End Stage Democracy🔥🔥😱 ✡️🌻😱🔥🔥 

Where to Begin?  Yesterday was one of those days when everything happened.  With Trump more focused on retribution than governing, the day began with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, whose neighbor once beat him up over his poorly maintained lawn, kvetching on camera about being disinvited from an upcoming bi-partisan White House picnic.  The picnic diss was punishment for Paul’s refusal to support the Big Ugly Bill (BUB).  Paul, who supported Trump during his two impeachment hearings has just discovered that the orange one is “petty, vindictive, and immature.” By the end of the day, Paul was back on the invite list with Trump saying that he hopes the reinstatement will convince Paul to back the bill. Paul and his family will be at the picnic but Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who voted against the BUB won’t be, his invitation remains “lost” in the mail. With that small indignity resolved, the administration moved on to bigger things, manhandling and handcuffing Alex Padilla, the senior Senator from California, the son of Mexican immigrants and a bilingual graduate of MIT with a degree in engineering.  In addition to being Hispanic, Padilla’s crime, showing up and shouting a question at Ice Barbie Kristi Noem’s California press conference, interrupting her while she was busy asserting that with the help of the National Guard and the Marines she was “liberating Los Angeles from its socialist government.” Noem defended the decision to knock Padilla to the ground by asserting that no one knew he was a Senator and anyway he was charging at her. The Padilla incident was caught on tape.  He wasn’t charging anyone, and he is heard on the tape identifying himself as a US Senator several times.  Moreover, he’s interacted with Noem before, so she knows him. After he was released, a shaken and somewhat emotional Padilla pointed out that if Trump’s troops respond to a US Senator by knocking him to the ground, imagine how they’re treating farmers, cooks, and day laborers. We don’t have to imagine, we know and it’s not good. Naturally, when asked about the Padilla incident Speaker Mike Johnson, who earlier in the week called for California Governor Gavin Newsom to be “tarred and feathered” said that at a minimum Padilla’s behavior “rises to the level of a censure.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that he’s “gathering information” a variation of leave me alone and stop expecting me to do anything about our democracy going up in flames. Late last night, federal District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled Trump’s federalization of the California National was illegal returning the control of the California National Guard back to Governor Newsom. Newsom’s victory was short lived because overnight the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the district court’s decision while they consider arguments from both sides. As to the treatment of those farmers and laborers, Trump says he concerned and might get his team to grant some of them some special consideration.  Spoiler alert, he could give a shxt about them, but he is hearing from Republican big wigs in the leisure and agriculture industries that his aggressive migrant roundups are leaving them without anyone to pick their crops and wash their dishes. 

Fog:  Late last night, Israel attacked Iran, targeting nuclear sites, scientists, and Iranian generals.  Earlier in the week Trump said an Israeli attack could be imminent, the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) reported that Iran had violated its agreement and was enriching more uranium than previously agreed to, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been talking up his plans to  eliminate  Iran’s nuclear capabilities so though this is depressing we kind of knew it was coming even though Trump had his real estate bestie Steve Witkoff “negotiating” a deal with Iran.  Last night Secretary of State Rubio released a statement saying that Israel’s attack was “unilateral” and that the US had nothing to do with it.  That’s curious because Axios reports that the Israel attack which had been “eight months in the making” was coordinated with Washington, that Trump and his aides were only pretending to oppose an Israeli attack in public and didn't express opposition in private. "We had a clear US green light," an Israel official claimed.  What, Trump speaking out of both sides of his mouth? Shocking 😊😱.  In any case, Israel says that their attack isn’t a one and done, it will be ongoing for awhile more.  Reports are that Israel had even managed to smuggle explosive drones into Iran in anticipation of the attack. Iran has already responded with drone attacks and are likely planning to follow up with more including missiles.  Of course, oil prices are now up, a further complication for Trump’s economy because the thing that’s been keeping measures of inflation down has been lower gas prices. 

More:  The House passed Trump’s recission package, voting to claw back $9.4 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid, NPR, and PBS. As expected, RFK Jr is staffing up the vaccine advisory panel with anti-vaxxers.  Jeremey Greenberg, who led FEMA’s storm response agency has resigned.  Greenberg said that while he agrees that FEMA needs reforms he can’t in good conscience stand by and watch it dismantled, that dismantling is now scheduled to take place after this year’s hurricane season.  And lastly, that inappropriate rally style speech that Trump gave at Fort Bragg, soldiers who weren’t Trump supporters were excluded from the audience.  The good news is that they haven’t been thrown in the stockade but it’s early, at the rate we’re going up in flames, that could happen soon enough.   Tomorrow is Trump’s expensive birthday/military parade.  There will also be No Kings Day protests across the country. If you want to participate, check Google for the one nearest to you.  Stay peaceful and safe.

#BringThemAllHomeNow