I have watched with horror as Trump has called out our National Guard and ICE to go to American cities in the guise of cracking down on crime or to deport those he has deemed unwelcome in our country. He has ginned up division and violence to suite his agenda, withholding funds already approved by Congress that help our country function. He has sowed chaos with his haphazard economic and foreign affairs policies.
He is threatening the American people with draconian federal job cuts because the Democrats, finally, stood up and said enough is enough to his cuts to health insurance and Medicaid. Trump has shown time and time again that he does not care about the majority of Americans. He has ignored the law and does exactly as he pleases regardless. The only true thing he has said was that he would be dictator on day one.
So, if you are as concerned about Trump’s behavior, as well as that of the Republicans who are enabling him, please think about coming out on October 18th to show your support for our Constitution and the ideals our country was founded on.
You can search for an event near you on the No Kings website by putting in your zip code, or clicking on one of the dots on the map. Given the number of events, the zip code search may be more useful.
48 comments:
I'll be damned. Local channel (over the air--I never did get hooked up for paid TV) actually ran a piece tonight on Trump's threats to deploy the military in "Democratic" cities. One channel anyway--I can only have one channel at a time running on the background TV. They didn't editorialize--no noticeable opinion on the matter--'just the facts ma'am'. But I was surprised they commented on Trump at all without the "praise Trump" slant that's pretty much routine for the local media (if they mention national politics at all, which usually they don't)
Post Script:
Possible Trump may find that his reach exceeds his grasp this time.
There's a couple of those "No Kings" protests within viewing distance of me. I would not have expected that, as this is, or at least has been, dedicated Trumpkin territory.
Off topic:
"Asked by reporters at the White House whether he had
decided about supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks, Trump did
not rule it out and said he had 'sort of made a decision' on the
matter.
"'I think I want to find out what they're doing with them,' he
said. 'Where are they sending them? I guess I'd have to ask
that question.'
"'I would ask some questions. I'm not looking to escalate that
war,' he added."
Reuters
T.A.C.O. Trump
What happened with Marjorie Taylor Greene? I read somewhere that she was actually breaking with the Republican Party over healthcare cuts. Not Trump, of course, that would be a bridge too far, but she is unhappy with the Republicans. Perhaps a new fissure in the MAGA front?
"'I think I want to find out what they're doing with them,' he
said.
Maybe trying to kill Russians or their war making infrastructure?
Word is there may be a deal on Gaza. Trump may go to the Middle East, not ruling out a stop in Gaza.
"What happened with Marjorie Taylor Greene?"
I've been reading that the Republicans are getting nervous over the shutdown. There are rumors of cracks appearing among the rank and file members of the House especially. A lot of those folks represent rural and small-town districts. Those districts tend to have a comparatively high level of older, lower income voters--heavily dependent on the subsidized payment structure for Obamacare. Some of them are said to be getting real nervous. But, so far they're holding their fire--not willing to cross Trump.
Marjorie Taylor Greene on the other hand is almost incapable of that kind of discretion.
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Near as I can make out from parsing the headlines, Trump didn't know what was in "the deal" nor what was left out to be decided later, but he did know he wanted to announce it first. I think he got that last part done. Now we'll have to wait to see if there's an actual "deal" behind his announcement, or if he moved too precipitously.
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Donald Trump will stop by Walter Reed Hospital for his "routine yearly checkup" TheHill This will be his second "routine yearly checkup" this year. The first one was back in April, also at Walter Reed Hospital.
Letitia James the New York Attorney General who convicted Trump for fraud (penalties of $355 million) has now been indicted herself by Trump's DoJ, Lindsey Halligan, as the signing attorney for the DoJ. She's the same one who filed perjury charges against James Comey. CNBC
Federal District Judge April Perry in Chicago has issued a 14 day temporary restraining order blocking Trump's deployment of federalized national guard troops within the City of Chicago. Taking her cue from proceedings in Portland, Oregon, she wrote the order to cover national guard units from ALL states and the District of Columbia. Trump will not be pleased. This is supposed to be where he 'normalizes' his use of the military to keep him in office.
Trump was not given the Nobel peace prize. He is a little disappointed. The nominations were due back in February.
While there is some kind of peace deal over Gaza we will see if it holds. This was not going to help with that peace prize. If they were at all knowledgeable they would have known that.
Zelenskyy has said that he would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize if the U.S.A. would merely send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. He says that would make Putin come to a ceasefire. (And they'd nominate Trump for the Prize regardless, for the Tomahawks.)
Sounds like a plan.
I have to say I am a little worried about Marjorie Taylor Greene. Not only was she making noise about the shutdown, but she was pointing out that while the House is in recess Mike Johnson hasn't been able to swear in the new Representative from Arizona, who is that 218th vote to pass the Discharge Petition to release the Epstein files. And, while she isn't criticizing Trump, God forbid, she has noted that prices are not coming down.
I must assume she is up for re-election next year and is trying to get on the right side of history. Hmmm....either that or it really is Invasion of the Body Snatchers come to life. Halloween is just around the corner.
"I must assume she is up for re-election next year…"
Yes, of course.
Well, it appears that the trade wars are heating back up. Trump just announced 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, across the board, beginning the 1st of November.
The fight is over rare earth minerals, which China has and the United States doesn't. It was always going to come down to this, which Trump should have foreseen, but didn't. I am sure past presidents did.
"This [the Gaza peace deal] was not going to help with that
peace prize."
Nope. The so-called 20 point peace plan was basically a surrender document forced on the few remaining recognized leaders of Hamas. (Although it may turn out to be like our late 19th Century Indian treaties, "Chiefs" selected by the white men to sign surrender documents, but never Chiefs in their own right in the eyes of the Indians.)
However that works… Hamas itself is done with, at least under its current leadership, and in its current incarnation. But the radical fighters remaining alive are still radical and still alive. The intifada is very likely to continue as a guerrilla campaign instead of as the military power that attacked Israel on October 7th two years ago. Whether they keep the name of Hamas, or regroup under a different name doesn't really make much difference. The intifada will very likely continue at a lower burn level, but continue it will. The Islamists didn't suddenly decide to accept the existence of Israel.
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Trump has been found to be in "excellent health" following his newly "semiannual physical" (rebranded as such after folks noticed this was his second "annual physical" since April) Apparently Trump is fit and vigorous and capable of stealing other men's wives and fathering many remarkable children to carry on his unique legacy the first king of North America, or some such shit as that…. TheHill
Not to mention that there's a movement in the House of Representatives to declaring him to be the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. TheHill This would supposedly cure the error of the Nobel Committee which did not, in fact, award Trump that prize. (I think they're gonna walk that one back once the absurdity of pretending that the American House of Representatives can award a Nobel Peace Prize to whomever has a passing majority vote for it settles in. Even the marginally political population will be able to figure that one out.)
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"…rare earth minerals, which China has and the United
States doesn't."
I think it might be more accurate to say that China has developed their mines for rare earths and the United States hasn't. I believe we have significant deposits in the western states that have never been mined, nor do we have the processing facilities built. So now China has something like 70% of the world's market share in rare earth minerals.
I was trying to listen to Witkoff regarding the peace deal for Gaza and had to turn it off because of his constant praise of Trump. I turned it back on and here goes Kushner starting out the same way. Kind of spoils the moment.
Yes, I tend to agree that this probably won't be the end. Most of the respondents to a CNN poll asking if this will bring lasting peace said "no".
Rather surprised that Trump hasn't tried to corner the US market on rare earth minerals.
I suppose the reason Trump hasn't moved on American supplies is because there are no domestic facilities for refining out the rare earths. So the the production time if they started today is way longer than he expects to be able to hold power. He needs to concentrate on shorter term returns.
↑↑ He is 80 years old, after all.
Trump is still teasing the subject of Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine. He's upped the temperature a little bit talking with reporters on the plane during his flight to the Middle East. Reuters
"The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday said it opened fire on
what it described as several suspects approaching troop
positions in northern Gaza, as local authorities reported six
people killed.
"The gunfire come a day after President Trump carried out a
whirlwind trip to the region declaring an end to the war
between Israel and Hamas…."
TheHill
(There was apparently a second incident as well. The six fatalities are the grand total of the two incidents.)
Well that didn't take long.
"The Kremlin has lashed out at Time magazine over its cover
depicting U.S. President Donald Trump after the American
leader condemned the choice of photograph.
"Trump had blasted the magazine early Tuesday over the
photo — which accompanied a cover story hailing his Middle
East peace deal — deeming it “the Worst of All Time.”
"The picture was taken from a low angle on Trump, who is
backlit by bright sunlight, leaving him with “something
floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown,
but an extremely small one,” he raged.
"Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also
slammed the cover, writing on Telegram that the choice of
photo was ‛astonishing,’ as Moscow continues to try to
ingratiate itself with Trump.
"‛Only unhealthy people, people obsessed with malice and
hatred — perhaps even freaks — could have chosen such a
photo,’ she stormed.
"While relations between Moscow and Washington have
thawed somewhat since Trump began his second term, with
the Republican leader inviting Russian President Vladimir
Putin to peace talks in Alaska in August, the Kremlin’s refusal
to end its grinding invasion of Ukraine has burdened their
relationship.
"The U.S. president was featured on the magazine’s cover
after inking a pact in Egypt on Monday to bring Israel’s war in
Gaza to an end after two years of bloodshed. He hailed the
agreement between Israel and Palestinian militant group
Hamas as having been ‛3,000 years’ in the making."
Politico.EU
"The U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire wobbled on Tuesday after
Israel shot several people, Hamas dragged its feet on its side
of the bargain and U.S. President Donald Trump raised the
prospect of further violence.
"Speaking at the White House, Trump said of the Palestinian
militant group: ‛If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. And
it will happen quickly, and perhaps violently.'"
Politico.EU
"The picture was taken from a low angle on Trump, who is
backlit by bright sunlight, leaving him with “something
floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown,
but an extremely small one,” he raged.
It does kind of look like he has no hair because of the backlighting. But I just don't see the crown, small or not. Perhaps in his imagination.
"It does kind of look like he has no hair…"
That's because he has no hair there. That's what the swirl is supposed to hide. (The swirl is a patch of hair about 8-10 inches long swept forward from the back left side of his head and then circled around over his bald top. The sunlight pierced right through it from that angle and washed it out entirely on the film.)
But I thought the more interesting angle was that the Russians have concluded that Trump can be swayed by such blatant pandering to his ego.
Trump has just added San Francisco, California to his hit list of "Democratic" cities he wants to invade. Politico He seems to think he can move faster than the judges who keep declaring his moves illegal.
Speaking of moving too fast… Trump's barely gotten done with his announcement that India is swearing off of Russian energy supplies (an announcement not yet supported by any Indian government sources), and they're already publicizing their "demand" that Japan quit buying from Russia as well. Reuters
Trump is supposed to meet with Zelenskyy tomorrow.
So, today he had a long phone call with Putin. (I'd bet Putin is the one who made the call, but perhaps that's not an important point.)
They agreed to hold meetings next week at the level of cabinet officials (Secretary of State, Marco Rubio for the United States, the ranking Russian not identified). After that Trump and Putin will supposedly meet in Budapest, Hungary. (Hungary is currently a member of the International Criminal Court, although it has begun the process of withdrawal from same, to be finalized next June. Presumably Viktor Orbán has the civilian population sufficiently controlled that he can guarantee Putin will not be arrested even though Hungary is currently still a member of the ICC.)
Trump's just making all sorts of grand announcements this week. I'm wondering if he's that worried about the discharge petition currently waiting in the House on the subject of Jeffrey Epstein.
On June 14th there were 1,800 No Kings protests. For Oct. 18th there are an estimated 2,500. Epstein may prove to be only the tip of the iceberg.
People are starting to notice what Trump and his minions are doing.
"People are starting to notice what Trump and his minions are
doing."
Not only that. This time Trump has been doing enough, fast enough that his actions are beginning to generate actual consequences. Trump isn't used to consequences. He's used to simply moving on after his smash and grab. He'd declare a bankruptcy, if that was necessary to make his escape clean (and declare that a "win" nonetheless), but it's always been "move on" to new set of suckers. Skim the cream, declare a great victory, and leave any suckers who'd trusted him to drown.
Can't do that now. Ain't no other places to go where he ain't already known. And now consequences are starting to pile up and to be inescapable. Unless the Supreme Court steps in to save him again (and that's quite possible) he's got no escape anymore, no new shores to sully. No new fools to fleece. And even if the Supreme Court saves him once again, he's got no new shores to sully, no new fools to fleece.
Meanwhile, trouble's piling up in soybean country. Soybean farmers who voted overwhelmingly for Trump are discovering the consequences. Ditto for dairy farmers who need their cows milked regular, and produce farmers who need their harvests brought in. Etc.
Joe Rogan is claiming to be unpleasantly surprised by all this, saying "I didn't vote for this". (Of course, this is Joe Rogan, so take that subject to the knowledge that this is damn near exactly what Rogan voted for, this is what Trump promised he'd do.) But Joe Rogan ain't used to consequences either; he's used to bloviating without consequences. Now there's no place for him to go either, nor the farmers, nor the rest of us.
Elections have consequences. We're stuck with three more years of this. The middling minded right wingers are just now beginning to discover that.
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Update: The Indian government has now denied Trump's assertion that they'd pledged to quit buying Russian fossil fuels. Politico
The U.S. Navy has taken into custody two survivors of the Trump administration's latest attack on a civilian boat deemed to be carrying 'narco-terrorists' (their terminology). Four dead; two lived, the Navy picked those two out of the water still alive. This may prove to be a mistake.
Now they that to somehow deal with those prisoners. And I don't think they're smart enough to sneak them back onto the shores of Venezuela under the cover of darkness.
So, now they have to deal with them in the light of day. That means legal standing and legal consequences. This is not what Trump wants I don't think.
We kinda knew this had to happen eventually. Trump has gone to his Supreme Trumpkins to get a ruling granting him absolute and unchallengeable authority to invade American cities on his own 'wanna-do-it' terms. FoxNews-Chicago "Emergency Appeal" no less, allowing the Supreme Trumpkins to put this matter on their shadow docket and grant him that authority without ever writing up a legal opinion on the subject, no need to explain anything, just a bold and baldfaced grant of new presidential authority. (If they so choose to structure it.)
I've been seeing some political articles that mention some Trumpkan/Republicans in Congress being "nervous", as it were, about just where the Trump administration has acquired the necessary funds to pay the checks they sent out on the 15th for salaries for the military. Nobody seems to know where that money is coming from. And the Trump administration apparently isn't answering any questions on the subject.
So, considering Trump's own financial history, and how he maneuvered banks into bailing him out when they really didn't want to… It occurs to me to wonder… Ain't no banks on the hook for long loans now and discovering that they have to cover the checks out of their own funds to "save" Trump. And Trump ain't used to paying the piper with his own funds. He's written hot checks before and expected to jam up his bankers, and it's always worked before.
So, What I'm thinkin' is. What happens if these checks bounce?
Just a thought. Probably won't happen, but…
I think I read somewhere they were diverting funds form other areas if the Pen tagon budget.
It was a good turnout at my local No Kings protest. I'll write about it when I get the chance.
It rained locally, a steady, cold, drenching rain, very little wind, but an adequate amount of lightning and thunder. I'm told there were "severe thunderstorms" included in the rain front, but they didn't hit here. I suspect the weather suppressed turnout locally. It certainly dissuaded me.
Local police estimated the crowd size at around 1,500. I'd count that a fairly decent turnout for a pouring cold rain in dedicated Trumpkin territory.
There's been another military strike on a civilian boat offshore of Venezuela. I'm wondering if anybody in the International Criminal Court has the balls to file an indictment against Trump for those murders? I think I'd bet against it, but ya never know.
I keep reading headlines about how mean Trump was to Zelenskyy once again.
But, I see that Trump is once again pushing a ceasefire in place and then negotiations about tomorrow.
Zelenskyy didn't get his Tomahawks, but he did get a promise of more Patriots (also in short supply) and he got Trump back to supporting a ceasefire in place--final peace treaty to be negotiated after the ceasefire.
I call that a win for Zelenskyy, considering how much Trump really, really wants to cuddle up with Putin.
California is snapping up ex-federal employees dumped from the Environmental Protection Agency (and in related fields) in order to do battle with Trump's Trumpified EPA in the coming years. Politico (Not too long; fairly straightforward.)
And it's turning out that even after Trump announced a meeting between Marco Rubio and some unnamed Russian delegate (later identified as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov) to set up a summit meeting between Trump and Putin… The Russians won't even agree to the meeting between Rubio and Lavrov. (Although Lavrov did accept Rubio's phone call last week.) So much for Trump's still unrequited love for Putin.
Trump is seeking $230 million from the DOJ (otherwise known as the American taxpayers) for pain and suffering from those searches of Mar A Lago during the criminal cases brought against him.
$230 million!
I saw that. Maybe it'll be money well spent if it costs him and his Trumpkan/Republicans support in the mid-term elections.
The estimated value of that Boeing jet that he's been given by the Arabs in Qatar is $400 million. So, ya gotta remember to keep a sense of perspective on these things. If we're lucky, that $230 million may be enough to help cost him his congressional majority in next year's mid-terms. If so, be money well spent.
(I wonder how much he's gonna claim for the Russia investigations?)
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