Taxman 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢 🌮

🌮🌮🌮: It was another TACO🌮weekend. Trump promised a massive military action against Iran but then called it off saying that he was once again on the verge of opening the Strait of Hormuz and getting Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions, with the  “perimeters” of a deal, perimeter being another one of his malapropisms.   His 🌮came at the request of “regional allies and Saudi Arabia” but was apparently a surprise to Israel who, according to senior Israeli officials, were “left in the fog,” updated about his change in plans through Trump’s social media. Meantime, the FBI has tied dozens of water and wastewater system cyber attacks in seven states to Iran. Trump shrugged off the attacks, blaming the ones in Minnesota on the gross incompetence of Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz even though he has been told by his intelligence officials that the attacks originated in Iran.  It wasn’t just danger to the water and sewer systems that Trump was spinning, he also continued to lie about the cause of the damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pond, lashing out at his handpicked Washington DC US Attorney Jeanine “Judge Box of Wine” Pirro for dropping the charges against David Hearn, the Olympic canoeist who’d been indicted for slashing the pools liner.  Pirro, who had managed to obtain that indictment against Hearn before researching the facts behind his alleged crime, admitted that documents she’s since received from the Department of the Interior reveal that the damage she previously attributed to Hearn was a “result of flawed installation by the contractor." In other words, the Mar a Lago buddy of Trump’s appropriately named Greenwater company had botched the job.  Trump’s buddy had been awarded the contract and told to complete his assignment toot suite so that the pool would be ready for Trump’s 250^th anniversary soiree. He apparently prioritized toot suite over doing it well.  Unlike Pirro, who when push came to shove, was unwilling to overtly lie in a court of law, Trump’s other toady, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum is sticking with the “canoeist did it” story, insisting that the pool job his department oversaw was not botched. Judge Box of Wine may be back at Fox sooner than she’d planned because speaking truth is a definite no-no in Trump land especially when the result of that truth casts aspersions on Trump.   

 

Blanche Saga: When last week ended, Todd Blanche’s confirmation was being held up by Dead Men Walking Senators John Cornyn and Tom Tillis over their objections to Trump’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization “slush” fund and its wide-ranging Trump tax amnesty provision.  Over the weekend Trump doubled down, saying that despite Blanche’s verbal promise not to move forward with the slush fund, he most definitely would move forward with it especially if Blanche, who he said would be the best Attorney General in the history of the US, wasn’t confirmed. Late last night, Blanche sort of caved.  He confirmed in a signed statement posted on X (twitter) that the Justice Department would rescind the order that created the anti-weaponization fund and in an accompanying but curiously unsigned statement walked back parts, although not all of Trump’s IRS protections. The “clarified” IRS protections would grant immunity from audits “only” to Trump, Don Jr, Eric, and the Trump Organization, rather than the broader pool of Trump family members and their associates, a group who would have benefited from the original Justice Department deal with Trump. The “get out of audits free card” would not pertain to future audits.  Though they shouldn’t, Blanche’s concessions satisfy Cornyn and maybe will be enough for Tillis though he hasn’t confirmed that yet. If Tillis is on board, the concessions, even the watered-down IRS concession, will probably be enough to get Blanche’s confirmation out of the Judiciary committee onto the floor of the Senate for his confirmation vote and if history is a guide, all Republicans except for Susan Collins who given her upcoming election will probably be awarded a “bye,” will vote for his confirmation.  It would be naïve to believe that Trump won’t still try to compensate the marauders who invaded the Capitol by reupping the weaponization fund or through other means.  It’s also absurd to think of his IRS deal, assuming it stands the test of time and the courts, as anything other than a bigly win for Trump.

Miller Time:  Ohio Congressman Max Miller, who “allegedly” poured hot water on his now ex-wife Emily and broke their two-year-old daughter’s collar bone finally had the rough weekend he deserves.  After he posted a video saying that Emily, the daughter of Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, was unstable and had been lying about how he’d hurt her and their child, asserting that the hot water was tossed in fun, citing as “proof” that it was a nothing burger that six days after he scalded her she had cooked him dinner, his father in law Senator Moreno issued a statement in which he finally defended his daughter.  Senator Moreno said that the “last two years have been pure hell” for his daughter, his wife, and his family. That out of concern for the safety of his daughter he had hoped to keep their situation private but that Miller’s “increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior had made that impossible.”  He then said that Miller should step down from Congress, a bit embarrassing for others like fellow Ohio Congressman Jim “Gym” Jordan who just been on TV expressing support for Miller. Adding to the ugliness, Miller doubled down, attacking his ex-father-in-law Moreno by casting aspersions on his sexuality, implying that Moreno who may or may not have previously posted on a gay dating site was in the closet. Miller should resign, but it’s not clear he will.  It’s also not clear that Speaker Johnson who needs his vote will admit that saw any of the relevant social media posts. One person whose benefitting from the Miller mess may be his Democratic opponent Brian Poindexter, then again Trump has endorsed Miller and so far hasn’t pulled his endorsement.  Who needs soap operas when reality is so much more riveting?  

More 💩:  RFK appeared with CNN’s Dana Bash yesterday.  It’s not clear why anyone thinks he deserves Sunday morning airtime.  He was combative and lied a lot, Bash tried to push back, and she did but not enough.  He blamed Democrats for making him look crazy as if that’s why he looks crazy. He continued to blame autism on vaccines citing hundreds of non- existent studies, he blamed Virus Guru Fauci who some of his Republican colleagues want jailed for everything, and when asked about what he’d do in a future pandemic he said he’d prioritize the Constitution. Measles levels on his watch surged to a 35 year high last year and he’s talking about the Constitution for future COVID like outbreaks.  🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Tomorrow is primary day in Kansas, Missouri, Virginia, Washington, and in Michigan where the Democratic Senate race for the seat being vacated by Senator Gary Peters is the one to watch. Also, 80-year-old Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur who is running for reelection was injured in a hit and run car crash. Reports are that she and her aide who was also hurt are hospitalized in stable condition, hopefully far more stable than Mitch McConnell who is either recovering from being old and infirm in rehab, on life support, or according to some dead.  If it’s the latter, we might know by tomorrow because today is the last day that a special election for his seat can be called. And because, of course, Elon Musk who once said he was out of the election business, is not.  He’s planning on spending boatloads of money for Republican candidates because he’s rich and he can.    

 

 

Diversionary Tactics 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢

Slush:   During his Senate Confirmation hearing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that Trump’s weaponization/slush fund, which includes a provision granting permanent tax amnesty to Trump, his family, his companies, and any affiliated companies, was dead. He refuses to put what he said in writing, a confirmation that he was lying. Blanche is a Trump tool, more than 1,200 former DOJ employees and hundreds of federal prosecutors, including former colleagues from the SDNY have signed letters opposing his confirmation.  In addition, he has intentionally mishandled the Epstein files, likely to hide anything that might implicate Trump. Despite all those flaws soon to be ex-Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis say that they’d happily confirm Blanche but only if he first puts his promise to nix the weaponization fund, including its Trump tax amnesty, in writing. The catch is that Trump wants his slush fund and really, really wants that tax amnesty so he won’t let Blanche put what Cornyn and Tillis insist they must have in writing. Assuming the dead man walking duo aren’t persuaded to cave, their demand is a problem for Blanche and his orange client because both Cornyn and Tillis are on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  With all of the Committee’s Democrats voting against his confirmation, Blanche can’t make it out of committee to the Senate floor for a vote without Cornyn and Tillis’ support.  Yesterday, providing further indication of how important the slush fund, particularly its tax amnesty provision is to him, Trump threatened to pull Blanche’s nomination until January, resubmitting it once Cornyn and Tillis are gone. Putting aside that there’s a chance, albeit a small one, that Republicans won’t control the Senate come January, Trump’s threat is form over substance because he can keep Blanche on as Acting Attorney General for as long as he wants though being confirmed is better than being acting. It’s very revealing of how important the tax amnesty is to Trump.  We’ve long known that he owes at least $100 million plus interest on one of his prior returns, It’s fair to assume he and some other members of his family owe or anticipate that they will owe much more because why else would he be fighting over a “mere” $100 million, small potatoes for someone with a $6 billion plus net worth. There’s got to be more to his financial picture. 🤷‍♀️

 

The Fauci Diversion: The on again, off again Iran war is mostly on, economic growth is anemic, inflation continues, and Trump’s sinking polls are dragging down Republicans, so this week Republicans dragged Virus Guru Fauci in to testify about all the horrible things he did and the lies he “told” during the COVID pandemic. COVID killed 1.1 million of us but thanks to Fauci and his team’s efforts and Operation Warp Speed championed by Trump, 3.2 million more didn’t die.  None of that matters to people like Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Moreno because where’s the fun in acknowledging that?  Instead, they went all in on attacking Fauci, who admittedly is a mere mortal who made mistakes at a fraught time in an attempt to protect people from a novel death causing virus. At the end of his first term Trump awarded Fauci a Presidential commendation for his efforts but that was back when Trump who gets a COVID vaccine every year still publicly admitted that COVID was a thing and before MAGA world concluded that all vaccines were bad and that Fauci and his ilk are devils incarnate. Trump’s commendation was nice, so was the Presidential Medal of Freedom that Fauci received from George W Bush for his AIDS work, but as it turns out neither is as valuable as the pardon that Biden granted Fauci before he left office.  Unfortunately, Biden’s pardon doesn’t protect Fauci for anything he says now so on the advice of his counsel he plead the Fifth instead of answer questions, many of which were intended to “catch” him up in what later could be claimed to be a criminal “misstatement.” A few Republicans are now threatening to prosecute Fauci for committing made-up state crimes to get around Biden’s federal pardon.  They’re also condemning him for pleading the Fifth because only Trump gets to do that.  Trump’s name is being emblazoned everywhere, but Fauci is the evil one?  Make it make sense.  Notably though he used the “F” word, cursing at the “evil” Fauci, Senator Moreno is still fully supportive of his son in law/ Representative Max Miller because all Max did was throw scalding water on Moreno’s daughter and break his two- year- old granddaughter’s collar bone.   Shifting back to the economy, the Federal Reserve now chaired by Trump’s new guy Kevin Warsh held interest rates constant rather than raise lower them in an effort to keep inflation under control.  Funny how former Fed Chair Jerome Powell was lambasted by Trump for doing the same. Regrettably, the bond market didn’t react well to what it viewed as Warsh’s incoherent accompanying statement. It remains skittish, something about expensive wars and tariffs fueling inflation so while the Fed Rate didn’t go up, long term interest rates did.  In other war news, Trump announced that his Board of Peace has reached an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.  🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️

 

More 💩:  Former FBI Head Jim Comey’s and his “86 47” shell configuration case were back in the news.  He’s trying to have the vindictive case against him thrown out.  To that end Comey’s lawyers asserted that he was illegally surveilled by the Secret Service, an argument bolstered by reports that Secret Service agents didn’t believe that Comey had done anything that warranted surveillance but were told that they had to pursue aggressive measures because Trump was seething about those shells.  Also, as crazy as it sounds, the DOJ sought confirmation from convicted Mafia killer Sammy Gravano and a few other people of that ilk.  They wanted Gravano to confirm that Comey’s use of “86” in his seashell post was a threat against Trump’s life.  Gravano said a “gangster would never use that term” and that he didn’t believe that Comey had nefarious intent.  In other words, fuhgeddaboudit, which is what Democrats would like to do about the Wisconsin Governor race. Last week, Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez dropped out due to alleged campaign finance irregularities, yesterday another leading contender, former Lt Governor/Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, followed suit.  He said he was dropping out because he couldn’t win but it appears that he dropped out over allegations that he used his position within the state’s Democratic party to pursue sexual encounters with young women.  Progressive candidate Francesca Hong who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists is now leading in the polls. That’s nice for her but maybe bad for Democrats’ chances of keeping the governorship because she may be too left leaning for the 50:50 state. On the subject of socialists, against the advice of his advisors, NYC Mayor Mamdani announced he’d released the list of all those “rich” people who own “pied a terre” residences. The problem is that the list includes lots of people who live full time in those alleged pied a terre house, coops, and/or condos meaning that many of those identified as real estate tycoons are not and are not subject to the new tax.  Yesterday, the Mayor announced that he’s hired more staff, as in he’s spending more money, to help the misidentified fill out the annoying forms required to prove that they don’t owe the tax.  It increasingly looks like Mamdani is the flip sign of the Trump coin. By the way, though more people are jumping turnstiles, despite Mamdani’s campaign promise, buses are not free. Also, Bibi has not been arrested and though somewhere around 50% of NYC lawyers are Jewish, there are no Jews on Mamdani’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, 🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️

 

 
The Sixth Sense 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢

War Drums:  Last night Jordan intercepted and destroyed five Iranian ballistic missiles that targeted US bases in the Kingdom. Also yesterday, together with Saudi Arabia the US carried out strikes on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq in response to Iranian attacks on Saudi oil facilities.  And because the world is one big Venn diagram with lots of overlapping circles, Iran considered but then held off on attacking a seaport in Ukraine.  The seaport attack would have been in response to a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian ship, which was a response to Iran and Russia providing each other with military assistance. Keeping with the Venn theme both Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and Israel’s Netanyahu were in Washington DC yesterday, where in addition to attending the funeral of their long-time, now forever gone supporter Senator Lindsey Graham they had individual closed-door meetings with Trump. Curiously, Laura Loomer, the right winger who has Trump on speed dial has done a radical 180 shift and is now a supporter of all things Ukraine. Maybe she’s been visited by Grahams’s ghost?  Netanyahu could use a supportive spook of his own because despite all the help he gets from Miriam Adelson’s wallet, his star continues to wane, taking all things Israel with it. With Graham out of the picture, Trump seems disinterested in Bibi’s satellite imagery of Iran repairing and building up its missile production infrastructure at its heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain facility because while nukes and missiles may have been the reason Trump jumped into the war, now the orange one is looking for an exit door as even he seems to get that a 62% un-favorability rating (The Economist/YouGov), is a bad thing especially with the midterms in the not so distant future.  Trump’s refusal to acknowledge that affordability really is a thing and that the electorate cares about pocketbook issues, also explains why his DOJ has asked the Supreme Court to accelerate a review of his executive order restricting mail in voting because if Trump can’t appeal to voters with policies that benefit them, all that’s left is preventing those who blame him for their grocery, gas, and health care bills from voting altogether.  Mail-in voting and regulating elections are supposed to be the purview of states, rather than the federal government, but Trump’s sway with the Supreme Court should neve be underestimated, so it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll rule.

Peeps:  Former Senator Graham who no one expected to see exit so soon is gone. Energizer bunny Trump who frequently appears on the cusp of something dire continues to soldier on even if that soldiering includes incoherent speechifying and inopportune naps. Senator Mitch McConnell is another story altogether.  His handlers have produced another questionable proof of life picture of him with his wife former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao sitting by his side. The party line is that Mitch is now in rehab on the mend but not yet ready to reappear in the Senate chambers.  Nor is he up to meeting with Andy Beshear, Kentucky’s Democratic Governor.  The moderate Beshear who is frequently mentioned as a potential 2028 Democratic president or Veep candidate is getting lots of heat from the left of his party and from Kentucky’s dead man walking Congressman Thomas Massie who harbors delusional Twitter dreams about becoming Mitch’s interim replacement for not barging into Mitch’s room to personally take his pulse. It’s almost as if the Democratic Socialists want to take Beshear down 🤷‍♀️.  In any case, Mitch’s absence comes with benefits because no Mitch in the Senate chambers means the Republicans remain short a vote.  Yesterday, Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence was confirmed by a vote of 51 to 47 with all Democrats voting against him and all Republicans except for the absent Mitch and the mourning Darline Graham voting for him. At one point a few Democrats had planned to support Clayton’s nomination because while he lacks relevant experience he’s not the truly awful Interim DNI Bill Pulte who fired more intelligence staff yesterday, but Clayton lost their votes by refusing to say that Trump lost the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing.  Mitch’s absence didn’t matter for Clayton, but it might matter for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche whose confirmation remains up in the air. Republicans John Cornyn and Thom Tillis want him to formally commit to “spiking” Trump’s weaponization fund.  As of this morning, that has not happened.  Worth noting that both Cornyn and Tillis, who famously questioned Hegseth’s suitability but then voted for him anyway, tend to cave.  In other people news, details about the horrific abuse that Congressman Max Miller has perpetrated on his wife, the daughter of Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, keep surfacing.  According to police reports Miller who has been endorsed by Trump,  poured hot water on his wife, put a gun to her head, and may have broken his two-year-old daughter’s mysteriously broken collar bone.  Crickets from Dad/Senator Moreno and Trump about all this. Speaker Johnson says that despite the police reports the accusations against Mills are just “allegations.” Others have been booted from the House for lesser crimes, but Johnson needs Miller’s vote and anyway he’s not a Democrat so that wife abuse thing does not count. Right about now Graham Platner probably wishes that he was a Republican.

More 💩:  On Friday, an Energy Department attorney who apparently didn’t want to be disbarred for lying to a judge, admitted in a court filing that the administration withheld federal grants from states because they had “awarded their electoral college votes” to Kamala Harris during the 2024 election. Similarly having two Democratic Senators was another reason for doing the same.  Contrast that to Joe Biden who intentionally provided energy related funding to Republican controlled states.  In other news, while it’s good that $600 million that had been pledged to international vaccine alliance GAVI is now being unfrozen, all is not good on the vaccine front.  Measles is at record levels, virus guru Fauci is being skewered again in Congress because apparently saving lives is a crime, and Trump is pressing RFK to find those phony links between autism and vaccines.          

 

 

99 Days 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢

Rinse Repeat:  It’s not clear why any journalists attend White House Correspondents dinners in the best of times but particularly now given how hostile this White House is to their profession, but they do.  Friday night, the correspondent crowd held their Mulligan dinner.  Trump, who routinely calls all unflattering news fake, was the featured speaker. His speech which was peppered with mostly lame jokes also seethed with his usually hatred. Probably because he has a crush on her, he targeted CNN’s Kaitlin Collins, calling the award she’d received for covering his Oval Office blow-up with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy a fake, and then, in a joke that fell flat, he compared her to trans actress Dylan Mulvaney.  Moving on to news that matters, after once again threatening to blow Iran out of existence, Trump pulled another TACO, not because he doesn’t want to obliterate Iran but because his military advisors, most notably Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine expressed concerned about our “declining inventories of air defense interceptors.” According to CNN, Veep Vance, who this week has moved into 2028 poll position over “little” Marco Rubio, also “expressed concern,” not all that surprising since the Veep’s never been a fan of the war.  Keeping with the usual blame Biden for everything theme, UN Ambassador Waltz, the Signal chat fall guy, blamed Sleepy Joe for using up US stockpiles by sending so much aid to Ukraine. Possibly because he’s dead and can’t speak for himself, some clips from a documentary in the works about former Senator Lindsey Graham appeared in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend.  The shared snippets reveal that Graham had pursued a “yearslong quest to topple the Iranian regime” and that he pushed for “even more aggressive action” than Israel’s Netanyahu was willing to take.  Graham’s now permanent inability to whisper in Trump’s ear could also explain why Trump pulled another TACO this weekend.  The WSJ Journal also reported that Graham sensed he was running out of time, that he told the documentarian that he “didn’t have time to sleep because he needed to finish off the Iranian regime; sort out a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine; and establish ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel by the end of the year.  A memorial service for Graham is scheduled to take place tomorrow in Washington DC.

Data Disruptions: After facing boatloads of criticism, the Pentagon restored the records of the four US soldiers killed last week to its official Iran war casualty database.  In addition, after claiming press reports about the number of soldiers who’ve been injured during the Iran war had been exaggerated, the Pentagon now admits that the 600 plus figure is substantially correct.  They also added 127 to the total, a number that reflects injuries sustained during last week’s attacks of US installations by Iran.  To save face, while also making it a little more challenging for the press to access casualty data, the Pentagon is now including recent deaths and injuries on a different page, in a new category called “Overseas Operations Casualties” to be distinguished from Epic Fury Casualties.  The thing is if your family member has been killed or injured, they’re still dead or injured regardless of which category they’re included in. Put this under one of the stupid things that happens when the Pentagon is led by a weekend Fox anchor kowtowing to a lame “fake” news leader.     

More 💩:  Miami resident Katie Phang lost her MSNBC weekend show when Comcast spun MSNBC off into Versant which renamed in addition to changing the station’s name to MSNOW closed down its Miami studio.  She hasn’t gone away.  In an action filed under the Administrative Procedure Act, she’s been arguing that Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche and the DOJ’s excessive and unexplained redactions of the Epstein files prevent public accountability and transparency for Epstein’s victims. Her case continues to gain traction. DC District Court Judge Sullivan who earlier ruled much to the DOJ’s dismay that Phang has standing, has now ordered the DOJ to provide him with unredacted versions of specific records or submit detailed legal justifications and logs for continued redactions under court review so that he can see what it is that the DOJ is hiding from the public.  Needless to say, Blanche and his orange “client” are not happy about that.  Assuming that Sullivan gets access to the files he’s requested we may be one step closer to seeing what remains hidden and it’s fair to assume that’s what’s hidden is being hidden to protect a certain someone and his closest (most generous) friends. The orange one probably isn’t all that happy with the uncowed NY Times continued focus on his Qatari gifted plane’s inadequacies.  The NYT which is as a matter of principle doesn’t attend White House Correspondent dinners, reported this weekend more about the plane’s lack of security features including that in addition to lacking adequate missile defenses and presidential communication facilities, the plane also lacks a lower second “emergency” exit like the one that George W Bush used during 9.11.  The Secret Service didn’t want Trump flying on the plane at all, but he was determined to have it put in service in advance of his 250-birthday party celebration.  They thought Trump would limit its use to domestic flights, but he insisted on flying it to Turkey.  He ended up flying out of Turkey on one of the older, more secure Air Force Ones because the threats that were first reported by Israel but dismissed as more Israeli histrionics turned out to be real.  

Etcetera: Border Czar Tom Homan admits that just maybe the INS hasn’t been doing a good job vetting its hires.  That admission follows news that the INS agent who shot and killed a Colombian man in Maine was hired despite his record of serious mental problems and violence.  Troy Jackson is officially Maine’s new Democratic Senate candidate.  Democrats who are once again reported to be in disarray hope that he’s got what it takes to take down the until now unsinkable Senator Susan Collins and that the only bad thing he’s ever done is throw a bottle at a female colleague.  The midterms, assuming there are midterms and that all eligible voters who want to vote get to vote, are in 99 days.   

 

Tariffs Are Back 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire:  We all know that Trump lies a lot, but his Pentagon’s newest lie is a despicable doozy.  Pentagon officials have removed the four soldiers who died this week from the list of Iran war casualties asserting that because their deaths occurred after the ceasefire that Trump declared in April, they don’t count as war deaths.  Putting aside that the ceasefire is a myth, that is an insult to the fallen and their families but it’s in character for Trump who insists that we’ve won the Iran war, something he repeatedly claims while threatening to obliterate more of Iran’s infrastructure every time they or their Houthi surrogates attack another ship. Threats or no threats those ship attacks keep coming, which explains why the price of a barrel of Brent crude surged to over $100 for a while yesterday before settling back a bit. Trump isn’t just lying, he’s also all in on his TACO dance.  After announcing that he’d agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear capability in a deal that didn’t include the safeguards and inspections that we’ve imposed on other allies to insure that approved civilian uses don’t morph into the manufacturing of nuclear bombs and then getting scathing public criticism from some of his usual Congressional allies and Israel he’s back tracked.  He now insists that the deal is preconditioned on the Saudis joining the Abraham Accords which would require that they normalize relations with Israel. That’s an unwelcome surprise to the Saudis who have no interest in doing that, so at least for now, with now doing a lot of heavy lifting, the nuke deal is on ice. Also, tariffs are back. In substance the newly imposed tariffs look a lot like the ones that the Supreme Court ruled against except they are justified by different laws, mostly by Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 which allows for tariffs on trading partners over policies related to forced labor in global supply chains. It’s hard to believe that Trump whose trade minions have spent the past few months searching for evidence of those labor violations cares much about forced labor but if that’s what it takes to get his tariffs back he’s all in.  The new tariffs which replace the terming out tariffs that Trump imposed following the Supreme Court decision cover “roughly” 60 trading partners, including China, the European Union, and the UK, and account for 99.4% of US imports.  Trump repeatedly says that affordability is a fake concept ginned up by Dumbocrats so why should anyone be surprised that he remains all in on inflationary tariffs during an election year when voters are focused on rising costs?

Legal Morass:  We haven’t heard much from Congressman Jim “Gym” Jordan lately, maybe because he’s positioning himself to challenge Speaker Mike Johnson as head of the House Republican caucus after the midterms but he’s back.  Yesterday, he referred former special counsel Jack Smith to the Department of Justice, claiming that Smith made false statements to Congress while testifying about his Trump investigation. Smith’s lawyers deny the allegation, saying that he testified truthfully but since its Trump’s DOJ it’s fair to assume that Smith is in for some torture.  Besides, the DOJ needs something to distract from their most recent screw-up.  Yesterday, after being skewered by District Court Judge Arun Subramanian for violating protections given to journalists as well as for “slipshod” legal work, the DOJ withdrew the subpoenas that had demanded grand jury testimony and phone records from NY Times journalists as well as the additional subpoenas for their families’ phones. Those subpoenas had been issued to placate Trump who remains irate about the NY Times article about how he flew to Turkey on his Qatari gifted plane even though the plane hadn’t been retrofitted with the critical communication and security features included on the old Air Force One, the plane he hates because it doesn’t have Trump approved gold accoutrements. Though Trump continues to insist that the Qatari plane is up to snuff, the NY Times article was spot on about its security inadequacies which explains why it is back in the shop having all those neat and very expensive security features added. In other legally fraught news, the DOJ has dropped its demand that the University of Pennsylvania turn over a list of Jewish people on its campus. The DOJ’s rationale for demanding the list was that it was needed as part of its investigation into anti-Semitism but WTF a “Jewish list.” What could possibly go wrong with that?  In other legal news Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hasn’t been confirmed yet, but a lot of arm twisting is going on so it’s probably just a matter of time.  In addition, since Trump’s CDC nominee Erika Schwarts now has Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy’s support she is expected to be confirmed but since not enough Senators attended yesterday’s Health Committee meeting her confirmation is still on hold.. While she is expected to pass muster, Sean Kaufman, Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary for preparedness and response, might not. His problem is that he previously made lots of anti-vaccine statements and also dissed lifesaving vitamin K shots for infants.  Just what we need an anti-vaccine, anti-RNA guy dealing with the next pandemic.  By the way, there have been somewhere around 11,5000 cases of cyclosporiasis, the gnarly parasite that RFK insists he has under control even though he doesn’t.

More 💩:  Most of us don’t pay much attention to the really skeevy Tate Brothers Andrew and Tristan but among the so-called manosphere they’re influencer idols because who cares about their misogyny, and those credible accusations of trafficking of girls and rape anyway. Earlier this year with a lift from the Trump administration, the Tates who are dual citizens of the US and the UK had been freed from confinement in Romania and allowed to travel to the US where they’ve been busy hobnobbing with lots of MAGA types in Florida.  Not everyone in Florida was happy about them being there which may explain why they’re now in US federal custody awaiting extradition to the UK where they face a total of 59 combined charges involving seven alleged victims. Andrew Tate is charged with 42 counts, including rape, human trafficking, assault, and indecent images of a child, while Tristan Tate faces 17 counts including rape and human trafficking.  A number of their MAGA fans, a group that included Don Jr, Barron Trump, Alina Habba, and Candace Owens, among others have gone quiet, but some are sticking with them including Tucker Carlson who blames their woes on their outspoken criticism of Israel because that rape stuff is so not a problem when you can just blame Israel. Back from her short maternity leave, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insists that Trump won’t intervene on their behalf but it’s early so who knows, a TACO could be in the works.    

 

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. 🤷‍♀️