Ann's Mega Dub

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Donald Chump hates Black people

That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Lincoln Hater" and leave it a racist like Donald to destroy the penny. If he could, he'd destroy our collective national memory of Lincoln.

Tonight, let's note the original grifter Donald Chump. Atlanta Black Star News reports:

As President Donald Trump’s administration continues to scour federal agencies of all DEI programs and initiatives, a U.S. military recruiting agency recently announced that it will no longer recruit potential service members from a renowned Black engineering event.

On Monday, Military.com reported that the Army and other service branches will end their enlistment efforts at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards, an annual event that invites students, academics, and professionals with expertise in science, technology, engineering, and math.

[. . .]

The BEYA event, based in Baltimore, has served as an essential channel for the Pentagon to access highly skilled STEM talent, award Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarships, and pitch military service to rising engineers. The Army Recruiting Command boasted a long-standing partnership with the event, and several past BEYA events have included the Army chief of staff and other senior military leaders.

So the US military does not want you . . . if you're Black. That really is the message and, Donald Chump, we hear you loud and clear. And we know drunk Pete Hegseth just heard the reaction of the people loud and clear. Courtney Kube (NBC News) reports:

Military families protesting the Defense Department's anti-DEI push heckled Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on his arrival at United States European Command headquarters in Germany on Tuesday.

On a visit to the U.S. military’s key European military hub in Stuttgart, Hegseth was booed by around two dozen people who live at the base in an apparent demonstration against the policies currently being implemented by the Trump administration.

The demonstrators at the short protest repeatedly chanted “DEI,” apparently in a reference to the recent ban Hegseth has placed on some books in defense department schools. Hegseth last week ordered the restriction of learning materials covering subjects that included psychology and immigration in DOD schools.

He hates Black people. We apparently scare him when he's drunk out of his mind. He should be scared. Our ancestors are coming for him in his dreams. Enjoy the torment, Hegseth. Emilia Randall (Irish Star) reports:

The Defense Secretary signed an order restoring the name of a storied special operations forces back to a confederate general undoing the Biden administration's efforts to remove names that fought against the liberation.

Pete Hegseth renamed the North Carolina US military base Fort Bragg on Monday, wiping its previous re-naming of Fort Liberty in 2023. l. "Bragg is back!" Hegseth posted on social media site X after signing the order.

The base’s original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, who was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles, contributing to the Confederacy’s downfall.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Wednesday, February 12, 2025. Alien Musk is a teen girl fashion plate . . . from decades ago, Senate Dems hold a press conference, tricksters line up against Hakeem from the shadows and think we're all to stupid to catch on, FOX "NEWS" caught lying about who they brought on as guests, and much more.

First up, BLUESKY. An e-mail to the public account (common_ills@yahoo.com) states I don't seem to enjoy BLUESKY. When we focus on it here or at THIRD, we're generally highlighting something really good or nonsense that the person posting should be embarrassed about. If there's no comment from me -- like yesterday -- I have no problem with it. But I'll start off with a BLUESKY that I found clever.

Now let's move over to MSNBC and Lawrence O'Donnell.

If you have good eyes, you'll agree with Lawrence take on Alien Musk's outfit. If you have bad vision, like me, you may need to take a closer look. When I first saw photos of Alien in the Oval Office, I thought he was quite girlish. I thought he was saluting 80s teen girls -- leggings and a skirt. Squint and you may see what I'm talking about. It's like he's embracing his inner BLOSSOM.

Yesterday wasn't just about Alien Musk trying to look girlish, it was also the weekly press conference from the Senate Democrats. We'll note this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

***VIDEO HERE***

Washington, D.C. — Today, at Senate Democrats’ weekly press conference, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke about President Trump and Elon Musk’s illegal funding freeze, government funding ahead of the March 14 deadline, and the pending nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“We have a funding deadline fast approaching and we need a topline soon to be able to write and pass our bills.

“I remain at the table with my Democratic counterpart in the House to get a result so we can move forward. But it is extremely difficult to land an agreement on toplines—much less our annual bills—when you have a President and an unelected billionaire ignoring the very agreements we pass each year in our spending bills.

“What we are seeing now—the absolute lawlessness, the illegal funding freeze that is risking jobs and hurting working people—that simply cannot continue.

“The President is illegally blocking hundreds of billions in approved funding for our roads and bridges, for clean energy jobs, for foreign assistance, and a lot more.

“What’s more, the problem right now is that it’s not even March 14th yet, and Trump and Elon Musk are effectively shutting down the government—whichever parts they don’t like—all on their own, without any regard for the law or the Constitution or Congress.

“No one voted for the President to illegally block funding from Head Start classrooms or our rural health centers—but that is what Trump did his second week in office.

“No one voted to let an unelected billionaire decide what bills the federal government would or would not pay—but Trump is giving Elon the keys to the Treasury.

“In case Elon needs a reminder: the power of the purse sits with Congress—that means when people vote for us, we are their voice in how their tax dollars get spent.

“The constitution doesn’t say Elon gets to decide if our elementary schools and hospitals get funding. Congress negotiates how we invest in our communities.

“So, this has got to change, and we need our Republican colleagues to work with us to make sure it does—and I hope we can resolve things in time to pass the full year funding bills that I actually wanted to finish back last December.

“Now, as we consider nominations on the floor this week: I want to remind you all it was only 2019 when I co-led a bipartisan Senate Health Committee Hearing with Senator Alexander to educate people on vaccines. With nearly every Republican Senator on that dais making very clear that vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving.

“But now, Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Republican Party is on the verge of confirming, as our nation’s highest health official, RFK, Jr.— a man who has spent years crusading against vaccines.

“Republicans are choosing to pretend like it is in any way believable that RFK, Jr. won’t use his new power to do exactly the thing he has been trying to do for decades: undermine vaccines.

“People are alarmed. My phone lines are ringing off the hook with constituents who understand the stakes here and want us to stand up for science and for their health and safety. Because the Health Secretary has real power over whether Americans can get the basic information and care they need.

“I think most of my colleagues know what is really at stake here. They know what sort of agenda RFK Jr. will pursue, and they know what sort of damage he could do if confirmed.

“There are political realities, we all get that—but there is also right and wrong. There is also fact and fiction. There is also people staying healthy, and people dying pointlessly—kids dying pointlessly—from diseases that we can prevent.

“So, I urge all my colleagues to show some courage, show some conscience, and say: no, a vaccine denier should not be our highest-ranking health official.”

###

Now let's move to trickery. Justin Baragona (INDEPENDENT) reports:

Two Fox News guests who were portrayed by the network as run-of-the-mill “Trump voters” on Tuesday are both heavily involved in Republican politics, with one working as an assistant to an elected GOP official and the other a multiple-time candidate for local office.

During a Tuesday broadcast of America’s Newsroom, anchor Bill Hemmer moderated a discussion featuring two supporters of President Donald Trump, both of whom enthusiastically backed the efforts by the administration and Elon Musk’s meme-based department to dismantle government agencies and slash federal funding.

“President Trump doubling down on his support for the DOGE leader Elon Musk. Which is getting a lot of headlines – basically all of them in the last couple of weeks. It is still early, but they’re moving fast,” Hemmer noted at the top of the segment. “The president is pointing out it’s exactly what he campaigned on. But how do voters feel? I want to bring in Don O’Connor out of Iowa, a Trump voter from Mason City – he’s in banking. And screen right is Nick Schultz; he is outside of Milwaukee in Waukesha.”

Turning to O’Connor, who he called the “senior member of our panel,” the Fox host asked if he liked what he was seeing in Trump’s first weeks and if he thought it would be successful.

Why would FOX "NEWS" do that?

Trickery.

To trick the viewers. That's awful. How dare you try to put one over on your audience. Right?

But I guess Amy Goodman can't shriek too loudly since that's what she did over from August through the end of October on DEMOCARCY NOW! as she brought on one Socialist after another -- never identified as such -- to attack Kamala Harris and to send the message that even Democrats don't like Kamala -- even though these weren't Democrats. (See "2024: The Year of Betrayal From Inside The Left.")

Now when FOX "NEWS" tricks their readers, we're shocked and disgusted. But when Amy does it the bulk of the left tries to look the other way.

She lied to viewers that Kamala and Chump were the same on immigration and the very few segments in the three months before the election -- see "Media: How Amy Goodman harmed immigrants and helped elect Chump."

Again, when FOX "NEWS" does it, we're outraged.

In fact, Eoin Higgins rages about FOX "NEWS" doing that sort of fakery in his new book -- a new book where Eoin does his own version of fakersy. See "Media: OWNED finds Eoin Higgins owned by bad journalism" and note that Eoin writes about and identifies MAGA, Libertarians, Tea Party activists, etc. But on the other side, we're just all "the left." It's a lie that helps pass off Socialists as Democrats -- Socialists like Eoin himself and all his friends in the circle jerk that he cites in the book -- in the book where he has a fit over Glenneth Greenwald using Twitter to promote his friends -- the same way Eoin uses a bad book to promote his own friends.

If you're a Socialist, you should be proud of it. SEP members and PSL members don't hide the fact that they're Socialists. It's really just the tricksters at DSA that hide it. (See Elaine's "The trickster that is DSA").

Why can't they be honest? Why do they have to lie and try to trick people?

Ellen: I think I've realized that I am -- I can't even say the word. Why can't I say the word? I mean, why can't I just say -- I mean what is wrong? Why - why do I have to be so ashamed? I mean why can't I just say the truth?

Do we need Laura Dern to stand in front of each of these political closet cases to coax them out of their closets?

They don't want to come out because at their most, they're 80,000 people. That's not enough for the DSA to win seats in Congress. So they pose as Democrats and then, the whole time they're posing, they attack actual Democrats. Over and over, from their political closets. Again, SEP doesn't hide who they are. They attack Democrats -- hell, they even attack the fake assery of DSA.

And that's fine.

But if you're reading WSWS, the SEP's publication, you know where they're coming from. They might make an argument you agree with (I've agreed with many) and they might make something that's way too different from what you see. And when that happens, if you're not a Socialist, you just say, "Okay, interesting take. That's one of the areas we disagree."

But DSAers lie and they lie online especially. They pose as Democrats because that's the only way they'll have any influrnce. They can't buil their own party. They'e failed since day one.

‪Waleed Shahid‬. The DSAer attacking Kamala on BLUESKY. He's a Socialist but lies about that and brings up the ridiculous political closet that is "Justice Democrats." My replies to his garbage.

Its like with THE MARJORITY REPORT and with Kyle. Now Kyle's a Socialist. He and Cenk worked together to form "Justice Democrats." And there are no Democrats from that group in Congress. There are Socialists. And I'm sure Greg Casar has to hide that reality to be elected in his district in Texas. But my point here is, did you not notice what the White boys are doing online.

Hakeem Jeffries is the House Minority Leader.

And the White boys -- Kyle, Sam and the rests -- are trying to remove him form leadership.

Imagine that. White boys going after the Black man.

And you wonder why I don't like DSA?

We're supposed to pretend, are we, Sam, that this just came about. As opposed to the reality that you are teaming up to be on message and to take out the Black man.

I'm not really sure what you think Hakeem could do.

But I am really sure how much you suck.

Do we remember the last time DSA went after a Black man in Congress?

Now Tabitha's not crazy about Hakeem and thinks he should step down but she can still see this organized effort to take him out.

Tabitha watched the full conference to find out what Hakeem was saying. Not the clip that the political closet cases have edited -- a la FOX "NEWS" -- to make him look bad.

Again, when FOX "NEWS" does this trickery, we are aghast. When people on our side do it, we just look away.

Hakeem Jeffries. It's interesting to watch them pile on at BLUESKY. Leave it to a White Socialist to use an offensive term for Hakeem. (It may not be up now. It was last night. I reported it and will do that on all racist language. Twitter got destroyed we need to protect BLUESKY.) If you're wondering, it rhymes with "moon." Now where in the world did a White Socialist get the notion that was an appropriate term to hurl at a Black person?

You don't think Hakeem is doing all you want?

You're probably right. So pressure him.

He's in a spot that no one's been in for decades. Nancy Pelosi is probably on her way out the door and that's probably why he went to Silicon Valley. He's got to walk. She can't carry him. For over two decades, Nancy pulled in the big money. That's why she ascended to leadership to begin with. That and some well timed and played blackmail. (A former Texas House Rep still feels the sting from where she burned him.) Minority Leader or Speaker of the House, they have to reassure donors. 'We don't need big donors!' Yes, we do. As 2024 demonstrated, we really can't count on 'the left.' Democrats can only count on Democrats currently. And we need to grasp that and move forward.

I like Chuck Schumer. I don't even know Hakeem. But I like Chuck. That said, I haven't stepped in to try to defend Chuck. Chuck has been doing his job for years and I am extremely disappointed with what he's doing currently. I'm also aware that no one's coming to rescue us. We're going to have to rescue ourselves. So I don't slam Chuck out of rage. But, again, he's done the job for years and should know what's needed now. Hakeem is getting ready to solo. If Nancy has a popular challenger, she will announce she's not running for re-election in 2028. (I don't see her dropping out in 2026, but I could be wrong.) So if you want to make demands on Hakeem, do so. But I'm not grasping the hatred and I'm certainly recognizing an organized campaign from outside the Democratic Party.

And before 2024, I would've just shaken my head and focused on other things. But what those who hide in the shadows did to us in 2024 will not be forgotten or forgiven. We are living under Donald Chump's threats and abuses because of DSA and their trickery.

DSA eats their own. Greg Casar is a member and they refused to endorse him over the issue of Palestine -- this was before the assault on Gaza began in 2023. Jamaal Bowman was one of their success stories but then they turned on him and savaged him only to whine later.

You could argue that Jamaal is what should have taught 'uncommitted' (the DSA front) to back Kamala. They attacked Jamaal and he . . . got replaced by George Latimer who is no friend to Palestinians. Jamaal gave them most of what they wanted. But not all. So despite the fact that they really needed him, they cut him loose. AIPAC was only part of the issue in that race. DSA-ers are not known for wisdom when it comes to electoral politics. They went after him early on -- the way they've gone after AOC throughout the last year or so. Jamaal even let his dues paying membership with the group lapse only to rejoin in 2024 when he needed support. But they'd already destroyed his image with their nonsense and the political equivalent of high school slam books.

And now they're demanding another Black man gets replaced.

But if you're not Black? The DSA has been awfully accommodating to Greg Casar despite his positions -- plural -- on Israel. Apparently, the White dominated organization only feels the need to castigate and punish if the person showing independence is a Black man. Not surprisingly, that fits the stereotype of not just DSA but of it's immediate predecessor.

Latimer didn't struggle in the general election after he beat Bowman in the 2024 primary. That also should have been a warning to Uncommitted. While they pretended that the left was on their side 100% that wasn't the case.

October 30th -- days before the US presidential election -- Linley Sanders (AP) reported on the latest AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll:

But there’s a big partisan split on whether the Israeli government bears “a lot” of responsibility for the war’s escalation. About 6 in 10 Democrats say they do — similar to the share of Democrats who say Hamas bears “a lot” of responsibility — while only about one-quarter of Republicans say the Israeli government bears “a lot” of responsibility.

DSA preferred to ignore polling that found only 6 in 10 Democrats agreed with them on Gaza. They had to pretend that in order to demand that Kamala not call for peace and a cease-fire but call for an independent Palestine. They couldn't be honest about polling and not seem like the whiny, demanding, has to be my way brats that they actually were. Maybe a new voting rights law can move us from chronological age over to an age of emotional maturity?

Again, Kamala had to navigate the Democratic Party. And the Democrats were not 100% in support of uncommitted's Gaza plan. Or even 9 out of 10 or 8 out of 10 or 7 out of 10. It was 6 out of 10 -- which is a pretty even split. Now uncommitted could have formed their own party but with a membership of only 80,000 they know they're going no where. So instead, they glom on to our party and then try to boss us around and demand we do what they want. Even though it's not what the Democratic Party wants.

I was against the Iraq War before it started; however, I did not withhold my 2004 vote in the presidential election. (I voted for John Kerry who, by the way, the DSA endorsed. But Kamala they had a problem with.) And, again, I was for Katie Porter in the primary and thought she was the best. I wasn't pleased that she did not make it onto the general election ballot. That did not prevent me from voting for Adam Schiff and I have been pleasantly surprised by how hard Adam's been working since being sworn in.

Hakeem's not saying everything you want him to? Oh, the horror!

Some try to act as though this is an attack on Socialists on my part. No, it's not. It's an attack on liars who scheme together and plot together against the Democratic Party and then want to show up and pretend that they're Democrats.

You can search the archives. We've long quoted PSL, we've cited WSWS probably more than any other publication the left, we've noted Sunsara Taylor (Communist activist) and hundreds of others. We've not WORKERS WORLD repeatedly at this site (and used to repost in full back in the day when they encouraged that). I didn't just fight online to get Lynne Stewart released from prison, I leaned on everyone I knew who had any say in that issue. I don't fear being associated with radicals.

The DSA is a different issue all together and we saw their predecessor did and DSA is even worse.

And I'm glad that it upsets BLUESKY when the truth is pointed out. First, those offended and in denial go to the fact that DSA should not be treating Socialism as an embarrassment and something to hide. Your actions -- not mine -- are freaking voters out. Second, those offended because they are DSA are comical as they to launch their defense -- when there's no defense from trying to influence someone's vote and political action while lying to them about who you are.

Wasn't that why we called out The Tea Party? Because it wasn't backed by grassroots funders? Because the whole thing was a scam?

DSA gives the left a bad name. And by hiding in political closets, they give Socialism a bad name as well.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

“The next Secretary of Education must fight for the best interests of students and families, not greedy and predatory for-profit colleges and inept loan servicers, and must reject extreme policies and efforts to eliminate the Department.”

“[Y]ou have a minimal track record on education issues and strikingly little experience pertaining to education policy.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sent Linda McMahon, Secretary-Designate for the U.S. Department of Education, a 12-page letter with 65 questions on McMahon policy views in advance of her nomination hearing this week.

“[Y]ou have a minimal track record on education issues and strikingly little experience pertaining to education policy,” wrote the senators. “This lack of a public record means that the American people have not been afforded the opportunity to evaluate your views on topics related to the Education Secretary’s core responsibilities.”

Given McMahon’s lack of experience, the senators pushed McMahon to explain her views and the extent to which they overlap with certain extreme stances taken by President Trump, his Project 2025 allies, and President Trump’s former Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos.

These include her views as they relate to:

President Trump’s extreme views, including his repeated call to “abolish ED” and his reported plan to do so by executive order; his history of proposing severe cuts to the Department of Education’s budget, and his proposal to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which millions of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants have relied upon for debt relief.

“President Trump has said that he wants you to ‘put [your]self out of a job’ by helping him eliminate the Department. The harm that such a proposal would cause to students and families is grave,” wrote the senators.
Project 2025’s extreme proposals, such as allowing unaccredited, often predatory, schools to receive federal funding; privatizing the federal student loan system, leaving students at the mercy of unaccountable private lenders, and replacing existing student loan income-driven repayment (IDR) plans with a new repayment plan that would raise costs for millions of Americans.
Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ extreme policies, such as rescinding a rule that would hold shady for-profit colleges accountable for graduates’ employment outcomes; obstructing federal and state regulators’ investigations into the misconduct of federal loan servicers; refusing to enforce existing regulations requiring that ED provide debt relief to students who were defrauded or misled by their schools, and dismantling the team at ED responsible for investigating predatory for-profit colleges.

“During her tenure, Secretary DeVos implemented numerous policies that harmed students while allowing incompetent student loan servicers and greedy for-profit colleges to rip off students and taxpayers,” wrote the senators. “The American people deserve to know whether you will repeat Secretary DeVos’s extreme policies.”

Senators Warren and Kim are demanding that McMahon arrive at her February 13 hearing prepared with answers.

“We need a higher education system that is accessible to all Americans, not just those with the means to afford skyrocketing costs without taking on student debt,” concluded the senators. “The next Secretary of Education must fight for the best interests of students and families, not greedy and predatory for-profit colleges and inept loan servicers, and must reject extreme policies and efforts to eliminate the Department.”

###

The following sites updated:

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Who put him on TV?

Who's the moron who approved Kanye West getting advertising time during the Superbowl to begin with? Zoe G. Phillips (Hollywood Reporter) reports:

Charlie Puth condemned Kanye West's Super Bowl ad on Monday, writing on social media that West's messaging is "incredibly dangerous."

"Please man, I beg you to stop," Puth wrote on an Instagram Story.

West appeared in an ad toward the end of the Super Bowl on Sunday directing fans to the website of his brand, Yeezy. Though the website featured various products for sale on the day of the ad's release, by Monday morning it only showed one item: a T-shirt with an image of a swastika.

"MILLIONS of people are influenced by you," Puth continued. "Please I BEG you to stop, PLEASE."

Again, why did they allow Kanye air time. His hatred and crazy are very well known.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Tuesday, February 112, 2025. As the country appears to be headed towards a Constitutional crisis, James Zogby and others show up -- after the election -- to insist it's not their fault -- that they tanked the election to prevent the highly qualified Black woman (yes, it really was about race and gender) from being president.

Let's start with Rachel Maddow.

That's the frightening world we live in right now -- where court orders are being ignored, where Donald Chump is refusing to follow the rule of law, the checks and balances put into our system from the start to ensure democracy. It appears that we may be headed into a Constitutional crisis.

For more on the administration's war on the courts, see Betty's "Alien Musk and JD want to kill the courts" and Ann's "Grifter JD."

Rachel spoke with Senator Elizabeth Warren about this issue but MSNBC hasn't posted that yet. Jen Psaki also covered this issue last night and spoke with former Judge Nancy Gertner (former US district judge of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts).

Gertner also speaks with Leila Fadel today on NPR's MORNING EDITION.

At SLATE, Dahlia Lithwick examines the legal landscape:

If the theme of the first week of the Elon Musk and Donald Trump autocoup was “Why isn’t anyone doing anything to stop this?” then the theme of this past week was “Go lawyers.” The Trump administration has been hit with over 40 lawsuits challenging everything from DOGE’s takeover of the Treasury to the “Fork in the Road” fake buyout scheme for federal employees. And the scoreboard is, thus far, tilting in favor of the rule of law. Trump has lost on his efforts to rescind birthright citizenship, on his attempt to freeze government spending, on efforts to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development, and on an attempted purge of the FBI. Vice President J.D. Vance and Elon Musk, in response, have now floated the idea of just ignoring judicial orders they dislike, but thus far we haven’t seen much of that. With the caveat that the courts have no army, at least at this moment the red line manned by the judiciary seems to be holding. On this week’s Amicus podcast, Dahlia Lithwick spoke with former Judge Nancy Gertner, who is on the board of State Democracy Defenders Action, one of the many groups filing lawsuits to protect government employees and public data from Musk’s efforts to move fast and break things. Judge Gertner is a former United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She is a senior lecturer on law at Harvard Law School. Their conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Some reactions on BLUESKY.

That is a major problem and there are so many problems that the convicted felon is creating for our country. At THE MARY SUE, Rachel Ulatowski notes South African born Alien Musk:

Elon Musk has given a 23-year-old DOGE employee access to the Energy Department’s IT systems despite alleged pushback from the department, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapon arsenal.

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk has relentlessly pushed himself and his so-called DOGE into every corner of the government. He forced his way into sensitive government information from USAID, putting the agency’s security chiefs on leave to do so. Additionally, he gained access to federal pay systems in the Treasury and student loan systems in the Department of Education, including the personal information of millions of Americans and students. It’s highly unusual for someone who is not part of an official government agency and who has not been elected to a cabinet position to gain the level of access to sensitive information that Musk has seized. Even more concerning is that Musk’s 19 – 26 year-old DOGE employees are accessing this information, too.

Musk has been suspiciously secretive about his DOGE employees, refusing to release many of their names and qualifications for their positions. There are concerns about how, or even if, he’s vetting these candidates. Given that one DOGE employee has already resigned after promoting racism and eugenics, Americans have reason to be concerned with who exactly Musk is giving access to classified government information, especially since they could potentially access information relating to nuclear weapons.

Musk is a security threat -- as are his employees. No one elected Alien Musk to any office.

This is where we are. And people need to take accountaility.

Instead, there's a strong desire on the elements of the left that tanked Kamala's campaign to continue to insist that it is not their fault. It is not their fault!

It is your fault and you better damn well own it.

And don't give me any number count. It was always about optics and feeding the lie that Democrats didn't support Kamala. DSA' useless 80,000 members couldn't tank her campaign by withholding their own votes. The point was for them to to establish a false narrative that their friends could amplify

I should have known the ridiculous James Zogby would show up eventually to try to lie his way out of it.

James Zogby -- as Mike noted last night in "Idiot of the week James Zogby" -- is attempting to rewrite history. In order to do that, he has to lie. That includes lying about who he is: A Socialist. James, let me be clear, we -- actual Democrats -- don't want you in leadership and we have already begun working to limit your influence on the party. For all I do up here calling out the liars, I spent twice as much time face to face and on the phone ensuring that those of you who chose to risk our democracy are never, ever in the same positions of power. Never.

You're a liar and you're trash.

Let's go to Jacob Cross and WSWS (where there are no political closets) from March of last year:

In furtherance of the protest vote, the DSA called supporters to “make calls, text voters, knock doors and organize.” While Biden easily won the primary with over 81 percent of the vote, over 13 percent of voters, some 101,000 people, selected “Uncommitted.” About 43,000 people voted for Democratic primary candidates other than Biden.

Despite attempts by media efforts to present this protest vote as an expression of Biden’s collapsing support only among Muslim and Arab-American populations in Dearborn and other areas around Detroit, “Uncommitted” garnered at least an 8 percent vote in all 83 counties in Michigan. In total, 73 out of 83 counties in the state recorded at least a 10 percent vote for “Uncommitted.”

The Democrats, and the ruling class as a whole, are terrified that this mounting opposition to “Genocide Joe” will lead to a break with the Democratic Party and capitalist politics entirely.

Many of those voting “Uncommitted” have no intention of voting for Biden in November. However, as one of the organizers of the effort, former Rep. Levin, made clear before the vote, and afterwards in an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, the purpose of the campaign was to “send a message” to Biden: “We are your base, we want to win in November, and in order to win we want peace now.”

In the same program, James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute and director of the influential political research group Zogby Research Services, reiterated, “As the congressman said, as the organizers of this movement have been very clear, this is not the ‘Abandon Biden’ movement. This is the ‘for god’s sake, shape up or you might lose in November’ Biden movement.”

In the same vein, Branko Marcetic, writing in Jacobin, the house organ of the DSA, went out of his way to stress in a February 28 article titled “Michigan’s Primary Shows Biden Is Courting Political Suicide” that the “Uncommitted” campaign was seeking to save Biden’s presidency, not challenge it.

We've told you before that red diaper baby Amy Goodman rigged her coverage to tank Kamala's campaign. And she was there at the start of the lie about this so-called 'movement.' As was James. It was a Socialist movement. As Rebecca noted, we have not called it an Arab movement or a Muslim movement because, in fact, it was Norman Solomon's movement. It started out as and that failed. For those who don't remember, it was 2022 and the 'movement' was called "Don't Run Joe" and it was started by Norman Solomon. The dilettante quickly learned that no one cared. But when October 7, 2023 took place, Norman realized he could harness his campaign using Gaza and using a Palestinian-American as a front to hide behind. He then got cocky. In his October 14th column, Norman Solomon declared, "I have no intention of voting for Harris" After the fall out -- Norman can't work a real job and has always been dependent upon donations to make a living -- he backtracked in his October 22nd column and also offered a different take in his October 28th column. What happened? Norman's never earned an honest buck in his life. The dilettante has always been dependent upon donations to make a living. He burns his bridges (see Sean Penn). And it was made clear to him just how much money his various foundations and fronts could lose. So he walked that back.

But are you getting yet how you were conned and deceived? If you were an actual Democrat, they targeted you as their mark. And that's not going to happen again. DSA is a tiny group and they're a group that's going to be outed every day for the next four years. And Democrats are going to know what they did and hold them accountable.

James Zogby, you were never that important to begin with. Have you not noticed that you've been sidelined of late? That's only going to get worse. Those of us who fund the party are making clear with every donation given and every donation denied that you cannot be trusted and must be held accountable for your actions and your lies. We are a united front against you.

This shouldn't be surprising -- even a microcosm fights for survival. And those of who are actually Democrats are appalled at you non-Democrats who tanked our candidate. And, honestly, at this point, I would just shrug. I would shrug and continue on with my life. I wouldn't be hiring private investigators, as I am now, to ferret out every piece of dirt I can. What's the difference?

This was not a normal presidential election. We didn't see Mitt Romney ushered into the White House -- someone we disagreed with but knew would follow the laws.

This was Kamala Harris or Donald Chump.

And we all knew from his previous four years, from his leading an insurrection against our government, from his use of racism to garner support, just how dangerous Donald Chump back in the White House would be. We all knew it.

Immigrants are devastated right now. They are scared for their safety and their lives. And that's not on them. They didn't vote because they couldn't vote.

Those of you who could vote and didn't vote for Kamala have doomed them. You have doomed so many in this country and you may very well have helped destroy democracy.

Grasp that I'm not ruled by fear. I called out THE NATION here with their stupidity of insisting something was "the torture election" and that we either rejected it or lost our country. That was hyperbole and then some. (Especially when you consider the candidates that they were pimping really weren't against torture.) I don't believe that fear is a good way to win elections.

Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger did not back Kamala out of fear. They showed real bravery and real loyalty to their country.

And let me step aside from my main point for one moment here -- James Zogby, your ridiculous defense of Arabs and Muslims who voted for Chump or Jill Stein or just didn't vote is insane and reinforces stereotypes. How dare you offer 'their people' and think you're helping them. They are American citizens -- that's why they could vote in a US election to begin with -- so their people? That would be the American people. And as a 'trusted voice' who elected to speak at events and to speak for them to the press, you should have made that very clear to them.

It's amazing how you rush to minimize your responsibility when, just weeks ago -- before idiots grasped what a very real threat Chump was, you were boating about these numbers:

The national results show Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein received 53% of the Muslim vote, followed by President-elect Donald Trump with 21% and Vice President Kamala Harris with 20%.

CAIR also released Michigan-specific responses from 502 registered Muslim voters, revealing that Dr. Stein received 59% support, with Trump at 22% and Harris at 14%.

Now that the country is suffering you want to backtrack. No, Zogby, you own this. And we will make sure that you pay for it.

Back to the main point I was making is this was not a normal election, we knew how bad it would be under Chump. We are now living under him.

Every morning, I get up hating the fact that I have to do a snapshot. Because I'm sick of being online? I was there back when FRINGE started, remember? That's when I was supposed to shut this down and planned to. But Ava and I were reviewing the new show FRINGE and had a problem with one aspect and were speaking with two friends who were producers on the show about it and were told that the issue we had would be addressed. So, in writing our review, we noted that and said we'd look at in a few months. And we weren't thinking and that meant there was no stopping at the end of 2008. That might be why I loathe Leslie Cagan and the others who were UFPJ so much. They were an alleged organization dedicated to ending the Iraq War and yet they got to close shop in November of 2008 while I was stuck continuing. And it's been a six month renewal since then. I loathe being online. I would love my old life back. That's not new to today.

What is new is how the administration attempts to overpower and overwhelm us with their crimes and threats. And I hate that. Fortunately, I'm not new to this. I know I can't focus on everything. I grab what I can cover and will note other issues and news via excerpts and reposts. But I am very, very lucky and I don't pretend otherwise. So many people are not. And if I am feeling overwhelmed, I can't imagine how they feel. Imagine being trans right now? "It gets better." We said that in the past. Can we honestly say it now? If Chump destroys our democracy and our country, no, it doesn't get better. It gets much worse for trans persons. They get scapegoated more and people stop objecting to violence or do you not get how that works in history? Immigrants? "It gets better." How? If they're tossed back to a country that they had to leave to stay alive, how and when does it get better for them?

These idiots f**ked with a lot of lives. James Zogby can try to pretend that we're coming after Muslims and/or Arabs all he wants. We're not. Because most Muslims and Arabs in this country were not stupid enough to be misled by Norman Solomon and Rashida Tlaib. But, yes, in her area, they were. And, in her area, they are deeply homophobic as evidenced by the war Dearborn and Hamtramck have declared on LGBTQ+ people. That started four years ago and it is outrageous that Zogby and others have silenced that with the threat of calling someone anti-Arab or anti-Muslim.

I don't care what you call me, I'll speak the truth. In addition, unlike most of you leftist dilettantes, I didn't drop Iraq when the US media pulled out (at the end of 2008 -- with few exceptions). I covered it on through 2024. Look hard through all that years of daily coverage for when I offered anti-Arab sentiment. You won't find it. I also covered Gaza. You won't find anti-Arab coverage there either.

I will call out the Socialists in the US who misled and outright lied (SEP didn't, DSA-ers did -- that's why we don't highlight Kyle Kulinski anymore -- like Kyle and if he ever comes out about being a Socialist -- as opposed to creating another cover group like "Justice Democrats" I will happily note his commentaries again -- I think he makes many strong points but I can't hold just some political closet cases accountable). I will call out the homophobes in the US regardless of their religion or ethnicity or race.

Again, these are very depressing times. And I'm someone who has the least reason to be depressed. MAGA can't hurt me. Chump can't hurt me. So if this is frightening and depressing for me, I know it's so much more for those who are in the frontline of being targeted and scapegoated.

Richard Hall (INDEPENDENT) reports:

Jose Luis had stopped to pump gas on his way to work in southern Texas when his family’s whole life changed.

ICE agents pulled up out of nowhere and demanded to know his immigration status. The father of five, who came to the United States from Mexico in 2010 when he was 19, was quickly placed in handcuffs and taken away.

Now, he is facing deportation and permanent separation from his wife and kids — and the family’s sole income is gone.

“His little girls ask every day ‘Where’s Dad? What time is he coming home?’” his wife, Rosa, who doesn’t want to break her children’s heart by revealing the truth just yet, tells The Independent. “I have to tell them he’s out working.”

“I’m really stressed right now, like really, really stressed. I don’t know what’s next,” she says.

Jose Luis is one of some 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. — many of whom have lived, worked, paid taxes and raised families in the country for years — who are being targeted by authorities in what Donald Trump’s administration has promised to be the largest “mass deportation operation” in American history.

Some did vote for this. Latinos for Trump voted for this. Idiots who listened to Socialist Rashida Tlaib voted for this. Jose and Rosa didn't vote for this. They are immigrants, non-citizens, so they didn't vote. But some of those Latinos for Trump? They insisted that people like Jose would not be impacted. They insisted that Chump was only going to go for the 'criminals.' Did they not listen or are they just extremely stupid?

Chump said he was going to rid of the criminals. Did they not realize that Chump had called all immigrants who were undocumented "criminals"? How did they miss that? Because they wanted to.

Jose and Rosa didn't hurt anyone, didn't break any laws. Now they and their children -- who are American citizens because they were born in this country -- are all getting kicked out.

So, forgive me, James Zogby, if I don't give a damn about whatever lie or justification you're serving up today. That family is suffering and they're suffering because of you and all the other idiots who couldn't listen and wouldn't hear. That's on you. Maybe shut the hell up, sit your tired ass down, think a moment and don't open your mouth again until you're ready to apologize and beg for forgiveness. Beg. Beg.

You idiots and fools put us where we are now. You've left us with the hope that maybe in two years we can grab a house of Congress or both.

At which point, you better believe impeachment proceedings will begin. But even that may be too late. As Chump goes around firing everyone and forcing them to arrive, who's going to help Congress remove him from office?

Or are you so damn stupid that you don't realize there is no police force that the Supreme Court controls? Are you that stupid?

You have condemned this country to suffering.

There is no do over. We don't get perfection at the polls. I wanted Katie Porter as my US senator. I voted for her in the primary. Adam won the primary. I didn't sit out the general election or vote for his opponent. I voted for Adam and he's standing up and I'm glad. But he was not my first choice. And most of us don't get our choices. We get two choices for president -- sometimes three -- and that's it. We have to support the best choice. Not voting was not the best choice. Voting for Jill Stein was not the best choice. Voting for Chump was not the best choice. But that's what 'uncommitted' urged. And now they have to live with it.

We have to live with the threats resulting from their stupidity so, yes, they have to live what they did.

Let's close with Lawrence O'Donnell.

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