Proliferation  😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢

Quagmire:  Under pressure from regional mediators Trump is considering whether or not to pursue a 10-day ceasefire with Iran in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but he’s also weighing the option of going all in on war by launching a massive military campaign.  Complicating matters Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi Arabia shipping intended to cut off the Red Sea route the Saudis are using to ship oil around the blockade in Hormuz.  Wars even if they’re called excursions or operations don’t come cheap which is why Trump has Secretary of War/Beer Pete Hegseth asking for more money.  Yesterday during his appearance before the Senate where he was pushing Trump’s $87.6 billion supplemental funding request he said that the war has cost $37.5 billion to date. He testified that the supplement is needed to replenish stocks of all those bombs and rockets that despite his and Trump’s continued insistence otherwise have not eviscerated Iran military capabilities.  Naturally, he blamed the shrinking weapon stockpile on Biden for providing so much assistance to Ukraine because every problem is still Biden’s fault. Ignoring that lots of the huge amount that was allocated for defense in last year’s funding package still hasn’t been spent and that a whole lot of money is hanging out in the bloated Department of Homeland Security budget he said that without the passage of the supplemental package, he’ll have to cut back on crucial items like troop training but definitely not on his plans to shoot all of the male troops full of testosterone, because priorities.  While Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine also argued for the added funding, he said that the military will figure out a way to do what it needs to do even if it’s not forthcoming because they always manage to muddle through. In other regional news, yesterday Trump approved a “landmark” nuclear deal for Saudi Arabia that will provide the Kingdom with a civilian nuclear program while also opening the door for local enrichment of uranium. The deal is very controversial; the Saudis have been pressing for US signoff on its nuclear aspirations for a long time but have been turned down repeatedly.  Trump came close to giving them approval during his first administration but then was persuaded not to. Though the Saudis insist that their program would be for civilian purposes only, they’re also on record saying that they’ll pursue a military nuclear program if Iran ever manages to produce the bombs that we say they are or at least were close to producing. It’s hard not to believe that Trump signed off on the Saudi’s program in exchange for Saudi Arabia’s continued support of his priorities, personal and national.  The Kingdom is currently a US ally but then again there was a time when Iran was an ally too.  On the subject of allies, when he campaigned for Mayor, NYC’s Mamdani promised to arrest Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu if he visited NYC during his term.  Israel’s Prime Miniters typically attend the regularly scheduled UN General Assembly meetings that take place every September in NYC. Netanyahu is expected to attend this year’s. Mamdani admitted yesterday that since he’s not a king, and not even a prince, he can’t arrest him. Israel is scheduled to hold new elections in October so who knows how much longer Bibi will be PM. The elections will be messy because Israel’s elections generally are but unlike other countries in the Middle East, Israel is a democracy and holds regular elections.     

Primary Update:  Yesterday was all about Arizona.  All of the candidates endorsed by Trump won their Republican primaries.  Since only election deniers get Trump endorsements, all of the winning Republicans are absolutely positively sure that Biden did not beat Trump in 2020. Among them is Congressman Andy Biggs who easily won his gubernatorial primary.  Biggs, a supporter of those friendly tourists who ransacked the Capitol on January 6^th, tried to get Arizona’s 2020 presidential election results tossed by pressuring Arizona’s House Speaker Rusty Bowers to sign a letter calling for official decertification.  Biggs will face off against Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs who is running for reelection. Elections in Arizona are typically very close so while the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State are currently all Democrats that could easily change which is why Trump had DOJ officials monitoring polling places in Maricopa, Apache and Pima Counties yesterday because if you can’t win legitimately, scaring voters away and/or questioning the legitimacy of election outcomes is Trump’s strategy and they probably wanted to get some practice time in before November.  On the Democratic front, moderate incumbent Greg Stanton easily fended off his progressive challenger Kai Newkirk who taking a page from the “progressive” handbook had attacked his long-term support for Israel.  There was no primary in New Jersey yesterday, but Democratic Governor Mikie Sherill announced that due to a “glitch” in the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission’s software system, 6000 non-citizens were automatically registered to vote between 2023 and 2024 when the “glitch” was fixed.  Of the 6000 registered, 400 actually voted though none of their votes, which crossed party lines, impacted the outcomes of any elections.  It’s good that Sherill went public with the problem which took place before she was governor, however not so good that it happened at all and that it’s surfacing while Trump is pressing to disenfranchise so many with his coveted SAVE Act. Moving on to South Carolina, apparently Trump’s encouragement and endorsement have worked.  Former Senator Lindsey Graham’s sister Darline who was supposed to be only an interim Senator is now running; however, with no chance of winning, the eccentric Nancy Mace is not.     

Literally More 💩:  RFK says that the explosive diarrhea causing cyclosporiasis parasite is under control.  It’s not. Also, despite a statement on Monday that Taylor Farms, coincidentally a big Republican contributor, had been falsely identified as the source of the still spreading cyclosporiasis parasite outbreak due to a false positive test result, it probably is the source, or at least one of the sources.  In other not MAHA news, RFK announced yesterday that he’s pausing over $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding to California and Minnesota, something about fraud but probably more about keeping in Trump’s good graces.  

 

Split Screens😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢⚽️

War and ⚽️:  Spain won the FIFA World Cup.  Trump who spent part of his weekend playing golf attended the Sunday match despite the escalating Iran war and even though New Jersey’s Meadowlands stadium doesn’t have the super secure ballroom he says he absolutely must have in order to safely host events in Washington.  The Canadian smoke covering parts of the Northeast is gone, at least for now, but not gone enough for Trump who is threatening to impose tariffs on our northern neighbors for their failure to adequately “sweep” their forests.  Parts of downtown Manhattan were flooded by the torrential rain that hit the area on Saturday night while another person died from Legionnaire’s disease on the Upper East Side. The FDA now says it goofed when it cited Taylor Farm’s Mexican lettuce as the source of the gnarly Cyclospora outbreak that’s infected thousands, about what you’d expect from the currently understaffed FDA and their also understaffed CDC cousin which stopped monitoring Cyclospora outbreaks because Elon Musk and his Doge geniuses thought that parasite monitoring was so yesterday.  Usha Vance gave birth to a baby boy, VP Vance’s fourth child.  The Vance’s baby was planned but if Secretary of War/Beer Pete Hegseth’s testosterone for male troops plans are implemented there will be a slew of very unplanned “rape” babies born soon, at least that’s what Fox’s Jesse Watters more than implied (celebrated?) on Friday.  While Usha was in labor, the rest of us were watching football, washing lettuce, seeking shelter from the rain deluge, and/or doing our best to evade legionella infected water towers, four more soldiers died in the escalating Iran war that’s now almost five months old. The four soldiers, three of whom died during a strike on a US base in Jordan and another from shrapnel during a “controlled” detonation of an Iranian drone in northern Iraq, are just the tip of the iceberg, thousands more have died in the region, and an additional 430 American soldiers have been injured or wounded since the war began. Nevertheless, Trump who has upped attacks on Iran insists we’ve won, and that the Strait of Hormuz is under our control but like many things he says, as our regional allies who keep on getting struck by Iran’s missiles and drones know, that’s fake news. 

Senate Mania:  Though Maine’s Democratic party selection process for replacing the Nazi tattooed, accused rapist Graham Planter isn’t over yet, the state’s Democrats appear to be coalescing behind former state Senate president Troy Jackson.  Seeing the writing on the wall, three other of major candidates including Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, physician Nirav Shah and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, have dropped out of the race. Jackson who shares most of Platner’s “progressive” views, is the guy who was previously accused of throwing a bottle at one of Platner’s female supporters. Apparently Jackson’s bottle throwing pales in comparison to Platner’s sexcapades and ink 🤷‍♀️ so that’s not a problem, or not yet a problem.  While the Maine mess has been getting lots of attention, there’s a lot going on in other Senate races. In Nebraska where incumbent Republican Pete Ricketts is up for reelection, with the blessing of her party Cindy Burbank, the official Democratic candidate has dropped out of the race, throwing her support to Nebraska Independent Dan Osborn who while viewed as a longshot has a better chance of unseating Ricketts. As part of his pitch to voters, Osborn says that if he wins he won’t caucus with either party. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola, the native Alaskan who served in Congress for one plus terms before losing her reelection bid in 2024, a victim of Trump’s sweep, is running against incumbent Republican Dan S Sullivan. Peltola is a credible candidate whose chances in Alaska’s ranked choice voting election may be helped by Dan Sullivan’s Dan Sullivan problem.  That problem involves the candidacy of a second Dan Sullivan who can be distinguished from Incumbent Dan only by his middle initial J.  Despite efforts by the state’s Republican party and Incumbent Dan S to have him booted, name “doppelganger” Dan J remains on the ballot. It’s confusing but that’s the point.  South Carolina still has to choose a Republican to replace departed Senator Lindsey Graham in the November election.  Over the weekend Trump muddied up that process by announcing his endorsement of Lindsey’s sister Darline Graham Nordone who was sworn in last week as South Carolina’s interim “place saving” Senator.  To date Darline has not indicated an interest in running for a full term but then again, Trump’s endorsement almost guarantees her the seat if she wants it so she might decide she wants it.  That would be a major disappointment to those who plan to run including Republican Congressman Ralph Norman who announced his candidacy this weekend. In Michigan which may be the most important race of all, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who were among Graham Platner’s supporters were out campaigning for candidate Abdul Al Sayed, their now favorite progressive who can’t find it within him to say that “rogue state” Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state.  AOC who notably did not endorse Platner maybe because she believed all the accusations against him was also on the Al Sayed trail this weekend.  Al Sayed is running against more moderate candidate Congresswoman Haley Stevens who has been endorsed by retiring Senator Gary Peters, former Senator Debbie Stabenow, Emily’s List, and the Congressional Black Caucus in appreciation for her support of them.  She also has support from AIPAC, which is the ultimate double-edged sword.      

Governor Mishigas:  Trump has endorsed wacko pillow guy Mike Lindell who is running for governor in Minnesota against Senator Amy Klobuchar.  Republican Lindell is not registered to vote in Minnesota, but he is a dedicated Trump fan and election denier and besides, he’s got precedent on his side since Alabama Senator “coach” Tommy Tuberville resides in Florida when he’s not in Washington and is now running to become Alabama’s next Governor.  The race to replace Wisconsin’s retiring Democratic Governor Tony Evers hit a bigly bump this weekend after the Democratic party’s leading candidate Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez dropped out over improprieties in her finance reports. Governor Ever’s preferred candidate, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who had left the race because of Rodriguez’s ascendance, has now reentered the race.  Other Democrats running include State Representative Francesca Hong and former Lt Governor Mandela Barnes who lost his Senate bid against Republican Ron Johnson in 2022. Wisconsin is the ultimate fifty-fifty state; moderate Democrats fear that progressives Hong and Barnes would lose the election to the Republican candidate Tom Tiffany. 🤷‍♀️

 

Big Big Lies 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢 🔥

Five Alarm🔥:  Last night, Trump who has dismantled much of the country’s election safeguards gave a speech in which he amplified a false narrative about the country’s elections being compromised by foreign players, most notably China and Venezuela but definitely not Russia.  Ironically, he was the president during the “compromised” 2020 election that he insists he won even though he didn’t and won the 2016 and 2024 elections when Democrats were in control because elections are only compromised when he loses. Oddly enough, some of the documents that Trump declassified to buttress his claims actually debunk them.  Trump also claimed hundreds of thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote and went off on China “stealing” voter data.   The voter data that he claims China stole are widely available to anyone who want them and hundreds of thousands of noncitizens are not registered voters, but both assertions are the kind of ominous sounding lies that freak out the people he wants most to alarm and energize.   To quote Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal:  “Trump didn’t provide any evidence of voter fraud, prove that people had cast ballots in the US who shouldn’t have or reveal that election outcomes had been altered because of interference.” The point of his speech was to inject uncertainty into the upcoming elections in order to justify asserting federal control over statewide elections, particularly in those states where elections are likely to be close so that he can ensure that he and his party maintain control of the House and Senate because Trump really fears loss of power, oversight, and another impeachment.  To that end, he also pushed for the passage of the voter squelching SAVE Act. For the most part, the major networks did not air his speech in its entirety or on their main platforms though the increasingly MAGA friendly CBS carried most of it, cutting him off at the end when he called for their competitors to lose their broadcast licenses for not giving him airtime.  While it’s easy to dispute much if not all of what Trump said during the speech, his lies carry enormous weight. Whether Trump’s manages to wrest control away from state and local authorities may not matter. He’s setting the stage for a January 6 on steroids if, as expected, Republicans lose the November elections, and this time there won’t be any Mike Pence types to call his bluff because he’s effectively fired or eliminated the dissenters in his party and there doesn’t appear to be anyone willing to talk truth to power in his administration.

Confirmation Polka: On the subject of truth or the lack thereof, the confirmation process for Jay Clayton and Todd Blanche isn’t done yet. Director of National Intelligence nominee Clayton, like all of Trump’s other picks, refuses to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden, not because he doesn’t know that Biden won but because he knows his nomination will be pulled if he says so.  The devious Blanche is shifty about everything though he did accidentally speak truth when he inadvertently admitted that he still views himself as Trump’s lawyer.  Yesterday, after outgoing North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said that he wouldn’t provide the key vote that Blanche needs to get his nomination voted out of the Judiciary Committee onto the floor of the Senate unless Blanche met with some of the Epstein victims, Blanche finally sat down with a few of them.  Though Blanche reports that the meetings were terrific, the victims he met with disagreed with one saying he “treated the meeting as a mere ‘check-the-box’ exercise intended to secure votes for his confirmation. He danced around his wording, repeatedly interrupted us, and could not commit to anything that would demonstrate good faith or begin to restore trust.”  Another said she “found him abrasive, condescending and intentionally noncommittal to survivors.” Tillis, who threatened to vote against Pete Hegseth’s nomination before voting for him, says that he’s now happy with Blanche because crossing Trump even on his way out of the Senate is a step too far especially if he wants one of those lucrative lobbying jobs or maybe even an ambassadorship.  For his part, Secretary of War and Beer Hegseth who keeps firing and/or refusing to promote Black people and women is now focused on making sure members of the military have adequate levels of testosterone. 🤦‍♀️

More 💩:  The Iran war is still on, bigly.  More than 100 House Democrats joined outgoing Republican Thomas Massie in voting against the continued funding of Israel because voting against Israel is a thing these days. Massie whose one good thing was supporting the Epstein victims always votes against foreign aid, he is a member of the Jewish Space laser crowd, his social media posts have grown increasingly anti-Semitic, and he’s very mad at Trump who he holds responsible for his demise so his sponsorship of the anti-Israel amendment is no surprise.  Some of the Democrats votes were performative, a statement against the Netanyahu government, others have always voted against all things Israel, and some voted the way they did because they live in fear of being threatened and/or losing their primaries. Weird how many of the same people are mostly silent when other countries do things.  Why is that?   For his part “walk to the beat of his own drummer” Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is threatening to abandon the Democratic party if it abandons Israel. He’s erratic but his threat should be taken seriously because losing him could be the difference between Democrats regaining the Senate majority or not.  On the subject of erratic, Trump has countermanded the Department of Homeland Security’s temporary suspension of potentially lethal car stops, more than implying that he wants more rather than fewer opportunities for senseless deaths. Keeping with the 💩 theme, the CDC which has far fewer people focusing on food borne diseases these days because what’s a little diarrhea among friends says it has identified the source of the Cyclospora outbreak.  They say it’s linked to the shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bells in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.  However, there have also been Cyclospora outbreaks in other states including New York, Texas, North Carolina, Illinois, and New Jersey to name a few so maybe their search should continue?  Turning back to 💩ty things in Trump world, Trump’s teleprompter operator has been suspended for placing bets based on his early view of the contents of Trump’s speeches which makes it that much more bizarre but totally in character that Trump Media plans to further monetize Trump by selling early access to his Truth Social media posts.  That reeks of corruption and insider trading, but it’s not like anyone in power has a👃for that kind of thing anymore.

 

 
Tune in on Thursday 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢

Wars:  Despite Trump’s multiple assertions that he’s won the war with Iran and that Tehran wants peace more than us, we’re still at war and the war is escalating with no end in sight.  For a while this week, Trump who is once again threatening to bomb Iran to smithereens, said that the US would take over the Strait of Hormuz, charging passing ships transit fees to cover the costs of their protection. Given that just about everyone, except for Iran and Oman but including Secretary of State Rubio have rejected the idea of imposing transit tolls for a previously free waterway, that idea sunk like a lead balloon. In response to the pushback, Trump pulled another TACO; he now says that countries in the region will compensate for their protection by investing in the US.  That’s one of his favorite lines, it’s a face-saving claim, the transit fee is off the table, the investment will probably never come.  Though there have been no reported deaths of US soldiers on the Iran front this week, the same can’t be said about the war against immigrants.  It turns out that arming untrained ICE agents with guns has consequences, something that proved deadly for 25-year -old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a father and Columbia national who was killed when an ICE agent shot into his car in Maine. Guerrero was not the person ICE was seeking, “just” collateral damage in Trump’s war against immigrants.  Naturally, the official government response is that Guerrero was using his car as a weapon.  There’s no evidence of that and at least for now, in response to Guerrero’s death and last week’s “shooting while driving” death of 52-year-old construction worker Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado in Houston, ICE agents have been directed to halt most traffic stops. Worth noting, Maine Senator Susan Collins provided a critical vote for the huge ICE funding package.  Though Democrats still haven’t selected a candidate to oppose her, they’re making sure that Maine voters are well aware of that vote and though it might be wish casting, polls show her lagging behind a TBD Democrat . On the Senate front, Linsdey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone was sworn in as his replacement yesterday. She’ll serve until January when she’ll be replaced by the winner of South Carolina’s November election. Picking a family member as an interim replacement for a dead Senator is not without precedent, usually the interim appointee is a spouse but since Graham was a bachelor, Darline, who has no plans to run for election, was not a surprising choice.     

Flashing Red Lights:  The Iran war and the INS shooting news are newsworthy but something even more frightening is scheduled to take place on Thursday night when Trump takes to the airwaves to deliver a primetime speech in which he plans to provide “evidence” the outcome of the 2020 election, the one he lost to Joe Biden, was swayed by foreign interference in those voting machines that he’s been screeching about for years.  To bolster his claims, he plans to share previously rejected “proof” provided to him by Bill Pulte, the interim Director of National Intelligence who picked up the ball from Tulsi Gabbard who had spent some of her final days as DNI lurking around Fulton County, Georgia’s election facilities and who has been kept in place longer than anyone had anticipated to provide Trump with this kill the midterms ammunition. It’s reported that Trump is going to claim that Georgia’s two Democratic Senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are illegitimate since they benefited from all that phantom foreign manipulation of Fulton County’s election machines. Notably Warnock didn’t just win in 2020 when he was running in a special election to replace Republican Senator Johnny Isaacson who stepped down for health-related reasons, he also won a full term in 2022.  Ossoff is up for reelection in November. Early in the year, Republicans had targeted his seat as their most likely pick up but much to their dismay, his popularity his grown and he’s polling well.  Absent election interference from Trump’s forces, Ossoff is expected to win reelection which goes far to explaining what Trump is doing.  He is laying the groundwork to justify taking over Fulton County’s election apparatus, a plan that will involve scrubbing the election rolls of “illegitimate” Democratic voters while stationing very intimidating armed troops outside of Fulton County polling places to scare off voters. He won’t limit himself to Georgia, he is expected to use his faux claims of election interference to justify doing the same in other heavily Democratic areas in swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

More 💩: Confirmation hearings for Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee to replace Bill Pulte, and Todd Blanche, the interim Attorney General who Trump wants confirmed to the AG spot that used to be filled by Pam Bondi take place today.  Clayton whose initial hearing was delayed so that Trump could keep the nefarious Pulte in place a bit longer is expected to his quick confirmation, not because he’s qualified but because Senators on both sides of the aisle want Pulte gone from the DNI spot as soon as possible. Unless a few Republicans, especially ones like John Cornyn and Thom Tillis who are on their way out and therefore have little to lose, step up to the plate, Blanche who should not be confirmed will be confirmed as well. That’s a travesty.  He doesn’t even pretend to be anything but Trump’s personal lawyer.  On Monday, while trashing the deal that Blanche helped Trump “negotiate” with the IRS, the one that would eliminate audits of his tax returns and that also involved the funding of a huge slush fund for Trump’s January 6 abettors, Federal Judge Kathleen Williams of the Southern District of Florida referred him to the NY Bar, more than suggesting that he’s not fit to practice law.  As noted in today’s NY Times editorial, Blanche “has celebrated the January 6 rioters. He has misled Congress under oath. He has said it is Mr. Trump’s ‘right,’ and ‘indeed it is his duty,’ to use the department to investigate people he ‘has had issues with.’”  Blanche has also engaged in “frivolous” prosecutions of Trump’s foes, impeded the Epstein investigation, and probably promised Ghislaine Maxwell, who he had moved to a Club Fed, a pardon if only she keeps her mouth shut about Trump’s Epstein related crimes. Sadly, Blanche is the worst, which is why Trump wants him confirmed and also why so many of Trump’s abettors will vote for his confirmation.  On a positive note, E Jean Caroll has finally received the $5 million (plus interest) that Trump fought so hard to deny her.     

 

 

 

Ghost 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢

Switcheroo:  Over the past few weeks, the focus has been on the health of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell with rumors circulating that he was on life-support so when screens lit up very early Sunday morning with news that South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham had died, it was worth a triple take. While older than the 64-year average age of members of the Senate, at 71, Graham wasn’t even among the ten oldest members of the upper house.  In addition to the 84-year-old McConnell, that list includes Iowa’s Chuck Grassley (92), Vermont’s Bernie Sanders (84), Idaho’s Jim Risch (82), Maine’s Angus King (81), Illinois’ Dick Durbin (81), Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal (79), Massachusetts’ Ed Markey (79), New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen (78) and Oregon’s Ron Wyden (77).  Like McConnell, Durbin and Shaheen are retiring this year.  Risch and Markey, who is being primary challenged by Congressman Seth Moulton, are running for reelection because if Grassley can stick around forever, why shouldn’t they try? Though a number of conspiracy theorists and Kremlin watchers have suggested that Graham’s death was due to one of Putin’s nefarious poisons, initial reports are that the globetrotting, pro-Ukraine, pro-Israel Trump whisperer died from an aortic rupture.  As to Mitch, he’s hardly the picture of health, but judging by the message and accompanying photo he posted yesterday which included a “proof of life” copy of a July 12 newspaper, he’s still among the living.  McConnell who suffers from post-polio syndrome, said that despite reports that he’d suffered a heart attack, he hadn’t, rather his absence was due to one of his frequent falls, this one so serious that it knocked him out, landing him in the hospital where he also contracted pneumonia.  He has moved from an acute care hospital to a rehab facility and though he doesn’t know when he’ll return, he asserts he will and intends to remain in the Senate through his retirement in January. 

Senate Bingo:  Since he was running for reelection, Graham will need to be replaced twice.  South Carolina’s termed out Republican Governor Henry McMaster, no doubt with Trump’s forceful input, will first appoint a “place-filler” Senator who will serve through January 3, 2027.  At the same time, McMaster will schedule a primary where state voters will decide who should replace Graham on the November ballot. According to South Carolina law, a one-week filing period for a special primary election begins on the second Tuesday after the candidate’s death, or July 21.  The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday after that filing period closes, or August 11. Any necessary runoff would follow two weeks after that, or August 25. Reports are that erratic Congresswoman Nancy Mace who came in fifth in the Republican gubernatorial primary is considering a run, as are Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette who lost the gubernatorial runoff despite being endorsed by Trump and businessman Mark Lynch who lost to Graham in this year’s Senate primary. The winner of the special primary, or runoff if necessary, will face off against Democrat Annie Andrews in November. By virtue of Graham’s death, South Carolina pushed the Maine Senate race off the cover for a minute, but since Maine’s November race is expected to be far more competitive than a race in the very Republican South Carolina and may even decide who wins control of the Senate, it will soon be back above the fold. On Friday afternoon, Maine’s Nazi tattooed accused sexual predator Graham Platner finally formally withdrew his candidacy, surprising many who’d thought that the remorseless creep, who signed off of his withdrawal statement with the words “F*ck ICE, Free Palestine, would stall until the last minute.              

More War and 💩: Though Graham’s death dominated the Sunday news, Iran hasn’t gone away, if anything hostilities have gotten worse.  While Trump keeps insisting that Iran wants peace more than he does, the Mullahs and the IRGC have a funny way of showing it.  The missiles continue to fly, ships in the Strait of Hormuz are still being targeted, and to put more pressure on the US and the critical oil markets, Iran continues to target neighboring Arab countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, and the UAE.  The language in the now infamous (worthless?) Memorandum of Understanding about who gets to control transit through the Strait is absurdly vague.  Iran interprets it to mean that they get to govern transit, the US does not agree. Perhaps vagueness and the accidently ceding of control of key transit points are things that happen when a real estate buddy and a son in law are your chief negotiators 🤷‍♀️.  It’s not just Iran that’s frustrating Trump, he’s bigly mad that the NY Times reported that his Qatar gifted 747 is missing crucial security accoutrements.  On Friday, he forced FBI Director Kash Patel to cancel his plans to fly another grift trip on his government funded plane to another one of his girlfriend’s performances, commanding him to show up at the White House and work up subpoenas for the five NYTimes reporters, including Julian Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, Eric Schmitt and Adam Goldman, who’d worked on the article detailing the security features that Trump’s new airplane/toy lacks.   Those subpoenas which were issued by the SDNY were then delivered to the journalists who Trump wants to force into coughing up the names of the government employees who “leaked” the plane’s obvious inadequacies.  Obvious, because just about everyone knew that the plane was rushed into service too quickly for all the needed expensive, complex, and time consuming security features to be incorporated. The NY Times five are due in court on Wednesday, “setting up what is likely to become an expedited legal battle over whether reporters can be compelled to testify about confidential sourcing and newsgathering.”

 

 

Snakes on A Plane 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Flying Blind: Trump spent at least $400 million maybe as much as $1 billion of taxpayer money retrofitting his new “grifted” Qatari Air Force One.  The plane is snazzy, has tactless golden Trumpy decor and an exterior color palate more to his liking but is missing some critical defensive features, including anti-missile capability.  It is also lacking presidential level communication capabilities including a situation room because Trump wanted it put into service ASAP, and all those critical features, which he won’t need when he takes the plane with him after his term ends, assuming it ever does, take time 🤦‍♀️. Though he shouldn’t have Trump flew it to Ankara for the NATO meetings so he could show off his new toy but, given that we’re back to what appears to be an escalating war with Turkey’s neighbor Iran, at the insistence of his security advisors, he swapped back to the old Air Force One for his trip out of Turkey.  We shouldn’t be surprised that Trump prioritized aesthetics over security to rush the plane into service, nor should we be surprised that the Memorandum of Understanding that his incompetent and inexperienced negotiating team, AKA son in law and real estate buddy, hastily negotiated is flailing because that’s how he rolls, speed over competence, glitz over function. So here we are, a fancy new plane that shouldn’t be used at all but definitely never used for international travel and a poorly planned war with the country that he very publicly referred to as the Islamic Republic of Japan 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️that is proving increasingly difficult to end.  It’s not just the war and the plane, and all of Trump’s other frighteningly delusional misstatements like the one where he referred to Ukraine’s Zelenskyy who was seated next to him as Putin, despite Trump’s insistence otherwise, he’s mucked up the economy. Yesterday in an editorial titled “How Trump’s Tariffs really work,” the Wall Street Journal pointed out that those tariffs have resulted in a 75,000 lost of manufacturing jobs, raised the costs for US manufacturers, hurt America’s farmers, depressed purchases of agriculture equipment.  National security tariffs on autos and parts have cost $35.2 billion, steel and aluminum tariffs another $17.5 billion and that auto tariffs on Canada and Mexico alone have added $1600 to the cost of US made cars while also depressing the sales of those cars. Though Trump has gotten substantially richer, inflation is up, growth is down, and the oil reserves that were released to ease the pain at the pump caused by the war are critically low and need to be replenished. 

Maine Mess: Graham Platner finally withdrew, well sort of withdrew, from Maine’s Senate race on Wednesday.  Sort of because though he said that he’s suspended his candidacy, he’s yet to officially request that his name be taken off the ballot; he has until Monday to do that and appears to be taking his time and maybe even leaving himself with an opening to stay.  Platner made his announcement on Wednesday night, via a pathetic eleven-minute video where instead of taking the high road, he went low, denying all the accusations levied against him and snarling while saying that he was only withdrawing from the race because the forces of evil, as in those Washington based establishment Democrats (cough, cough Schumer and AIPAC) have lined up against him by withdrawing their financial support 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ 🤦‍♀️. If anything, he made it clear that he never should have been the candidate. Apparently he still doesn’t know what his tattoo represents and those women, they’re all lying about everything.  Just about everyone available, including a number who’ve previously lost primary races and prior bids to unseat incumbent Susan Collins, have thrown their hats into the ring to replace Platner.  Maine Democrats plan to hold a convention during which a total of 600 delegates, 500 from each of Maine’s county party committees, and another 100 who are state committee members will meet to select Platner’s replacement. And because endorsing an unvetted candidate worked out so well for him the first time, uber-progressive Congressman Ro Khanna rushed to immediately endorse “bottle thrower” Troy Jackson, one of the leading new contenders.

More 💩:  ICE has killed another person 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️, this time in Houston where they shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo a Mexican National who had lived in the US for decades, had no criminal record, and who was on his way to work at a homebuilding site.  Araujo wasn’t even the person that the INS intended to arrest but obviously he deserved to be shot, or so authorities want us to believe. On the health front, a few months ago, the CDC cutback its surveillance of foodborne illnesses, probably not all that surprising given RFK and his propensity for hanging with brain worms and jumping in polluted bodies of water but just a bit of a problem given that there’s currently a multi-state outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness.  At least 18 states are affected, with notable infection spikes in Michigan (over 1,000 cases) and New York City (nearly 400 cases).  Weird how those gnarly, persistent bacteria and viruses keep doing their thing even when RFK and his cronies think that if they just ignore them they won’t.  Trump still hasn’t paid E J Caroll the $5 million plus that the courts have mandated that he has to pay her, and even worse, he’s still fighting his obligation, asking for a SCOTUS mulligan.  Then again he’s all into mulligans, he also wants SCOTUS to reconsider its birth right citizen ruling. While he’s not happy about how the decision turned out, he’s already taking advantage of the decision that said he can fire anyone he wants as long as that person isn’t a law-abiding member of the Federal Reserve Board.  Yesterday, Trump terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide. The commission certifies voting systems and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993.  Nothing but everything to see there.

 

 

Plan B 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢 🧨

War not Peace: On Tuesday, the Pentagon launched major strikes at Iran in response to Tehran’s attacks on commercial ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time the US revoked the controversial authorization permitting Iranian oil sales. Iran responded by saying that they would once again target US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. This morning before leaving the NATO meeting in Ankara, Trump announced that the ceasefire is over calling the initial peace agreement with Iran dead.  He also called Iran’s leaders liars and sick people.  So much for that much trumpeted memorandum of understanding. The rocky path to peace is just that, rocky, especially given how well Iran is using its Strait of Hormuz trump card. Trump, who promised no wars, especially long ones, is learning the hard way that Iran is not Venezuela and why the presidents who preceded him resisted efforts to attack Iran despite all the trouble it caused. Oil prices are up again this morning and stock futures are down. As to those NATO meetings in Ankara, Trump behaved about as well as expected as in not well at all.  He cozied up to Turkey’s autocratic leader Erdogan while antagonizing the rest of the members of NATO including Italy’s Meloni who not so long ago was one of his BFFs.  He once again expressed his desire to takeover Greenland saying it should be controlled by the US rather than Denmark, while complaining about all the money the US spends to help Europe defend itself against Russia, again threatening to remove all US soldiers out of Europe. He also dissed Ukraine, probably something he promised to do on a call with Putin.

Maine Mess:  Graham Platner still hasn’t officially pulled out of the Senate race, but he will soon because despite his efforts to extract some kind of commitment to be replaced with a like-minded candidate few care what he thinks anymore. Worth noting that Platner wasn’t even the working-class hero he, or his handlers, portrayed him to be.  He came from an affluent family, attended private school, his father “lent” him the money to buy his home, and my favorite, his mother’s restaurant bought the oysters he farmed. Yesterday another one of his innumerable ex-girlfriends came forward, revealing that without her consent he had a habit of removing condoms during sex. It’s no wonder that Emily’s List, the organization that champions pro-choice women candidates never endorsed him. As to his replacement, a number of candidates have thrown their hats into the ring. The list includes Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows who ran but lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary; former president of the Maine Senate Troy Jackson who once threw a bottle at a female colleague; Nirav Shah, a former director of Maine’s public health agency; Jordan Wood, who had been an early candidate in the race but pivoted to and then lost a primary for the northern Maine House district currently represented by retiring Congressman Jared Golden; and Dan Kleban, the founder of Maine Beer Company who had also been an early candidate but dropped out and endorsed Governor Janet Mills. Golden’s representative said that he has no interest in running, not a surprise since he previously decided not to run for the Senate seat.  The Maine Democratic party is currently considering the best way to proceed with a selection process that may involve some kind of mini convention or caucus. Though Platner needs to officially withdraw by July 13, the party has until July 27 to pick a new Senate nominee. Last night on his program Lawrence O’Donnell said that though lots of his colleagues and competitors hosted Platner, he never had him on his program or had much to say about him because he never expected him to go the distance. He went on to talk about the importance of real vetting.  We need to pay more attention to the usually smart and experienced O’Donnell.  

Other 💩:  Senators John Thune and John Barrasso and CNN’s Republican abettor Scott Jennings all insist they’ve spoken with Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell.  Curiously, all their conversations lasted twenty minutes. If McConnell resigns or expires before August 3, Kentucky law no longer allows Kentucky’s Governor, in this case Democrat Andy Beshar, to appoint his replacement; instead, it requires that he be replaced by a special election. If he “leaves” after that date, his seat will remain vacant at least until the results of the November election.  Until the Mitch issue is “resolved,” Republicans remain down a Senate vote. In other news, the Trump administration appears poised to continue rewriting history, as in stripping references to slavery and anything else they determine to be DEI, by taking control of the Smithsonian.  On the election front, they are quietly and not so quietly waging a war against voting in Democratic strongholds.  To that end the DOJ plans to deploy federal election monitors to Detroit, Lansing, and East Lansing for Michigan's August 4 primary election. Add that to the administration’s efforts to get hold of and “cleanse” state voter rolls while also dredging up “proof” that Trump really won the 2020 election to see where all this is going.  Spoiler alert, it’s not going anywhere good.