Week of Trump for King
Ukraine, Nobel, Epstein, DC Gets ICEd, Deadly Sandwich, Democrats Duck, Wall Paint, Cracker Barreled, Gerrymander War

Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger has the numbers and the majority is way over overwhelming. Americans are pretty close to unanimous in not liking Putin even a little bit.

He’s heart-pumping angry that Obama gets a Nobel Prize, and he doesn’t. But he’s convinced that if he can get peace in Ukraine, or at least talk a good game, he’ll get the prize he deserves more than Obama.

Biggest problem: he has no idea what he’s doing.

Jack illustrates step-by-step through the promises, the summits, and subsequent boasts, that it’s all hollow.

Now the US Navy will take a shot at parading for Trump.

Key presidential heart’s desire:
The president is reportedly “hoping for a shimmering spectacle with seacraft,” the Journal noted.

Key caution:
If these decisions are appealed, counting on the Republican Supreme Court (which has already eviscerated the Voting Rights Act to help tip the scales for the MAGAt Republican Party) to uphold the lower court decisions may require a lot of wishful thinking.

Franklin answered:
A republic, if you can keep it.

M. Bouffant at Web of Evil has a more modern, and far more pessimistic response:

He accompanies the sinking of our ship of state with two lifelines to documentation, two appropriate classic Reggae pieces from a couple of generations ago, a bit of classic Willie Nelson, and a call to action.

Richardson reads her mail and acknowledges concerns bordering on despair. But she sees room for hope.

In her words:
I believe me, I get it. But the Trump administration’s attempt to create a dictatorship here in the United States is not going very well.

Clumsy moves to interfere with the right to vote is a backhanded acknowledgment that Republicans, and Trump in particular, are not very popular.

Other heavy-handed moves are not helping Trump with voters.

Just one incident illustrates:
For example, going into where the firefighters were fighting an active fire, and demanding to see their IDs to make sure they were Americans. And then taking and arresting two of people who were allegedly undocumented immigrants who were fighting an active fire.
 
And telling the people who said,
“Can we say goodbye to them, because we’re like a family here,”
[Expletive] off.

Key goal:
There are many ways in which the administration is really trying to act as if it is Vladimir Putin’s government in Russia

Key obstacle:
But so far, Americans are pushing back really powerfully

I understand it was fully loaded with dangerous carbs.

Within the link, Justice officials are being told by a judge that, for the moment, they cannot deport him to Africa simply for felonious willful innocence resulting in serious administration embarrassment.

As might be expected, I have a thought.

Citizens are courageously resistant.

But national Democrats are joined by mainstream media in a reaction that is limp, flatfooted, and largely acquiescent.

Citizen reaction:
They hate it, in large numbers. And they’re organizing against it: A “Free D.C.” movement has taken root—and taken to the streets—to resist the president’s latest power grab.

Democratic reaction:
…to the extent that they’ve said anything about it, they’ve largely dismissed it as a manufactured “distraction” rather than loudly calling it what it is: a fascist occupation—and a prelude to worse.

Media:
These authors and others are making a profound error from the jump in assuming that Trump sincerely desires to lower the crime rate in D.C.

Brian Beutler isn’t having it. Not any of it. Chuck should just step aside.

Key advice (for Chuck!):
He should give up on his dream of recruiting some more seasoned politician of the kind Collins has defeated every six years for a bajillion cycles in a row, and give everyone in the Democratic coalition a fair and unspoiled test of left-populist appeal.

I don’t much care about Platner’s age. He strikes me as a fighter whose appeal is based on making a common sense case to working voters. Perhaps Chuck should push his glasses back off his nose, return to writing very strong letters, and let fighters fight.

Key voices:
The Trump administration has weaponized the government against critics, regardless of party. These are acts of authoritarianism. However you would be hard pressed to find a traditional news story (whether “print” or “TV”) that uses such straightforward language. Not so, niche, foreign and independent media.

A more detailed audio version can be heard with random selections of minutes or even seconds for those who can’t afford a whole hour. I tried it. It works.

Key paradox:
We still do not lack for intelligent, creative, ethical, dedicated people. US labs and universities still lead the world in most of the sciences. Where US film and literature remain free of corporate or ideological influence, they continue to produce innovative and meaningful work. Our popular culture is still the most pervasive and influential in the world.

Key conundrum:
So how, indeed, did this country end up with the reins of power being held by people like Trump and Musk and the current crop of cretins dominating Congress and Silicon Valley? Why is the country that invented mRNA vaccines and sent space probes to the planets being strangled by idiocy like “AI” and random tariffs? Why does everything have to be so dreary and stupid?

Key reason:
The fact is, politics and the corporate world simply do not appeal to the best minds. The work involved and the rewards offered do not align with what such people most deeply desire and need. The best minds go into the sciences and arts and academia because those fields do offer what nourishes their souls. Politics and the C-suites mostly get the dregs — emotionally-stunted trolls obsessed with accumulating money and/or power, and willing and even eager to dedicate their time and energy to the drudgery and dirty dealing necessary to succeed.

My own thought: Yikes!

And, of course, he is immediately shot down and the subject is changed to what scripture the children were reading as they were attacked.

Key exchange:
When Gowdy said it was time for “a conversation of freedom versus protecting children,” Boothe chimed in that there were already “laws on the books” — like “murder”

Says Michael: Trump’s policies are fascism.

Basic resource issue:
Right now, the Social Security trust fund has enough money to pay full benefits until about 2032 or 2033. After that, the money runs short. The program won’t vanish, but by law, benefits will be reduced to about 70% of what was promised.

Destructive plan:
Some are proposing real fixes. But others — especially those with ties to Wall Street — are pushing something far more dangerous: privatization.

Obstructed solution:
The system could be shored up tomorrow if Congress required wealthy Americans to pay Social Security taxes on all of their income. Right now, billionaires stop paying once their earnings pass a certain cap. You keep paying on every dollar you earn, but they don’t.

Key health reason:
‘It Will Make You Healthy And Strong,’ Claims Health Secretary

He doesn’t express an opinion on whether their children, grandchildren or further descendants should be included, which would empty out most of the nation.

Key turning point:
Then came Sandy Hook.
 
In the aftermath of the shooting, as I, like so many others, tried to process the incomprehensible horror for those beautiful children and the immeasurable suffering of their families, their classmates, teachers, and the entire Newtown community, I watched you step before the nation and say that this act of unthinkable barbarism happened because we had “taken God out of our public schools.”

Key debt:
Your twisted theology, your sickening lack of empathy, and your willingness to leverage a tragedy for your own gain were the catalysts for me using my voice to speak God’s love more loudly than your hatred.

Key explanation:
As many of you may have noticed, I’ve been posting a bit more over the last week or so. There’s a reason for that. I’M GETTING BETTER!

She provides a few encouraging details.

Writing is hard, literary submissions and inevitable numerous rejections make it harder. da-AL finds Norway to have been a palliative of sorts. She brings pictures, some of street art, and a piece from mother, nurse, and blogger Latonia Nelson on what da-AL describes as trauma, resilience, and the power of reclaiming one’s truth, expressed eloquently in poetry.