How much money do you think Alien Musk gives his trashy
mother? I'm assuming that he gives her millions each month. That's the
only way that a mother like that could love a child like him.
Pam
Bondi’s Justice Department has agreed to give a handful of Elon Musk’s
DOGE “advisers” access to a system containing detailed private records
on millions of immigrants dating back to the 1990s.
The
Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Courts and Appeals System, or
ECAS, holds vast, comprehensive records of immigrants’ personal
information, as well as every interaction they’ve had with the U.S.
government.
Senior DOJ officials greenlit DOGE access to the ECAS system on Friday, The Washington Post reported.
The
so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a White House office
headed by President Donald Trump’s megadonor Musk, has been digging into
confidential data systems across the federal government in an attempt
to speed up the administration’s deportations.
DOJ
staff members were instructed to prepare ECAS accounts for Marko Elez,
the DOGE minion who resigned over racist social media posts before being
rehired, as well as former hedge fund staffer Adam Hoffman. Payton
Rehling and Jon Koval, who work at a private-equity firm tied to Musk,
are also being given access, according to the Post.
I
don't think Musk ever grasped how hated Chump truly was or how hated he
(Musk) would become. There is no 're brand.' There is no comeback.
Musk has no one to blame but himself. He so hated his daughter that he
went off on a tirade that destroyed his image, his companies and his
life. He brought it all on himself. NBC News notes:
It might be time for Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s own fork in the road.
The
electric carmaker is set to report quarterly earnings Tuesday afternoon
that may say a lot about which direction Musk and the company he has
ridden to immense wealth will go next.
The
company will update investors on revenue, profit and other key figures
after months of turmoil as Musk continues to dedicate a large portion of
his time to the Trump administration’s attempt to radically remake the
federal government, far away from his corporate responsibilities at
Tesla, SpaceX and his other companies.
Musk, he's learning the hard way that, as Kat pointed out, "Go Chump, Eat Rump."
Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Pope Francis, the People's Pope, has passed
away and we recall his trip to Iraq, Hegseth hit the fan and splattered
all around as the world watches to see if Chump will clean up the mess;
however, he seems to busy working to destroy the economy -- both the
American economy and the world's economy.
As Trina noted yesterday, "Pope Francis has passed."
He was the people's Pope. He used his time to shine the spotlight on
those in need -- those often overlooked or forgotten.
That's him in March 2021, in Najaf, meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani..
"Historic." Francis was the first pope to
visit Iraq. The closest a pope has previously come? In 1999, Pope John
Paul II had planned to visit Iraq but had to postpone it. Pope Francis
arrived yesterday and Australia's ABC noted he declared, "May the clash of arms be silenced . . . may there be an end to acts of violence and extremism." Robin Gomes (VATICAN NEWS) noted a victim of violence, Yazidi Nadia Murad, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize
winner, signed "an open letter by several international NGOs and
Iraq’s civil society groups, welcoming the current visit of Pope Francis
to her native Iraq. The letter, signed by 34 organizations, calls for
adequate protection
for the minority communities of Iraq, which are being threatened by
terrorist groups and also by unjust laws."
It
was historic in so many ways. The last leader outside the Middle East
to travel to Iraq? Donald Trump. As president in 2018, the day after
Christmas, he snuck in on a surprise visit where he visited safe bases
-- safe US bases -- and then quickly fled the country.
Pope Francis did a three day visit. Pope Francis did an announced visit. From the December 7, 2020 snapshot:
The big Iraq news today? It's the Pope. CNN notes, "Pope Francis will travel to Iraq in March 2021, the Vatican press office announced on Monday." THE GUARDIAN adds,
"The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said the pontiff, who turns 84
next
week, would visit the capital, Baghdad, and Ur, a city linked to the
Old Testament figure of Abraham, as well as Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh in
the Nineveh plains, from 5-8 March. It will be his first trip in more
than a year after all his overseas visits were cancelled because of the
coronavirus pandemic." Francis became the Pope (and became Francis)
March 13, 2013. He was born, in Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio and
took the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Prior to the
pandemic outbreak, the Pope had visited many countries including Cuba,
Israel, the United States, Bosnia, Ireland and the United Arab
Emirates. The visit to Iraq would be the Pope's first international
visit in 15 months. Devin Watkins (VATICAN NEWS) explains:
The Pope’s visit will come as the realization of a dream of his
predecessor, Pope St. John Paul II. The Polish Pope had planned to
travel to Iraq at the end of 1999. That trip never came to be because
after lengthly negotiations, Saddam Hussein postponed it.
According to Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Patriarch of Babylon of
the Chaldeans, Pope Francis will receive an enthusiastic welcome to
Iraq.
He told SIR news agency a year ago that “everyone in Iraq, Christians
and Muslims, esteem him[Pope Francis] for his simplicity and nearness.
His words touch everyone’s hearts because they are those of a shepherd.
He is a man who brings peace.”
President Barham Saleh had officially invited Pope
Francis to visit Iraq in July 2019, hoping it would help the country
“heal” after years of strife.
About 100,000 Christians are left in Iraq following sectarian warfare
after the 2003 invasion led by the United States and ISIL’s (ISIS)
sweep through one-third of the country in 2014.
Maybe
the American press was worried about security? While the rest of the
world's press covered it as the historic visit that it was, the American
press hemmed and hawwed when not outright ignoring the visit. We
covered every day of the visit. Friday, March 5, 2021; Saturday, March 6, 2021; and Sunday March 7, 2021. On the last day of the visit we included this press critique:
The western press clearly was not up to the job -- a
reality made clear by one western outlet after another -- especially in
the US -- carping and and fretting while ignoring the true intent of the
visit. Once Pope Francis landed in Iraq, western outlets didn't get
much better as Martin Chulov (GUARDIAN) made clear, "The pope concluded his two-day trip to Iraq
with two highly symbolic stops in areas [. . .]" Huh? Do they no
longer teach basic math in the United Kingdom? Pope Francis landed in
Iraq on Friday (one day), he continued his visit Saturday (two days) and
he concluded his trip on Sunday (three days). Martin Chulov reduces a
three day visit to Iraq to a "two-day trip." And it's not just his
stupidity but the editors at THE GUARDIAN as well. By contrast, VATICAN
NEWS gets it right even in a headline "Highlights of Pope Francis' third day in Iraq."
The lack of care with basic facts taken by THE GUARDIAN is as telling as
any lengthy report that they could have filed (but didn't). THE GUARDIAN can get that it was a three day trip in a photo caption, at least.
Despite
an underlaying xenophoia to the western coverage ahead of the visit,
Pope Francis made it through Iraq without any attempt being made on his
life. The Iraqi people more than lived up to the spirit of the
pontiff's visit. And the United Nation's News Center explains, "Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
and Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth of the United Arab
Emirates, welcomed the historic papal visit to Al Tahera Church, one of
the sites of the UNESCO-led Revive the Spirit of Mosul initiative."
The Popes visit, as Philip Pullella and Michael Gregory (REUTERS) note, was about healing and peace. He had already defined himself ahead of the trip as "a pilgrim of peace."Alex Arger (THE DENVER CHANNEL) reports
that Pope Francis spoke of the importance of hope and of it being "more
powerful than hatred and peace more powerful than war." Francesco Bongarra (ARAB NEWS) quotes
Pope Francis declaring in his remarks at the Syriac Catholic al-Tahira
Church in Qaraqosh today, "Even amid the ravages of terrorism and war,
we can see, with the eyes
of faith, the triumph of life over death." SCRIPPS MEDIA notes "he called for unity and forgiveness for Muslim extremists, as he visited several churches destroyed by ISIS." Nicole Winfield and Samya Kullab (AP) observe, "Bells rang out in the town of Qaraqosh as the pope arrived. Speaking to a
packed Church of the Immaculate Conception, Francis said “forgiveness”
is a key word for Christians."
If you
need another example of the bias and disinterest in the Pope from the
American media, please note that Francis became Pope on March 13, 2013.
For twelve years he was the Pope. So US broadcast outlets must have
been all over him, right?
Wrong.
Norah O'Donnell interviewed the Pope in April of last year.
Norah was the first, the last and the only American broadcast journalist to interview Pope Francis.
His
visit to Iraq came at a turbulent time for that country -- COVID,
violence, protests, a rising rate of suicide. And to the Pope that was
all the more reason to visit. But the Pope visited and was warmly
received. At the end of the visit, Iraq's President Barham Salih Tweeted:
, our honoured guest who visited Baghdad, Najaf, Ur, Erbil, Nineva. His message of peace, human solidarity with #Iraq inspires us to persevere toward a better future for the people of Iraq and the wider region.
As that trip more than demonstrated he was the People's Pope and the Iraqi people greeted him warmly.
Pope Francis has passed but he will be remembered for putting people first, for being a defender of those in need.
He
might hold the title of Secretary of Defense but no one could accuse
him of attempting to defend anything these days other than his tattered
reputation.
Pete Hegseth was never qualified to serve as Secretary of Defense. The rumors of assault, the rumors of too many drunk nights and days -- and drunk on the clock at FOX "NEWS."
It was so bad that to be confirmed he had to promise he wouldn't drink
booze at all. But his actions of late just lead everyone to wonder, "Is
he drunk?" Confronted with rumors of assault at his confirmation
hearing, Hegseth whined "I'm not perfect."
And he's certainly made that clear as he's half-assed the job DoD
Secretary for months now. SignalGate may be the death of him
politically. Matt Richards (OK) notes, "Sources
noted to CNN Hegseth 'has grown increasingly concerned' about the
inspector general looking into his usage of Signal and that Caldwell,
Selnick and Carroll expect they will be interviewed as the controversial
situation is looked into." That's Chief of Staff to the Deputy
Secretary of Defense Colin Carroll, Deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick
and Hegseth advisor Dan Caldwell -- all three were fired this month.
Aaron Parnas (MTN) reports, "In
a dramatic development on Capitol Hill, Rep. Don Bacon, a prominent
Republican and former Air Force general, has become the first GOP
lawmaker to publicly call for the removal of Pete Hegseth, President
Donald Trump's nominee for Defense Secretary. According to Politico,
Bacon voiced his concerns about Hegseth’s qualifications and management
of the Pentagon on Monday, marking a notable shift in GOP sentiment
toward one of the most contentious figures in the Trump administration."
Bacon reached the rank of Brigadier General while serving in the Air
Force (1985 through 2014) and he is an Iraq War veteran. He's quoted
stating, "I had concerns from the get-go because Pete Hegseth didn’t have a lot of experience."
Pete Hegseth barely received enough votes to win confirmation
as Donald Trump's defense secretary. Three Republicans even bucked
their own party's president to oppose him. One of them, Sen. Lisa
Murkowski (R-Alaska), cited "accusations of financial mismanagement and
problems with the workplace culture he fostered." Another, Sen. Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.), said Hegseth had "failed to demonstrate" that he
could manage "nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an
annual budget of nearly $1 trillion."
It
hasn't taken long for Hegseth to prove them - along with every Senate
Democrat and the countless others who warned about him taking over the
Pentagon - right.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Hegseth shared attack plans in a second unsecured Signal group chat, following the revelation last month
that he shared the plans to attack Houthi militants in Yemen in a
Signal chat group that included a journalist. The second chat included
Hegseth's wife, brother, and personal lawyer, underscoring the former
Fox News host's recklessness with highly sensitive information.
The
news came after a tumultuous week in the Pentagon that saw Hegseth fire
three senior officials - ostensibly because of an internal
investigation into leaking, although the officials seemed confused about
what happened. "We still have not been told what exactly we were
investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there
was even a real investigation of ‘leaks' to begin with," they wrote in a joint statement Friday night, adding that, although the experience was "unconscionable," they will continue to support Trump's plans for the Pentagon.
John Ullyot, who resigned as a spokesperson for the Pentagon last week, put a button on the turmoil in an op-ed for Politico
on Sunday. "It's been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon," the
piece began. "From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings,
the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president - who
deserves better from his senior leadership."
Josh Fiallo (DAILY BEAST) notes, "Hegseth,
44, was one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet
appointments due to his lack of Pentagon experience, strong remarks
against women in the military, and an alleged history of alcoholism."
At what point does Chump say enough is enough and fire Hegseth?
In
a recent interview on Meet the Press, financier Ray Dalio, warned of
"something worse than a recession" if current financial, economic, and
trade issues are not "handled well." Later in the interview, he warned
that if current problems worsen, we could experience a "world order in
which there is great conflict." I agree on both counts—with the caveat
that this might be an understatement. Others have issued similar
warnings.
For me,
Dalio's comments triggered troubling thoughts on how the world would
handle a future financial crisis. During my long career on the
international stage—as economic advisor to Henry Kissinger in the
National Security Council in the 1970s, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs
(international) in the 1980s and 1990s, and then Undersecretary of State
in charge of U.S. geo-economic relations in the early part of this
century—I was at the epicenter of a number of such crises and of
negotiations to help resolve them. The key to success in such efforts
was not just the financial skills of the major players but also their
willingness to engage in trustful collaboration.
That
ingredient does not exist today. Never have I seen the world so deeply
riddled with mistrust on so many economic and political issues. And that
mistrust can be the Achilles’ heel of any future negotiation in the
event of a new financial crisis—unless we recognize it and figure out
how to overcome it before a crisis hits.
Those
in high-level positions and around the world must consider how they
would manage a new crisis—which is a growing risk with so many countries
facing slowing growth, growing debt, inflationary pressures, tariff
wars, and currency volatility—and operating under fraught and
confrontational political circumstances.
This will be an enormous challenge, and failure will affect all Americans and nearly every person on this planet.
During
the last crisis, there was impressive, trustful cooperation between the
U.S. and China. But with the intensifying trade war and various other
confrontations between the two, attaining that again is likely to be far
more problematic—if not impossible.
And
tariff-related frictions between the U.S. and its key allies—among the
world's largest market economies—have undermined and in some cases
virtually destroyed the mutual trust that has been so critical in
resolving issues in the past. Intense trade disputes will make
cooperation among them to deal with a new financial crisis far more
difficult.
Chump
is wrecking the economy both here and abroad. He is putting the people
of the planet at risk with his idiotic and uniformed actions.
Yesterday, Stan Choe (AP) reported,
"U.S. stocks are tumbling Monday as worries about President Donald
Trump’s trade war and his criticism of the Federal Reserve cause
investors to pull further from the United States. The S&P 500 was
2.8% lower in another wipeout, and the index at the center of many
401(k) accounts is more than 16% below its record set two months ago." Prabhjote Gill noted, "The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) tumbled more than 650 points in
Monday morning trade after President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, warning the economy could stall without
immediate rate cuts." Yes, Chump continues to go after Powell
despite the fact that most economic experts say that getting rid of
Powell would be illegal and would also be the thing that really
destroyed faith in the US economy among investors. Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) reminds, "Powell,
who was ironically first appointed to the post by Trump himself, has
repeatedly warned that Trump's tariffs are set to increase prices, and
has resisted pressure from Trump to try to offset the market contraction
induced by his own trade policies with interest rate cuts — which has
only enraged Trump further."
Speculation
about the legality of firing Powell has focused, in part, on concerns
about a pending Supreme Court case that challenges a precedent
prohibiting presidents from firing certain federal officials for
political motives. Still, some former Fed and government officials see a
different calculation at work.
“Trump does always want someone else to be the scapegoat,” said Former Federal Reserve vice chair Alan Blinder.
Jared
Bernstein, chief White House economist under President Joe Biden, wrote
in an essay Friday that “it’s entirely possible Trump’s setting up
Powell not to be replaced but to stick around as the fall guy
should…rising recession probabilities—purely a function of Trump’s
actions—prove correct.”
Should
Chump try to scapegoat Powell for his own failures, I think the
economic press will come out with knives to carve Chump up like he's
never been sliced before. The economy is his.
As Stephanie Ruhle pointed out last night on THE 11TH HOUR WITH
STEPHANIE RUHLE (MSNBC), there are people who don't even know the name
of the person who represents them in the House of Representatives.
Those people especially are not going to know who "J Powell" is. But
they know who the president is. They know his name. The economy is his.
Chump owns this economic nightmare because he's set tariffs when he lacks the Constitutional power to do so. Ankush Khardori (POLITICO) explains:
The
question is whether the courts -- including perhaps the Supreme Court
itself -- will agree, or whether they will blink in the face of the
economic and diplomatic turmoil that Trump has unleashed. In fact, Trump
may have unintentionally created his best legal argument by upending
the global economy: that the courts should be wary of interfering in the
president’s handling of international affairs given the complexity and
high stakes of the trade war now playing out.
Lawyers challenging the administration’s use of the IEEPA to impose tariffs say they are optimistic about their chances.
“This
is an enormous usurpation of legislative power by the executive and an
abuse of emergency powers,” Ilya Somin, a libertarian law professor at
George Mason University and one of the attorneys working on the Liberty
Justice Center’s case, told me.
Consider
tariffs. Constitutionally, Congress — not the president — has the power
to regulate trade, but Trump seized this power by declaring trade
deficits to be a “national emergency,” thus enacting tariffs via
executive order, sidestepping Congress.
All
of the self-generated disorder has caused Trump’s approval rating to
decline significantly since the inauguration, a gift for Democrats.
Despite still struggling to overcome their own poor ratings, they are being assisted by the chaos Trump is causing.
Having begun his second term with 51 percent approval versus 44 percent disapproval, those numbers have now reversed.
One-half
(50 percent) of Americans now disapprove of his job performance,
compared to 47 percent who approve — a net 10-point decline in less than
100 days, per RealClearPolitics polling aggregator.
He
may try to blame the economic collapse on Powell but the reality is
that he has acted erratically at best and crazed at worst and the
American people -- the entire planet -- has seen this unfold in real
time. These are his actions and these are his choices. And as they
took place, there was enormous pushback and he chose to ignore it. He
not only owns this mess, he created it.
Craig
Fuller, the CEO of FreightWaves, a freight-focused organization that
analyzes the freight and logistics market, has regretted
"enthusiastically" supporting President Donald Trump's victory in the
2024 election, warning that the administration's policies are likely to
"wipe out supply chains and small businesses within 100 days."
"I
did not vote for a neutron bomb to wipe out supply chains and small
businesses 100 days in," he wrote on the social platform X on Sunday.
"I
thought I was voting for pro-business policies and small, targeted, and
incremental tariffs that would encourage the production of strategic
industries to return to the Americas," Fuller said, adding that this is
what happened under Trump's previous term.
Last month,
investment adviser Steve Rattner, who served as a counselor in the
Treasury Department under former President Barack Obama, said many
businessmen who supported Trump may come to have buyer's remorse in the
months ahead.
We'll wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Over 45 lawmakers sound alarms about possible illicit payments, influence-peddling, insider trading
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs Committee, along with Representatives Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.),
Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, and
Judy Chu (D-Calif.), led a group of 44 Congressional Democrats in
writing to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of
Commerce Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson
Greer with concerns over the potential for corruption in the
implementation of the administration’s tariff policy.
The Trump administration’s tariffs rollout is rife with opportunities
to unduly influence President Trump and other administration officials.
The chaotic nature of the tariffs, including announcing them and
pausing them shortly after they went into effect, provides ample
opportunity for private sector corporations or sovereign nationals to
corruptly seek exemptions.
“Corporations and sovereign nations facing existentially high stakes,
and knowing tariffs are controlled by a small circle in the White
House, can petition officials not to apply tariffs to them after the
90-day pause, to grant them exemptions, to decrease tariffs, or to
impose tariffs on competitors — and can quietly offer something in
return,” wrote the lawmakers.
President Trump’s record on tariffs in his first term illustrates his
willingness to give preference to donors and allies while punishing
enemies. Politically loyal companies that donated to Republican
candidates, as well as companies with financial or political ties to
President Trump, were more likely to
be granted tariff exemptions after President Trump imposed them in his
first administration. After auditing the Trump Administration’s tariff
exclusion practices in 2018 and 2019, the Commerce Department’s Office
of Inspector General found evidence of “off-record communications” and an “appearance of improper influence in decisionmaking for tariff exclusion requests.”
“We fear the Administration is once again turning its tariffs policy
into an underground market of exemptions in exchange for financial and
political favors,” said the lawmakers.
Trump’s ad-hoc process has started to bear fruit for special
interests. Last week, the White House exempted smartphones and certain
other high-end electronics from tariffs targeting China. Within hours,
Big Tech stock prices soared — particularly the value of Apple, which
makes the vast majority of its iPhones in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook donated to President Trump’s inauguration and cultivated a strong relationship with him in recent months, as he did during Trump’s first term to win tariff exemptions.
The on-and-off nature of President Trump’s tariffs also opens the
door to rampant insider trading. Administration officials — and their
families and friends — with early knowledge of changes in tariff policy
can buy positions they expect will rise and sell those that will fall.
On April 9, 2025, minutes before the administration announced a pause on
most tariffs, the trading market began to skyrocket —
suggesting that insiders acted on non-public information about the
coming pause. President Trump then posted on social media “THIS IS A
GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!,” still before any official announcement, causing
stocks to further spike.
Members of Congress, including Senator Warren,
have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and ethics
officials to investigate whether any securities laws were violated with
this announcement.
At the same time, the top ethics watchdog who can hold the
administration accountable appears poorly positioned to tackle
tariff-related corruption. In late March 2025, USTR Ambassador Greer was
named Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and now
serves in both roles simultaneously. Therefore, a top tariff policy
official is responsible for ensuring that tariff policy decisions are
made free of financial conflicts.
“This dual appointment raises blatant conflicts that risk undermining
OGE’s ability to independently monitor trade officials’ conduct and
recommend investigations into misconduct when necessary,” concluded the lawmakers.
The lawmakers asked the officials to provide clarity on the Trump
administration’s exemption policy, if any official exemption request
processes exist, where exemptions will be reported, whether an appeals
process exists, the administration’s plans to ensure tariff exemptions
are not corrupted, and more, by April 29, 2025.
Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) joined in signing the letter.
The following Representatives joined in signing the letter: Gabe Amo
(D-R.I.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Salud
Carbajal (D-Calif.), Greg Casar (D-T.X.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Diana
DeGette (D-Colo.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas),
Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Robert
Garcia (D-Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Al Green (D-Texas), Steven
Horsford (D-Nev.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.),
Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Timothy Kennedy (D-N.Y.), John Larson
(D-Conn.), Summer Lee, (D-Pa.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), LaMonica McIver
(D-N.J.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerry Nadler
(D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ayanna
Pressley (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Jan
Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.),
Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar
(D-Mich.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Nydia Velázquez
(D-NY), and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
I love that so much, let me run it twice. Fat hump hauling his big ol ass out of bed mid-morning on Easter Sunday, beer glass in hand, obese belly hanging out, MOOBS a'swingin.
I also love the inclusion of transphobe Riley Gaines. You probably know this already, but that's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS' "Chump of Chumps"
Now let's go to the news.
Poor Alien Musk, he discovered the hard way "Go Chump, Eat Rump." (Kat rightly noted that's what happens when you get on board with Chump.) And how does that ass taste to Musk now? Travis Getttys (Raw Story) reports:
Federal
employees are largely disregarding weekly emails demanded by President
Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk — with many
reportedly treating them like a "joke."
The Washington Post obtained
government records and spoke with three dozen managers and employees
across the government and found many officials refused to comply with
the demands to list five accomplishments each week, which Musk insisted
was necessary to ensure staffers have a "pulse."
"Some
federal agencies have stopped requiring the messages," the Post
reported. "A shrinking number of departments mandate strict compliance,
while others say they’re requiring the emails but are not checking for
compliance or tracking responses in any way that is detectable to some
employees. Many federal workers who still answer the message are either
churning out lightly modified versions of the same boilerplate each week
— or treating the whole thing as a joke, such as by submitting replies
in a foreign language."
The
tech mogul says he's leaving the government later this year, and his
White House influence seems to have waned, but his conflicting
directives that first went out Feb. 22 – demanding to know “What did you
do last week?” – have resulted in a patchwork of policies covering the
responses, and employees remain confused about their purpose.
They
treat him like a joke because he is a joke. Was it worth it?
Destroying Tesla and Twitter? BlueSky has continued to grow and grow
while Twitter has a lot of accounts but fewer and fewer active users.
A
Tesla engineer has accused Tesla of threatening her team with
deportation after bringing up a brake safety issue with CEO Elon Musk in
2014.
Balan was fired after informing Musk
that she was worried floor carpets could curl up underneath the pedals
in Model S vehicles, she says, in a major braking safety hazard.
According
to Balan, she was simply following Musk's orders to "talk to me" if
staffers thought it was the "fastest way to solve a problem for the
benefit of the whole company," according to an email he sent to all
employees in 2013, as quoted by Electrek.
Instead
of listening to her concerns, Balan says that a team of Tesla lawyers
threatened to deport members of her team who were waiting on green card
applications, if she didn't resign on the spot — which she did, in
protest. The members had stood behind her decision to raise flags over
the floor carpet issue.
The former engineer, who has been in remission for stage 3 breast cancer, called Musk a "monster" and "pure evil" in an interview with The Times of London, revealing that she's extending her already years-long legal battle against the mercurial CEO and his carmaker.
And that is the real Alien Musk. That is the Musk -- a person with the heart of a monster.
Now
for an update on a grifter we've been following for some time, Nadine
Menendez. The wife of Shady Menendez used health problems as an excuse
to postpone her trial. Her husband, disgraced, one-time US senator Bob
Menendez, has already stood trial and is set to be sentenced next
month. Nadine's trial finally started earlier this year and, ABC News
reports, there is a verdict.
A
jury has found Nadine Menendez guilty in her federal bribery trial,
following the conviction of her husband, former New Jersey Sen. Bob
Menendez, on similar crimes.
Prosecutors argued
the two were "partners in crime" while accusing them of accepting cash,
gold bars and a luxury car in exchange for political favors.
Nadine is a crook. Partner in crime? Truer words were never spoken.
Monday, April 21, 2025. GOSSIP GIRL in live performances as SignalGate
continues and gets worse, Chump united the country in protest, Paul
Krugman notes exactly what Chump's trying, and much more.
Once
upon a time, live theater was turned into films. WESTSIDE STORY, FUNNY
GIRL, MY FAIR LADY, DREAMGIRLS, CAMELOT, etc. More recently, films
have been turned into live theater -- DEATH BECOMES HER, HAIRSPRAY, MEAN
GIRLS, etc. Apparently, the need for material has resulted in TV shows
being turned into live performances.
The latest? GOSSIP GIRL.
It's
in tryouts in DC currently but the premise is no longer a private
school, it's a public administration and, SPOILER, the gossip girl in
question is Pete Hegseth who can't help spreading secrets like war plans
and missile strike times.
SignalGate continues and gets worse. As with the first revelation
that Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, was leaking and sharing details
of the US attack on Yemen before and as it happened on a non-secure
Signal chat, this new information again involves Pete and Signal but a
different group chat. Signal, AP reminds, "is a commercially available app
not authorized to be used to communicate sensitive or classified
national defense information" And this one again begs the question, "Was
he drunk?"
Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart (REUTERS) report, "U.S.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of a March attack on
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that included his wife,
brother and personal lawyer, a source familiar with the matter told
Reuters on Sunday. The
revelations of a second Signal chat raise more questions about
Hegseth's use of an unclassified messaging system to share highly
sensitive security details and come at a particularly delicate moment
for him, with senior officials ousted from the Pentagon last week as
part of an internal leak investigation."
For any who
have forgotten the first non-secure Signal chat on the attack on Yemen
was a chat involving Pete, Vice President JD Vance, Diretor of National
Intelligence Tulsi Gabar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NSA advisor
Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe (who named an undercover CIA
agent in the non-secure chat) and, by accident, journalist Jeffrey
Goldberg who wrote about it here.
The chat was set up during Hegseth’s tumultuous confirmation hearing
process as a way for his closest allies to strategize, two of the
people familiar with the matter said. But Hegseth continued using the
chat, which had more than a dozen people in it, to communicate after he
was confirmed, the people said.
The revelation comes as some of Hegseth’s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary’s judgment, including his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three former senior officials Hegseth fired last week
— his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick,
and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary
of defense.
“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of
sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a
major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his
senior leadership,” Ullyot said in a statement obtained by CNN.
Was he drunk? This newly revealed chat includes his wife and his brother who have both already raised eye brows. Robert Mackey (GUARDIAN) notes, "Hegseth has previously been criticized for including his wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, in sensitive meetings with foreign leaders,
including a discussion of the war in Ukraine with British military
leaders. Phil Hegseth, the secretary’s younger brother, was hired as a
senior Pentagon adviser and is the defense department’s liaison to the
Department of Homeland Security. It is unclear why either would need to
know about the details of strikes plans in advance." It's also unclear,
at this point, who Hegseth didn't share war plans and deatils with
regarding the US strike on Yemen.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer Tweeted, "The details keep coming out. We keep learning how Pete
Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him."
Too weak. Weak on national defense Chump. Christopher Wiggins (THE ADVOCATE) notes:
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
on Sunday publicly condemned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling
him “unfit to lead.” New revelations showed Hegseth shared classified
U.S. military
plans—including details of a Yemen airstrike—with his wife, brother,
personal lawyer, and others in an encrypted Signal group chat. The
disclosure comes weeks after Hegseth was revealed to have discussed
plans for a military strike in an unsecured Signal chat to which The Atlantic’s editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been added.
“Of course, advance information on US combat operations is
classified,” Buttigieg, a Navy veteran who served as an intelligence
officer, wrote on Facebook. “Pretending otherwise is an insult to our
troops, who all know this. The Secretary is unfit to lead.”
Pete's an Afghan War veteran, Senator Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran.
Senator Michael Bennett Tweeted, "Pete Hegseth’s
continuing contempt for our intelligence community and abdication of his
duty to our armed forces and the American people
are completely unacceptable – and dangerous. President Trump must remove
him immediately."
US House Rep Sydney Kamlager-Dove posted to BLUESKY:
These calls join earlier ones. Dan Lamothe (WASHINGTON POST) reminds, "In the aftermath of the first error coming to light, President Donald
Trump supported Hegseth, but the top Republican and Democrat on the
Senate Armed Services Committee, Sens. Roger Wicker (Mississippi) and
Jack Reed (Rhode Island), requested that the Defense Department
inspector general’s office scrutinize the situation. A review is underway." Yash Nitish Bajaj (THE HINDUSTAN TIMES) notes,
"After The Atlantic disclosed the first Signal chat, Hegseth said:
'Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that.'
At a Senate hearing, Tulsi Gabbard asserted the same claim." Yes, they
lied. And they will most likely lie again. In the meantime, Chas Danner (INTELLIGENCER) observes, "Hegseth’s 100th day as defense secretary will be May 4 — if he’s still the defense secretary."
If
you thought we'd be addressing how two White man hijack a Black woman's
show and dismiss her declared topic? Ava and I covering that at
THIRD. The plan is for it to go up this evening (it was written
yesterday) with other new stuff at THIRD or by itself. But if you're
among the people who watched that in outrage, we caught it as well.
It's what White YOUTUBERS have done all along with regards to Kamala so
it's really not that surprising that two White men could come on a Black
woman's show and disrespect her by dismissing the planned topic to
instead talk about what they wanted to talk about. It's a topic among
Black people -- a very big topic -- but White America seems to struggle
to address the reality. They're going to need to learn to address it if
only to save themselves.
On the issue of Black women . . .
An e-mail came into the public account (common_ills@yahoo.com):
We
need crowds at the protests and the decision of so many of your people
to not attend and to sit out or be on a staycation is hurting us. You
write about every topic but the need for Black women to get over
themselves and get their asses to these protests!
I replied back asking the e-mailer how they voted in 2024? They're a Rashida Tlaib groupie so they voted for Jill Stein.
Excuse
me, that White woman Rashida did so much damagae and now we're supposed
to grab the broom and clean up the mess for her? What are we? In the
film THE HELP?
As for addressing that? I've addressed it here repeatedly. I addressed as soon as the notion was floated.
And
my unneeded advice on this to "your people" (how very H Ross Perot of
you) is what it was. You take care of you. As we saw in 2024, the
White left gives lip service to supporting up with slogans like "Vote
Like A Black Woman." But when a Black woman runs, they tear her apart.
They hold her to standards they've never held a man to. They make up
lies to attack her and they make up lies to attack us.
We
have stood behind Democratic candidates in the past who were
questionable or caught in a scandal -- one White man after another, not
just Bill Clinton, one White man after another.
And yet it was too much for you to join us in supporting Kamala to stand up against The Convicted Felon Donald Chump.
I've said from the beginning that if you need a week off from this, take it. If it's months, take it. If it years, take it.
The way were treated online by the DSA and others was outrageous and it was racist.
So stop pretending that we're going to come together with you now.
I
wish I wasn't. I wish I wasn't taking part. I am. And I'm doing so
out of fear of what worse thing could be around the corner.
But I try to work with the White people and what do we see?
We see Chris Hayes continuing to platform guests who argued against voting for Kamala.
He bring one DSAer after another on his show and he never gets honest about that.
We
see Tim Walz break all rules and protocol of a running mate to attack
Kamala and he's brought back on the shows and treated as someone smart
as though we didn't see all of his lying in 2024 and as though we didn't
see him deliver the all time worst performance by a vp candidate ever
broadcast on TV.
He attacks Kamala -- for noting the was right -- and suddenly let's welcome back DSA sponsored Tim Walz.
Do you know how insulting that is?
We see this, Black women, garbage over and over.
And
you say you want to work with us. And we know you want our bodies at
the protests because then they can go violent and Black people will act
as the magnet drawing all the police attacks. We get it. You value us
when you can use our bodies to protect your own.
Karen
Hunter's again explored the topic of Black women and the protests and
there are others that we highlight who explore that topic.
But you no longer see those videos up here.
We're not stupid. We're going to do what we're going to do. And it doesn't matter what Karen says or what I say.
You
want Black women at the protests? Start making an effort. Stop
thinking that we're idiots and we've forgotten what you did. Start
making apologies for attacking us and for lying about Kamala.
This is not something for Black women to fix. This is not our mess to clean.
White
people -- largely Socialists -- made the problem. You want to fix it?
Shoe real contrition for your actions -- including but not limited to
confessing what you did and apologizing for it.
That's not going to happen and we know that.
And that's we, as a group, are not rushing to get involved in the protests.
You
spent the summer and the fall exhibiting the worst of the White
Southern Strategy and we saw you. We saw the masks slip and we saw the
racist devil come out to play.
I'm not telling
any Black woman what to do and I'm certainly never going to say, "Hey,
let's ignor our gut instinct -- the only thing's that allowed us to stay
alive and survive during slavery and Jim Crowe. Let's ignore that gut
instinct and instead take these blankets from the White men. I
understand the Shawnee and Lenape accepted the blankets so we should
too."
Our instincts are not betraying us. And
the refusal of White YOUTUBE to even acknowledge this issue, this
betrayal, goes to the racism on their part. Their attitude is that we
can just move on. No, we can't. And Black women will decide for
themselves if and when it's time to join protests.
Those
who feel it is, that's the right decision for them. Those waiting and
hoping that this issue will be addressed by the White people who created
it, that's the right decision for them. Those saying, "I've given all I
can right now," that's the right decision for them. And those saying,
"I'm done with the White devil," more power to you.
Here's coverage of people -- including some Black people -- protesting around the country on Saturday.
That's San Francisco today. Philip Marcelo (LOS ANGELES TIMES) reports,
"In San Francisco, protesters formed a human banner reading 'Impeach
& Remove' on the sands of Ocean Beach overlooking the Pacific, while
others marched downtown chanting, 'No wall! Sanctuary for all!' to
block access to a San Francisco Tesla dealership." Across the country
protests took place. Max Levy (DENVER POST) reports:
A crowd returned to Colorado’s Capitol and downtown Denver on
Saturday for the latest in a nationwide series of “Hands Off!” rallies
opposing the Trump administration.
Videos and images
posted on social media by rally attendees show the group holding signs
denouncing what they described as the threat to American democracy posed
by President Donald Trump and his associates, including Tesla CEO Elon
Musk, who leads the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
The event was scheduled to last from noon to 4 p.m. and was organized
by Colorado 50501 Chapter, Women’s Strike and Raise Her Voice.
Colorado 50501 Chapter also helped organize the “Hands Off!” rally that brought a crowd and speakers to the Capitol on April 5.
Good for Denver. And good for people in cities across the land.
They're dancin' in Chicago
ABC 7's Maher Kawash reports,
"People took to the streets Saturday in Chicago and nationwide to
protest President Donald Trump's policies. The protests came as the
U.S. Supreme Court issued a new ruling temporarily blocking deportations of immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act. The high court acted in an emergency appeal from the ACLU." Noel Brennan (CBS CHICAGO) adds,
"A sea of people crowded Daley Plaza, and marched through the Loop,
seeking to turn the tide of the Trump administration" and quotes
protester Jim Coleman stating, "The more people come out, the quicker
the government will change. There's a lot of energy. People are very
upset right now."
That was not the only action in the Chicago area. Courtney Sisk (NBC NEWS CHICAGO) notes
that the city hosted "Spend In The Black" this morning an effort that
fights back against anti-DEI polices and encouraged people to shop at
Black-owned stores. Sisk quotes Rev Charlie Dates stating, "It is
absolutely remarkable. We want to strengthen our Black businesses, we
don’t want to put our dollars where our dignity is not respected."
Around 100 people gathered outside of the New Orleans ICE Field Office on Saturday, rallying for the freedom of Mahmoud Khalil and others detained in immigration enforcement operations.
The case of Khalil, a Colombia University graduate student detained
at a facility in Louisiana, has garnered national attention. A week ago,
a federal judge ruled that Khalil could be removed from the country.
His lawyers are expected to appeal and a federal judge in New Jersey has
temporarily barred his removal.
Saturday's protest began with a rally on Poydras Street. Then, the group
began marching toward the French Quarter. The demonstration is
scheduled to end at the Moon Walk, a park across from Jackson Square.
James Finn (NOLA) adds,
"A collection of student activists, immigration advocates and
progressive groups organized the demonstration 'in response to the Trump
administration’s racist and unconstitutional attacks on immigrants and
student activists leading to the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa
Ozturk, and other students on visas at ICE facilities in Louisiana,' the
organizers said."
up in New York City
Janice Yu (WABC) reports,
"A sea of people gathered outside the New York Public Library on Fifth
Avenue with signs in hand and chanting in unison. Then they marched
through the streets. Their concerns were the climate ahead of Earth Day,
but also some of the policies and actions of the Trump
administration." Activist Jamie Leo is quoted stating, "A combination
of an environmental disaster and the human disaster of what is
happening, not just to the people being illegally and monstrously
abducted, but the people who are being hurt silently." CBS NYC reports chants included "No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state" and quotes protester Marshall Green stating, "Congress
should be stepping up and saying no, we are not at war. You cannot use
that [the wartime Alien Enemies Acto fo 1798]. You cannot
deport people without due process, and everyone in this country has the
right to due process no matter what." NEWSWEEK's Jesus Mesa notes, "Tony, one of the marchers, held a placard showing the face of Andry, a
Venezuelan hairdresser who he says disappeared after an encounter with
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)"
and quotes him stating, "I saw they all came from videos of their
mothers crying. That's what impacts me most -- that there are mothers
who don't know where their sons are."
"We need to wake up. We can't take this for granted. Democracy dies in silence," said Lip Spector.
The protest, called "No Kings," is
part of a nationwide demonstration denouncing the policies and actions
of the White House that protesters say are anti-democratic.
"This is a sign from the grassroots up," said Margaret Ralph. "Americans are saying this is not who we are."
Emily Neil (WHYY) notes, "Philadelphia's rally leaned heavily into the city’s lore and history. A
person dressed in a Gritty suit held up a QR code with information on
speakers’ names, and the Positive Movement Drumline accompanied
rally-goers when they marched several blocks around Old City. With
Independence Hall as a backdrop, several attendees came in colonial
attire as speakers drew parallels to the Founding Fathers’ fight against
the British monarchy and what many people described as the 'lawlessness' of the Trump administration."
Sounds
pretty impressive. Good for Philadelphia. Too bad that their crap
ass newspaper, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, couldn't be bothered to file a
report -- but, hey, they're jazzed that Mark Levin's joining the Chump
administration. Priorities, you understand.
Baltimore
and DC now (Baltimore and DC now)
Emma Bowman and Juliana Kim (NPR) report, "In Washington, D.C., hundreds of protesters gathered in Lafayette Square
outside the White House on Saturday morning to voice their opposition
to the Trump administration. Demonstrators cited a range of concerns,
including the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the administration's moves to cut funding for research and higher education." Philip Marcelo (AP) notes, "Bob Fasick said he came out to the rally by the White
House out of concern about threats to constitutionally protected due
process rights, as well as Social Security and other federal safety-net
programs." Kanishka Singh (REUTERS) notes, "Some demonstrators carried symbols expressing support for Ukraine and
urging Washington to be more decisive in opposing Russian President
Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine." Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Julia Jester (NBC NEWS) quote activist Susie Stern stating, "Everyone should have due process. No one should be just taken away and
locked up. I don’t care if he is a murderer, he still should get due
process. That's what this country
is based on. Laws."
Yeah, don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City)
Protesters across metro Detroit spent another Saturday rallying and protesting against the Trump administration.
A
handful of protest movements, ranging from Oakland County to Detroit,
and farther south into Trenton, took place April 19 as a follow-up to
the nationwide “Hands Off! Day of Action"
protests on April 5, which saw thousands of Michiganders rally against
President Donald Trump, his administration and tech billionaire Elon
Musk.
Thousands turned out, but the shouts of
the crowds across Michigan stood in contrast to how the state voted in
2024. President Donald Trump won the state by a bit over 80,000 votes,
earning 49.7% of the vote to then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ 48.3%.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Michigan
Capitol Saturday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump's
administration on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
The
rally, held by Stand Against Extremism in "solidarity" with the 50501
movement, began at noon with a march around the Capitol. Afterward, the
crowd stood in front of the steps of the Capitol to hear from local
organizers, politicians and community members.
Way down in L.A., California (way down in L.A., California)
Tim Pulliam (ABC 7) reports, "At City Hall in downtown L.A. Saturday, demonstrators said Trump and
wealthy members of his administration, like billionaire Elon Musk, are
attacking working people and democratic policies. Other protesters there
denounced the administration's effort to conduct mass deportations."
MSNBC offers this video report of protests around the country.
NEWSWEEK offers a photo essay of protests here. They protested in Houston.
It was a nation wide rebuke to Donald Chump, a rejection
of the Convicted Felon's efforts to destroy the country. The
participation increases nd more people become aware. Rachel Maddow's
stated courage is contagious and we're seeing it spread as more and more
people refuse to cower before Chump, refuse to bow and scrape and kiss
the ring. Joe and Mika embraced cowardice and they are useless for that
reason and forevermore. But the American people are standing up and
speaking out.
I've seen many good things on BLUESKY but think this may be the most important post of the day.
Donald Chump is practicing The Politics of Destruction. Paul Krugman covers that in his latest column that just went up:
If you want a model for what’s happening to America, think of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
But
wait, wasn’t Mao hard left while America has been taken over by the
hard right? Well, why do you think there’s a big difference between the
two? I’m a believer in horseshoe theory,
which says that the extreme left and the extreme right are more like
each other than either is like the political center. For example, among
Britain’s unions there is a hard-left faction that has no counterpart in
the United States. Some of its positions, notably making apologies for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, look a lot like MAGA.
Once
you’ve seen the parallel between what MAGA is trying to do and China’s
Cultural Revolution, the similarities are everywhere. Maoists sent
schoolteachers to do farm labor; Trumpists are talking about putting
civil servants to work in factories.
The
Cultural Revolution was, of course, a huge disaster for China. It
inflicted vast suffering on its targets and also devastated the economy.
But the Maoists didn’t care. Revenge was their priority, never mind the
effects on GDP.
The Trumpists are surely the same. Their
rampage will, if unchecked, have dire economic consequences. Right now
we’re all focused on tariff madness, but undermining higher education
and crippling scientific research will eventually have even bigger
costs. But don’t expect them to care, or even to acknowledge what’s
happening. Trump has already declared that the inflation everyone can
see with their own eyes is fake news.
Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS' "Chump of Chumps" went up yesterday. The following sites updated:
