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We can still save the country from Trump . . . but time is getting very short

Donald Trump represents the most recent and destructive appearance of the American right.

The old Confederacy was built on wealthy rightwing slave owners and racism.

After the Democratic Party abandoned the Klan and the Lost Cause in the 1960s, the Republicans picked up that Lost Cause. And Trump, a lifelong racist, was ideally suited to lead the new GOP movement.

Trump exclusively serves whoever pays the biggest bribes, either in cash, 747s, or votes, who today are mostly big, monopolistic businesses, the morbidly rich, foreign dictators, so-called “Christian” hustlers, and the Republican base of male white supremacist racists.

Lyndon Johnson famously said of Nixon’s “Law and Order” racism campaign:

“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

This has been the GOP’s mantra for over 50 years and Trump has turned it into an art form. While the Party’s tax and anti-union policies have transferred at least $50 trillion from the middle class into the money bins of the morbidly rich just since Reagan’s inauguration, Trump has a extracted several billion dollars for himself and his family by exploiting the presidency.

Trump-loving white racists continue to vote for the Party because he’s working so hard to disempower women and Black people while pushing brown people out of the country or throwing them into concentration camps.

In the meantime, in the service of their rich donors, Trump and his Republican toadies have:

— Fired over 8000 Social Security workers, throwing the agency into chaos so people’s experience working with them will be frustrating (so they’ll accept privatization).
— Forced people, starting two months after the 2026 midterm elections, to re-qualify for Medicaid every six months; most people wouldn’t even maintain a driver’s license if every six months they had to go back to the DMV to requalify.
— Destroyed unions across America (most recently, Trump stripped union representation from hundreds of thousands of federal workers) leading to a collapse in wages and benefits.
— Stripped our public schools of funding, reallocating resources to whites-only and religious academies.
— Left America so awash in guns that we’re the only country in the world (other than Gaza) where the leading cause of the death of children is bullets.
— Killed off research into mRNA vaccines that were showing great promise to prevent and even cure cancer, among other diseases.
— Ended free and inexpensive college education, making America the only country in the world with over $1.5 trillion in student debt crushing an entire generation.
— Ruined America’s “soft power” around the world by shutting down USAID, leading to the deaths of millions, mostly in Africa, while China and Russia pick up our former allies.
— Betrayed our democratic ally Ukraine by withholding new weapons for eight months now while sucking up to Putin and now openly taking the dictator’s side.
— Embraced autocratic and dictatorial regimes around the world while dissing our democratic allies in Europe, India, Australia, Asia, and South and Central America.
— Politicized our military, something George Washington warned loudly against and every president since Jefferson has done his best to avoid.
— Corrupted our courts and prosecutors by appointing unqualified Fox “News” stars and others, including people credibly accused of sexual assault, taking bribes, and engaging in a coup attempt.
— Established new standards for criminality and self-dealing in office.
— Ignored due process requirements in US law and the Constitution when it comes to brown-skinned immigrants.
— Corrupted America’s reputation as a beacon of democracy for the rest of the world.
— Intimidated media, law firms, and corporate leaders into going along with creeping fascism while demanding from them bribes and tribute to the Trump Crime Family.
— Frozen money appropriated by Congress for green energy projects that would ameliorate climate change and cancer-causing pollution.
— Pitted Americans against each other while whipping up hysteria around race and religion.
— Betrayed Jesus and the founders of the rest of the world’s major religions by embracing corrupt preachers and politicizing churches.
— Put masked, armed thugs on the streets of America to terrorize people and turn our country into a police state.

All in the service of the richest among us and to the detriment of working class Americans who keep “emptying their pockets” for Trump, the GOP, and the billionaire social media moguls.

What’s it going to take for average people to wake up to how badly they’ve been screwed by Trump and his bizarre crew of lickspittles?

History suggests the major turning points are economic; every 80 or so years America experiences a massive crash, followed by a severe war and a progressive renewal. The Crash of 1771 followed by the American Revolution; the Panic of 1856 followed by the Civil War; the Republican Great Depression followed by World War II. And this year it’s been exactly 80 years since the end of that war.

Trump’s incoherent — and clearly unconstitutional — proclamation of a phony “economic emergency” to commandeer from Congress the power to impose tariffs is already slowing our economy, increasing unemployment, and jacking up inflation. And his ICE raids have led to produce rotting in the fields, giving us a 38% increase in wholesale vegetable costs over the past month, compared to last year.

Combine this very real probability that he’s driving us into a recession or even a depression with his dangerous, anti-democratic foreign policy — that seems to be entirely rooted in embracing whatever country gives him the largest bribes via jet planes and real estate projects, or doing whatever Vladimir Putin demands of him — and we may well be on the verge of a 1930s/1940s style crash and world war scenario.

The world order shakes, markets and banks collapse, Putin takes the rest of Ukraine, China takes Taiwan, India goes to war with Pakistan, Israel attacks Iran, Trump dithers and impotently threatens, and the world could well be in a major crisis far quicker than most Americans think possible.

Will that be enough to wake up the average voter the way the Republican Great Depression did in the 1930s, stripping the GOP of political power for the next 40 years? Will it bring about a new progressive renewal, like the ones that followed the crash/war cycles of the 1780s, 1860s, and 1940s?

Or will Trump, Putin, and Orbán finally succeed in taking America down the Russia/Hungary road from oligarchy to outright authoritarian fascism before the 2028 presidential election?

To the extent we still can speak out, participate in our political system, and are willing to fight for a return to the egalitarian democracy of the New Deal and Great Society, our future is still largely in our own hands . . . for now, but it soon may be too late.

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Six months into Trump’s term . . . “I will stop inflation on Day One . . . ” and other lies

A look at consumer prices 6 months into the second Trump administration . . . and it’s not a pretty sight

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/15/july-us-consumer-goods-price-tracker/

It’s been a little over six months since President Donald Trump assumed office for his second term. In that time, the economic landscape has shifted quite drastically: The new administration has implemented broad tariffs on U.S. trade partners, the stock market has both plummeted and soared to historic heights, hiring is down, fears of a recession are on the rise and, perhaps most notably for everyday Americans, consumer prices are changing.

Now $6.34, the cost of ground beef hit all-time highs for the sixth consecutive month, jumping another 4% since June. But it’s not just backyard barbecues and ballpark dogs that are getting more expensive — bananas, electricity and chicken also remain at or less than a cent away from their record prices, according to the latest data from the consumer price index.

Across the board, consumer prices are about 2.7% higher than they were this time last year, an increase economists largely attribute to the president’s sweeping tariffs pushing costs higher. And with even greater import taxes on more than 90 countries taking effect last week, it may not be the last time the price of consumer goods and services tips the scale.

The Tribune is tracking 11 everyday costs for Americans — eggs, milk, bread, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, chicken, ground beef, gasoline, electricity and natural gas — and how they are changing, or not, under the second Trump administration. This tracker is updated monthly using CPI data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Don’t want to associate with gay people? Move to Russia . . . these people did

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Conservative Derek Huffman moved his family to Russia. He decided waiting three years for citizenship was too long so he enlisted in the Russian army. He’s been sent to fight on the frontlines in the war against Ukraine.

There is a genre of MAGA conservative so right wing, so brain dead, that they go through the immense hassle of moving themselves and their family to Russia—where gay and transgender people supposedly don’t exist, and … well, that appears to be the bulk of the motivation for fleeing. They imagine a utopia where “traditional values” rule and “wokeness” is banished, even if it means embracing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Russia hasn’t just welcomed these ideological expats, it also markets itself as a refuge for them. In 2023, a Russian immigration lawyer publicly pitched a “migrant village” outside Moscow, designed to house hundreds of American and Canadian families who want a life of wholesome, state-approved traditionalism. Russian media breathlessly claimed that about 200 families were eager to sign up.

In reality? By mid-2025, the grand vision had fizzled into just two occupied homes—one of them belonging to a family you’re about to meet—and a PR stunt that played better on state TV than on the ground.

Putin, of course, loves these Americans for propaganda purposes—until the cameras stop rolling. Then he leaves them to fend for themselves in a country with a hostile climate, significant language, cultural, and legal barriers, and an economy best described as “Soviet nostalgia with fewer working elevators.” Let’s meet a few of these true believers.

The Hare family

Leo and Chantelle Hare decided they’d had enough of the United States after encountering, in their words, “too many lesbians” in their children’s school. In Russia, they saw a land free from LGBTQ+ “indoctrination” and overflowing with wholesome, patriarchal virtue.

So they sold everything, boarded a plane with their three kids, and landed in Russia’s icy embrace, only to immediately run into a wall of bureaucracy. No housing. No work. No social safety net. They latched onto a series of local pastors and other samaritans for temporary shelter—because socialism is apparently fine when it’s keeping them warm and fed. They just call it “hospitality” when it’s for them.

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Leo Hare share his viewpoint “on his current situation.”

For months, they ping-ponged from one free lodging to another, enjoying the sort of community aid they’d denounce as “woke handouts” if it came in the form of an American food stamp card. For all their rants about rejecting a “nanny state,” they traded the U.S. safety net they despise for a patchwork of Russian church basements and borrowed couches.

Then, in a display of impeccable financial judgment, they invested nearly all their savings in a shady business scheme that’s now collapsing. Instead of cutting their losses, they’ve convinced themselves that divine providence will intervene. Actually, they think Putin himself will hear of their plight and personally step in to save them. Because nothing says “effective leader of a nuclear superpower” like micromanaging the bad investment choices of a couple from Texas.

They seem to genuinely believe that, between murdering his neighbors and crushing dissent, Putin will carve out time in his schedule to track down some shady small-town grifter and get the Hares’ money back. But if Putin can’t do it, they’ve got a backup plan: “Jesus is our lawyer.” And he’s probably the only attorney in Russia who will work for free.

The Huffman family

Texan father of six Derek Huffman was done with America’s “woke culture”—the “LGBT indoctrination,” the toxic dyes in food, the government overreach, and the, uh, discrimination they faced, in Texas, as a white family.

“As a white family, [we were] being told we’re racist and not given the same opportunities because of the colour of our skin,” he said.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. The Huffmans’ world was turned upside down when his daughter learned about—gasp!—lesbians.

“The final straw was when we found out my daughter Sophia learnt about lesbians from a girl in her class,” Huffman told Russian state TV. “She didn’t fully understand it, but for us, that was enough to realize something had to change.”

His daughter clearly didn’t care about the existence of lesbians, but apparently even Texas was too woke for Huffman. Seeking a purer, safer life, the family relocated to Russia under the Kremlin’s “shared values” visa—a three-year residency scheme pitched as a sanctuary for those fleeing “destructive neoliberal ideology.”

“The city was cleaner, safer, and more orderly than we ever imagined,” Huffman gushed to Russian state media after a visit to Moscow. “Most importantly, we found a place that respected our values—where we finally felt at home.” The family was one of the two ending up in the American Village.

But three years was too long to wait for citizenship, so Huffman decided to speed things up the Russian way: by joining the army. He signed up in May expecting a civilian post—welding, maybe mechanics, or even a war correspondent gig—anything to support his family without actually facing danger.

Instead, this being Putin’s Russia, everyone had a good laugh and handed him a rifle. With zero military experience and no Russian language skills, Huffman was rushed through basic training—conducted entirely in a language he didn’t understand—and deployed near the Ukrainian front.

His wife DeAnna called it “being thrown to the wolves,” and said he hadn’t been paid, while also being asked to “donate” 10,000 rubles for supplies. And truly becoming Russian, DeAnna also admitted that she was a former alcoholic and had started drinking again due to the stress.

In June, Huffman posted a Father’s Day message—camouflage-clad, longing for home, promising he’d “do whatever it takes to be safe and to come home to you.” Months later, there’s been no confirmed update, only periodic rumors of his death.

At one point, his family briefly launched a Telegram channel with a single post—his wife and daughters in tears, pleading, “We are asking the United States government to save this family.” It was quickly deleted, perhaps after they realized that President Donald Trump cared exactly as much about them as Putin does—which is to say, absolutely nothing.

The Feenstra family

Arend and Anneesa Feenstra were Canadian farmers, but in their minds, the gay hordes loomed large, threatening the very existence of their large family.

“We didn’t feel safe for our children there in the future anymore,” said Arend on Russian state TV. “There’s a lot of left-wing ideology, LGBTQ+, trans, just a lot of things that we don’t agree with that they teach there now, and we wanted to get away from that for our children.”

With eight kids, the odds were decent at least one of them might eventually veer away from godly heterosexuality, so the Feenstras packed up and headed to Russia. But reality hit hard and fast.

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Canadian farmer Arend Feenstra and his family fled to Russia to escape the gay hordes armed with … no warm clothes or command of Russian.

Their first crisis? Using the restroom. “I needed to use the washroom, and on the doors it said male and female, but I didn’t know which was which!” Anneesa recounted. Arend helpfully added, “In America, that wouldn’t be a problem, it’s free-for-all in the bathrooms, but now in our world it matters!” Turns out, they’d assumed every sign in Russia—a country with its own language and alphabet—would be in English.

They also hadn’t considered that Russia gets cold in the winter—an astonishing revelation for people who emigrated from Canada—the country famous for hockey, snow, and temperatures that can freeze your eyelashes. Apparently, “traditional values” don’t include checking the weather. They soon needed charity from locals to stay warm, which they accepted without hesitation—because when the freebies are for them, it’s just good Christian fellowship, not the dreaded handouts they despise.

Then came the financial hiccup: Russia doesn’t accept Visa or Mastercard due to Ukraine War sanctions, and their new Russian bank account was frozen after a large transfer. The language barrier made it nearly impossible to fix.

On YouTube—because of course they document every misstep online—Anneesa broke down in tears. “I’m very disappointed in this country at this point. I’m ready to jump on a plane and get out of here,” she sobbed. “We’ve hit the first snag where you have to engage logic in this country and it’s very, very frustrating.”

But Russia isn’t the land of the free or the brave, and they quickly learned that public criticism of the country is not encouraged. The video vanished, replaced with a groveling apology: Anneesa hadn’t meant she was disappointed in Russia, they clarified, just “very frustrated in this country right now.”

By the time a Christian Science Monitor reporter visited, Arend had mastered the art of being a model subject of an authoritarian regime. Asked about Putin and Russia’s political system, he dutifully avoided any criticism, instead echoing state propaganda. “I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like Putin,” he said. “Government here works together with the people for a common goal.”

The Villa family

Okay, this one isn’t MAGA, but more of a victim of Russia’s propaganda.

Francine Villa, a Black woman disillusioned by systemic racism and police violence in the U.S., decided the answer was to move somewhere she believed race didn’t matter. That somewhere, according to her, was her birth country of Russia. She relocated in 2019 and quickly became a darling of Russian state media—smiling in interviews, praising the country’s racial harmony, and holding herself up as living proof that Western criticism of Russia was overblown. For the Kremlin, she was gold: a walking, talking rebuttal to accusations of Russian racism.

But propaganda stardom has a short shelf life. Once the photo ops were over, reality came crashing in. Her neighbors tried to prevent her from entering her apartment and attacked her—beating her and her baby and shouting racial slurs. The police did nothing, of course. Not a report filed, not an arrest made.

Villa later posted a video online showing her face swollen and bruised, eyes puffy from crying, detailing the attack and the official indifference. The country she’d praised as a racial safe haven revealed itself as a place where racism isn’t just tolerated, it’s part of the furniture. Of course, she asks for “help,” though who is supposed to render that aid in her racial utopia is unclear.

Villa had fled a country with imperfect but existing civil rights protections for one where she had none—and found herself abandoned by the very system she helped promote. In America, she might have had a lawyer. In Russia, maybe she should try the Hare family’s approach and call Jesus.

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Putin got everything he wanted, Trump got rolled

President Trump appeared on Saturday to split from Ukraine and key European allies after his summit with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, adopting Mr. Putin’s preference for pursuing a sweeping peace agreement instead of the urgent cease-fire Mr. Trump said he wanted before the meeting.

Doing so would give Russia an advantage in the talks, which are due to continue on Monday when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine visits Mr. Trump at the White House. It breaks from a strategy Mr. Trump and European allies, as well as Mr. Zelensky, had agreed to before the U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, and it provoked a chilly reception in Europe, where leaders have time and again seen Mr. Trump reverse positions on Ukraine after speaking with Mr. Putin.

Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social early on Saturday that he spoke by phone to Mr. Zelensky and European leaders after his meeting with Mr. Putin. He said that “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”

But European leaders issued a statement that did not echo Mr. Trump’s claim that peace talks were preferable to a cease-fire. Britain, France, Germany and others welcomed Mr. Trump’s efforts to stop the war but threatened to increase economic penalties on Russia “as long as the killing in Ukraine continues.”

Mr. Trump confirmed Mr. Zelensky’s announcement earlier Saturday that the Ukrainian president would come to the White House on Monday. If that visit goes well, Mr. Trump said, he would schedule another meeting with Mr. Putin.

Skipping cease-fire talks and going straight for a peace deal has been a demand of Mr. Putin’s in the long diplomatic effort to reach an end to the war in Ukraine. With Russia advancing on the battlefield, a cease-fire would give Ukraine relief from Moscow’s attacks and deprive Mr. Putin of some leverage at the bargaining table. Before his meeting with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump had agreed with European allies and Mr. Zelensky that no peace negotiations could begin without a cease-fire in place.

Mr. Zelensky, who was left out of the summit, said in a statement that he and Mr. Trump would on Monday “discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.”

Mr. Trump, in an interview with the Fox News host Sean Hannity after the summit, put the onus for securing peace on Mr. Zelensky. “Now it is really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” he said. “I would also say the European nations have to get involved a little bit.”

“Now it is really up to President Zelensky to get it done” means it is time for Ukraine to surrender.

Here’s another take on what we saw yesterday:

So, what happened yesterday we now know is Putin got the photo op on American soil, told Trump what to do, and went home:

Here’s a Fox News report from Alaska:

The way that it felt in the room was not good. It did not seem like things went well. And it seemed like Putin came in and steam rolled, got right into what he wanted to say and got his photo next to the president and then left

Here’s a similar report from MSNBC:

What struck me was the looks on the faces of a lot of the American, delegation here. Caroline Leavitt, Steve Witkoff, who came into the room, then left quickly. Leavitt appeared to be a bit stressed out, anxious. Their eyes were wide, almost ashen at times

Here’s John Bolton last night. Watch this:

Bolton concludes that Putin got most of what he wanted, Trump very little and that Trump seemed very tired, very tired.

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Nebraska asked for it and now they are getting it

Every day brings fresh horrors from the Trump administration, and nothing comforts like the knowledge that Donald Trump’s supporters are paying the price. In my Jan. 26 article, “Nebraska went big for Trump—and that may kill its economy,” I warned that Nebraska’s reliance on federal programs and its immigrant labor force made it uniquely vulnerable under Trump’s policies.

Turns out, I was right. A quarter later, Nebraska’s gross domestic product has shrunken more than 6% in early 2025, tying it with equally Trumpy Iowa for the worst drop in the nation. That statistic hit the headlines over a month ago, but what’s new is that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins just had to face Nebraskans living through the fallout.

Farmers’ grievances were exactly what you’d expect: Their farms were short-staffed thanks to immigration raids, tariffs raised costs and shrank export markets, and pricing controls made it harder to sell crops.

The state’s all-Republican congressional delegation had a familiar solution: more federal dollars to bail out the same pull-themselves-up-by-their-bootstraps crowd that spent years railing against “socialism.” As Sen. Deb Fischer explained, “There’s a lot of risk involved in agriculture. … You can’t control the weather. … That’s why these safety nets are so important.”

Remember when “safety nets” were supposed to be a communist, socialist thing?

Rep. Don Bacon, who will retire soon and give Democrats a prime pickup opportunity in the House, had his own fix: Expand government mandates for biofuels.

“It’s the only way you’re going to move enough corn and soybeans,” he said. “Otherwise you’re going to have a depression.”

If there were a viable market case for ethanol without mandates, it would already exist.

Instead, Trump’s policies may be steering Nebraska straight into a depression. Farm bankruptcies are spiking—259 filings in just the first quarter, surpassing all of last year, according to Ryan Loy, an agricultural economist at the University of Arkansas. He says the financial pressures farmers face now mirror those from 2018 and 2019.

And who was president in 2018 and 2019? Exactly.

Imagine voting for economic devastation—and getting exactly that.

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Putin-Trump meeting on Ukraine ends; Putin won, Trump filled his diaper

Trump’s latest attempt to get himself a Nobel Peace Prize ended in such a mess that Putin didn’t even bother to stay for the lunch that had been scheduled. Tass: Trump had working lunch planned with Putin, it was canceled.

US President Donald Trump’s schedule in Anchorage included a working lunch with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but it was canceled after the talks, NBC reported.

As for that “press conference that followed the talks” :    t lasted 12 minutes, and Putin spoke for the first nine. Yes, Putin spoke first, although summit protocol calls for the host country’s leader to do that (according to the commentators on MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, which included Ambassador McFaul, who should know). Putin also got in an invitation for Trump to come to Moscow, apparently (though I’m not certain of this) catching Trump off guard. Doesn’t matter; Trump clearly looked defeated at the “press conference” — in quotes because they took no questions.

One of the comments on MSNBC opined that Putin didn’t even try not to embarrass Trump. And on some level, Trump knows it; I watched the live footage of him walking up the steps to Air Force One; he looked old and he looked defeated.

Trump also tried to wash his hands of the whole matter, saying later that

“Now it’s really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit but it’s up to President Zelenskyy. I think we are — and if they’d like, I’ll be at that next meeting.”

If they like, he’’ll come to the meeting. Big of him. Not exactly the same tone we heard just two days ago: Trump warns Russia of ‘severe consequences’ if Putin doesn’t agree to stop war.

This isn’t “old man yells at cloud.” This is old man misses his nappy time. Putin ate Trump’s lunch, and he knows it.

Expect Trump to try distracting us from his humiliating summit by bringing up the Epstein files.

This is Putin and Trump shaking hands at the “press conference”:

Putin and Trump shake hands during a news conference after their meeting to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine

Putin looks like the cat that just swallowed the canary, while Trump looks like he’s holding in a fart.  Actually, Trump has just dropped a load in his adult diapers and he’s trying to get out of there to change his diaper.

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Newsom to Trump: Shove it up your fat ass.

Today  (Aug 14), flanked by California’s Democratic elected officials and union leaders, California governor Gavin Newsom responded to Trump’s attempt to strongarm the Texas legislature into redistricting the state to give Trump the five additional congressional representatives to which he feels “entitled.” Newsom announced that California will hold a special election on November 4 for voters to consider redistricting their state temporarily if Texas redistricts, so that California can neutralize Trump’s rigging of the state of Texas. The plan would only go into effect if Texas—or any of the other states pressured by Trump to redistrict to get more votes—launches its mid-decade redistricting that is transparently designed to help resurrect the Republicans’ prospects for 2026 and 2028.

After years of criticism that Democrats have not fought hard enough against Republicans’ manipulation of the system to amass power, the California plan, along with Newsom’s announcement of it, flips the script. The plan leverages Democrats’ control of the most populous state in the Union to warn Republicans to back away from their attempt to rig the 2026 election.

At the same time, the plan’s authors protected against claims that they were themselves trying to rig the game: the plan goes into effect only if Republicans push through their new maps, and it declares that the state still supports the use of fair, nonpartisan redistricting commissions nationwide, a system Republicans oppose.

Newsom’s announcement of the plan continued a shift in Democratic rhetoric from defense to offense. After years of Trump and Republicans attacking California, Newsom celebrated his state and the principles it reflects. “We are in Los Angeles, the most diverse city, in the most diverse county, in the most diverse state, in the world’s most diverse democracy,” he said. “And I’ve long believed that the world looks to us…to see…it’s possible to live together and advance together and prosper together across every conceivable and imaginable difference. What makes L.A. great, what makes California great, and what makes the United States of America great—is that…we don’t tolerate our diversity, we celebrate our diversity, and it’s a point of pride, because we’re all in this together,” he said.

California has the population of 21 smaller states combined, he pointed out, and the fourth largest economy in the world. Pushing back on the trope that says, “Don’t mess with Texas,” Newsom warned: “Don’t mess with the great Golden State.” In a reference to the 1846 California Republic, also known as the “Bear Flag Republic”—a history captured by the California grizzly bear on the state’s flag—Newsom echoed the words of Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) when he added: “Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.”

Newsom emphasized that democracy is under siege by Trump and his MAGA loyalists, a point illustrated by the fact that officials had sent more than a dozen masked and armed Border Patrol punks to the Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Newsom was speaking. Some of the agents were carrying rifles. A Border Patrol chief, Gregory Bovino, made it clear the agents were there to intimidate state officials, saying: ““We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place, since we don’t have politicians who can do that. We do that ourselves.”

Trump “doesn’t play by a different set of rules,” Newsom said. “He doesn’t believe in the rules. And as a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done…. We have got to meet fire with fire…. So that’s what this is about. It’s not complicated. We’re doing this in reaction to a president of the United States that called a sitting governor of the state of Texas and said, find me five seats…. We can’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear, district by district all across this country…. We need to be firm in our resolve. We need to push back.” He called this moment “a break the glass moment for our democracy, for our nation.”

Newsom called for Americans to “[w]ake up to what Donald Trump is doing…. Wake up to the assault on institutions and knowledge and history. Wake up to his war on science, public health, his war against the American people. This is a guy who lays claim to want to get a Nobel Prize sitting there and bending his knee to Mr. Putin.”

“We do have agency,” Newsom reminded his audience. “We’re not bystanders in this world. We can shape the future.” Noting that “this time requires us to act anew, not just think anew,” Newsom nodded to President Abraham Lincoln’s famous call from 1862: “The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise—with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”

Newsom’s team has been garnering attention lately by trolling Trump on social media, taunting the president with grandiose, jerky, all-caps posts that mimic Trump’s own. Today, Newsom continued that taunting by pointing out that Trump wants to rig the district maps because he knows his party is going to lose the midterms. Newsom called Trump “a failed president” and pointed to Trump’s dispatch of the Border Patrol to intimidate the people in attendance at the event as proof Trump is “weak…broken, someone whose weakness is masquerading as his strength…. The most unpopular president in modern history.”

On a day in which a new report this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed flashing red lights over inflation caused by Trump’s tariffs, Newsom trolled Trump by echoing the president’s triumphant promise that April 2, when he announced those tariffs, was “Liberation Day. Newsom called today’s announcement “Liberation Day in the State of California.”

When a reporter asked Newsom whether his mimicry of Trump’s social media posts is a strategy, he replied: “I hope it’s a wake up call…. If you’ve got issues with what I’m putting out. You sure as hell should have concerns about what he’s putting out as president…. But I think the deeper question is, how have we allowed the normalization of his tweets through social posts over the course of the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice.”

In a press release about the event, Newsom’s office emphasized that Democratic leaders from across the country have been launching similar broadsides against Trump’s push for redistricting, quoting Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, New York governor Kathy Hochul, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, and Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker.

After the events, Newsom’s press office posted on social media: “DONALD IS FINISHED—HE IS NO LONGER “HOT.” FIRST THE HANDS (SO TINY) AND NOW ME—GAVIN C. NEWSOM—HAVE TAKEN AWAY HIS “STEP.” MANY ARE SAYING HE CAN’T EVEN DO THE “BIG STAIRS” ON AIR FORCE ONE ANYMORE—USES THE LITTLE BABY STAIRS NOW. SAD! TOMORROW HE’S GOT HIS “MEETING” WITH PUTIN IN “RUSSIA.” NOBODY CARES. ALL THE TELEVISION CAMERAS ARE ON ME, AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR. EVEN LOW-RATINGS LAURA INGRAM (EDITS THE TAPES!) CAN’T STOP TALKING ABOUT MY BEAUTIFUL MAPS. YOU’RE WELCOME FOR LIBERATION DAY, AMERICA! DONNIE J MISSED “THE DEADLINE” (WHOOPS!) AND NOW I RUN THE SHOW. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! —GCN”

The office followed that post up with one that recalled Trump’s February 2025 reference to himself as a king, a reference that likely referred to a decades-old puff piece that called Trump “the king of New York.” After a popular outcry at Trump’s apparent claim to a throne, the White House followed up with an AI-generated image of the cover of what appeared to be Time magazine showing Trump wearing a crown in front of the New York City skyline with the legend “Long live the king.”

Newsom’s version replaced Trump’s image with his own, symbolically taking over turf that at the height of his popularity Trump considered his own. It declared: “A SUCCESSFUL LIBERATION DAY! THANK YOU!”

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Two Trump voters, on their way to a medical appointment, learn all about FAFO

They voted for Trump who told them what he would do, then, he did it to them.

FAFO.

A couple of US citizens were driving around Southern California, minding their own business scoping out recreational opportunities, while heading for a medical appointment. However, Federal agents decided there was a distinct possibility they were criminals. And interfered with their plans.

This is how NBC 7 San Diego reported the event (with video):

A couple detained by Border Patrol in Boulevard said they believed agents did not have reasonable suspicion to stop them at all, recording the interaction and alleging they were racially profiled, pulled over by an unmarked vehicle as they were scoping out campsites on their way to the dentist.

George and Esmeralda Doilez are US citizens who live in Brawley and were headed to a dental appointment in North County on Wednesday. They said they were exploring Jacumba and the surrounding area for the first time when a dark-colored SUV started following them near McCain Valley Recreation Area, then put on a siren and pulled them over.

At first, George was sanguine about the traffic stop. He told the reporter

“We didn’t think we had anything to worry about.”

However, when agents approached his car wearing masks, he questioned their rationale.

“Who does that? Criminals do that. Robbers and thieves do that. Kidnappers do that. And that’s what we’re seeing by our own government.”

Esmeralda was concerned enough to start recording the encounter. At which point, the agents lowered their masks. Which makes you wonder why they were wearing them in the first place. The Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent explained why they had stopped the Doilezes.

“The reason why we’re stopping you is because you did U-turns and there’s a known alien out in the area.”

In the video, George can be heard telling the agent that he and his wife were avid campers, “exploring” on their way to the dentist. This caused the agent to offer unsolicited advice on the appropriate way for citizens to go to medical appointments.

“If you have a dentist appointment, it probably wasn’t the best decision to be out in the middle of nowhere.”

George pointed out that he thought he was living in the land of the free.

“We have the right to travel anywhere we want to travel.”

The agent confusingly replied by both agreeing and disagreeing with George.

“You’re absolutely right you do, and I actually have the right and authority to stop you.”

George then wondered if the agent was following a racist policy

“Why are we not allowed to be here? Because we’re not white? Our skin doesn’t match?”

In the video, George can be seen showing the agent his ID but refusing to get out of his car. At which point, Border Patrol called for a K-9 unit. The dog detected marijuana. This prompted an agent to say they now had probable cause, and he would arrest the couple if they did not get out for a full search of the vehicle.

After the search, an agent told the couple that he could seize their vehicle and ticket them for having the marijuana, but that he would let them off with a warning. However, by then, George had proved he had bought the weed legally. So the agent had no grounds for writing a pot-possession ticket or warning them about anything.

I’ll warrant his sham magnanimity was a psychological salve for a man who knew he had screwed the pooch.

Predictably, CBP denied that racism was involved. The agency maintains that the agents had noticed George’s vehicle:

“exhibiting suspicious driving behavior consistent with illicit cross-border criminal activity.”

Adding: “This incident concerns a lawful stop based on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The claim that the stop was based on racial profiling is baseless.”

This self-serving cant has all the validity of an MLB batter calling his own balls and strikes.

George reacted as all of us would when stopped and detained for 30 minutes by armed men. He told NBC 7 he was:

“Terrified, terrified, absolutely terrified. As a husband, you’re seeing your wife, you know, shaking and crying. Your natural instinct is: I got to do something to protect her. And then what is this going to lead to? In my mind, I’m thinking of so many things, OK?

If I fight these guys, I’m going to lose. I could get killed out here. But why should I allow them to trample on my Constitutional rights? Why should I allow them to get away with this kind of stuff?”

Welcome to America’s incipient fascist state, George. He added:

“This place is controlled by goons in masks in unmarked vehicles chasing down American citizens just because of the color of their skin. Nobody should be afraid of their own government. They’re here to protect, to serve, not to be pirates.”

However, while I feel for George and Esmeralda, they were the agents of their own terror. They both voted for Trump — in 2020, and again in 2024.

However, let’s welcome them back to the side of light. Both stated they regret their vote for Trump, not just because of their own experience. But because they told the reporter, they’ve watched his mass deportation effort unfold in immigration court and at workplaces, and seen that the majority of people Trump’s Brown Shirts have detained do not have a violent criminal record.

George reflected on his poor choices.

“I feel shame, guilt and anger at the same time because of the promises that he made that he lied to us about, going after the worst of the worst. He lied on those and he stole our vote.”

Two years ago, George nearly died in a workplace accident. Esmeralda told News 7 that the thought crossed her mind that she could have almost lost him again.

“I did think that there might have been a chance, I remember sitting there crying, thinking like, ‘Oh, my God, if this happens, what’s going to happen? I’m going to see something bad. I don’t want to see that.'”

“We already went through something traumatic two years ago, so, you know — we don’t want to see something else even worse. I feel sad this is where we’re at. I can’t believe this is where we’re at.”

Both said they felt the need to record and speak out to raise awareness.

George: “Do not comply, because complying is going to get you in a prison concentration camp. That’s what it’s going to do eventually. Maybe it might be sooner than we all think.”

Esmeralda: “We can’t let them take our rights.nThen we’re nothing.”

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Trump’s total failure in DC

Trump’s stunt – putting FBI agents and National Guard troops on DC streets – is a failure from the start.  It’s a big nothingburger.  It’s not the streets on fire that Trump hoped for.

If you want to see clear evidence of Trump’s failure, watch the press conferences with the DC mayor and police chief.  They are not expressing outrage about the FBI and NG personnel.  Instead, they are talking about cooperation while, at the same time, going on with normal police operations.

Trump wanted DC officials to freak out, to pound the podium.  Trump wanted DC residents to take to the streets, throwing Molotov cocktails, burning buildings.  NOTHING has happened or will happen because everyone in DC from the mayor and police chief down recognizes Trump’s move to be a stunt, a shadow-puppet theater, a big nothing . . . all staged by Trump in hopes of prompting riots.

Furthermore, we all know Trump pulled this stunt in an attempt to draw public attention away from (1) the declining economy, (2) his coming failure in negotiating with Putin about Obama, and (3) the Epstein affair, which will not go away and which just may eventually sink Trump.

My daughter is an attorney living on Capitol Hill.  She reported the following today.

Yes, there are FBI agents clearly identifiable because they cruise around in black SUVs or black sedans, all with federal government license plates.  They monitor the DC police radio and when they hear an arrest in progress, they run to the scene so they can get on camera “assisting” the DC police.

Smoking weed.  Marijuana possession and use is legal in DC provided you possess a small amount, do not sell weed, and use it only for personal consumption.  In residential neighborhoods – especially the older DC neighborhoods made up of row houses – it is common for people to sit on their front stoop in the evening, visiting with neighbors, and smoking weed.  Over the past two days, FBI agents have freaked out and tried to arrest people for sitting on their front stoop smoking weed.  The FBI agents were told to fuck off, were informed about the DC law, and they left with their tails between their legs.

The churches.  DC streets are crowded.  In DC are several very large, well-attended churches, most of them Black churches although a couple of white churches have the same issue: Parking.  So, on Sundays, at church time, parking is permitted on both sides of the streets around these large churches, and when church is out, no one interferes with those leaving church.  Except this past Sunday, when at one big Black church,  a couple of genius FBI agents blocked off the streets and tried to ticket drivers leaving the church and were eventually sent packing after church members explained the local customs and told – not asked – the FBI agents to get the hell out of the neighborhood.

Brown people.  Reports are now circulating that the FBI agents are stopping cars with brown people driving or in the car.  They demand ID, ask about immigration status, and generally harass people.

800 National Guardsmen.  Everyone knows that, with 800 troops coming in, at any given time, there will NOT be 800 Guardsmen on the streets.  To conduct 24-hour operations, they will have to work in shifts of about 200 while the other 600 are either off duty or are working on housekeeping chores.  At least 25% of the 800 will never set foot on a DC street because their job is to support the other troops – cooks, medics, vehicle mechanics, personnel and finance clerks, and the like.

Face it, this deployment to DC is nothing but a stupid Trump stunt that he has dreamed of since his first term.  The reaction by the DC leadership and residents is not what Trump expected and he doesn’t know what to do.  But his halfwit, drooling MAGAt supporters just love it.