With a Friend Like Trump Who Needs Enemies?

He's gone from being America's Mayor to being indicted for multiple crimes, including election interference in Georgia.

Now Rudy Giuliana is so broke that he can't pay his lawyer's and court fees. So, what is a corrupt lawyer (whose already had his law license revoked) supposed to do?

Oh! That's right! Go to Trump for financial help because he promised to help him out in the past. 

After dragging his feet and leaving Rudy dangling from a cliff for a while, Trump announced he's going to have a $100,000 per person fundraiser to rescue him financially.

This out of character charitable effort by The Boss is deceiving. I guarantee Trump didn't have a Road to Damascus moment. He's not built that way.

So, what's up?

First off, the fundraiser is not really so much a defense fund as it's a "don't flip on Donald" defense fund.

Secondly, and just as important to Trump, it's going to be another vehicle to siphon funds from to pay for his ever-swelling lawyer bills.

I have one question about this fundraiser; what kind of slime slithers to an event like this and flips out a fortune to save crazy Rudy? They must be even crazier than him.

Here's a hard fact about being Trump's friend; be prepared to be thrown under the bus, or at the very least dragged around like a rag doll and discarded when he gets bored or thinks you're not loyal to him. 

One iffy comment can leave you adrift in the wake of his verbal attacks on social media and right-wing news outlets. 

When deciding to be a friend of Trump it's necessary to give up your dignity, lie prolifically, and to live in an alternate universe that worships him regardless of the hateful things he does.

As it stands, as the old saying goes, "With friends like that who needs enemies?"

The Great American Hangover: Enough is Enough!

Stop already!

My head is pounding with political trash talk that's had the effect of drinking too much hard liquor for too long on my weary brain.

I'm sure there are millions of Americans who are experiencing the same thing - a hangover.

Exhaustion with constant tribal warfare is settling into the national scene like rot gut whiskey on an ulcer.

There are no support centers in the country where people can go to get cured. The Great American Hangover is here and in the foreseeable future.

MAGA morons are drunk with power in Congress as they push for an authoritarian regime under a president for life - Donald J. Trump. 

Normally a hangover will go away after the booze dissipates but our national hangover isn't showing any signs of going away soon. It just increases as the days, months, and years stagger by like drunken sailors on a never-ending shore leave.

One of the worst effects of our mutual hangover is anger. People get really pissed off easily. 

Compromising is impossible when someone's demons get in the way. It's like putting a match in a bottle of high-octane scotch. Nothing good will happen.

As it stands, if, and when, the country sobers up someday we'll find out if we still have republic.

Corporate America's Wet Dream is Coming True

Imagine an America where most of the country's regulatory agencies don't exist anymore and CEO's set the rules.

This is a warning.

The Supremely Conservative Court plans on addressing the topic this fall, and a decision is probably going to be announced next spring. It could fulfill Bannon's and Trump's promise to dismantle - or at least eviscerate - most of America's regulatory agencies.

This is a case that that could fundamentally transform America from a modern, well-functioning nation into a third-world backdrop where massive corporations and billionaires get richer.

Some background. The Legacy.

It was a Supreme Court judge's mother who set the ball rolling when she was appointed by Ronald Reagan to be in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency. (EPA)

Anne Gorsuch quickly set out to gut the EPA. She dialed back restrictions on expansion of factories and other operations that were already polluting the atmosphere.

There was a Supreme Court challenge that overruled her and the Reagan Administration.

Nevertheless, Gorsuch continued to hammer away at the agency and in her first year there was a 79 percent decline in enforcement cases, and a 69 percent drop in cases the EPA referred to the Justice Department for prosecution.

It took Congress years to overturn her cuts to the "Clean Air Act" on everything from automobiles to furniture manufactures.

Finally, Gorsuch resigned her office to avoid prosecution for what Newsweek described as a "Nasty scandal involving political manipulation, Superfund mismanagement, perjury, and destruction of subpoenaed documents," among other things.

Her son Neil was in college at the time and was enraged that she resigned. He, like Trump later on, believed in plowing through scandals and not resigning regardless of how severe the charges.

Years later, Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and the mission of revenge for his mommy was underway.

To achieve Neil's goal, he and at least three other Republicans on the court appear hell-bent for leather to turn regulatory agency rule-making upside-down.

The first strike came in June 2022 when a group of right-wing justices, including Neil, overturned rules made by the EPA about CO2 emissions from power plants in the West Virginia Vs EPA decision.

The coal-, oil-, and natural gas-fired power plant industry has been celebrating ever since.

With Amy Coney Barrett (appointed by Trump) whose father was a lawyer for Shell Oil for decades, we have John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh (appointed by Trump) who are all on the court in part because of support from a network funded by the fossil fuel billionaires and their industry (among others).

We must not forget "on the take" Clarence Thomas who flip-flopped on the subject for a while before joining his corrupt peers.

More to come.

In an upcoming case the Supreme Court is explicitly preparing to expand their victory by blowing up the entire Chevron defense (a law protecting the EPA's rights) out of the water.

The Biden administration has stepped up the EPA's defense. They have a hard fight ahead against a corrupt Supreme Court that has chosen to sell out average Americans for their sick ideology and greed.

As it stands, you probably aren't going to hear much about this issue until a decision is made next year. By then it'll be too late to do anything about it.

Up Next: The Strangest GOP Primary in History

        Since I was eligible to vote in 1971, 

I've followed presidential elections and primaries. Without a doubt the August 23 GOP primary is already proving to be the strangest yet and it's not even showtime.

Before reflecting on who is going to be at the Republicans first primary debate let's take a step back and look at what's been happening right up until today.

I've never seen a political debate where all the candidates are afraid to say anything bad about one candidate that their all competing against. It's like watching a hologram of a school of shark's circling around the biggest one with fear and respect. 

You know why? Trump is too cowardly to attend the debate, but his presence has already paralyzed the so-called competition.

Thus far eight candidates have met the qualifications to be on stage in Milwaukee. They are Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum, and Mike Pence.

Here's who hasn't qualified yet:

Asa Hutchinson, Larry Elder, Perry Johnson, and Will Hurd. 

Back to why this primary is so strange.

The participants are all supposed to be signing a pledge promising to support the winning nominee. 

That's not been the case yet according to candidate Chris Christie who says no one asked him to sign anything.

I haven't seen any other candidates waving pens and declaring they'll go along with that promise. And Trump, of course, wouldn't consider it even if he did suddenly grow a set and attend the debate.

Instead, Trump has chosen to do a pre-recorded interview with right-wing lunatic Tucker Carlson to be aired at the same time as the debate. Aired where? That I couldn't tell you and probably wouldn't if I thought it would encourage viewership.

I can't imagine what those poor idiots on stage are going to talk about. Most of them are afraid of their own shadow and hardly inspiring speakers.

The only one that will speak about the orange elephant not on the stage will probably be Chris Christie but be prepared for a bigly surprise - like several others taking cheap shots and hoping they don't get spanked by Trump's followers for heresy.

With seemingly no way to win against Trump who is dominating the polls despite being indicted in four felony cases, a reasonable person has to wonder why they're even having a debate?

Which leads to the strangest thing of all...

... a former twice-impeached president, convicted sexual abuser, tax cheat, and traitor for stealing top security documents and trying to overturn the 2020 election is the Republican's likely candidate for president in 2024.

As it stands, that's Outer Limits, Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock material in any fiction writer's book.

Gaetz Seeks to Censure J6 Judge in Desperate Attempt to Defend Trump

By now it's blatantly obvious that House MAGA Republicans are Trump's first line of defense. 

And that they don't care about their constituents as much as kissing Trump's ass.

In another pathetically partisan performance Matt Gaetz introduced a resolution Friday to censure the judge overseeing special counsel Jack Smith's case against Trump's attempt to overthrow the 2020 election.

Why?

Gaetz's office claimed U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan "is showing open bias and partisanship in her official duties on the bench."

Hearing Gaetz whine about partisanship is too much to swallow from a guy that idolizes the former president and backs his efforts to destroy our electoral system in a naked power grab.

In a recent rant Gaetz claimed (without any proof) "that Judge Chutkan's extreme sentencing of Jan. 6 defendants, showcases a complete disregard for her duty of impartiality and the rule of law."

Gaetz's real beef is he's afraid he might get pulled into the Jan. 6 investigation and face some consequences for his efforts to support Trump's coup attempt.

In a truly Trumpistic move, Gaetz is attacking judges and our entire legal infrastructure with the hope it'll muddy political waters and slow down the process of trying Trump in court.

During a hearing last week, Chutkan said she will not consider how her decisions affect political campaigns on "either side."

I suspect that terrified Trump's cabal of incompetent lawyers by undermining their wacky defense of "She doesn't like Trump" and one of them called Gaetz to get help. 

You know, it's kind of weird why Trump's lawyers (and The Boss himself) haven't said a word about Judge Aileen Cannon who is overseeing his stolen documents case.

Be that as it may, Trump's slimy minion Gaetz won't be the last one to attack Judge Chutkan because it appears MAGA Land is experiencing troubling tremors over this particular indictment.

As it stands, as I watch the stunts and antics of the GOP House majority defending a convicted sexual abuser, a twice impeached president, and defendant in four major felony trials, I can't help thinking that it isn't going to help them get re-elected in 2024.

Trump Chickens Out of 1st GOP Primary Debate: DeSantis Strategy Includes Defending Him

Let's get this straight.

Without Trump attending next week's GOP Primary Debate the show will be boring. 

But it will still have some entertainment value as Ron DeSantis (a distant second in the polls) becomes the central target for the half-dozen candidates on stage.

DeSantis, whose game plan for the debate frankly puzzles me, plans on supporting Trump (his opponent) and attacking (of all people) "Fake" Vivek Ramaswamy who's a long-shot candidate.

Why? Because Jeff Roe who leads the pro-DeSantis super PAC, said it was a good idea. Advise like that makes no sense to a normal person but we have to remember we're talking about right-wing lunatics.

Perhaps, in their world it's considered a smart approach but it's hardly going to prepare him for Chris Christie and the others piling on him in hopes of leapfrogging him in the polls.

Someone short of a sixpack in the PAC released a two-page memo encouraging DeSantis to defend Trump and to "hammer" that upstart Vivek Ramaswamy.

Can you imagine how Christie will respond when DeSantis says, "Trump isn't here so let's just leave him alone." That's when the hammering will start for Ron Boy.

Meanwhile Ramaswamy's people are laughing and calling the memo "boring" and hit "Robot Ron" for "taking lame, pre-programed attack lines to use in the debate."

Ramaswamy's spokesperson Tricia McLaughin added, If DeSantis struggles to use a spoon, I can't imagine he is particularly agile with a sledgehammer."

Apparently while doing a jig for Trump supporters his handlers told Ron to convey himself as the best leader positioned to carry "the torch" of Trumpism forward. 

That would be a nice piece of juggling that I seriously doubt he's capable of. Especially while under attack from Christie.

Speaking of Christie. Trump is afraid of him. That's the main reason he's not going to attend the debate. He remembers what Christie did to Marco Rubio during the 2016 GOP debates and his shit got weak.

My favorite part of the DeSantis' memo is when his people implore him to make mention of a "personal anecdote" or "story about his family, children" and/or his wife Casey... while SHOWING EMOTION. Wow! Is that even possible?

As it stands, that coward Trump has elected to be interviewed by Tucker Carlson the day of the debate hoping to pull viewers away from the stage.

Right-wing Terrorists Posting Hitlist of Jurors in Georgia Trump Trial

Transparency is one thing.

People's safety is another.

Georgia, unlike in federal trials, releases the names of a grand jury after a criminal indictment. Trump's minions immediately pounced upon the easily available information and are weaponizing it. 

In the last 48 hours rightwing websites are posting the jurors names and addresses in a hit list. Violence is being encouraged. People's lives are being threatened as unhinged lunatics are stalking these jurors.

What is turning out to be the biggest criminal trial in Georgia history is also a Crossing the Rubican moment for the Republican party. 

Political pundits believe the trial will stretch on for at least two years because of the large number of defendants (19 including Trump). That means the juror's lives are going to be hell for years to come.

It's important to note that Trump is a stochastic terrorist who encourages his followers to dehumanize and vilify a person or group of people with ideological hate speech. He encourages people to violently and unpredictably attack the targets of his vicious claims.

With Georgia's criminal indictment Trump faces (at least) four felony trials - one in New York, one in Florida, and one in Washington D.C. 

As of today, the governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, is backing another state investigation into Trump attempts to overthrow the 2020 election and disenfranchise Arizona voters.

The common denominator in all of these trials are Trump's attempts to get his cult enraged enough over his indictments to go out and commit violence in his defense.

The Georgia trial is Trump's latest attempt to terrorize the justice system, but I have a hunch we'll see the same thing if he's indicted in Arizona or any other state.

As it stands, anybody with eyes and ears knows that our former twice impeached president is the biggest threat our republic has ever faced.

Conservatives Hunting 'Tony the Tiger!'

Another cultural clown club strikes.

It's the Kellogg's Company's Tony the Tiger who's the victim this time.

The cartoon character on their popular Frosted Flakes (I still love them) is just one of the latest victims of cultural wars started by a right-wing group called America First Legal (AFL).

Their beef is the kind of red meat MAGA morons feast on. Are you ready for Wokeness?

How about claiming Kellogg's is "infused with woke ideology" and should be investigated for their policies and programs? 

How vague and pathetic, but it's this kind of misinformation that keeps conservatives tilting at symbolic windmills like Don Quixote in Miguel de Cervantes' novel.

The legal group going after Tony the Tiger (AFL) is run by a white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer Stephen Miller, one of Trump's old henchmen in the West Wing.

Not surprised, are you? These cultural attacks by MAGA minions come from all types of extremist groups and Trump's cult followers.

Let's take a moment to see what Miller's slimeball associates said when they filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission recently.

According to the group's senior counselor, Reed D. Rubinstein, "Kellogg's is a publicly traded company that engages in unlawful employment practices by - wait for it - employment practices that seek to balance its workforce based on race, color, national origin, and sex."

To someone like Rubinstein the word "equity" is a euphemism for illegal discrimination. That's where the AFL is at. The last thing they want is equality for all.

Fun fact: Mark Meadows (yes that Mark Meadows who was recently indicted in the Georgia investigation to overturn the voters real results in the 2020 election under a RICO law) is the other founder of AFL. Isn't that interesting?

Meadows and Miller's strike group of crazies also took issue with the company's efforts to diversify its leadership. Horrors!

So why Tony this time?

When a Tony the Tiger mascot showed up "linking elbows" with the controversial transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney at the 76th Annual Tony awards in New York City, AFL's members reaction left a lot of dirty diapers in their rage.

Their rage increased when they found out Cheez-Its featured a drag queen RuPaul on its product. Expect more stupid stunts like this in the future as long as there is an alternate universe where MAGA minions think they rule.

As it stands, this one crossed my red line because Tony and I are old buddies going back to the 1960s. He's G..R..E..A..T..!

It's About That Mugshot: Upcoming Poster of Trump Will Sell Out

Trump didn't have to get a mug shot while being booked and arraigned for numerous state felonies during his first indictment which was a major disappointment to me and millions of Americans.

When it comes to political collectibles a poster of Trump's booking mug shot will be the golden grail (or golden calf) of collecting memorabilia.

It won't just be posters that will feature his famous orange makeup while scowling for the camera.

The collectibles market is going to be swamped with Trump mug shots on glasses, coffee cups, t-shirts, hoodies, posters, stickers for vehicle bumpers and windows, toilet seat covers, women's handbags, and on and on.

McDonald's could have a new ad campaign connecting the original HamBurglar ads in the 1970s (where they had this clownish character wearing prison stripes and a black scarf with floppy hat who was constantly trying to steal -and failing - hamburgers for himself) to Trump's criminal mug shot with a backstory of how loves their burgers and how he ate them in the White House.

Using an updated clownish figure with an orange face and tiny hands in the new ad campaign would be perfect in this polarized society. 

Here's the thing.

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat recently told the press "Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and it doesn't matter your status, we'll have a mug shot ready for you."

Will Trump cronies somehow stop the mug shot from happening? It's a good question. The arraignment for Trump's attempt to overthrow Georgia's voters' choice is, Friday, August 25th.

As it stands, we'll find out then.

The Twilight Zone is Back with a Season About Treason

      Narrator: "You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not of sight and sound but of mind."

I remember the first episode of The Twilight Zone on Oct. 2, 1959. I was nine years-old and instantly became a fan of the series where reality and imagination blended together.

The last episode was on June 19th, 1964. After five seasons of thought-provoking stories that often had a surprising twist or unexpected ending the show was canceled.

Meanwhile...

...back to 2023 where another season of the iconic sci-fi series is underway. It began on January 20th, 2017, when Trump became president, and is still ongoing.

This current season concentrates on Treasonous episodes in America starring our rogue former president and his MAGA cult.

The twists and turns of each episode are enough to keep the entire country watching treason unfold as Trump tried to overthrow the 2020 election and is currently seeking a repeat in 2024.

As hostages to the weekly chaos, madness, and attempts to destroy democracy, the American people are confused, angry, and scared. Each episode gets stranger and poses dangers to our republic.

Past snippets from early episodes:

Episode 9 - Trump gives American Carnage speech at his inauguration foreshadowing future events.

Episode 10 - Hundreds of thousands of protestors gathered in D.C. and other cities for the Women's March on Washington (the day after Trump's was sworn in), one of the largest single-day protests in history.

Episode 14 - Watch as Trump breaks all norms about presidential behavior, ranging from feuding with a military widow to reducing the size of a national monument. 

Episode 17 - In a bizarre scene Trump is hosting TIME correspondents at a private dinner in the White House. He gets two scoops on his ice cream cone, while everyone else got one. Note: it became a viral meme.

Episode 22 - Trump huddles up with the Russian Foreign Minister to the U.S. in the Oval Office and reveals highly classified information, calling Comey "a real nut job" and criticizing the FBI investigation over his involvement with Russians during his presidential campaign.

Episode 31 - In an eerie sequence we see Trump and wife Melania, Saudi Arabia's King Salmann bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with their hands on a mysterious illuminated globe. Viewers are left wondering what kind of evil they are planning. 

Episode 38 - In a stunning revelation of clueless meanness we see Trump touring an emergency shelter in Houston for people displaced by Hurricane Harvey and tells reporters he sees a "lot of happiness" and tells everyone there "to have a good time."

Episode 45 - Americans are shocked to see how dumb Trump is when he's spotted staring at the sun during the solar eclipse without wearing protective viewing glasses. An aide is heard shouting "Don't look!"

The above snippets were from his first year in office. If you watch the next three years episodes, you'll see how Trump grew even crazier and more dangerous. By the time he lost the 2020 election he went full loon on his numerous attacks against reality, facts, and evidence.

Then defying all reality (like a good Twilight Zone story should) Trump claimed the election was stolen and led a coup attempt against our government and constitution that has polarized the nation up until today.

As it stands, if you feel like you're in The Twilight Zone... you just may be! 

Anti-Press Rhetoric Leads to an Unconstitutional Raid on a 154-Year-old Newspaper

According to The Press Freedom Tracker there's been 55 incidents targeting journalists' First Amendment-protected activities thus far this year.

(Photo: A raid on this small-town newspaper - The Marion County Record - has enraged free press advocates nationally)   

Make that 56 after a small-town police force in Kansas raided the office of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher!

The entire five-member police department seized computers, cell phones and other reporting materials effectively shutting down the operation of an historic newspaper founded in 1869.

The Marion County Record's 98-year-old co-owner was apparently so overwhelmed by the incident that she collapsed and died the following day according to Publisher Eric Meyer.

What prompted the gestapo-like raid?

Two things.

* The newspaper was actively investigating Gideon Cody, Marion's chief of police, following allegations that he retired from a previous job to avoid punishment over accusations of sexual misconduct.  

* The raid came after a complaint by a local restaurant owner named Keri Newell. She was upset with the newspaper's reporting that she kicked out reporters from a recent event at her establishment with Republican Congressman Jake LaTurner. 

She also found out that the publisher had unearthed her past DUI violation looking through government records. It's important to note Meyer chose not to do a story about it.

Meanwhile a Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed a two-page warrant that allowed the police to take anything "pertaining to Keri Newell." 

During the raid Chief Cody reportedly dislocated one reporter's finger after snatching her phone from her hand. Officers also reportedly photographed personal financial statements and seized personal items - including a smart speaker used by the newspapers 98-year-old co-owner Joan Meyer to ask for assistance.

Adding to the unconstitutionality of the raid was the fact that NO probable cause warrant was filed with the court. That's flat out against the law.

The Good News

With the help of other newspapers (even their competition) and free press groups across the country The Marion County Record was able to meet their deadline for their next publication because of the donations of computers, servers, and other equipment.

The newspaper is expected to file a federal lawsuit.

As it stands, anti-press rhetoric has become too pervasive in America thanks to the former twice impeached president who has been criminally indicted with 70 felonies (with more on the way) "fake news" mantra.