Obliterated💣🔨 😱 ✡️🌻😱🔨💣

Liars Lie: Yesterday was one of those days when the saying “you know they’re lying when they open their mouths” really resonated.  The day began with a Pentagon press conference featuring an unhinged Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, the relatively new head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who despite appearing on the same stage as Hegseth came off as normal and measured. The bombastic Hegseth began the conference by screaming at and berating the media for “hunting for scandals all the time,” and hating on Trump. He then really lit into them for disseminating the “leaked” preliminary assessment produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the report that questioned whether Operation Midnight Hammer had really destroyed Iran’s nuclear capability. Hegseth more than implied without evidence that the report had been leaked by some Democratic member of Congress and that by reporting on its contents the press had collaborated in in treason.  After praising the “guys” who had participated in Midnight Hammer, a group that deserves praise because the operation was impressive, he handed the mic to General Caine who provided details including that the operation was fifteen years in the making. Casting a bit of sly shade in Hegseth’s direction, Caine mentioned several times that the team that participated in the Iran attack included women as well as “guys” and that at least one of those women was a pilot. Caine was also careful not to comment on how far Iran’s nuclear program had been set back, saying that conclusions about that were up to intelligence professionals and out of his wheelhouse.  Naturally when asked about the involvement of women, Hegseth who’d prefer that “his” military include only white frat guys, again lashed out at the press. The bottom line, the military did an awesome job and hugely damaged Iran’s nuclear sites, but, and it remains a big but, it’s likely that Iran’s nuclear capabilities have not been wiped out.  Moreover, it appears that Iran did manage to move its 400-kilogram stash of 60% plus enriched uranium out of harm’s way before the attack, and at least so far, the location(s) of the uranium stash is unknown. Both Trump and Hegseth are sticking with the narrative that Iran’s sites were “obliterated” because true or not they much prefer bragging about Iran being out of the nuclear bomb business for good to the alternative.  Last night, after sitting through a classified briefing on the mission, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut reported that while the attack itself was impressive, from what he heard Iran’s nuclear capabilities had only been set back only a few months. Most of the Republican Senators in attendance stuck with Hegseth and Trump’s “obliteration” claim except that Lindsey Graham admitted that the enriched uranium is still not accounted for.  Two things can be true: Operation Midnight Hammer was an impressive technical success and Iran’s nuclear capabilities have not been obliterated.  However, with Trump and his Fox fan boy Hegseth both outcomes are not an option, so they are sticking with obliteration. The problem with lying so much is that even when you’re not lying no one believes you, at least no one who isn’t afraid of the consequences.

Shoot: Sticking with the liars lie theme, yesterday RFK’s reconstituted immunization panel held its first meeting.  RFK is no longer even pretending to be openminded about the benefits of vaccines.  His new panel which so far only includes seven rather than seventeen members includes the who’s who of vaccine deniers.  Martin Kulldorff, the new chair told the panel he was fired from his job as a professor at Harvard University because he refused to get a Covid-19 vaccine.  What could possibly go wrong if another lethal epidemic hits with these clowns in charge?. Kulldorff announced that the panel will launch new working groups to examine child vaccination schedules and vaccines that were approved seven or more years ago. He’s questioned whether it is "wise" to give the hepatitis B vaccines to newborns even though the shot has been proven to be safe and effective at preventing the liver cancer causing infection. Also, despite RFK’s assurance to Senator/Dr Bill Cassidy that childhood vaccine schedules wouldn’t be altered, Kulldorff said that he will be reviewing those schedules. The group heard a presentation on the use of the preservative thimerosal in vaccines delivered by Lyn Redwood, a former leader of Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group RFK once ran. Redwood cited faux studies and overstated the amount of thimerosal used.  Theories that the preservative could cause autism in children have long been disproven and manufacturers voluntarily removed it from childhood vaccines years ago so this should have been mostly moot because while thimerosal is still used in some multi-dose vials there are no vaccines on the pediatric vaccine schedule that contain thimerosal.  Nevertheless, the panel banned its use in pediatric flu shots and for pregnant women, an action that is expected to disrupt global vaccine supply.  Not that global vaccine supply is as much of a concern as it should be because the US is ending its financial support for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a global organization that provides vaccines to developing countries. This decision, will impact Gavi's ability to purchase and distribute vaccines, potentially putting millions of children at risk. The pro-life party strikes again.

Big and Ugly: The last big lies of the day concern Trump’s big ugly bill that Trump desperately wants delivered to his desk before the July 4^th holiday. Back from the NATO meetings Trump has shifted his focus back to getting his bill passed. Last night during a reception intended to secure Congressional support, he insisted that the bill doesn’t cut Medicaid but only reduces fraud, that it reduces the deficit, that it includes all the goodies he promised like no taxes on tips or Social Security,  and that taxes will go up by 68% if it isn’t passed.  Those are great talking points, unfortunately they’re not true which, together with the Senate Parliamentarian’s refusal to sign off on those parts of the Senate version of the bill that violate the Byrd rule, explains why he’s having a hard time getting all Republicans on board and he needs almost all of the Republicans to signoff because his bill is a total nonstarter among House and Senate Democrats.  Some of his most ardent Senate supporters including Tommy Tuberville who may soon be Alabama’s Governor, want the parliamentarian overruled or better yet, fired.  Perhaps remembering all the times that the Parliamentarian helped Republicans scuttle Democrats plans and recognizing that someday he’ll need her to do that again, Senate Leader John Thune says he has no intention of overruling her but it’s early so anything is possible.

And:  Republican Scott Brown who for a short time was a Massachusetts Senator has announced that he’s running again for the soon to be open New Hampshire Senate seat currently held by retiring Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. Polls out of Texas continue to show Senator John Cornyn running way behind his likely Republican challenger Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.  Democrats would love to run against Paxton as opposed to Cornyn so that election could be interesting though its Texas and we keep hearing that and they keep voting in Ted Cruz. The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Planned Parenthood can’t sue South Carolina over the state’s decision to pull Medicaid funding from South Carolina’s two Planned Parenthood clinics. SCOTUS signed off on the state’s position that they shouldn’t be forced to support abortion providers even though the Hyde Amendment already bans Medicaid funding for abortions. Women seeking reproductive care, including birth control, in South Carolina will soon find it hard to find, which is the point. SCOTUS’s ruling is likely to have ramifications beyond South Carolina.  SCOTUS is expected to issue a few more pivotal rulings today.  And lastly, Trump is threatening to appoint a replacement for Fed Chair Powell this summer because he’s bigly mad about interest rates not being cut.  

#BringThemAllHomeNow