Breaking Fake News Update (v1)

Fake News broke on August 7, 2025!

This news came shortly after Comer subpoenaed Bill and Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Robert Mueller, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzales in his "investigation" of the Epstein files. 

We will continue to share fake news as it breaks. 

Sunday School 2/18/24: Extra Credit

For this week's Sunday School, I focused on some of the Democrats who were wandering the halls. 

For your Extra Credit, I've got former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Too Sane for MAGA Camp), who talked with Jake Tapper in the State of the Union classroom.

Like most folks, Cheney believes "there's no question" Vladimir Putin is responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny. And that makes it even more important that we "pass the aid bill that the Ukrainians need so urgently to help them continue what they're doing" to defeat the Russians.

And one thing that's really important, Jake, for the viewers to recognize and understand is, one man - one man has the power in his hands to get that done. And that's... Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. It's very unusual actually in American history to be in a situation where one man holds that kind of power who's not the president.

Officially, it's Johnson, but for all practical intents, haven't her former colleagues in the House (and the Senate, too) ceded that power to Donald Trump? 

She added Johnson's got some soul-searching to do on Ukraine; he needs to understand "exactly what's happening," and how the Ukrainians are the front line in the fight for freedom.

And history will look back at this moment and ask, what did Mike Johnson do? He has said, and I take him at his word, that he believes that God has told him that he's called to be Moses. And I think Mike Johnson ought to look at whether or not this is actually that moment, and he ought to help the Ukrainian people.

Tapper mentioned the pressure on Johnson, and the threat that hangs over his head: the ironically-named House 'Freedom' Caucus, which holds the Speakership hostage, could move to boot him from the role. Cheney agrees but says Johnson should understand it'd be worth it to lose the position to do the right thing. She should know, right?

And, again, he's going to have to explain to future generations, to his kids, to his grandkids whether or not he did what was right, whether or not he was a force for good and aided the cause of freedom, or whether he continued down this path of cowardice and doing what Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin want him to do.

Again, like most folks, she's not impressed with Trump not having said anything about his friend Putin taking out a political rival. She also reminded us that Trump has promised retribution, and that retribution is what Putin did to Navalny. Trump needs to be taken seriously, and

We have to take seriously the extent to which you have now got a Putin wing of the Republican Party. I believe the issue this election cycle is making sure the Putin wing of the Republican Party does not take over the west wing of the White House.

She was harsh on Trump's NATO approach, calling it "dangerous," "disgraceful," and "completely uninformed and ignorant," and said what's "so misguided" about people thinking we should just walk away from Ukraine is

if Putin wins in Ukraine, he's telling us... the Baltics are next, Poland is next, NATO member countries will be next. If Putin wins in Ukraine, the security system -- and he knows this -- the security structures that have maintained peace and security and freedom since the end of World War II will begin to unravel.

She thinks "what the Republicans are doing" with our border issues "is really shameful." She strongly blames the Biden administration for its failures there, but "as soon as the agreement was reached" - the tripartisan Sinema/Langford/Murphy bill - she said Trump stepped in again, preferring an issue to run on, rather than movement to solve the problem. And the "contortions from many leading Republicans," aren't fooling anyone, on anything.

I think, again, the American people are too smart to fall for that, and I think that my former colleagues ought to stop the political contortions and realize how significant and serious this national security moment is.

They talked about Trump's legal issues; regarding the E. Jean Carroll case, she said the jury found that Trump actually did what he said he could get away with on the Access Hollywood tape. And she pointed to the common thread with all of the cases: Trump won't follow the law, he won't tell the truth, and he's got a "fundamental lack of character."

 And I think one of the things that is so troubling about this political season is the extent to which you have got people that used to be good and honorable members of Congress, for example, who have simply, apparently, abandoned the need to actually elect people of character and honor, and instead are embracing him.

Tapper was surprised that Sen. Mitt Romney would be "unique" among the Rs in the Senate and House to say, in effect, that he won't vote for someone who's guilty of sexual assault.  Cheney agreed. 

I mean, you would think that anyone with a daughter, sister, a mother would be where Senator Romney is on that issue. 

Tapper noted that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH YEAH, I'm in the Cult!) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-You Kidding Me? Of Course I'll be His Veep), both said they would not have certified the election on January 6th, and he wondered whether anyone should be comfortable voting for a Republican ticket with either of them on it. That's a big fat no from Cheney - and, she said, Stefanik should be removed from the board of the National Endowment for Democracy. 

Cheney also didn't think much of Snitty Snitty Bill Barr, who recently said he'd vote for Trump over Biden even though, he also said,

Voting for Trump is playing Russian roulette with the country. Voting for Biden is outright national suicide.

She said he's "absolutely wrong," and even though she hasn't endorsed anyone, she "certainly would never support Donald Trump." Why?

...we know what Donald Trump will do because he's telling us every day. And anybody who has spent any time overseas, who has spent any time studying the history of autocracies and of autocrats knows we have to listen to what Donald Trump's saying. So electing Donald Trump's not Russian roulette. Electing Donald Trump would mean putting in power a man who's committed to unraveling our constitutional framework. So Bill Barr is just wrong on that.

And what about her plans? Tapper tried to get her on the record, on a variety of options.

• Is she running for president? No decision yet, but she'll do whatever it takes to stop Trump. 
• If she didn't run, would she support Biden over Trump if they were the choices? She's "not making any announcements or endorsements," but she'll do whatever it takes to stop Trump.
• If she were a South Carolina voter, he assumed she'd support Nikki Haley in the primary? "Yes; I mean, again, I am not making any endorsements, but I don't think that's a hard call at all."

Cheney was - is - much more conservative than I am; heck, she voted with Trump nearly 93% of the time during her career. But she's one of the few politicians who answers the questions she's asked and is not afraid to speak her mind. I wish all of the folks who sat in the classrooms were as accessible. 

See you around campus.

Sunday School 6/12/22: Extra Credit

For your Sunday School Extra Credit, I bring you two interviews from Dana Bash in the CNN State of the Union classroom. First up? Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who was involved in the 2nd Trump impeachment, and is also on the January 6th Committee. Here are a few highlights of their conversation.

Bash reminded Raskin about his saying the hearings would blow the roof off of the House, and wondered if "the most explosive testimony" was still to come. He said that they're going to "spell out and unspool" everything that was laid out in the first hearing, and he said

I know that our first hearing pierced the sound barrier. People are paying attention. But Americans need to pay further attention, because the danger is still out there. I mean, there was -- I just read this morning that, in Idaho, there was an LGBTQ Pride Day and a riot planted by domestic violent extremist groups, the same kinds of groups that were mobilized for the assault on the Capitol.

Bash asked if they can "prove that Donald Trump knew he lost, while publicly saying that he won." Raskin said he thinks they can 

prove to any reasonable, open-minded person that Donald Trump absolutely knew, because he was surrounded by lawyers, including the attorney general of the United States, William Barr, telling him in no uncertain terms, in terms that Donald Trump could understand, this is BS. He heard it from the White House counsel. He heard it from all of the lawyers who threatened to resign if he staged his little mini-coup against the Department of Justice.

They also talked about what should happen to Donald Trump; Raskin noted they have statutory authority for criminal referrals for contempt of Congress, which they've used with Peter Navarro, Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, but that there's "not a specific statutory provision for just referring crimes" to the DOJ. That said, 

I suppose our entire investigation is a referral of crimes, both to the Department of Justice and to the American people... this is a massive assault on the machinery of American democracy, when you have a sitting president who tries to overthrow the majority in the Electoral College of his opponent, who beat him by more than seven million votes.

And whether Trump should be indicted Raskin pointed out that "respect by politicians for the independence of the law enforcement function" was one of the things that was "crushed" during the Trump years, and he wasn't going to participate in that. He also noted that Merrick Garland is a constituent, and

I don't browbeat my constituents. I think that he knows, his staff knows, the US attorneys know what's at stake here. They know the importance of it. But I think they're rightfully paying close attention to precedent and history, as well as the facts of this case. 

And, AG Garland made it clear the DOJ is paying attention, so there's that. 

Raskin also confirmed that it was "multiple members of Congress, as the vice chair said," that requested pardons. He said the details will come out "all in due time." And, yes, "...everything we're doing is documented by evidence. Unlike the big lie, which is based on nonsense..." 

Finally, on his carrying a copy of Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' in his pocket, he said 

what we're going to need to get through this struggle in our history is common sense, the sense that we all have in common about what facts are and about what the truth is, and then common sense about how to move forward pragmatically as Americans. That's what we need - not lies, not conspiracy theory, not propaganda and disinformation. 

Next up was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Bash asked for her reaction to the video shown in the opening hearing, "especially given" that she had told Bash last year she feared she could have been killed or even raped on January 6th. 

In a long and winding answer, she thought her reaction was probably the same one a lot of people had. She talked about the "disinformation and misinformation campaign that happened" afterwards, and that the messaging came from "right-wing disinformation networks... even from members of Congress...."

And so, I think, especially in the wake of that year of people trying to minimize what had happened, re-watching that footage was, I think, just -- it was like bringing everything from that day back again, not just for myself, but I also know for staff that were there that day, for support staff that were working there, for members of Congress that were there, and for the entire country that -- including many veterans that were watching on television, wondering, how could this be us? And so I think it was an incredibly evocative and physically resonant moment for many of us. 

Bash asked about AOC's tweets calling for Reps. Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert to say whether they had asked for pardons, and wondered if there was a reason she believed they did. AOC referenced Boebert "actively tweeting the speaker's location" and other "evocative, really provocative statements," which she said "very much, I believe, indicates a side here." She said every member of Congress should be able to answer this "very simple question" whether they had asked for a pardon, and she believes the Committee "would never make an allegation so serious" without evidence.

AOC expressed "disappointment" about the Senate's bipartisan gun legislation framework focusing on "increased criminalization and juvenile criminalization, instead of really having the focus on guns." She said they have to look at all options, "recognizing that the Senate simply right now isn't capable of, I believe, passing the comprehensive legislation in all forms that is needed." The proof will be in the text, which hasn't been disclosed, but she hopes it will be "responsibly put together." She said if they "can get background checks through" she hopes it's something she could vote for.

Moving to the midterms, Bash brought up AOC's support of NY State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi against Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. And she quoted former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, who said

This is counterproductive. The Supreme Court is about to outlaw abortion. We could lose both houses. So, we are going to focus our time running against each other? Now we're primarying committed progressives, because why? If we lose the House, it's because of dumb stuff like this."

So. what would AOC tell Messina? She pointed out a couple of "electric victories" - Greg Casar in Texas, and Summer Lee in Pennsylvania - saying that

when we are able to elect representatives that excite the Democratic base, that excite young people, that excite a multiclass, multiracial coalition, then that puts us in an even better position to win in November. I think, right now, there are a lot of voters at home that have quite a bit of anxiety about the enthusiasm right now in terms of turnout for the Democratic Party. And I think one of the best things that we can do is elect people with a proven record of being able to excite a base and turn it out.

She said she doesn't believe getting elected once means you're elected forever; that millennials are "deeply underrepresented in Congress" compared to boomers and Gen Xers "when they were our age."

And, at the end of the day, we need to have a generational shift in the United States Congress in order for us to have a policy shift in the United States Congress.

Finally, on whether she'll support President Biden in 2024, she said 

we will cross that bridge when we get to it. But I think, if the president has a vision, then that's something certainly we're all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes... But, right now, we need to focus on winning a majority, instead of a presidential election.

I definitely agree with her on that last part.  The Dems will have to address the Biden elephant in the room at some point, but winning this November has to be the priority.  

We've got another January 6th hearing tomorrow, and I encourage you to watch. 

See you around campus. 

TGIF 6/10/22

Good week? Bad week?

If you watched TV last night, you probably have an opinion on whether America was well served by last night's opening session of the January 6th Committee's public proceedings.

Me? I'm torn. It was gut-wrenching to watch the new video, it was appalling to hear some of the testimony, and it was reaffirming, I guess, to have my impressions of certain people proven correct.

It was horrifying to see, again, what the danger of allegiance to a cult leader can do to our country. And the comments from the alleged Republicans - before, during and after - reinforced that danger, to the nth degree.

Now, for some specifics: On TNN, Sean Hannity said "the one person who looks good is Donald Trump." Meanwhile, this morning there's a boatload of tweeting about the "FACT" that Nancy Pelosi and the FBI were behind the insurrection.

I'll get to Hannity in a minute - first, that FACT about Pelosi.

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, the alleged Republicans in the House and Senate would have been orgasmically calling for an investigation, instead of working so hard to prevent one, and would not give up until there was one. Hell, we all know they would have had their own investigation, with no Dems participating, and held it live, with Kevin McCarthy trying to beat his own record for the longest blowhard speech on the floor of the House - before noon - every single day.

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, she'd be the last person to call for an investigation, although I do have to give her props for calling for her own head, and for having Lorena Boebert tweet her location during the tourist visit - good bipartisan collaboration on that, don't you think?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, would all the Rs have rushed to Trump's defense, or traipse off to Mar-a-Lago and kiss the ring or whatever it is they do there?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, would Kevin McCarthy have made all those phone calls?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, how come it was Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, and not a teeming horde of progressives who insurrected?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, explain why she'd be trying to stop the certification of an election her party's candidate won?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, why were so many notable Republicans at the Stop the Steal rally, egging people on to go to the Capitol and "stop the steal"?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, why are so many right-wingers pleading guilty and blaming Trump?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, why didn't Trump play the hero and call in the National Guard? He didn't - Pence did. Trump was not in control of anything other than the TV remote and the hamburders after his rally.

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, don't you think Trump would have been out on the stump, every single day, all day, blaming her and them, instead of merely telling The Big Lie over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, why in the world did Trump tell the insurrectionists that they were very special and he loved them?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, would Trump be complaining about how the media didn't fairly report the size of the crowd?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, would any of the alleged Republicans be asking Trump for pardons?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, would Steve Bannon have said all hell is going to break loose on January 6th? How would he know?

• If it was Pelosi and the FBI, would Donny Jr and Laura Ingraham have sent the texts they did, to Meadows and others? Or would they have been texting and tweeting about Pelosi?

And finally, circling back around to Hannity: If it was Nancy Pelosi and the FBI behind all of this, would he have sent the texts he did? You know, the ones to Mark Meadows, and Kayleigh ImaNinny?

Of course the hell not. He would have been texting Kevin McCarthy and laying out a plan to take over the House, NOW, without further ado, instead of talking about his bad feelings about what was going to happen on January 6th, and how it wouldn't go the way Trump thought it would, and saying that Trump should never mention the election again (nice try, Sean) and laying out a plan for Meadows and ImaNinny to try and save Trump's fanny.

I could keep going here, but there's no point - because if people actually believe that it was Nancy Pelosi and the FBI, they will never entertain another option.

They will never entertain facts.

They will never believe anything ill of the man who, today, attacked his own daughter and the AG who saved his presidency.

And who admitted it was his insurrection.

TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday 10/14/20

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Where to start with this week's wondering? Well, there's the Amy Coney Barrett hearings in the Senate, where (at least yesterday, anyway) many of the questions were silly (what's on your notepad, young lady? And whatever it was that Sen. Mazie Hirono was talking about, for example). Today, many of the questions from both sides were about the Affordable Care Act, which several Republican state Attorneys General sued to toss out. One of those states? Indiana, Barrett's home state. 

I mention that, because according to a few reports, she said she didn't know that Trump ran on, and continues to run on, getting rid of the ACA. I wonder how anyone in a state that's part of the suit to kill it can pretend to be unaware of his position, certainly not someone who was just appointed to the bench in 2017 - during, of course, the Trump administration... How stupid do they think we are, I wonder?

If you're of a certain age, you probably remember the threat of things being put on your permanent record...And today, with a particularly insane tweet from the president mocking the elderly, the infirm, residents of senior housing, nursing homes, rehab centers, and, of course, Joe Biden, I thought of the old 'permanent record' thing. And I wonder what it will be like for folks in the future to read through our history, from Bush to Obama to Trump, and wonder what the hell happened to our country? And I wondered how weird it would be to look at that permanent record, at some point in the future, and find out what happened to the person who added all this crap to it.  

 

I also have to wonder, only for about three seconds or so, why the powers that be on the peacock network decided to host a town hall meeting with IMPOTUS at the same time Joe Biden is doing a town hall on another network. Three, two, one, money. Simple, right?  I mean, it's not because they feel a compelling desire to have Americans hear from Trump, the man who never shuts up. It's not that they are at all interested in having people hear from Joe Biden, because they don't care about that, either. On the plus side?  Nah, there is no plus side. 

My Sweet Baboo and I went for our third and likely final fall foliage road trip of 2020 today, and there came a time when finding 'facilities' and food was more important than looking at pretty stuff. We stopped at a diner we've driven by without stopping at least a couple dozen times over the years. I don't have to wonder anymore about the food - it was delish. The facilities? Clean, well appointed and not in use when we arrived - a huge plus.  

Two gentlemen and  'face coverings required for entry' signs attracted my attention.  Gentleman A came in with who appeared to be his wife and two kids, fully and appropriately masked. However, his mask was tucked firmly against the underside of his nostrils. Gentleman B, one of two who arrived together on separate motorcycles, apparently didn't have a mask or doesn't wear one, but he tried to rise to the occasion today by holding his t-shirt in his teeth and tucking his nose down so it pointed into his shirt. 

And I wonder, first of all, why they thought what they were doing was appropriate and in keeping with the requirement? And secondly, why did the waitress allow them to come in when clearly the potentially dangerous parts of their faces were uncovered? And finally, specifically regarding Gentleman B, how on earth did I keep from busting out laughing? 

I wonder about other stuff too, like what a crushing blow it must have been to the president when Snitty Snitty Bill Barr's DOJ investigation into the 'unmasking' of Michael Flynn ended with no substantive findings and no charges - in effect, a highly awaited "October Surprise" that wasn't. Trump has repeatedly said that Barr is either "going down as the greatest AG in the history of our country, or he'll go down as just a regular guy." I doubt the latter will happen, after his shenanigans and statements and obfuscations and all that, but Trump can dream, I guess. I mean, clearly he does that, right? No need to wonder about that at all.

And finally, we learned today that Barron Trump also had tested positive for the coronavirus, but has since tested negative. I'm happy about that, I really am. I'd wondered about his health during the time that both his parents were infected with COVID. I'd also wondered about Melania's health as well, since we were not hearing about that. Today we learned that she has now tested negative for the virus, and I'm happy about that, too.  

When the president was asked about Barron, after Melania's note was published on the White House website, his answer? "Barron's fine. And Amy's doing a fantastic job, and we're heading out to Iowa, and we have a big rally, a lot of people, as always, but we have a lot of people and we look forward to it. Again, Amy I think is doing an incredible job." I can't help wondering what it feels like to be the person the question was actually about.

What's got you wondering tonight?

Wondering on Wednesday 10/7/20

Ready... Set... Wonder!

I wonder what we should call tonight's vice presidential debate? Will it be the #UghfestinUtah or the #KnockoutinKingsburyHall or the #SmackdowninSaltLake -- I can't pick my favorite, but I can pick what I hope they get to talk about: something OTHER THAN the coronavirus pandemic. I get that the Biden/Harris team is running in large part on how poorly the Trump/Pence team handled things, and I know that Pence is the alleged head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, but we really need to hear from the teams, without all the shouting and interrupting and gurgling and whatnot, what the heck these folks want to do if they're declared the winner after voting ends on November 3rd. 

And speaking of November 3rd, I see that Facebook is now saying they won't run any political ads after voting ends that day. And I wonder, who's still going to be running ads at that point, other than Trump and his main man #SnittySnittyBillBarr - I mean, I'm sure they'll still be screaming about election fraud even as ballots are being received, or removed from their locked boxes and then opened and inspected in accordance with each state's rules, but is anyone else going to be running ads then? If not, why doesn't Facebook just tell the Trump team to "stand back and stand by" (aka sit down and shut up) until counting is done?

And speaking of voting and interference and lies and fake ads and stuff, today FBI Director Christopher Wray had a virtual press conference reassuring Americans that our election will be safe. And I wonder, will Trump wait until after the election before firing Wray? Or will he do it first, just to make sure he has the chance?

What else is going on? Will there be a stimulus payment for Americans who are struggling and those who are not? Will there be a bailout for the 'too big to fail' airline industry?  Do we have to wait until after the election, when Donald Trump says he will be elected, before we'll see a rescue plan - for anyone? Or, maybe, those hearty, wholesome, crime-free red states will get some stimmy, and us blue-staters will have to wait until... when, I wonder? But the big wondering is, what happens if we hold off on handing out any relief until after the election and (drum roll please) Donny gets sent packing?  Who gets the bump then? Blue states? Blue states and maybe purple swing states that voted for Papa Joe and Mom-ala? I mean, has Trump thought this through, I wonder?

Um, let's see -- we're getting October surprises almost daily, it seems. Or maybe it's Trump's 'roid rage, not sure. Today he lost another case on his taxes, and he's declassifying documents going back to Abraham Lincoln, I think... oh wait - Hillary Clinton, not Abraham Lincoln. Sorry -- different three-syllable, two syllable name there. My take on the document dump? No one will read them.  

Instead, the nation will turn its lonely eyes to Fox and Friends, or Don Lemon, or Chuck Todd, or Judge Jeannine, woo woo woo, and be told what to think about what they haven't read. And, if all goes according to Trump's plan, his base will vote for him, and Biden's base will vote for him, and nothing really matters any more... 

When did the president last test negative before being diagnosed with COVID-19, I wonder?  Bueller? Bueller? Anybody?

Mike Pence's aide Katie Miller is married to immigration psychopath Stephen Miller, who has tested positive. Mike Pence attended the #2020RoseGardenSuperSpreaderParty for Amy Coney Barrett, sitting in front of Sen. Mike Lee who has tested positive. I'm impressed with his negativity, I am, no wondering about that. 

And according to something I just heard, there are now 34 cases stemming from that little party. Anyone wondering how long before Kevin Bacon tests positive? 

The president said that his getting COVID was a blessing from God. I'll let you wonder about that one, and whether the 210,000-plus people who have died from it since the pandemic began would think the same thing.  And speaking of blessings and bizarre statements, don't forget that Trump's 4th chief of staff Mark Meadows, said that sticking by Trump while he was doing photo ops  undergoing treatment at WRMC was a message for our military men and women and boy oh boy, if you're not wondering about that, I don't know what you ARE wondering about...

And finally, about tonight's debate, I'm not wondering at all which of them will answer fewer questions: that's Pence, for sure. He is a professional question-non-answerer, and we've got proof.  Even though his chief of staff just said Pence is a "gifted communicator" - blecch.

Get your snacks, your beverages, and your bingo cards, if you're so inclined. We can compare notes tomorrow. About that, there's no wondering at all.

Wondering on Wednesday (9/9/20)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

• Like many people, I'm wondering when the president will roll out his health care plan, which he promised us weeks ago. In fact, on July 19th he promised us "we're signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health-care plan." Time flies when you're having fun, I guess... Or, maybe, time flies when you're never delivering a health care plan...

• I wonder what it must have been like to work for PostWrecker General Louis Dejoy before he started 'fixing' the USPS? On the one hand, he really encouraged employees to donate to Republicans, which is typically not my cup of tea, but on the other hand, if you did, you got a nice bonus that not only covered but exceeded the amount of your donation, if what we're being told is true. So, should I sell my soul for a nice payout later, or do I stick to my guns and not fall for the bribe?  Hmm... Actually, there's no wondering on my decision.  I'll pass on the bonus, thanks.

• Is anyone wondering that another whistleblower is coming forward in this administration, or that the issue he's blown the whistle on is Trump's downgrading Russian interference and upgrading Ch-eye-na's and Eye-ran's instead? Because we know that fits the narrative that Trump likes. His minions have made no mistake about that in many appearances in the Sunday classrooms. The experts say Russia, the minions say the other two. The experts say Russia, Trump says the other two. The whistleblower says Russia, and says that Acting DHS Director Chad Wolf says the other two...  I can't help thinking I'm not the only one seeing a pattern here?

• Another thing I'm wondering about? What on earth possessed the president to talk 18 times with Bob Woodward?  Did he really think he'd be able to talk his way into a flattering portrayal this time out? Is he nuts? Is this what he considers "the art of the deal?" I mean, in addition to having to convince us he never said what he could quite believably have said about American veterans, he's also got to convince us that he lied to us about the coronavirus to protect us, and not to make his numbers look good?  What kind of crap is that? Does he think we're stupid, I wonder? Oh wait - silly me - of course he thinks we're stupid.

• Snitty Snitty Bill Barr is expanding the Justice Department's already huge role as Trump's personal law firm, by moving to take over his defense in E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit.  Barr said it's fairly common for this to happen, and blames the political climate for the kerfuffle we're seeing. And, he said, the White House asked for the DOJ to intervene. I certainly don't wonder about that last part - Trump's more a fan of threatening to sue other people than he is paying lawyers to defend him, so having our tax dollars pay for it is a win-win for him, no doubt about that.

• And finally tonight, it's hard to remember all of the wacky things that have happened in this uniquely weird year, so you might have lost track of those mysterious seeds from Ch-eye-na that we were warned not to plant. Well, is it any wonder that we planted them? Or that we ate them?  

I do have to say, the opening line of the article on the seeds are truly words to live by: 

The same rules apply to a package of mysterious seeds found in your mail as do to a bag of fries discovered in a parking lot: As tempting as it is, don't open it, and most certainly do not eat what's inside.

What are you wondering about tonight?

TGIF 8/14/20

Last week's TGIF was all 'good week' stuff, but that's not the case this week. The pendulum swings, as they say. 

For example, here's a list of fun things from Fox News, recapping some headlines:

Trump Seeks to Starve Post Office to Limit Mail-in Voting (WaPo): “President Trump said Thursday that he does not want to fund the U.S. Postal Service because Democrats are seeking to expand mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic, making explicit the reason he has declined to approve $25 billion in emergency funding for the cash-strapped agency....

Trump tells Barr and prosecutor to bring Biden down quickly (TPM): “President Trump on Thursday issued an ultimatum to Attorney General Bill Barr over the months-long probe led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, whom Barr tapped last year to investigate the origins of the Russia probe... The President added that Barr is ‘great most of the time’ but that ‘he’ll be just another guy’ if he ‘wants to be politically correct.’ 

Personnel office clears Trump acceptance speech at White House (CBS News): “The U.S. Office of Special Counsel confirmed federal law does not preclude President Trump from delivering a speech at the White House to accept the GOP's presidential nomination during this month's Republican National Convention. The president and the vice president are not covered by any provisions of the Hatch Act,’ Erica Hamrick, deputy chief of the office's Hatch Act Unit, told Maloney in a letter Wednesday. ‘Accordingly, the Hatch Act does not prohibit President Trump from delivering his RNC acceptance speech on White House grounds.’”

That last one, though? I mean, the president has multiple properties where he could host his own party - heck, he held an official press conference with hooting and hollering from members of his golf club in the back of the room.

To the delight of club members in pastel-colored polo shirts and golf cleats who, at times, sounded like a sitcom laugh track for the president’s jabs at Democrats and the press, the president put on back-to-back shows in the ballroom of his property.

How about the new birther attacks, suggesting that Kamala Harris is not eligible to be Joe Biden's VP because, you know, she was born in the USA.  Does that sound familiar to anyone, maybe from a few years ago? And now, maybe trying to keep another person of color out of the White House? This is a tried and true tactic of the Trump squad; you can hear Tamara Keith's reporting that it's playing out in living color - again from tonight's All Things Considered.

And speaking of things being considered, it seems that the president's propensity to surround himself with 'acting' officials (he likes them a LOT) may have finally bitten him in the proverbial behind.  Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, the top two guys at DHS, are "serving unlawfully in their roles," according to the Government Accountability Office.

According to the GAO, Trump’s installation of Wolf and Cuccinelli violated the law because of the sequence of events following the resignation of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019. The official who assumed the title of acting secretary at that time, Kevin McAleenan, had not been designated in the order of succession, the GAO said. 

Subsequent personnel moves were also therefore illegitimate, and Wolf and Cuccinelli are serving under “an invalid order of succession,” the agency found. The GAO said that it was referring the matter to the DHS inspector general for review and that any further actions would be up to Congress and the IG’s office.

Now, we can almost predict what'll happen next, right? The DHS IG will get the report soon, and then the IG will be demoted and reassigned to working the night shift at some East Podunkian outpost or something, or will be stonewalled by the DHS and or the AG or the Oval, and then Mitch McConnell will suddenly bring these applicable committee back to approve the appointments and blahdittyblahblahblah and no one will pay attention to just another footnote in the annals of the unethical, unprofessional acts that have occurred in the Trump era.

But wouldn't it be nice if these two had to step aside and the rules actually were followed?  A girl can dream, can't she?

Speaking of ethics and golf and Trump, he's said to be visiting his brother in a NYC hospital before heading to his Bedminster property once again. Bedminster, in New Jersey, is where he'll receive the endorsement of the NYC Police Union.

This weekend’s trip to Trump National Bedminster is the president’s 23rd since taking office, and will increase his golf-related taxpayer tab to $142 million in travel and security expenses. Each trip to Bedminster costs taxpayers about $1.1 million, compared to $3.4 million per trip for his visits to Mar-a-Lago, of which there have been 30. Trump has also visited his golf courses in Los Angeles, Scotland, Ireland and Doral, Florida, beside the Miami airport, all on the taxpayer dime.

Trump frequently criticized his predecessor, Barack Obama, for playing too much golf, and promised during his campaign that he would be too busy to take any time off. “I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off,” he said at a February 2016 rally.

I think it's safe to say that he's totally missed the mark on that last statement.

TGIF, everyone.

In Case You Missed It (v47)

Grab your cuppa - it's time for a recap of last week's posts.

I devoted the entire Sunday School entry to hearing from the president's 4th Chief of Staff (quick - can you name the first three? Answers at the end of the post). And it wasn't easy - I mean, I never thought I'd say this, but I much preferred listening to his predecessor than I do listening to Meadows.

He told us how much the administration is doing about election interference from China, Russia and Iran, something the intelligence community warned us about. "Trump's doing a lot, a lot more than the previous administration," investing "hundreds of millions of dollars" and he signed off on "two different legislative actions...to make sure that election integrity is - is important." 

Not only that, but he also said, "We've been willing to work with secretaries of states of every -- of all 50 states as we look at that and the territories to make sure that their systems have the needed resources for the integrity to be there and so that we can count on that."

Well, goody for them, that they've "been willing to work with" all 50 states.  I mean, in any other administration, not immediately doing that would be a dereliction of duty, but this is the 'be nice to me or you're screwed' administration, so I guess we should give them a participation medal or something.

Among the guest lecturers featured in our Sunday School Extra Credit post? Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who was pretty upbeat about the Republican's plan and about working with the Dems to get something done.  There will be a plan announced on Monday, he said. 

...we do have an entire plan, it's a trillion dollars. And let me just remind everybody that of the $3 trillion we've already passed, we have about a trillion to a trillion and a half still left to put into the economy. So these are very, very large amount of money, working with Congress to support this. And what Mark Meadows was saying is that within the trillion-dollar package, there are certain things that have time frames that are bigger priority, so we could look at doing an entire deal, we could also look at doing parts... we can move very quickly with the Democrats on these issues. We've moved quickly before and I see no reason why we can't move quickly again. And if there are issues that take longer, we'll -- we'll deal with those as well. 

And while they're pushing to spend another trillion bucks or three, which is what the House passed - back in May (that bill having sat on The Grim Reaper's desk waiting for the Rs to get off their fannies and figure out what #IMPOTUS wants before they put anything on the table) - is anyone else thinking about the trillion-and-a-half still sitting on the table, and what that was supposed to be used for, and why it hasn't, and if it isn't needed, why don't we just use that money do help people out here? Mnuchin wasn't asked that question, darn it. 

On Tuesday, I reported out the results of my survey on corporate political speech and its impact on consumer choices in a Poll Watch entry. Among the findings? 

I asked whether people had stopped doing business with a company, started doing business with a company, or decided to never do business with a company because of corporate political speech. 

• 63% of respondents said they have stopped being a customer,
• 26% said that they have become a customer, and
• 68% have chosen never to do business with a company because of political speech.

The survey also told what my friends think is the most important corporate political speech issue - can you guess what it is? 

When it came time for Wondering on Wednesday, like many others I was frustrated with the lack of action on the Republicans' COVID relief bill, or stimulus bill, or whatever you want to call it.  I think I've said this before, but being retired and on a fixed income, we are much less economically disadvantaged than people who are unable to work because their business is closed, or because they are not able to work at home, and so on.  But our better circumstances don't mitigate my outrage at stupid stuff, like that gets shoved into these bills once everyone finally agrees to act.  For example, 

How, I wonder, is putting up a new FBI headquarters, across the street from the president's emoluments hotel a component of the HEALS Act, the latest stimulus package from the White House and Senate Republicans? I know that many of the senators are against that $1.75B provision, and that the president insisted it get added to the bill, but really? How does that help with testing, or PPE, or contact tracing, or people making their rent, or getting schools open, or anything else?  

And don't start with me -- I know the HEROES Act, passed months ago by the House, has more than enough porky stuff too, but this is just one more example of the president attempting to feather his own nest, or at least make his nest attractive for feathering.  I'm getting tired of it - really tired.  

I'm getting really tired of all of it, honestly. And all of them. 

Thursday was a pass day - we were supposed to have gone to our favorite restaurant for some socially-distanced outside dining with our favorite people. but a family member was advised to get a COVID-19 test and we had spent some pretty well socially-distanced time with him, so dinner was cancelled and so was writing. (And yes - we're several days into him not having his test results... #MAGAMA).

Among the things on my mind as I was building the TGIF post for your good week/bad week list-making was dealing with the claim from the Fearmonger-in-Chief and other Trumpeters (including Snitty Snitty Bill Barr) think that a foreign government is going to interject fraudulent paper ballots into our election in November.  

I'm trying to picture that level of interference, not only because there will be thousands of different ballots in use in November, gathering votes for everything from dog catcher to president, that would have to be perfectly replicated, and be assigned to actual registered voters who have signatures on file, in the correct jurisdiction... So, is it common sense, or an attempt to sow seeds of doubt in our election processes?

I'm guessing the latter, but as you know, I'm cynical about this White House.

So, that's your full and veritable pastiche for last week. Oh - yes - almost forgot to give you the first three Trump Chiefs of Staff: 

• Reince Priebus (January 20, 2017 - July 31, 2017)
• General John Kelly (July 31, 2017 - January 2, 2019)
• Mick Mulvaney (January 2, 2019 – March 6, 2020)

If you remembered Priebus, give yourself a high five. I had to look that up.

 I'll be back later with today's Sunday School. 

TGIF 7/31/20

I bet you're ready for the weekend, aren't you?  And ready to make your good week/bad week lists?

Some people, and by that I mean Trump advisor Stephen Miller, the guy who apparently learned how to carry an umbrella from his boss, is upset that President Obama gave some pretty fiery and yes, pretty political remarks, in his eulogy of Rep. John Lewis yesterday.

Now, I'm just guessing here, but I think the Lewis family would have told him not to do something like that, if they didn't want it to happen, what do you think? And do you think maybe attacking Obama is a way to deflect people's attention away from the pariah that is his boss, the only living president who did not participate in the civil rights icon's funeral?  Maybe it's just me who thinks that, I don't know.

Speaking of the pariah, he and his Attorney General, Snitty Snitty Bill Barr, have been touting the possibility that foreign governments are going to print up millions of ballots and submit them, thereby poisoning the presidential election. The ballots, you see, presumably would be votes for Joe Biden - a man with actual foreign policy experience - as if that would be more helpful than having a fickle, childish hotelier-turned-TV-celebrity in the Oval Office. I tell you, I shake my head at some of this. But not Snitty Snitty - he has "common sense" that makes him think this is going to happen.

I'm trying to picture that level of interference, not only because there will be thousands of different ballots in use in November, gathering votes for everything from dog catcher to president, that would have to be perfectly replicated, and be assigned to actual registered voters who have signatures on file, in the correct jurisdiction... So, is it common sense, or an attempt to sow seeds of doubt in our election processes?

Miller, and Obama, and Trump, and Barr -- you can figure out whether they're on the good week list or the bad week list.  The folks below? Yeah, they're all on the good week list.

• The California artist who painted flowers, using a syringe, for 1800 people who work at a Brooklyn hospital.
•  The Wisconsin bus driver who gave a brand new bicycle to a ten-year-old who kept her company when her bus broke down.
• The 12-year-old who read his hero's favorite poem during yesterday's funeral service for John Lewis. 

And I'll leave you today with some of the words of John Lewis, which were published yesterday, the day of his funeral, as he requested. 

Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.

You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others. 

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide. 

There is no doubt about which list to put Lewis on, is there? Nope - he'll be on the good list for the ages.

TGIF, everyone.

TGIF 7/10/20

Ready for the week's good list/bad list fun and games? Let's dive in. 

First up? Snitty Snitty Bill Barr and his extortion/quid pro quo Human Resources debacle, surrounding the removal of US Attorney Geoffrey Berman from the Southern District of New York office. Berman testified before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week, and his opening statement was a fun read, for sure. 

There was Barr's meeting invite, no purpose given; food was provided, but no one ate - a bad sign, for sure. Berman was pressed to take a different role within DOJ as a 'resume builder' - but he wouldn't have to do anything, "just sit there" until after the election to see what would come next. (That would look good on anyone's resume, don't you think?)  If Berman wouldn't take a different position, or resign, Barr told him he'd be fired - "and getting fired from my job would not be good for my resume or future job prospects," even though there were no issues with his performance.  

And then, of course, Berman found out via press release that he was "stepping down" and being replaced by someone from the New Jersey US Attorney's office, which "would have been unprecedented, unnecessary and unexplained." Berman then issued his own statement, basically stating rumors of his career demise were unfounded. And then, of course, there was the public release of a letter telling him he had been fired by Trump. I don't know about you, but the DOJ sounds like a place unlikely to make any 'best workplace' list - at least not for the next few months, unless you're sitting around doing nothing.

Staying in the 'Names Beginning with B' category, let's look at this story from Town Hall, the self-described "#1 conservative website." Here's the headline: Joe Biden Says Police Have 'Become the Enemy,' 'Absolutely' Should Defund Them - holy basement bunker, Batman - makes you wonder what's going on, doesn't it?

Have the mad lefties yanked him completely over to the dark side of progressive radical Marxist anarchy, just these few short months before the election, and just a few short weeks after he said this in a USA Today op-ed?

While I do not believe federal dollars should go to police departments violating people's rights or turning to violence as the first resort, I do not support defunding police. The better answer is to give police departments the resources they need to implement meaningful reforms, and to condition other federal dollars on completing those reforms.

And then, he itemized several of those reforms. So, again, have the rioting, violent anarchists stolen Papa Joe? Hell no, they haven't - Papa Joe is still Papa Joe. Here's what he actually said:

Surplus military equipment for law enforcement, they don't need that. The last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into a neighborhood - it's like the military invading; they don't know anybody, they become the enemy. They're supposed to be protecting these people.

And the 'defunding' part of the headline?

The specific question he was asked was this: "But do you agree we can redirect some of the funding?" And his answer was "Yes. Absolutely..." and he went on to describe some of his ideas on prison reform, having already given a number of ideas on how to change policing.

Clearly the #1 conservative website took a few words out of context and assumed that no one would actually watch the interview containing the alleged offensive comments. But wait -- they'd never do that, right? I thought just the #fakenews #MSM did that whole sound-bite BS, silly me.

And speaking of silly, remember that kerfuffle between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and NPR's Mary Louise Kelly? He called her a liar in a statement, he berated her in person, made her point out Ukraine on an unlabeled map, dropped a boatload of f-bombs, and more. Which made his comments about the Chinese Communist Party the other day pretty ironic - take a look. I added some emphasis for you.

What we found in China is the Chinese Communist Party was simply incapable...they're incapable of being transparent, of accepting criticism, of allowing reporters to ask them questions that they find uncomfortable that elicit the truth and the facts... They're afraid that the truth will be something that will not shine a happy light on what took place, and so instead they chose to hide and obfuscate and deny basic truth... this is the - this is a fundamental and fatal flaw for authoritarian regimes...

And speaking of fundamental flaws... sorry. And speaking of transparency, we've learned that the president has "aced" a cognitive test. We don't know when he took it, but we do know how he did - because he told his buddy Sean Hannity all about it

Hannity asked Trump whether, in his opinion, Biden had the 'alertness, trying to be charitable here, the strength and stamina...you're in the job, I'd argue the toughest job in the world..." After saying that Biden has been brainwashed by the radical left, and telling gloom and doom stories of a stock market crash, abolishing of the police, and the US ending up like Venezuela, he finally answered the question.

He hasn't taken any cognitive tests because he couldn't pass one.  I actually took one when I -- very recently, when I - when I was - the radical left were saying, 'is he all there? is he all there?' And I proved I was all there, because I got - I aced it. I aced the test. And he (Biden) should take the exact test, a very standard test. I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors. And they were very surprised. They said, 'that's an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anybody do what you just did." But he should take that same test. 

For more on the nature of the test, here's Sarah Cooper to tell you about it.

TGIF, everyone.  Have a safe weekend.

Wondering on Wednesday (v215)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Where to start with today's wondering, I wonder? 

How about with the retirement of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman? He was one of the people who responded to a Congressional subpoena and testified before representatives in the House impeachment hearings, compared to the lesser men who responded, well, lesser-ly. 

Here's an excerpt from a statement released by his attorney.

You'll recall that Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran, was holding up promotions to top positions, pending a response from Defense Secretary Mark Esper on whether it was going to go ahead or suffer at the hand of the president's interference.  We've learned that Vindman's promotion had been approved by the Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, and by Esper, and it was set to go to the president by the end of the week. 

So, here's the wondering: Who has confidence that Trump wouldn't try again to interfere, I wonder? Not me.  And who thinks that Esper or McCarthy would leave their positions, as Vindman did, in the face of the president's interference, if it came, I wonder?  Again, not me.  

What else am I wondering about today?  How long before a business owner declares a deeply held moral belief for not requiring their employees and customers to wear a mask? Or, conversely, one declaring a deeply held moral belief that masks must be worn, no matter what, by everyone on their property?  And what happens when an anti-masker demanding their constitutional rights to spend money runs into a business with a constitutional right to have convictions?  What's that court case going to look like, I wonder? And let's have one of the aggrieved parties be LGBTQ - that'll really put a mess in the gears, don't you think? 

Attorney General Snitty Snitty Bill Barr has said he doesn't think that law enforcement is systemically racist, but he does "think it is a widespread phenomenon that African American males, in particular, are treated with extra suspicion and maybe not given the benefit of the doubt.  I have to wonder what, in practice, the difference is between the two?  Any takers? 

What else?  Mary Trump's book is coming out early - goody for us, or something like that. The race is on to get snippets of it out in the public domain, so we've "learned" that Trump had someone else take the SATs for him, unless of course he didn't; we learned that lying was the rule of thumb, and apologies and showing emotion were not.  That, I don't think we'd argue with. And why did Mary write the book?

Donald, following the lead of my grandfather and with the complicity, silence and inaction of his siblings, destroyed my father. I can’t let him destroy my country.

So. What's the wondering here?  Simply this: if anyone reads the book, I wonder if they'll believe what they've read? I'm guessing that's another no, but I could be wrong. My guess is this book will be about as exciting as learning about Trump's $130K payouts to the porn stars - 'wow' followed by 'eww' followed by 'ick, or something.  The other wondering on this? of all the folks who have written about Trump, which one will win the book sales race? 

And finally, it seems that the administration may be contemplating banning TikTok from America, even if we don't know for sure why. On the one hand, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it's to protect American data and national security.  The president said it's being considered because of the coronavirus. The real reason might be something entirely different: Kellyanne Conway's daughter is apparently a #neverTrumper and a pro #BLM TikTok activist (unless she's just being a normal teenager).  So, which is it, I wonder - national security, coronavirus, or Claudia Conway?

What are you wondering about tonight?