The Conversation -- July 7, 2025
The documents filed with the court today show that the administration has not been honest with the court or the American people. -- Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward ~~~
~~~ Who's in Charge? Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “For the past several months, the Trump administration has insisted in court that it has no control over the nearly 140 Venezuelan immigrants it deported to a prison in El Salvador this spring.... Both in filings and at hearings, Trump officials have asserted that because the men are being held by jailers in El Salvador, the Salvadoran government has control over their fate. The administration has repeatedly made that claim to argue that it has no real authority to bring the immigrants back... [to the U.S]. On Monday, however, lawyers for the Venezuelan men produced a document indicating that the government of El Salvador recently told the United Nations that it, in fact, bears no legal responsibility for the men. The document, written in response to a U.N. inquiry examining some of the deportations, also claimed that the Salvadoran government was merely doing the United States’ bidding when it accepted the men into its prison system.
“'The actions of the state of El Salvador have been limited to the implementation of a bilateral cooperation mechanism with another state, through which it has facilitated the use of the Salvadoran prison infrastructure for the custody of persons detained within the scope of the justice system and law enforcement of that other state,' the document said. 'In this context... the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the competent foreign authorities, by virtue of international agreements signed and in accordance with the principles of sovereignty and international cooperation in criminal matters.' The document was included in a new court filing submitted to Judge James E. Boasberg, who has been hearing a long-running legal case brought by the Venezuelan men in Federal District Court in Washington.” MB: I don't think Judge Boasberg will be amused. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Lee Gelert of the ACLU said on MSNBC that the Trump administration appears to have been holding the El Salvador document for three months without turning it over to the court or to the defendants' lawyers despite the discovery requests of defendants' attorneys.
Alan Feuer & Minho Kim of the New York Times: “The Justice Department said on Monday that Trump officials would immediately begin the process of expelling Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from the country again if he is released from custody next week on charges filed after his wrongful deportation to El Salvador in March. That plan, laid out by a Justice Department lawyer at a hearing in Federal District Court in Maryland, directly contradicted a statement by the White House last month describing the possibility that the administration might re-deport Mr. Abrego Garcia as 'fake news.' At the hearing, Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the original civil case emerging from the wrongful deportation, expressed frustration at the government’s shifting statements about its plans to handle Mr. Abrego Garcia. The statements in court by the Justice Department lawyer, Jonathan Guynn, further muddied an already unclear picture of Mr. Abrego Garcia’s future after the administration abruptly returned him to the United States last month to face criminal charges. At one point, Judge Xinis compared getting certain answers out of the government to 'nailing Jell-O to a wall.' At another point, she described the 'complete chaos' that had arisen from Mr. Abrego Garcia’s being 'caught' between his civil case in Maryland and his criminal case in Federal District Court in Nashville.... Much of the confusion has stemmed from ambiguous and contradictory statements from the Trump administration and from what appears to be dueling views from the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security about how to handle the case.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Abrego Garcia's case is arguably the most high-profile deportation case the Trump administration has "managed" to date in what is supposed to be Donald Trump's "signature" issue and a grave "national emergency." Given all that, one would think that the administration would take extra effort to appear professional, prudent and unified. Instead, they have taken on the serious matter of the future of this young man and his family as if they were all hoping to be the leads in a Three Stooges short film. KKKirsti has even got the studio's wardrobe mistress to provide her with a complete set of costumes for her audition.
A Coup for Trump-RFKJ's HHS: Lena Sun of the Washington Post: “The United States has reached its highest annual measles case tally in 33 years, hitting at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 38 states and the District of Columbia. The milestone marks a public health reversal in defeating a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease as the anti-vaccine movement gains strength.... Authorities said at least 155 people have been hospitalized and three people have died of measles-related complications this year.”
Yesterday, Akhilleus pointed out that Trump's megabill will finance enough new secret ICE agents to comprise a private army reporting to Trump. Jason Zengerle has another idea: ~~~
~~~ Jason Zengerle of the New York Times Magazine in the New York Times on “the Ruthless Ambition of Stephen Miller”: “Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who reportedly accompanied Mr. Miller on his visit to ICE headquarters, seems to defer to him. 'It’s really Stephen running D.H.S.,' a Trump adviser said. The attorney general, Pam Bondi, is so focused on preparing for and appearing on Fox News that she has essentially ceded control of the Department of Justice to Mr. Miller, making him, according to the conservative legal scholar Edward Whelan, 'the de facto attorney general.' And in a White House where the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is not well versed or terribly interested in policy..., another Trump adviser said ... Mr. Miller is typically the final word.... With the passage of the big policy bill, ICE will have an even bigger budget to execute Mr. Miller’s vision and, in effect, serve as his own private army.” The link appears to be a gift link.
~~~~~~~~~~
Linda Qiu of the New York Times: “Since retaking office..., [Donald] Trump has issued a pace-setting number of executive actions that have become a hallmark of his approach to governing.... Many reflect Mr. Trump’s public messaging. Some repeat nearly verbatim inaccurate claims that have long been a feature of his campaign rallies, news conferences and interviews. Here are a few examples.”
David Lynch of the Washington Post: “With only three days remaining before ... Donald Trump’s self-imposed July 9 deadline, U.S. and European negotiators continue to haggle over a skeletal trade deal that would defer a resolution of their toughest commercial disputes. The prospective accord, which would spare European goods the 50 percent tariffs that Trump has threatened to impose, is one of a relative handful of deals the administration is set to finalize by Wednesday. Any European bargain might prove modest. But Trump’s decision to pursue his goals by ignoring the global trading rules that American leaders helped to write marks a significant break with decades of U.S. policy. Europe and the United States for years were aligned in support of the World Trade Organization’s rules-based trading system.... U.S. commitments to the WTO system remain in effect. But the president’s unilateral diplomacy ignores them, analysts said.” ~~~
~~~ Yes, but Trump is delaying the "deadline." Again. ~~~
~~~ Ari Hawkins of Politico: “Tariffs will revert back to their April 2 rates on Aug. 1 for countries that fail to nail down new trade deals with the United States, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, just three days before the Trump administration’s initial July 9 deadline for tariffs to return. Bessent told CNN’s 'State of the Union' that the Trump administration would be sending out letters to 100 smaller countries 'saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1st, you will boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level.' The announcement effectively pushes back the tariffs that were originally set in April but had been suspended until July 9, a window the Trump administration used to pursue an ambitious round of dealmaking with other countries aimed at reaching deals to stave off the return of tariffs of between 10 and 50 percent on dozens of countries. It comes as Trump administration officials increasingly hint at difficulties in nailing down deals.”
Scott Dance of the Washington Post: “Trump’s efforts to freeze climate research spending and slash the government’s scientific workforce have for months prompted warnings of rippling consequences in years ahead. For many climate scientists, the consequences are already here. With so much uncertainty across scientific agencies and academic research centers, even prominent scientists are hitting dead ends.... More recent administration actions have limited or even wiped access to existing climate science.”
More Trump Bull. Meryl Kornfield & Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: “Over the past four months, the Trump administration has been touting a $5 million visa to wealthy foreigners to get into the United States with lofty promises of an immediate rollout since February. Aboard Air Force One in April..., Donald Trump flashed a laminated, golden prototype to reporters and announced that it would become available 'in about less than two weeks,' while the White House launched a website in June to sign people up to join a waiting list. But in reality, any Trump gold visas are a long way off — if they can ever be implemented at all. Trump and his aides have repeatedly exaggerated the likelihood that such a program can be implemented under current law, and have made no effort to introduce legislation to make it happen. Immigration attorneys and other legal experts say a president has no power to unilaterally create a new visa category, which would require an act of Congress.”
Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald “Trump assailed Elon Musk on Sunday night.... 'I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely “off the rails,” essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,' Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday evening. 'He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States.'”
Donald, Little Marco & Chainsaw Elon Are Killing Millions of People. Daniella Cavalcanti, et al., in the Lancet: "USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030.... Forecasting models predicted that the current steep funding cuts could result in more than 14 051 750 ... additional all-age deaths, including 4 537 157 ... in children younger than age 5 years, by 2030." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Ewan Palmer of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “Donald Trump is boasting that his settlement payout from Paramount Global could be worth more than double the agreed cash amount once 'advertising' is factored in. 'We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that, in advertising,' Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 'So it’s a combination of 16 plus 16 plus. So it’s like $32 [million] to maybe $35 million.' The New York Post reported on July 2 that Paramount Global agreed, as part of its settlement in the president’s lawsuit against CBS’ 60 Minutes over an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, to run between $15 million and $20 million worth of pro-Trump ads across its networks once it is acquired by David Ellison’s Skydance Media.... However, Paramount Global has denied that the settlement — which has drawn fierce backlash from CBS News anchors — included any deal involving ad buys or PSAs.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: If Trump does get free advertising on CBS as part of a settlement for a fake lawsuit, Democrats should get the same. How fake was it? Even Trump's own lawyers thought it was a joke: ~~~
~~~ David Frum of the Atlantic: “Trump’s lawsuit [against CBS for editing a '60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview] was about as meritless as a lawsuit can be.... But ... CBS belongs to a parent corporation with regulatory business before Trump-appointed agencies. Paramount is pursuing an $8 billion merger that requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission. In November 2024, then-incoming FCC Chair Brendan Carr warned that merger approval would depend on satisfying Trump’s claims against CBS.... Evident from the Trump legal filing against CBS is that not even the president’s own lawyers took his complaint seriously. [MB: You'll want to read these.]... What’s going on here is extortion — and it does not get any less extortionate for being laundered through Trump’s hypothetical future library. A systematic pattern has emerged: shakedowns of law firms, business corporations, and media companies for the enrichment of Trump, his family, and his political allies. Every time targets yield, they create an incentive for Trump to repeat the shakedown on another victim.... Who will be the next target of an administration that governs by mafia methods?” Thanks to laura h. for this gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "A review ordered by ... Donald Trump-appointed leadership of the Justice Department and the FBI found no evidence that notorious deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein kept a 'client list' of associates whom he blackmailed or conspired with to victimize dozens of women, according to a new memo reviewed by ABC News. The department has also released hours of purported footage as part of its review, which officials say further confirms Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019 -- contradicting conspiracy theories long embraced or spread by allies of ... [Donald] Trump and others." MB: Of course Trump's FBI "found no evidence" of Epstein's client list. If the list exists, Trump would be on it. And we can't have that.
Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Max Tani of Semafor: The New York Times published its story about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's Columbia U. admissions application because the paper didn't want to be scooped by a right-wing “journalist.” “The piece also seemed to divide staff, and reignited years-old internal tensions between some younger, more left-leaning members of staff and management. 'People are really upset,' one Times journalist told Semafor. In a series of posts on Bluesky, Times columnist Jamelle Bouie said, 'i think you should tell readers if your source is a nazi.' On Friday, he deleted his posts, saying they violated the Times’ social media guidelines. Bouie also deleted subsequent posts on Sunday that also seemed to express frustration at the Times’ decision to publish the story, and shared a post that said 'NYT & many of its elite white readers are still obsessed with race-conscious college admissions.' The paper would not comment on whether it had compelled Bouie to delete the posts.”
The U.S.A., Where You Can Get Away with Murder. German Lopez of the New York Times: “In the United States, people often get away with murder. The clearance rate — the share of cases that result in an arrest or are otherwise solved — was 58 percent in 2023, the latest year for which F.B.I. data is available. And that figure is inflated because it includes murders from previous years that police solved in 2023. In other words, a murderer’s chance of getting caught within a year essentially comes down to a coin flip. For other crimes, clearance rates are even lower. Only 8 percent of car thefts result in an arrest. Compared with its peers, America overall does an unusually poor job of solving killings. The murder clearance rates of other rich nations, including Australia, Britain and Germany, hover in the 70s, 80s and even 90s. Several issues, including a lack of resources, the sheer volume of cases and a distrust of the police, have converged to make the jobs of American detectives much more difficult.... The lack of legal accountability emboldens criminals, leading to more crime and violence.” The link appears to be a gift link.
~~~~~~~~~~
Texas. The New York Times liveblog of developments in the Texas floods is here:. From the pinned item at 4:45 am ET: “Rescuers rushed on Sunday to find more survivors of devastating floods that killed at least 81 in Central Texas, as dramatic tales emerged of those who experienced the disaster and endured the agonizing wait for news of loved ones.... Dozens more people — at least 41 — are still missing, and rescuers, volunteers and family members braved renewed downpours to search for them on Sunday, navigating fields of debris with helicopters, drones, boats, golf carts and horses.... On Sunday, some parts of Central Texas saw heavy rain, but the areas already hit the hardest, including Kerr County, appeared to avoid more devastation.” An AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ Brianna Sacks, et al., of the Washington Post: “The deluge that killed nearly 80 people along fast-surging Texas rivers early Friday struck a region that has grappled with deadly floods before. This swath of Central Texas is the most flash-flood prone region in the country.... And yet, the magnitude of the disaster exposed gaps in its ability to warn people, including a delayed flood risk alert from Kerr County and stalled development of a flood monitoring system.... [FEMA's] Integrated Public Alert & Warning System shows that the county did not send its first Amber Alert-style push until Sunday [i.e., two days after the flooding began].... When the precipitation intensified in the early morning hours Friday, many people failed to receive or respond to flood warnings at riverside campsites and cabins that were known to be in the floodplain.” ~~~
~~~ Terri Langford & Carlos Ramos of the Texas Tribune: “A GOP state lawmaker who represents Kerr County says he likely would vote differently now on House Bill 13, which would have established a grant program for counties to build new emergency communication infrastructure.... The bill failed in the Texas Senate, prompting newfound questions about whether lawmakers should have done more to help rural, cash-strapped counties stave off the deadly effects of future natural disasters.” ~~~
~~~ Catherine Bouris of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the Trump administration from suggestions that the delayed warning residents received during the flash floods in Texas this week was insufficient. Speaking at a press conference alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Saturday, Noem was asked by a reporter whether the fact that he and many others did not receive warnings from the National Weather Service until 7 a.m. was a 'fundamental failure of the federal government’s responsibility to keep people safe.' Noem argued that the technology was 'ancient' and that the Trump administration is working to upgrade it.... Noem ... seemingly shift[ed] the blame onto previous administrations that failed to upgrade the technology. Trump was previously president from 2017 to 2021.... In addition to the [spending] cuts detailed in Trump’s tax bill, the Department of Government Efficiency cut hundreds of jobs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service earlier this year.”
Reader Comments (18)
Chainsaw Elmo’s new party could be troublesome if he ever gets it off the ground. It’s not like Party of Traitors voters are gonna join up. They’ve all got the Fat Hitler Kool-Aid running through their veins.
And even though, considering its provenance, it probably should be called the American Nazi Party, it could pull independents who might vote with Democrats away from that party, although it’s not clear at this point who might join this Dogey bunch. Plus, Chainsaw is so toxic it might not gain much traction.
Still, third parties have mostly been trouble for Democrats. Carter didn’t have much chance of winning in 1980, but John Anderson’s 7 percent of voters were predominantly Democrats. The Green Party idiots pulled enough Democrats away from Clinton to hand Fat Fuck the win in 2016, and Ralph Nader certainly helped the Decider in 2000. The only third party candidate to have likely helped a Democrat was Ross Perot. George Wallace likely attracted more Republicans in 1968, but it still didn’t help Hubert Humphrey beat the Tricky One.
It would depend, of course, on who Musk picks as a candidate, since he couldn’t run himself (thank Christ!).
It would likely be some tech bro billionaire type, and given the disarray of the Democratic Party, who knows how that could play out.
Shit continues to get worse for us.
Of course. It might be a moot point. I’m thinking seriously that Fat Hitler will find a way to cancel the midterm elections, and if that works, he might pull the same shit in 2028, if he’s not dead yet, and then we also have to worry about the Nazi Supremes installing their own pick.
If Democrats don’t figure a way to pull it together—and that, right soon—our future looks very dim.
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, in The New Republic, reveals Donald Trump is taking credit for trashing Elon Musk’s reputation
"The rumors about Elon Musk’s rampant White House ketamine use have circled back to a source: Donald Trump.
The world’s richest man and ousted Trump adviser was reputed to be a regular pill popper in May, when The New York Times reported that Musk’s drug use went “well beyond occasional use.” He allegedly took so much ketamine that it was affecting his bladder, took ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, and kept a daily medication box on hand stacked with Adderall, according to photos obtained by the Times. Musk has repeatedly denied the alleged drug use, posting a clean drug test on X two weeks after the story ran.
But that report, per Trump biographer Michael Wolff, was planted by the president himself.
Wolff told The Daily Beast Podcast Wednesday that he came across Trump’s recent braggadocio by catching up with the president’s associates."
Tim White, in The Guardian, writes Across Europe, the financial sector has pushed up house prices. It’s a political timebomb
"The housing crisis is now as big a threat to the EU as Russia,” Jaume Collboni, the mayor of Barcelona, recently declared. “We’re running the risk of having the working and middle classes conclude that their democracies are incapable of solving their biggest problem.”
It is not hard to see where Collboni is coming from. From Dublin to Milan, residents routinely find half of their incomes swallowed up by rent, and home ownership is unthinkable for most. Major cities are witnessing spiralling house prices and some have jaw-dropping year-on-year median rent increases of more than 10%. People are being pushed into ever more precarious and cramped conditions and homelessness is rapidly rising."
Zach Everson, at Forbes, Trump Media Takes Streaming Global As President Slashes Voice Of America
"There’s no evidence tying Trump Media’s global push to his administration’s move to slash Voice of America. While Trump Media’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and press releases don’t appear to explicitly mention plans to take Truth+ global, its 2024 annual report does warn that foreign governments could restrict the streaming platform— suggesting overseas ambitions were on the radar.
Noah Bookbinder, president of government ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and a former federal corruption prosecutor, told Forbes Trump’s expansion raises perennial concerns about whether his decisions serve the country or his own bottom line. While most ethics laws don’t apply to the president, Bookbinder said, the moves to shrink Voice of America and grow Trump Media abroad “highlight the inherent conflicts posed by his ongoing business interests, which are ever expanding.”"
One thing to remember with Elon's threat to start a third party is that Elon can't build shit himself. Maybe he could take over an existing minor party and pay others to ramp up it's profile, but he has shown no ability to build anything from the ground up. The hard work of establishing something is not a skill Musk has shown he has. He just buys others' work after they put everything together. While Musk has shown that he can talk rich guys out of their money his own ideas and his ability to articulate ideas to human beings is awful. He also doesn't seem to understand the intricacies of lawmaking or has he tried to learn how policy making works. Creating takes infinite more skill, knowledge and understanding that destroying does not.
Larry Diamond
"Trump Is Gutting Every Source of America's Greatness
His attacks on the country's painstakingly built diplomatic, scientific, and human capital will turn it into a second-rate power"
Are we living through Lion King?
The MSM has been reporting on the disaster in Texas largely as a terribly unfortunate but unavoidable weather event.
Unfortunate, yes. Unavoidable, true, to the extent that no one could have prevented it once it started (although Texas, given similar past floods, could have mitigated the effects with flood prevention infrastructure, but that’s a topic for another day, Texas pols are more concerned with our-Trumping other MAGA states).
What should have been avoidable was the lack of proper warnings available before Fat Hitler, Chainsaw Elmo, and the Teenage Mutant Nazi Turtles crippled NOAA.
The predictions were there. What was lacking were the “last mile” connections to local authorities about the imminent danger. Communication that would have allowed some semblance of warnings, perhaps enough to partially evacuate danger zones, like that girls camp.
Not everyone will be saved by early warning systems, but hypocrite Abbott’s crocodile tears about dead little girls could very possibly have been avoided. This tragedy can and should be laid at the stinking clown shoes of the Fat Hitler regime. As we head into hurricane season, more Americans will die because those morons pulled the plug on a highly efficient system that had been carefully developed over many years.
And for what? A big “Gotcha, liberals!” moment of gloating on Fox?
Much more of this to come. The media should not allow that Fat Fuck to slither away from responsibility, as he always does.
But will they?
Of course they will.
We had our own early warnings of how Fuckface handles crises with bullshit lies and finger pointing when he allowed hundreds of thousands to die needlessly during the pandemic. He skated away from responsibility then as well.
More avoidable deaths to come.
(Oh, and is he telling the Texas MAGAts that because he killed FEMA they’re on their own?)
The oft indicted Fat Felon sez: “We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that, in advertising,”, bragging about Paramount-CBS caving.
So…”deal”. Is that what we’re calling extortion now?
The Cheap Chiseler in Chief is reveling in his ability to withhold federal funding to extort his way to “winning”. It’s nothing but a kind of reverse protection racket. “You don’t get the money unless you do what I tells ya, see?”
Of course he’s also employing a more traditional protection racket to line his own pockets. But any way you look at it, it’s some form of extortion.
Criminals gonna crime. Felons gonna be felonious. Shitheads gonna shit.
I wonder if this was the sort of presidency the founders had in mind.
Summer blockbuster!
The Return of Measles!
Written and directed by Polio Bob, executive producer, Fat Hitler
A MAGA production!
Kids dying of an easily preventable disease that had been almost completely eradicated.
Is this really what they call winning? Dead kids? Well hey, add in those dead kids in Texas, dead from more criminal negligence, and you have a banner week for MAGA-Fatty winning.
Sequel already in the works!
My guess is that even after Paramount caved and forked over the Fatty bribe, he’ll still stiff them and nix the big merger they have planned.
It’s what he does. He’s a greedy, vindictive, lying prick. I sent an email to Harvard’s President saying as much. You can’t give in to this crook. If you do, he’ll keep coming back for more and in the end he’ll still screw you.
It’s how he rolls. “Untrustworthy crook” seems redundant, but in Fat Hitler’s case, it’s entirely true.
Slave labor, Trump, ICE, and the GEO Group
Rounding up as many people (immigrants or not, those with or without criminal records—none of this matters to Himmler Miller or Cosplay Kristi, and it wouldn’t matter to the Orange Monster either if he weren’t mentally impaired) has multiple benefits for the Fat Hitler racist—authoritarian regime. First, it allows them to wreak vengeance on immigrants for not being white, and second, it’s a huge moneymaker for Trump and his for profit prison donors.
Here’s how it works, in a nutshell. Fatty sez “Lock up the brown people! Deport them!” The for profit prison industry sez “Oh yeah, baby, count us in!” The FPP CEOs fork over millions to Trump, he hires them to build and run prisons and deportation centers and hands them billions in taxpayer funded contracts. They, in turn, funnel more money back to Trump, personally.
It’s an assembly line of corruption the mob would kill for.
So, here we have the GEO Group, ICE’s primary contractor. GEO stock doubled the day after Fat Hitler was elected and it has skyrocketed since. They stand to make over a billion dollars from the demand for more and more ICE detention centers and concentration camps (they also make software to track immigrants, one stop shopping for the Nazis).
So now they have all these facilities. They need staff to clean and maintain the prisons, scrub floors and toilets. BUT! No need to hire employees and pay them. They force the detainees to work for next to nothing (a dollar a day). That’s slave labor. And here’s the other thing. These people are detainees, not inmates convicted of a crime.
And they make them use toxic chemicals that resulted in an EPA investigation of these dangerous practices. But guess what? That investigation was started under Biden. As soon as Fatty took over, the investigation was shelved.
Surprised? Hey, we can’t have a major donor worry about the safety of their slave labor and regular employees, right?
The grift, the corruption, and the human rights abuses never stop with these evil pricks.
Amanda Litman
"My FYP is video after video of pre-med students explaining how the big bill’s student loan cap will make it impossible for them to afford med school. Experts were already predicting a doctor shortage to the tune of 86k by 2036. This will make it exponentially worst."
A quick kvetch (kind of a drive through kvetch) then I’m done for the nonce…
I’m guessing you guys have been getting the usual messages from various Democratic groups, candidates, and the like. I get ‘em all the time:
“Have you heard what Trump did today? Click here!”
“We have three hours to stop R crooks from doing X! Click here.”
“Click here to voice your support for Democracy!”
“You still haven’t responded. What are you, an asshole?!”
But (and you know where this is going, right?) when you do click the link, you often get a long list of stuff you can agree or disagree with:
Do you think Trump should politicize the DOJ? Yes or No
Are you for fair elections? Yes or No
Are you an asshole? Yes or No
And after spending time clicking through this list, you get the “Now, to send in your answers and join us in fighting Trump, how much will you donate? $10, $50, $2000????
So here’s my kvetch. If these people were truly interested in my answers, they wouldn’t charge me to register them. I get that they’re looking for money. But I’m thinking far more people would respond if you made the donation optional, otherwise you just look like money grubbers. You want to build a strong grass roots coalition? You shouldn’t make forking over money a requirement.
Look, I’m never not going to be a Democrat, but this is the sort of short sighted, clueless crap that has the party in such a mess. This isn’t leadership, this is panhandling. Are you gonna vote for the guy who runs out when you’re at a stop light, wipes down your windshield then asks for money?
Christ, people! Get it together.
(Okay, so it wasn’t a drive through kvetch. If you want that, Click here and send me some money.)
This one didn't much warm my cockles:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-u-s-is-switching-sides/ar-AA1HXxPF
I think we can assume that TX is unable to take care of any of its people by itself. I don't know how Biden managed to engineer that flood, but sure as s***, any minute it will be all his fault. OH, and the fault of the locals who thought it was too expensive to put in a real warning system. But will any of the fatheads in the regime ever connect the dots to decimating the whole weather system because...?? Who knows. And because there is no climate crisis, I guess that gets us back to more than a hundred people dead in a flood that had been on their radar as a possibility since the 80s, and no one thought to move the camps, and put RV campgrounds further away from the river. So I guess we can blame Biden. Even if he is more coherent than the dunce pretending to be president... Sickening.
As for the thousands who died of covid, what is that explanation? None, I guess. When the next wave of that appears, no one at risk will pay attention to ANY instruction, since the R robots in every state legislature have made it plain that masks and closures are too hard for people to do...
I think the problem is hypnosis-induced stupidity. Anything Fishlips says is important and real, even if he made it up. And my god, the people "keeping us safe" are wormbrain and the puppy killer. Wow. I can't wait for the Gigantic Mass of Stupid to do something involving the nuclear codes.
Jeanne -
of course he blamed Biden.
I heard the newscast earlier today on local nbc (though this link from
India Today is cleaner than our local news clips). The comment is at 50 seconds in - I don't know how to start the video there....
That was Bidens setup
Gets more and more difficult to summon appropriate outrage, but I'll work on this one:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/us/politics/irs-churches-politics-endorse-candidates.html