the videos of RFK in committee he's definitely squirming under interrogation.
Russell, you are right, but it will continue because there are no consequences for them, only for the people who need the services ?RFK,Jr. and Noem don't want to or are too ignorant to provide.
I agree Ruth but public denunciations are nevertheless important. Trump succeeds by endlessly repeating his lies. I like the late night shows' satirical coverage of the administration's bumbling management of the nation's affairs but relentless indignation and clear messaging is more likely to work as a form of resistance in the public sphere. Trump's agenda has already been substantially held up in the courts and soon people will begin to notice the harmful effects of his policies in their own lives. I think the business with the Qatari plane has finaly galvanised the Democratic party.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/19/trump-qatar-jet-gift-congress-block-00357593
I like Jon Stewart's approach - he starts off by giving you something to laugh at - but always ends with a knife thrust to the heart of the matter. The main problem is that whatever Democrats may say, and however many of them say it - the media don't report.
In Nazi Germany Hitler's gang had the edge because they just went in and destroyed presses. Thank God that (so far) they haven't worked out a way to take down anti-trump SM.
Democrats should do commercials using the Jon Stewart approach. Show how they lack empathy & their lack of knowledge on the departments they are supposedly running.
If Trump can do a commercial on his "Big Beautiful Bill" - Democrats should do rebuttal commercials.
And billboards. The very few that have been erected in Red states have been very successful in raising questions from people who never get the chance to see the truth.
Cyndy, and it is pretty sure the Democrats will present the ruth. The ads Toddler-Trump and his playground have put out are lies from beginning to end. They make all kinds of claims about how great things are under Trump and imply that it is because of Trump. It's amazing that so many media are willing to play such blatant lies. It would be great if there could be a disclaimer somewhere in the ad, just a flash that says, "this is all a lie, of course."
Which is why Democrats need to be on the ball - and experts in parsing. Once the idiots have finished their half hour of gibber, the questioner should be able to respond "You have literally just said (and break it down into two sentences max)"
Perfect, Lady Elmworth!! And I was thinking of Rick Sender, our fellow Commenteer on this Substack believes in “facts and logic” and abhors “feelings and hate.” Facts and Logic are also FUN!! (And refreshing, especially in Washington, DC.) FUN = (in this case) F-ing Unbelievably Nuts.
Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) might have illustrated Habeas Corpus to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem by saying, “Well, for example, if someone comes and, oh, let’s say, shoots your dog in the face, you have every right to say, ‘Habeas Corpus - show me my poor puppy’s body,’ right, Dear? That must have been soooo sad….Oh, wait….YOU made a corpse of your puppy dog!!! Or, was that bullet just an ‘administrative error,’ huh?”
And when Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was unaware of cuts to ALS research,” Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) responded with, “I just read them to you!” But, Kennedy then repeated that he didn’t “know about them until you told…me about them at this moment.”
Senator Durbin should then have replied, “Well, sir, perhaps you should come to my office every day so I can keep you informed about your responsibilities. It will be FUN! I’ll serve bear ribs, compliments of my Chicago Bears!! See ya tomorrow!”
Adding to that FUN would have been Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) saying, “Hey, Senator Durbin, can I meet with you guys, too? I can bring some brewskis, compliments of my Milwaukee Brewers??? Brewskis go good with bear ribs!! It’ll be FUN!”
And on and on it goes! MAGA - Money Always Great, Amen!! Money is FUN, too!!
Surely the correct reply to "I was unaware of cuts" is Well, isn't that the definition of your job? Haven't you been given the power of your position to BE aware?"
NAILED it, Lady E!
Hey Pancake Paradise, I like your idea. Maybe what Democrats need to employ is someone who is really good at coming up with appropriate comments and questions that would work with the various lying fools in the Toddler-Trump playground. Make those comments as simple, straightforward and repeatable as possible. Since Toddler-Trump and his cronies in the playground have rehearsed a lot of what is said, Democrats should be playing the same game in the same field. There is no high ground beyond the truth in this game. The MAGA liars have the advantage of money, but the Democrats who choose to use it have the truth at all levels in all areas of life, and should choose to use it and demand truth of those representing us and holding positions of significance in our government.
You hit the nail right on the head, Ruth! TRUTH is the name of the game!! Of course, Trump owns the Truth, doesn’t he? I mean Truth Social! Hey, maybe that a good place to start! Hit UNTruth Social with the Truth. And PRACTICE!! Yup, the Trump folks are well-practiced and really start stumbling when they are facing Truth as well as Competence.
It is really swell of Rick Sender to support HCR’s Substack.
Sorry to say, I blocked him. He was SO boring. And totally unwilling to discuss. He's a terrible sufferer from the "Yap,yap,yap" syndrome.
Yeah, we know he is a fierce advocate of “facts and logic” and the FACT that Kristi and Bobby, Jr. don’t know the facts that pertain to their jobs must jar Rick’s LOGIC button. He might despise the warm FEELINGS that Sen. Hassan might have displayed for poor, old puppyless Kristi or that Sens. Durbin and Baldwin might have displayed for old Bobby, Jr. inviting him to daily beer and bear briefing sessions. Oh, well…We can only try to eradicate incompetence. The good and HOPEFUL thing is that Trump knows how to FIRE people!
Many Americans Gone Angry!!
I agree. John Stewart (and John Oliver) both deal with some serious issues and so some seriousm research as well into those issues.
This is why I keep pushing for people to tune into the Substacks and YouTubes of those who are calling out the insanity. Many of them do have MAGA viewers who watch, and I particuarly like when the MAGA comments get read and called out.
Russell, it does't matter the size of the hole if there're no consequences.
This is the crux. The system is so broken that there is absolutely no recourse when a group of creeps has infiltrated the government and is dead set on destroying our lives. The courts may be holding the line but there is no one to actually DO ANYTHING about the regime’s will to flout the law. Who will put them in jail for contempt? No one. Who will stop them? No one. The only way this kind of thing gets stopped is, unfortunately, is a military coup, a civil war or a revolution. The assumption that we will have free and fair mid-terms is questionable.
I have been asking- what are the real-world consequences of government officials being held in contempt? So far, no answers.
unfortunately Jane I have to agree with your comment not because I think a military coup it's a good thing but because I don't think any other way would render results. It's a question to determine which situation is worse.
There are always consequences, Ricardo.
Yeah Russell, like trump's and his rioters on January 6th and the administrators implementing his massive corruption suffered after his first term.
I am thinking more of the expiatory victims of Trump's decadence and corruption - Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Allen Weisselberg, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn etc. (the list of Trump roadkill goes on and on). And let's not forget Trump himself - the first president to be impeached twice; the first sitting president to be convicted.
Cohen is now part of the Meidas Network, and also has his own YouTube channel. I am amazed he doesn't have more subscribers! Which pundit knows Trump better than Cohen?!?!
He really nails the Trump motives behind the actions. I know it's difficult to keep up will the many good folks working to save democracy, but Cohen is worthy of the free subscription, and tuning in at least a couple times a week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XNe0XZD2IU
It never dawned on them to put the shovel down.
Trump himself sets the example to his minions for obdurate stupidity. I didn't think that I would see a more cringeworthy Trump press conference with a world leader than that infamous meeting with Ukraine's Zelensky in February - until I watched his press conference today with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. He was accusing Ramaphosa of 'white genocide' with some rubbish he'd pulled off the internet and the personal testimony of a South African golfer (I mean FFS!!).
Stephen Miller is a perfect example of this -- as he ramps up, his speech becomes louder and louder, higher and higher.
"his speech becomes louder and louder, higher and higher."
Probably because the more exited he gets, the tighter his tightie-whities get. . .
Perhaps he is feeling us all metaphorically choking him.
I told my husband yesterday that had Miller's life taken a different turn early on, I could see him in shed writing insane manifestos. He seems very unbalanced to me. If I were Trump, I'd be very wary of him.
Trump admires the insane as long as they show total allegiance. Look at the crazies in his orbit- Miller, Kennedy, Mace, Noem, Cheung (OMG what a psychopath!), etc.. All so cruel. Oh, and JD is quite a mess, as well. A polished little mess.
Lady Emsworth, thank you so much. I have been referring to Toddler-Trump and his toddler pool for quite some time and appreciate that others see it too. They are like the worst parented toddlers always wanting and threatening to do something if the adults or older siblings don't do exactly what they say. We need to also acknowledge that the Republicans in Congress and in many of our state legislatures are also toddlers who want to hurt as many people as they can to prove just how powerful they are and how much they can break the law and get away with it. We all need to be the good, quality parents who say things like "OK, Mr. or Madame Chair, my time stops now until Mr. Kennedy stops talking and addresses my question. I guess we can wait but I demand my time!" If Republicans will have no respect for the law and for proper decorum, Democrats are going to have to step up and cause some good trouble and make it public, keeping their cool, but demanding straight answers and sometimes telling the questioned person that they have just lied to the committee or to Congress, etc. The word "lie" is important and needs to be used when what is said is a lie. People don't think a falsehood is a lie or incorrect or not true. Those sound like just quibbling. A lie is a lie!
Ruth, a lie is intentional. By definition. There are lies that can do more good than harm, but they are few and far between. Such as telling a terrified child that everything will be okay to keep the child quiet if you're both hiding in a closet and assassins are in the house.
But right now Americans need to hear the truth from their elected officials and Senate-confirmed bureaucrats, and yes, the press, too. And the Democrats need to be unrelenting in telling the truth to these GOP monsters and imbeciles, right to their faces, directly to Trump, on camera whenever possible. Piss him off.
And soon, barring a miraculous change of heart by a handful of GOP Senators and Reps, we will need to physically block them from doing their damage. A few million peacefully enraged citizens camping out in every public space in DC might just do the trick, given that all else is failing.
I wish that a there was a way to cut off their microphones while these cabinet morons are spewing their streams of nonsense.
But I can imagine that, were a policy of controlling the mic’s to be implemented, MAGA Congress members would be eager to play tit-for-tat and gleefully silence the microphones of any witnesses presenting valid evidence with which they disagree.
YES!!!!
Thinking about it, toddlers isn't really what they are. Toddlers respond to love and cuddles. This lot are more like nasty spiteful five year olds who have learned all the wrong lessons in life. That suggestion of "We'll wait until you behave" is a good one - though I'm not sure how the Chair would respond. Time the Democrats realised that they need to dig their heels in. It's very exhausting re-training a badly behaved child - I just hope the Dems have the stamina to do it.
"Talkinkg over" may consitute contempt of Congress. However the foxes own the henhouse.
Dems need document any lies.
Ruth Sheets suggestion could work. Time for some "tough love".
Lady M, I agree with all of your comment, but quibble with your assertion that we are being governed by a bunch of screaming toddlers.
Indeed, they are screaming toddlers, but the problem is that they are not governing.
Donald isn't governing. With the intellect of a pre-adolescent, he is playing at being president. He sits behind "the big desk," expatiating imperious pronouncements, mugging for the cameras as he scribbles his unintelligible Sharpie zigzag on meaningless and/or illegal orders bound in fancy folios, riding in "the big airplane," meeting with Very Important People who entertain him with impressive dog-and-pony shows and promise him large amounts of cash.
At his gaudy/tacky golf motel, he regales supplicants with untrue stories of his adventures as they stuff cash under the table in exchange for favors. And when he isn't rage-posting on his phone on his golden toilet, he cheats at golf.
But when it comes to the actual hard work of being president, he isn't doing it. He fobs that off on Stephen Miller and Russell Vought, who are only too happy to use their positions to advance their own shady, inhumane schemes.
All of Donald's cabinet members are Donald's "mini-me's," who, to keep their "very important jobs," must cosplay and bloviate, but do nothing.
Oh, I totally agree - but, right at the moment, they ARE "The Government." The fact that most five year olds have a better grasp on morality and reality doesn't mean they don't have an enormous amount of power - and like toddlers with a flame thrower, they are immensely dangerous.
Dale you are so right about Trump and most of his playground not governing. Leaving Miller and Vought to govern is a terrible mistake because those two guys are just plain evil and they have trained to let their sadism out on anyone they have decided they don't like, and they hardly like anyone as far as I can tell. We need to have folks ask Toddler-Trump how Steve Miller and Sec. Vought are today and if he likes the information they prepared for him today. How many millions of people will what they prepared harm? There is such a distraction now about Biden's "cognitive decline" but none about Trump's, which is far more serious than Biden's is and was. Biden was governing even with his weaknesses; Trump is not, just playing the president on TV and online, of course.
Republicans have without a doubt become the ‘Waste, Fraud and Abuse Are Us’ party. I’ve seen dog turds with more integrity and better manners than this bunch of f*ckwits. I’m not a religious person but the thought of this lot meeting their maker on ‘judgement day’ and being sent ‘express to the basement’, is genuinely satisfying.
Kazz, I agree; the only WFA that I see is coming from their destruction of the country's human infrastructure. I also love "f*ckwits"; it allows me to use a pejorative without demeaning good people whose cognitive and intellectual abilities are below the norm. I have been using a term I took from a spicy RAF pilot who used "f*ckknuckles. She's disappeared from social media, and I suspect she has passed.
Yes Ally, we need to be careful about the words we use, thanks for the reminder. I get so fired up after reading Heather’s letters, I’m reduced to expletives. The term f*ckwits is a great one, but doesn’t come close to describing the character and deeds of these despicable people. Being part of Heather’s LFAA community really helps me keep the faith.
Except these are not toddlers at all. They are, in lockstep, promoting the goals of an authoritarian regime. They are fascists.
The results of appointing only fierce loyalists, lack of expertise a non-issue or perhaps a perk. Although they know 100% that they're wrong, and 100% that they don't have a full grasp on the issues, they are willing to wear it--unpleasant and uncomfortable for them, but they won't give in now. They've tipped beyond the point of no return.
Why does the person with the gavel let the 'overtalking' to continue? Is that person just letting a media show go on?
Is anyone in the Cabinet qualified for their appointed positions?
Carol, as you and most of us know, the answer to cabinet members being qualified, none are qualified, which is why they were shoved through with little to no thought by our Senate, mostly Republicans. Trump may have recommended a couple of them, but the Project 2025ers came up with the slate. I am sure Kristi Noem was considered when the 2025ers heard she had killed her dog and thrown her into a quarry. That is the temprerment for Homeland Security, of course. RFK,Jr.'s brain worm made him the perfect nominee for HHS because, well, he knew he had a brain somewhere and it had a worm in it and . . . Then there's Hegseth, he could do crappy interviews for Fox whose only standards involve their "hosts" being ignorant, basically incompetent and somewhat attractive so they could repeat lies and do gaslighting without questioning it. The rest of the team is just like that, each in their own way pathetic and unqualified but worthy of Republican support. Even some Democrats went along with the BS, all of them going for Marco Rubio, for example, with no evidence that he could really fairly represent this nation abroad (he is a white wannabee who despises anyone not white and will buy into the BS of any country that will give him and Baby Donnie some kind of money, promise, or something which Rubio should know is illegal according to our Constitution. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that Rubio doesn't care about our Constitution either. Amazing!
If these "highly paid time servers" have no answer to your pertinent question, let's find a newspaper person to relate this utter waste of Federal time! "The best revenge is always best served cold". I'd interrupt, keep asking the question, never take a chunk of "boilerplate" for an answer!
If only there were the technical expertise to ... cut off the microphone of a non-responsive witness. I bet China could invent that magical technology, even if Congress cannot even imagine it.
When my kids were small, if we were having a round the table about who did what, the person speaking got to hold an old wooden spoon. And an egg timer set for two minutes. High tech stuff!
It is the Gish Gallop.
"The Gish gallop is a debating technique where a person overwhelms their opponent by presenting a rapid series of arguments, often false or misleading, making it difficult for the opponent to respond to each point. This strategy prioritizes the quantity of arguments over their quality, aiming to confuse or mislead the audience."
Every single media outlet should have at least one REAL reporter (not just some talking head) specifically assigned to covering - and reporting upon - every word that Heather publishes. Of course this simply isn't going to happen, but if it did I'm convinced that the swamp, er, excuse me, the cesspool that trump and his goons have built would meet its end in relatively short order. I believe that the greater good in humanity outweighs evil and that this will ultimately turn things around as history once again cyclically repeats itself. I have often thought to myself of - and paraphrased - Michelle Obama's great line, "When they go low.....flush."
The mainstream media outlets are part of the problem. Horrifying how they have bowed the knee in return for profits.
Peter, a REAL reporter would be doing what Heather does. But the real reporters have mostly fled to independent media.
The hacks who've remained with corporate media are doing what their owners want them to do: scribble stories that magnify Trump. Because Trump is the goose that lays the golden eggs of readership and audience share, which transmogrify into revenue. Cash. Moolah. Greenbacks. Simoleons. Shekels. Big bucks.
The corporate overlords are not about – or allow their scribblers – to kill the goose that lays those golden eggs. They're going to ride that goose until he dies of heart failure or Alzheimer's.
Of course you're right, Dale, that REAL reporters would be the sort of hard work Heather's doing. A pox on the MSM bosses who are sucking up to trump. I believe that at some point (soon, one hopes) the tide will turn and start running hard in the other direction....I believe it's a matter of time. In any event, we ALL need to keep doing ALL we can......repeat ALL/ALL.
Some good news was sent to me by a friend this morning.
According to the Intercept:
"Massively good news: The provision that would have let the trump administration strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit organization they wanted simply by declaring them to be a "terrorist supporting organization" has been removed from the budget bill. Pushing back against these people works."
And from Bolts: In Philly,
1) DA Larry Krasner, one of the best-known 'reform DAs' in the nation, has won today's Democratic primary as he runs for reelection.
2) voters have overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to bolster oversight over city jails. There's a human rights crisis in these lockups, and the measure creates a new board with powers to investigate.
I also appreciate that Robert Hubbell pointed out today that you can be active from abroad and not active at home. I am mostly living abroad, although I will be in the US this summer, basically taking care of things for family. I know many people, like me, who have brown skin, or are trans, or LGBTQ+, or are politically active, or have an illness that is no longer treated in the US, or are female of child bearing age, might feel safer doing their activism from outside the US. I wrote this piece in November and it still seems relevant to people who need to plan their red line.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/a-plan-b-for-catastrophe?r=f0qfn
My aunt told me yesterday they don't notice anything going on. She is taking care of her husband who has cancer, and is getting therapy for it, and her grandchildren who just lost their mom, and her son-in-law who almost died and had heart surgery that saved him, but he is not fully fit yet. She also helps out with my mom, her sister, who has dementia, so I can see why unless they lose benefits, like medicare or social security, she is not going to notice what is going on. I am hoping that she does not lose these supports she relies on, or the millions of other people as well.
I am so sorry for your families health battles. The cruel Republicans want to add a work requirement for people receiving Medicaid, plus they are making it next to impossible for disabled people to apply for SS disability benefits because they fired thousands of SSA trained staff.
Their cruelty knows no bounds. And not a single Republican in Congress has mentioned reducing the tax cut extension for the wealthy.
I wrote this piece comparing US health care with German health care.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/copy-us-health-care-is-like-rotten?r=f0qfn
All of my health care coverage problems existed before Trump took office, because somehow the US has not joined the rest of the wealthy countries in ensuring universal health care insurance. Friends who moved to Portugal got their permanent residency cards about 3-4 months after they moved there and they were in the health system right away. She needed immediate coverage because she was pregnant.
My group in Democrats Abroad is working on a website where we are gathering stories of expats in regards to health care and we are going to be sharing it with US politicians on health care committees so that they can compare what is going on here with other countries.
Excellent post Linda. Thanks for the link.
Caregivers are the unsung heroes in the system. The endless doctor visits and the care and attention you give to your family takes a huge toll on your mental and physical well being. And there are tens of millions of you across the country.
So the Republicans answer to this dilemma is to cut Medicaid and to add a work requirement to receive benefits.
Thanks.
So the Republicans continue with their Big Lie that they care about the people they represent, when they absolutely do not! Pretending that they are protecting their constituents from people getting benefits that they do not "earn" as they like to put it, when really they are hurting their constituents that need the money. However, those who need money are not cared about by the Republicans. Thus, the US engaging in shameful health care practices, which will lower the quality of health care for everyone.
I recommend getting out of Red states now, and looking for Blue states that provide health care. This does not talk about the details of the kinds of coverages and health care that are disappearing under Kennedy. Anyway with a health care challenge needs to be looking at what countries they might move to for better medical care and coverage.
Linda, be very careful moving through Customs and Immigration, please. We ALL need you to be safe.
Glad they're at least getting some pushback.
"Some pushback"...in a single day - that was MORE THAN some pushback! And what a circus of misfits and idiots being in over-their-heads from Noem to Kennedy to Long and even Rubio! This has to be - with NO Bout A'doubt It - the dumbest assembly of people in a presidential cabinet in our nation's history...and it's apropos as look at the idiot-in-chief who assembled and who occupies the White House...Really America, what an embarrassment!
And I felt my stomach turn when - I believe - almost each and every Democratic Senator voted in favor of Rubio for Secretary of State!
Hard to know if they're the dumbest, or the most uneducated, or the most willfully ignorant, but whatever the cause, the result is total incompetence. And the result of that is scary--policies enacted with no understanding of the consequences.
Or worse Betsy, with total understanding and support.
I agree, Ellen. Betsy, I believe they know exactly what they are doing…following the script of Project 2025 without any concern for the folks it affects.
This is from the book, Project 2025, Plan for Economic Reform for Trump's Second Administration, by Alarcon.
“While critics argue that Project 2025's approach may not address the immediate needs of those facing poverty, supporters believe that a growing economy filled with opportunity offers the best chance to reduce inequality in a meaningful way. They see Project 2025 as a roadmap to a stronger, more resilient society where individuals have the tools and resources to build wealth and improve their lives.”
The MAGA Repubs have not only consumed the Koolaide, but have swallowed this propaganda hook, line, and sinker😡
By the way…I couldn’t stomach purchasing the book, but felt it was important for our public library to have a copy so we can understand the roadmap this disgusting administration is following.
Exactly so. The consequences are well understood. Incompetence by design to instill fear in the electorate, and thereby subjugate the people. It is the price of empire. A theocratic empire.
They're Nazis. Full stop.
Maybe Daniel, its best to describe them as being or taking to the "dark side"...they root for Darth Vader and those that are evil by nature!
If one takes but a cursory look at 1930's Germany, this regime is a mirror image. In my humble opinion, there is no other description for them. And we need to amplify that fact before the exterminations begin, if they haven't already.
Betsy, I’m convinced that the whole barrel o’ monkeys is the laziest group I’ve ever seen. They don’t bother to learn anything before they face their confirmation hearings and they don’t bother to learn the job once they are “hired.” I guess that could be intentional laziness because it’s harder to decimate the government when you know what it actually does for The People. But laziness it is, and incredibly dangerous for the health and safety of us all.
As one sign at a protest rally I attended said: "This isn't a cabinet, it's a junk drawer."
They should have known that Rubio took the job so he could audition for the big job. He is a ruthless shape shifting lizard - naked ambition is his biggest trait.
Rubio left his credibility at the door when he flipped in favor of $trump - after running vehemently against him.
This young punk knows that $trump can't be president forever. He is currying 47s favor and working the "base" by trying to sound tough on immigrants.
Watch:
"47" will be pulling Rubio's strings even after he has left office.
47 and Rubio - two traitors who should share a cell.
Rubio was considered the “safe”(NOT!) nominee.
Senato Van Hollen as he smacks down (~ 4 min) Rubio and asks…”Have you no sense of decency?”….You have shown, through your words and your actions what the answer is.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNkaDe-_C_E
The answer is NO...Rubio has NO sense of decency! And as for Stephen Miller - well, he's below or worse than Rubio!
Stephen Miller seems to need the most corrective feedback of the lot of them.
I can't imagine how many hours of therapy and education Miller would need to turn him into something approaching a human being.
How about a few years in CECOT along with the rest of the Trump cabinet and advisors?
Hello Lady Emsworth....Seems that you are assuming that Steven Miller is Reform-able...
Well, apart from in films like "Damien", I never met an evil baby - so there's always hope.
Even if not very much. . .
Hello Lady Emsworth... Stephen Miller is no Baby.... I wonder if he needs anti-Psychotic Drugs... Talk Therapy only works slowly if someone is willing to do the Hard-Work of changing oneself... I suspect that after DJT 2.0, Stephen Miller will slither off into some Dark Reactionary Cave/Swamp...
For four years SM (that's Stephen Miller not to be confused with S&M), has been working in concert with the Project 2025 folks to dismantle and defund the Federal government. He has to be giddy over all of the people that are suffering because of the cruel and hateful actions of the administration.
I’m afraid more than he has left in his life, even if he lives to be an old man.
Sorry, I think it's too late...he is past the point of no return.
He is a snake!
I think he’s the Whore of Babylon. Theoretically a woman, but his level of sheer evil qualifies him, it seems to me.
I have never met Stephen Miller in person. But the evidence revealed in his eyes – even in photographs – is so strong, I have no doubt that he is a psychopath. His speech confirms it. He's escaped consequences because he comes from "a good family." Santa Monica authorities should have been investigating Miller for unsolved cases of animal torture in the 1980s and 90s.
I posted above my opinions that in a different turn of life, he'd have ended up like the Unibomber. I mean the following very seriously: if I was Trump, I would be very wary of him and I wouldn't be alone with him.
He needs Trump to carry out his evil because no one else would put up with him and elevate him as Trump has.
The Secretary of Homeland Security does not know what "Habeus Corpus" is.
Think about that.
How incredibly unaware of how the law actually works, it's framework and its history, do you have to be to NOT know that?
And she is IN CHARGE of Homeland Security. She's not sitting at a desk addressing envelopes. She's not making the coffee for her boss. She's not 9 to 5 doing data entry.
She.
Is.
In.
CHARGE!
Well, that must cheer any terrorist up who is planning how to do what next - "Hey, guys! this will be easy! The person in charge is a complete dimwit!"
Who cares if she's competent. She looks hot in that Border Patrol uniform holding an assault rifle. (Sarcasm)
This entire cabinet loves to do military/LE cosplay. Love those tacticool vests and those big guns.
"Tacticool" is the word I've been looking for! Thank you!
Tacticool, adjective, describes household items encased in black plastic shells having unnecessary lumps, bumps, grooves, latches and buttons. Apparel items are sewn from black or camouflage-printed nylon, with unnecessary pockets, flaps, vents, zippers, snaps and D-rings.
We used to say “Make it black/camo, put Velcro on it, and cops will buy it”
Like the camo 8”x5” holder for those small yellow notepads that I bought when the SWAT team trained at Camp Rilea and we got to go to the PX. TactiCool!!
Damn! I forgot Velcro!
Yesterday, on our frequent commentor TCinLA's excellent Substack ("That's Another Fine Mess") I said due to the amount of lip filler, false eyelashes, beachy-wave producing hair products, and makeup, they should be referred to as "The Real Housewifes of DC".
TC noted I forgot the hair extensions. Duly noted!
How I wish that you didn't have to put that "(sarcasm)" in. . . there are people out there who would otherwise have been saying "Hell - Yeah!"
Gary, as much lip gloss as she wears, if someone tried to kiss her, they'd slide right off. Is that hot?
Perhaps not, but in this administration it's not about substance, it's how we look that counts.
You know who's happy with the dog killer being in charge of Homeland Security?
EVERYONE IN SOUTH DAKOTA!
Not in Pine Ridge.
Wouldn’t you love to just slap the shit outta every last one of ‘em ?
yes
As many as there are, and as much shit as they're full of, I won't live long enough to finish the job. But I'd die trying.
More than slap...
Yep.
It's clear, watching the performances today of ICE Barbie, Doctor Mengele, Widdle Marco and the Dumb Peckerwood, that Maladministration II's collection of broken toys have decided to use performative mendacity and nastiness to try and dominate the legislative branch and demonstrate their contempt for the rule of law. The fish rots from the head - Rick Wilson is again proven right that Everything Trump Touches, Dies.
TC, I have decided to re-name the women in this maladministration (which is what I too have dubbed them!) Stepford Wives, because the association with Barbie is an insult to Barbie. They are anything but Barbies, which can be astrophysicists, ballet dancers, physicians, etc. and they also come in different colors. These females are automatons, without independent thought, without any ethical or moral center. The BBC Radio 4 comedy program "Dead Ringers" depicts deranged and drug-addled nepotism baby Elon as a malfunctioning robot; I look forward to their presentation of these "women" as something similar.
I say they are "The Real Housewifes of DC"
Is this the point at which you need to hang the sign on the big door that says "back in four years (hopefully). By the way, you're on your own".
From memory the Republican Governors all praised Biden when they needed FEMA, many times throughout his Presidency. They received the help they needed... and expected.
And the fact is….they often were horrible to him, Christie got run out on a rail for giving Obama a “bro” hug.
Democrats weren’t holding A,Eric an citizens hostage even when they had to deal with vile actors. Maybe he wasn’t charged, but under CHRISTIE, his administration shut down a bridge to make a political opponent (a Democrat) suffer and someone DIED.
These people do not care about America. They care about making people they don’t like or don’t think are human suffer so they can feel powerful.
And then they LIE….
Demcirats need to constantly hammer home in anecdotal terms stories about what is being lost. Kids in Milwaukee, ALS research. Every just loved the ice bucket challenge and inspriration from sports figures, right? Most people had no clue what Harvard actually did. It wasn’t just little classroom gabfests where rich kids yak about how dumb Appalachia is. It’s research for YOUR disease. It’s Mass General, Dana Fabre, Childrens that share that information and their trained doctors with hospitals all over the country. That life saving technique that saved your 17 year old after a car wreck in Missouri probably trickled out of the teaching at Haravard and it’s teaching hospitals. The family who now has to welcome back grandpa or grandma into the home where they don’t have the ability to care for them because of cuts to Medicaid and !edicare. You think the middle class is stressed now…wait til they lose their job to a robot and there’s three generations, possibly four, living under one roof. But the Trumps made 3 billion in 100 days. I guess that’s why they don’t think it will hurt too bad when everything gets more expensive
Hi Heather,
Thank you for your work. Its truly exquisite. I have a question that I ask daily. When is the media going to start covering this as it truly is... a hostile coup from a foreign adversary. This entire "thing" is constantly being covered like a "baffling case of bad / horrific governing." Most speculate for more money, power, personal gain etc. But no one in their right mind would vote against their OWN safety in the air, poison food, poison water, poison air, the devaluing of the dollar etc. Especially when the bullseye is circling the drain of their own political positions / appointments. If we put on the TRUTH COLORED GLASSES and revisited every single crazy action, every unqualified appointment, every horrifying gaslighting response and see it as a part of a massive crime of treason by traitors who have a completely different boss than the US constitution, one who is based overseas... along with a criminal enforcer who has companies that control space, the whole thing makes sense and can then be dealt with as treason and crime which opens a whole different war chest of tools to take it down WHY do we have to go around and around trying to point fingers at bad governing? ITs time.
Just like Jake Tapper they will wait until they can publish a book and get rich and famous. All those anonymous sources he claims came forward after to tell the “truth” because Trump would have been worse than even a mentally incompetent Biden. All of this is based on one bad debate and one extremely stressful interview by Hur. Every good speech, successful meeting and great protections Biden ever did are ignored. Come on, they’re even making up conspiracies about the prostate cancer when the fact is his last test was in 2014 and then stopped when he turned 70. Just like every other man in this country. These are the same people that believe Trumps medical reports when we can see they’re a lie with our own eyes. Wait until we see the books about that, but not until he’s dead.
Jake Tapper is a hack and so is CNN. I think that is well timed propaganda planned for the first 200 days as deflection. The rest of it is much bigger. My gut is that the Supreme Court is waiting for the case to come to their desk demanding his immunity to be overturned and they will do it. An unprecedented set of actions need to be taken now.
It's Russia anymore -- not at all the U.S.
Except, to make the U.S. much more crippled than Putin's murderous, lawless Russia, the fat, fat, waddling fat orange felon went out of his way to select incompetents for office. Heather's today just scratches the surface of their cynical attitudes, their bumpkin clunker clunkiness.
And I also don't think they're just in it for robbing the U.S. treasury and other forms of graft. Rather, it's the messianism of joining in their cult hero's vicious scenario -- same as dictators everywhere -- for seeing everyone not in the in-group (here, white supremacists) as "they're eating the dogs and cats" drama histrionics.
Like Putin, like Orban, like Mohammed bin Salman, like Netanyahu -- like them all -- the U.S. criminal-in-chief preens himself on the extents he can hold himself above the law, above decency -- and his followers all just eat it up. Even as their living standards, too, stand poised to sink due to the massive stupidity coincident with sycophancy and cynicism.
Can Dems up their game? Can ours such as Heather keep energy up to meet the cold-blooded menace as all their intransigence just morphs crueler and crueler, worse and worse?
They’ve succeeding in making people exhausted and depressed. A headline yesterday said that the goal of DOGE was to terrify the civil service work force, and that had succeeded. Who really thought it was about efficiency and fraud prevention. Just more thinly-veiled robbery - of our personal information for future use.
Yes Phil, chump went out of his way to select incompetents for office. What better way to obey Vlad, get revenge, and own the libs. Yep, the “ins” are a relatively small group, but like ravenous dogs, on the hunt. (Apologies to all canines.). The “outs” are all of us who will now have our noses pressed to the glass. Looking for some cake to eat,
Yes, JD.
But remember, the goal of the far right foundations since the Powell memo was to rid schools (and, thus, media) of humanities.
It worked. Those foundation succeeded in voiding humanities in education. So America now has tens of millions who cannot imagine others as decent individuals. These tens of millions are all ripe for the most vicious stereotyping, which they got by the sewer-full.
And now, all live in those sewers, schools all having been master-minded to their lowering.
Texas is closing schools and cutting budgets. A state of morons, brought about deliberately and with malice.
Welll I still though exhausted and depressed I still think on the college students in the height of the protest time felt exactly the same way. So one needs to think long abd short abd also move those toddlers out of the store or playground. It still can be done. June 14 I still have hope maybe of a massive movement which would be a good parenting action and activities all at once.
I think the goal was to get into the secure computer systems and make a back door so they can control everything. He’s got all his ducks in a row and all the contracts coming together so he can claim he’s stepping back now when really he’s setting us up for destruction.
Exactly, they have their master list with all our information to use, steal or pass on. They are worse than any Nigerian Prince or foreign hacker
We are all the way through the looking glass -- in a bad way. For Kristi Noem to have an ass-backwards definition of habeas corpus should have been enough to get her fired on the spot. They all continue to say 'I don't know about X' -- well, why not and who does know about X? They have no concept of what their agencies are supposed to do and who has been fired and what programs have been cut. My husband has ALS -- the fact that this research has been cut is gutting.
lauriemcf, I am so sorry you're going through that with your husband. It is awful.
So sorry about your husband, Laurie.
It's true they - the figurehead Cabinet secretaries- don't know. Who does know is DOGE, who are running everything, "embedded" in every agency, now. Musk may not be in the rooms now, but his boys are. Burgum at Interior is the only one who has said it in so many words.
Our Secretary of Homeland Security doesn't know the meaning of Habeas Corpus, a piece of knowledge that should be required to graduate high school, One has to shudder about what else she does not comprehend. Even more frightening is how willful she is in her ignorance. She believes that far more important than her misunderstanding of the bedrock of Western legal system (and by extension much of Western civilization itself), is her effort to spin the question to advocate for autocracy.
Each day, I think it is impossible to be less proud of my government, and every day, mty regard for my own government sinks deeper in the mud. At the same time, I am proud of those members of Congress who continue to oppose this nest of vile parasites who have gotten hold of the government of the country I love. And I am very grateful to you, Heather, for giving us this lifeline of daily accurate, documented information. I know it isn't easy.
This is amazing work Professor. I wish this entire newsletter would be published in every national and local print and online newspaper. I wish this detail would be talked about through every podcast, news show and late night shows. I wish this newsletter would show up in every SCOTUS mailbox and every Federal employee- elected and appointed. This recounting of a week in Congress- every detail here, needs to be broadcast to the world! The proof is in front of us each that every Trump Adminstration officials lie without pause. Nothing but public outrage from every corner of this land will stop this catastrophe.
Once the Trump cancer is finally excised from America and the world, I wonder how Historians will be able to distill his gigantic avalanche of guano into a single coherent book or even a trilogy? Something equivalent to Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire might be the minimal summation of this terrible debacle!
"The Fall of the American Empire" seems to be what this administration is aiming for.
Can you imagine George H. Bush or even Tricky Dicky having such dimwits in the cabinet? Hell, even George W. was upheld by people with brains.
This lot look as if they've escaped from the cast of "Scoobey-Doo"!
At least Scooby had a few smarties in the mix. This crew is more like a bunch of stooges…
It has been suggested that all of the Letters be published in book form. I would say we'd need a volume for each year.