Hard Landings
1 hour ago
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love
As a duo Sonny & Cher were very successful. They weren't a one hit wonder. They too twenty songs onto BILLBOARD's top 100 singles chart -- 11 of which went top forty. (During the recording life of Sonny & Cher, as a solo artist, Cher had 16 singles make the top 100 and eleven of those went top forty. I'm counting this time from 1965 -- when they first charted -- through 1977 when they released their final singles "You're Not Right For Me." ) A lot of artists during that time period had one hit and that was really it. But if you listen to their debut album LOOK AT US, you'll find 12 solid tracks including their number one hit "I Got You Babe" as well as this song, their cover of "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and "500 Miles." Elaine's "Sonny & Cher's LOOK AT US " was a look back on that classic album.
Friday, November 21, 2025
The Snapshot
Friday, November 21, 2025. Chump attacks and smears Democrats while revealing that the commander in chief has never even read the Uniform Code of Military Justice and a RAW STORY writer wants us to betray the Esptein survivors because the topic either ores him or makes him uncomfotable.
Let's start with Donald Chrump. What's the Convicted Felon done now? Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:
Murray responds to outrageous posts from President Trump: “I am calling on every one of my Republican colleagues: show some courage. Don’t just brush this one off yet again. State plainly that the President is not above the law—it’s right there in the constitution. Don’t mince words: make it clear that calls for political violence are unacceptable.”
*** WATCH VIDEO HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a new video message condemning President Trump’s recent post calling for members of Congress to be arrested for stating that the President is not above the law and his later repost of a call to hang members of Congress.
In the video message, Senator Murray slams President Trump for endorsing political violence against elected members of Congress, saying:
“Just think about this, the President of the United States is using his platform to lift up people calling for political violence. And then, in his own words, he called this video: ‘Seditious behavior, punishable by death.’ This is twisted, dangerous stuff.
“As my colleagues, on both sides have said there is no room in our democracy for political violence, or for rhetoric that champions political violence. And as every single one of us remembers from our own oath, in this country we swear loyalty to the constitution, not to the President. The danger here should be obvious. Every single one of my colleagues should be here with me saying: President Trump’s behavior—his choice to amplify a dangerous call for violence—is completely unacceptable.
“There is a whole lot more I could say about how clearly unfit this President is for office. Believe me, I have some choice words. But in the interest of unity—I’ve tried to keep my message simple and restrained in the hopes that members on both sides will join me in saying this loud and clear. Because it’s clear the President needs to hear this message, but he needs to hear it from all of us. And frankly—I need to hear it from my colleagues too. I need to know my colleagues, who I work with every day, actually agree with me about the basic bedrock of our democracy.”
A full transcript of Senator Murray’s remarks in the video message is below:
“I was disturbed—genuinely horrified—to see President Trump call for members of Congress to be arrested for simply stating the fact that no one is above the law—not even the President. It is infuriating. It is enough to make your blood boil.
“I mean—I can’t think of anything more un-American, at least I couldn’t until Trump went further and reposted a call to hang members of Congress. All because Members of this Congress—veterans who served this country selflessly and proudly—did nothing other than simply state the plain letter of the law.
“Here’s what they said: ‘Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders… No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.’
“I whole-heartedly agree. I’ll say it myself. To the soldiers bravely serving our nation—thank you. As a voice for many servicemembers from Washington state let me state unequivocally: you can refuse illegal orders.
“Just think about this, the President of the United States is using his platform to lift up people calling for political violence. And then, in his own words, he called this video: ‘Seditious behavior, punishable by death.’ This is twisted, dangerous stuff.
“As my colleagues, on both sides have said there is no room in our democracy for political violence, or for rhetoric that champions political violence.
“And as every single one of us remembers from our own oath, in this country we swear loyalty to the constitution, not to the President. The danger here should be obvious.
“Every single one of my colleagues should be here with me saying: President Trump’s behavior—his choice to amplify a dangerous call for violence—is completely unacceptable.
“There is a whole lot more I could say about how clearly unfit this President is for office. Believe me, I have some choice words. But in the interest of unity—I’ve tried to keep my message simple and restrained in the hopes that members on both sides will join me in saying this loud and clear.
“Because it’s clear the President needs to hear this message, but he needs to hear it from all of us.
“And frankly—I need to hear it from my colleagues too. I need to know my colleagues, who I work with every day, actually agree with me about the basic bedrock of our democracy. Because how am I supposed to sit across the table from people who are silent when the President lifts up voices saying Democrats should be hanged?
“A President who calls a simple recitation of the law ‘treasonous behavior, punishable by death?’
“We’ve seen where this path goes—where silence in the face of escalating calls for violence can lead. I was here on January 6th, as were many of my colleagues. I was here while they built a gallows outside and chanted ‘hang Mike Pence.’
“Are we going to sit here and say nothing while the President riles up another crowd? Lifts up new calls for violence? Are we going to say nothing as they build another gallows?
“What exactly do my colleagues think they will be chanting this time? And why exactly do they think the President will care to stop the crowd when today he is the one lifting up calls for violence?
“We cannot wait. We cannot pretend we don’t know how serious President Trump’s actions are.
“Now, I know we may not all be in perfect agreement on how to respond, but this moment really requires us to speak with one voice.
“I am calling on every one of my Republican colleagues: show some courage.
“Don’t just brush this one off yet again. State plainly that the President is not above the law—it’s right there in the constitution. Don’t mince words: make it clear that calls for political violence are unacceptable. Something I have heard members on both sides of the aisle speak passionately about recently.
“None of that should be controversial. This is not a moment where our democracy can afford cowards and sycophants.
“I really hope every Member of Congress, every CEO, every community leader lifts up their voice.
“Say it plain: this kind of rhetoric is a disgrace—it’s not even close to acceptable coming from an American President. That is the bare minimum.”
###
Same topic, this is from last night's THE NEWSHOUR (PBS).
Amna Nawaz: Half-a-dozen Democrats in Congress with military and intelligence backgrounds are urging current service members to ignore the chain of command if they're given unlawful orders.
Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA): Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad…
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO): … but from right here at home.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ): Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.
Ren. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI): You can refuse illegal orders.
Rep. Chris Deluzio: You must refuse illegal orders.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin: No one has to carry out orders that violate the law…
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA): … or our Constitution.
Amna Nawaz: Now, they didn't specify which orders they consider unlawful, but President Trump has fired back, writing on social media these members of Congress should be — quote — "arrested and put on trial," saying their actions are seditious behavior from traitors that is — quote — "punishable by death."
Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado is a retired Army Ranger and one of the Democrats you just heard from in that video. He joins me now. Congressman, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us.
Rep. Jason Crow: Hi, Amna.
Amna Nawaz: So, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, was asked about all this in the briefing today. I just want to play for you her response.
Question: Just to be clear, does the president want to execute members of Congress?
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary: No. Let's be clear about what the president is responding to. You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active-duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president's lawful orders.
Amna Nawaz: Congressman, I just want to get your response to the latest from the White House on this.
Rep. Jason Crow: Well, first off, Karoline Leavitt is just lying. We specifically said to unlawful orders — that they don't have to obey unlawful orders, which actually is what the Constitution says, what the Uniform Code of Military Justice says and what we were trained on when we were in uniform as well. This administration wants people to think that simply reminding people of their oath and what the law requires is somehow criminal and should result in treason and hanging, because, secondly, that is what the president said this morning. He called for a treason trial. He called for our arrest. And he called specifically for our execution by hanging.
Amna Nawaz: So, to be specific here, then, Congressman, which unlawful orders are you asking military members to refuse? What did you see that prompted you and others to make this video?
Rep. Jason Crow: The point of this video was not to point to specific orders. It's to prepare our service members, our young men and women, who are going to be put in very difficult positions in the years ahead to understand their oath and their obligation. And there's plenty of reason to be concerned. Donald Trump actually asked whether he could shoot protesters in the leg during the protests at Lafayette Square. Donald Trump has said he's going to go to war with Chicago and send troops into our cities, several of which have already been declared illegal by federal courts. So there's plenty of reason to be concerned. And we want to start a public conversation about what the obligation of our troops really is, in the very same way, I will say, that I did before I deployed my paratrooper platoon to Iraq in 2003, because once you get to the point where they are faced with an instant decision, it's too late if you haven't already had that conversation with them.
Amna Nawaz: Well, Congressman, for military members who are trying to navigate this now, I want to put to you what I heard from the director of The Orders Project, which is a nonprofit that offers legal advice to military service members who are unclear about their orders or worried about them. And they have been seeing an uptake in calls recently. But this person also said that any service member who disobeys an order on the basis that it's unlawful does run the risk that a military judge will disagree. And then they have to face the consequences. Are you saying to military members they should take on that risk?
Rep. Jason Crow: Well, listen, every military member takes on that risk. Service is hard. Being in the military is very hard. So what we want to do is send a message that members of Congress, their fellow veterans, we stand by them, we see them, and we are reminding them of their oath.
Amna Nawaz: Congressman, you have served honorably. We thank you for your service. So did most in that video. But so did retired Four-Star General Barry McCaffrey. And he had this to say in response to your video. He said: "This action by Democrats is unwarranted and dangerous. Focus on your own responsibilities in Congress to oppose military actions you believe are wrong or illegal. Support the judicial system to push back. Don't call on the military to stop Trump." What do you say to that?
Rep. Jason Crow: Well, we're not calling on the military to stop Trump. We're calling on the military to fulfill oaths. And, unfortunately, I think General McCaffrey doesn't understand the moment that we're in, the challenges that this administration is presenting to the troops. And I think he doesn't understand the time and the challenges that leaders face right now.
Amna Nawaz: Do you not trust that the courts will continue to push back or slow or stop Trump policies as they have been doing?
Rep. Jason Crow: They may. They may not. And even when courts issue orders, over a third of the time, this administration disregards lawful orders of the courts, right? They simply disregard court orders time and time again. So my job as a member of Congress is to do everything possible to uphold the Constitution and to defend this country. I don't rely on anybody to help me fulfill my duties, right? This is a project the entire country needs to undertake. Courts have an obligation. Citizens have an obligation. The military has an obligation. Law enforcement has an obligation. And I have mine.
Amna Nawaz: We saw Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer say today he's asked for special protections for Senators Slotkin and Kelly, who appeared with you in that video, after the president's post about seditions. Are you worried about your own safety? Have you seen any increase in threats since the president's post?
Rep. Jason Crow: Yes, we have received threats. And we take those very seriously. I mean, this is actually making the point that the president continues to incite violence in vitriolic rhetoric and partisanship over and over again. And it's very serious stuff, right? People sometimes act on what Donald Trump and others say, right? They certainly did on January 6. So I understand the threats that we face right now. I take those seriously. But I will not be intimidated. But what Donald Trump wants is, he wants to use fear and intimidation to silence dissent, to silence opposition, and to silence speech. And I am not allowed — I'm not going to allow that to happen, because the moment we allow that to happen is the moment we lose our democracy. And I will not allow it to happen. Fear is contagious, but so is courage. And I intend to lead.
Amna Nawaz: Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado, thank you for making the time to speak with us. We appreciate it.
I am so sick of stupid. Donald Chump avoided the Vietnam War. He didn't protest it and he didn't serve in it. He got his daddy to buy his way out of it because he was a coward. Someone else went in his place. Someone else may be dead as a result.
He should never have been president of the United States. But here we are and while Americans are hard working, we have a non-working president. He doesn't learn.
He's a stupid piece of filth who just wants to stay stupid. You have never had a president of the United States make the idiot remarks that Chump did yesterday regarding the members of Congress.
There was nothing controversial about their remarks. Jason got to the most important part. Yes, absolutely the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. But I'm referring to UCMJ.
Some people are just as stupid as Chump.
Lt Ehren Watada. He refused to go to the Iraq War. Do we remember why?
Because it was an illegal war and he would be betraying the service members under him by obeying an illegal order. I agree with him -- you don't have to -- and I agreed with him and we covered him constantly when the US government tried to court-martial him.
In fact, I defended him against Amy Goodman and Norman Solomon. If you've forgotten, Norman had a side piece and she was going to be put on the stand!!!! On the stand!!! So Norman and Amy made it all about how Ehren had to stop defending himself and refusing to testify to 'save' her.
You may remember those two -- Norman and Amy -- were part of the effort to defeat Kamala last November (which meant electing Chump, don't give them a pass). They do that all the time, they destroy what needs to be supported.
His side piece -- who's now at IN THESE TIMES -- was going to have to decide whether to tefisy about her sources or not. The journalistic stance -- even Judith Miller understood this -- is that you don't give up your sources. If it means you spend a week or a month in jail, that's what you do. Unless Norman's crushing on you.
Then what you do is go after a young man fighting for his rights and you start shaming him on DEMCORACY NOW! with b.s. about how he could end the side piece's 'troubles' by taking the stand and then she wouldn't have to do this or do that or wah wah wah.
Some of us on the left are so f**king stupid that we let the same people betray us over and over and make no point to call them out for it.
Ehren didn't listen and good for him.
He took a brave stand based on his convictions.
And -- this is what you need to pay attention to -- his training.
He wasn't creating new guidelines, rules or codes. He was going by the UCMJ.
The no-working Chump didn't serve in the miliary and despite being given the title of commander in chief twice now, has never bothered to even glance at the UCMJ. Our troops follow UCMJ. Ehren was exposed to it through his training.
This was more nonsense from Chump. He's an idiot and people need to be calling him out. This is his second term as president and he's objecting to a very basic thing that is part of our laws and that the US military trains people in.
Propaganda Pig Karoline Levitt declared at the White House yesterday, "Every single order that is given to this United States military by this commander-in-chief and through this command chain of command, through the secretary of war, is lawful."
The porcine ugly needs to shut her uninformed mouth. There is no "secretary of war." The position is -- legally, you idiot -- Secretary of Defense. Congress has not changed it and they're the only ones who legally can. So you don't know the law, you don't know God you hypocrite hiding behind the cross around your neck and you don't know a damn thing.
Do not follow an illegal order? That's actually the law. That.
Not whatever Karoline, snout in air, is snorting about.
I think Donald's confusing sedition with treason and, in the dementia that now possesses him, is somehow projecting his attempt to overthrow the country on January 6th onto other people today. Neither he now Porky Karoline understand military justice -- not just military law but military justice. And they disgrace the country as they babble on about what they wrongly think is the law.
You're just so damn stupid, Donald.
The only thing we can take comfort in is the fact that you went into another rage last night. Yea! He's morbidly obese and eats junk food despite closing in on 80. Each one of these rages takes another few days off his life.
Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes Senator Mark Kelly's response to Donald's lies:
“We are veterans and national security professionals who love this country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation,” they wrote in a joint statement posted by Kelly. “What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty.” They signed it with a reminder: “Don’t Give Up the Ship!”
Kelly later responded personally to Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s claim that their comments are part of an “insurrection” and “a general call for rebellion.”
“I got shot at serving our country in combat, and I was there when your boss sent a violent mob to attack the Capitol,” Kelly wrote. “I know the difference between defending our Constitution and an insurrection, even if you don’t.”
At TPM, Nicole Lafond and Emine Yücel report:
The president repeatedly posted on Truth Social, calling for the veteran lawmakers to be arrested and suggesting they should be put to death. He also reposted other Truth Social users who said they should be hanged.
The death threats were clear and explicit.
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” Trump said in the Truth Social post. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he continued.
[. . .]
When asked about Trump’s posts, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) tried to deflect and point the finger at Democrats who said troops can refuse to follow “illegal orders.”
“That was wildly inappropriate,” Johnson said on Thursday. “It is very dangerous. You have leading members of Congress telling troops to disobey orders. I think that’s unprecedented in American history … I know young soldiers, airmen, sailors — they don’t need that kind of nonsense from people in Congress.”
The Dems being targeted by Chump did nothing wrong. They repeated what the US military is trained on. They didn't make that up. It's actually part of the military training.
Now I get it. I know the only brigade Speaker of the closet Mike Johnson ever served in was Avon so the military escapes him. But your stupidity is not an excuse to use inflammatory and misleading speech to put people at risk. When your hate merchant was shot on stage not that long ago, you all wanted to posture about words and weeks later? Here we are with you lying to back up Chump. You're lying and you don't know what you're talking about. Mike Johnson should have pulled his usual nonsense answer out of his ass, "Uhm, golly, I didn't see that on TV. I don't know anything about that. I only knows what the TV tells me. TV and BLUE BOY and LATIN INCHES."
If you can't tell, I'm not in a good mood this morning. Chump isn't our only problem. We started with him but a stupid idiot at RAW STORY has me even more outraged.
I don't like dumb asses and I don't like f**king ass b**ches. Hope I have everyone's attention with that.
What am I talking about?
A garbage post from a garbage fool.
I don't need crap ass from crap asses who don't know s**t. It's amazing, I can remember in early 2005 when these same type of people were telling us to walk on away from Iraq as a topic. There are ways to take back the White House, these 'experts' said, but Iraq wasn't one of them. Really? Because when 2008 rolled around, it was the issue.
But crap asses were bored with the topic. Crap asses who didn't know s**t and who never know s**t.
An outlet has published a really bad article entitled "Trump will finally crash if we hammer him on this -- instead of Epstein." Oh, STFU. I hate the dualities to begin with. I hate the nonsense that it has to be this or that. I hated it when the 'revinventing government' neolibs pushed there either/or nonsense going into the Clinton years and I hated it when the soulless presented it while people were dying in the Iraq War.
Your own crap ass stupidity makes you think you can frighten people into focusing on what you want. So you try to threaten us -- oh, you're going to cost the election mumble mumble.
You don't know s**t and you should stick to coverage of what you can see because you know nothing of prognosis.
We, the American people, moved a mountain via Epstein. Those of us who focused on it and discussed it.
It has fractured MAGA.
Nothing else would have had that impact.
You're a stupid moron who doesn't understand politics.
John Kerry got Swift boated due to idiots like you.
Now we can and should focus on many issues. But idiots like the RAW STORY writer don't know a damn thing. The GOP's technique in elections has repeatedly been to take what we in the Democratic Party feel is a strength and to attack it. So John Kerry served in Vietnam and they rip apart his service.
Donald Chump claimed to be of the people -- he's not -- and couldn't shut up about Epstein and spent his first term pretending he was a savior of children. This exposed him for what he was. This became a real liability for him. It forced some people who had done everything for him to rethink him.
It has exposed him for what he is. There is probably nothing else that could have done that.
Why?
We all have an opinion on the topic. You need something shared like that so that the country can share revulsion. We can bond over it. And you saw it, you saw MAGA people -- including in Congress -- say they couldn't go along with a cover up.
It also wasn't some obscure mathematical model or something we needed to educate the public on. It had built-in appeal.
The idiot writes:
Look, I am not saying everything and anything associated with Epstein isn’t important, but I am saying it can’t become the thing.
I am saying we believe the women, who were victimized by these monsters. I am saying we keep calling for the release of everything to do with Epstein, and we keep asking the woman-abusing Trump one question, and one question only, blah blah blah
Condescending and rude. If you need to read it, click here, for SUBSTACK -- no, it's not the RAW STORY exclusive it's claimed to be at RS.
You don't like the topic. You've never liked it. You don't think it's political and you don't think it's important. Because you're a stupid idiot.
And here's the thing, we owe it to the survivors to continue to press on this issue. I never said it's the only issue. We also zoom in on Chump's war on immigrants, and many other things.. And we can do that and many other things. But here comes a RAW STORY writer -- fresh from decades at STARS AND STRIPES, with idiotic advice.
There's been no justice for the survivors. But before anything's even released, he's wanting Democrats to give up on the issue.
That'll hurt us. If we weren't really vested in it to begin with? That would mean Chump's 'hoax' talk was accurate.
This was the perfect issue to expose Chump on -- it's one that the entire nation cares about. But we picked up the issue because we care about the survivors. It was a great issue to go with politically but it was also a great issue to go with in terms of helping those in need.
We didn't need that garbage from RAW STORY. And we don't need marching orders from these idiots either. Go back to your propaganda post at STARS AND STRIPES.
MS NOW last night.
As you can see, they were able to cover a number of different topics throughout their programming.
It doesn't have to be just one story.
We've got two more things. From Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Paramount Skydance made deals with Trump prior to gaining merger approval, now reportedly admin favorites to take over Warner Bros.
Senators warn that botched merger review could raise costs, reduce choices for Americans
“The American people deserve full confidence that the federal government is enforcing these laws independently, transparently, and free from political pressure or financial influence.”
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in writing to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, warning that a potential Warner Bros. deal could be tainted by political favoritism and corruption. Warner Bros., in an upcoming formal auction process, is expected to receive bids from major media companies potentially including Paramount Skydance, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and Comcast, raising the specter of a new, massive media giant that drives up costs and reduces choices for American families.
Recent reporting revealed that the Trump administration prefers for Paramount Skydance to win the bid, raising questions of political favoritism. The close relationship between the Trump administration and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison could politicize the merger approval process. In July, the Trump administration approved the merger between Paramount and Skydance, just weeks after Paramount donated $16 million to Trump’s Presidential Library — and after Ellison reportedly agreed to a secret “side deal” to run millions of dollars’ worth of pro-Trump ads.
“The Department of Justice (DOJ) must guarantee that any review of a potential Warner Bros. transaction is conducted transparently, independently, and in accordance with federal antitrust and anti-corruption laws — not politics,” wrote the lawmakers. “Regardless of which bidder is selected, the combination of one of these companies with Warner Bros. would further consolidate the media market — risking higher prices and less variety for consumers.”
The lawmakers demanded that the review of any potential transaction involving Warner Bros. follow the law and avoid the taint of corruption and political favoritism. If the review is botched and a new media giant emerges, the company would have even more market power to raise costs at a time when working- and middle-class Americans are already being squeezed by skyrocketing costs across the board.
To ensure the DOJ review is fact-based and transparent, the senators are pressing for answers on interactions that might bias the transaction review process. In particular, the senators ask whether DOJ officials have discussed any matters related to a potential Warner Bros. transaction with lawyers, lobbyists, or consultants hired by Warner Bros. or any of the reported bidders. They also seek further clarification on whether conversations have been held with non-DOJ lawyers, as well as White House officials or Donald Trump, relating to transaction review at the DOJ, including a potential transaction involving Warner Bros.
“A transparent and lawful merger review process ensures that antitrust and public interest laws function as intended — to protect competitive markets, prevent concentration of power, and safeguard American families from higher prices and fewer choices,” the lawmakers concluded. “The American people deserve full confidence that the federal government is enforcing these laws independently, transparently, and free from political pressure or financial influence.”
Senator Warren has consistently fought back against corrupt corporate media consolidation:
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On October 10, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) questioned Skydance’s refusal to address President Donald Trump’s reported secret side deal.
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On August 1, Senator Warren released a statement in response to Paramount’s and Skydance’s responses to her letters to each of the companies, describing the responses as “dodgy” and calling for “a full, independent investigation” into whether the companies or their executives engaged in any criminal behavior connected to the approval of the companies’ multi-billion-dollar merger.
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On July 24, Senator Warren responded to the Trump administration’s approval of the Paramount-Skydance megamerger, saying “bribery is illegal no matter who is president.”
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On July 23, Senator Warren published an op-ed in Variety: “Elizabeth Warren on Colbert 'Late Show' Cancellation: Is the Paramount Trump Payoff a Bribe?”
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On July 21, Senators Warren, Sanders (I-Vt.), and Wyden (D-Ore.) pressed David Ellison, CEO of Skydance, about reports of a secret deal between Skydance and President Trump—and how it may be related to Paramount’s recent multi-million-dollar settlement agreement with Trump.
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On July 17, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and lawmakers in Congress, unveiled the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act to close loopholes that allow presidential libraries to be used as tools for corruption and bribery.
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On July 15, Senator Warren released a new report exposing how companies, special interests, and foreign governments may be pledging donations to President Trump’s future Presidential Library as a corrupt tool to secure favorable outcomes from his administration.
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On July 2, Senator Warren called for an investigation into Paramount’s settlement with Trump.
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On May 19, Senators Warren, Sanders, and Wyden wrote to Shari Redstone, Chair of Paramount, with concerns regarding whether Paramount may be engaging in potentially illegal conduct involving the Trump Administration in exchange for approval of its megamerger with Skydance.
###
And from THE BLACK COMMENTATOR:
The following sites updated:
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Robert Plant: Tiny Desk Concert3 hours ago
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Idiot of the Week5 hours ago
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Chump and his losing streak5 hours ago
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Brendan Fraser5 hours ago
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Cheddar Corn Casserole in the Kitchen5 hours ago
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Thursday, November 20, 2025
The Snapshot
Thursday, November 20, 2025. Does Pam Bondi ever do her job? We ask because when a man breaks federal law and months later becomes a member of Chump's Cabinet, it's time for a public investigation and mandatory drug testing.
Jack Hobbs and Maria Villarroel (IRISH STAR) report:
Pam da Bimbo Bondi. Unqualified for the job she holds. Attorney General of the United States. She fails daily. She fails at her job repeatedly each day. Allison Pecorin (ABC NEWS) reports:
Last
week, Bondi announced the Justice Department was initiating a renewed
investigation into the files and potential ties between high-profile
Democrats and Epstein just hours after Trump ordered her to on his Truth
Social account.
ABC News Chief Justice
Correspondent Pierre Thomas pressed Bondi on Wednesday about what
changed from the department's memo in July in which they said they
planned to make no future public disclosures related to their review of
Epstein's case and no further charges were expected.
"There's
information, new information, additional information," she said in
response to the question from Thomas. "And again, we will continue to
follow the law to investigate any leads. If there are any victims, we
encourage all victims to come forward. And we will continue to provide
maximum transparency under the law."
"We will continue to follow the law"?
Pam, when the hell have you followed the law?
You've started an investigation into a Cabinet member?
That's your job. Have you done it yet?
No, Pammy, I'm not talking about Tom Homan and the $50,000 bribe he's on video accepting. I said member of the Cabinet. Tom's not a member of the cabinet.
Robert Kennedy Jr. is a member of the Cabinet.
As Elaine notes this morning, Junior's mistress is out promoting her book. She lost her job because of the affair. When it emerged in the summer of 2024, he refused to address it. Why?
Read the book. He told her if they said no sex, if the claim put forward was 'just texting,' he could survive this scandal. Would she go along with it?
No, Pamkins, I'm not saying you investigate him for having an affair. I'm saying when a Cabinet member is credibly accused in a book and in THE NEW YORK TIMES of breaking federal law, you immediately start an investigation and you immediately announce that to the American people.
As Elaine notes in this morning's "The HHS Secretary broke federal laws and Bondi needs to open an investigation:"
Cheryl doesn't believe her husband would cheat. Though he did and he has. Cheryl started seeing Junior when he was married and he cheated with her. But, no, no, no, he would never cheat on her. What does Rachel Green's mother (Marlo Thomas) tell her on FRIENDS? "Once a cheater, always a cheater." Five days ago, Jacob Bernstein (NYT) reported:
She writes that despite being “sober” for decades, Kennedy told her that he still uses psychedelics, and even smoked dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, a powerful drug on which people are known to have what feel like near-death experiences. She told him she “liked uppers. I told him that I took Adderall.”
They chose favorite parts of each other, she writes: He chose her mouth. She chose his nose. They shared a “common language, common skepticisms, common ideas about what was beautiful, common beliefs about what was valuable.” She didn’t care that he was 39 years older than her. She liked him just the way he was. They both “moved through the world with amused detachment and deep sensitivity, contradictions that worked somehow in concert.”
She describes providing him with advice about how to manage campaign issues, including the impending news that Kennedy dropped a bear carcass in Central Park.
I'm confused. I'm not a journalist. But it seems to me if I'm writing that the Secretary of Health and Human Services was taking Dimethyltryptamine, that wouldn't be an aside in a feature article, it would be a hard news story. DMT is illegal, it a Schedule I controlled substance. The psychedelics is alarming as well ("The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a federal official and, as such, is prohibited from using recreational psychedelic drugs under federal law, as these substances are currently classified as Schedule I controlled substances. "). But DMT should have resulted in a headline noting that, at least in 2024, Junior was supposedly taking an illegal drug -- as late as summer of 2024 -- and months later he was made HHS Secretary?
He did not reveal that during his confirmation hearings. He needs to be questioned about this and I say he needs to be fired. If he's not immediately fired, he needs to face weekly mandatory drug testing.
Get it now, da Bimbo? He shouldn't have been nominated for a number of reasons. Chief among them, his breaking of federal law in the months leading up to the nomination.
But he is HHS Secretary. And his former lover has written a book -- one she's promoting non-stop -- detailing actual crimes. He is a public servant. His salary comes from the US taxpayer.
The Cabinet has to follow the same federal laws as everyone else and, being a public servant, they should actually be held to a higher standard.
A member of the Cabinet stands publicly accused of breaking the law -- federal law -- a few months before being nominated to become Secretary of Health and Human Services.
That needs to be investigated. We need to know if he was honest to government investigators who were vetting him. We need to know most importantly if he's still using -- which would mean he is continuing to break the law.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that previously said that vaccines do not cause autism walked back that statement, contradicting the agency’s previous efforts to fight misinformation about a connection between the two.
The agency’s webpage on vaccines and autism, updated on Wednesday, now repeats the skepticism that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has voiced about the safety of vaccines, though dozens of scientific studies have failed to find evidence of a link.
A previous version of the webpage said that studies had shown “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder.” It cited a 2012 National Academy of Medicine review of scientific papers and a C.D.C. study from 2013.
On Thursday, the live version of the page stated: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
The updated text also claimed that the health authorities have “ignored” studies supporting a link and said that the Department of Health and Human Services was conducting a “comprehensive assessment” of the causes of autism.
Studies over the past three decades consistently have not found any connection between vaccines and autism, including one from 2019 in Denmark that examined the country’s entire child population over a decade.
Does that nonsense result from Junior's illegal drug use? We The People have a right to know and you, da Bimbo, have a duty to investigate it.
We need mandatory drug testing of Junior as a result of what is now in the public record. Not one drug test, regular drug testing.
If he disclosed his active drugs use to those vetting him, we need Congressional hearings on how someone breaking federal law ends up waived through the process to become a Cabinet secretary.
Donald Chump's health is awful. And he continues to rage near nightly which brings ever closer to a stroke.
And right now, Junior is 12th in line. We grasp that, right? Junior is twelfth in the line of succession.
So the public has every right to know if Junior is still breaking federal law.
Pam da Bimbo Bondi, when have you ever done your job let alone followed the law?
You better get on it. We're not paying you to sit around on your ass.
Let's go through other examples of Pam's failure as AG.
The Constitution is the legal law
of the land. Yet a hate merchant gets shot dead and you rush forward as
though he'd passed through your slim hips nine months prior and you
insisted that you would be prosecuting "hate speech" even though there
are no laws in the US regarding hate speech (did you think you were in
Canada, Pammy?) -- even though the First Amendment gives us free
speech.
When have you ever followed the law?
When
you took your stank ass to a Senate hearing -- well it wasn't your
rear, the stank was coming from your crotch -- and served up lies about
members of the Senate, lies you have never corrected, let alone
apologized for.
When exactly do you follow the law, Pamkins?
The
Justice Department acknowledged Wednesday that the grand jury that
indicted former FBI Director James Comey was never shown the final
version of the charges.
Prosecutors revealed
the lapse under questioning by the judge overseeing the case. Comey’s
attorneys argued the omission warrants dismissing the indictment. The
judge did not immediately rule.
Pamby
da Bimbo Bondi, how was the Justice Dept following the law in what
Gooding's reporting? The answer is: They weren't. And you're the head
of that department. This does not reflect well on you.
You're so inept and so known for lying, in fact, that even Megyn Kelly laughs at you.
And
Pamby, you're named in a lawsuit and, possibly for the first time ever,
it's not accusing you of spreading social diseases. David Maltinsky names you and Ka$h Patel in a suit over his wrongful termination. Maya Yang (GUARDIAN) explains:
The
lawsuit claims the FBI violated Maltinsky’s first amendment rights and
took retaliatory action against him for engaging in protected speech.
Maltinsky is seeking a court order to restore his job.
Maltinsky’s
18-page complaint, filed on Wednesday in the US district court for the
District of Columbia, alleges that he was dismissed from the FBI academy
last month for previously displaying the flag at his workstation with
the support and permission of his supervisors.
According
to the complaint, the Pride flag, which the bureau flew from its
flagpole in front of its Los Angeles building, was given to Maltinsky in
recognition of his efforts to support the FBI’s diversity initiatives.
“From
a young age, all I have wanted to do is serve my country and ensure its
security alongside the brilliant and dedicated men and women of the
FBI,” said Maltinsky, who joined the bureau in 2009 and spent more than a
decade supporting public corruption and cybercrime investigations
including North Korea’s cyberattack on Sony Pictures in 2014.
The lawsuit says that Mr. Maltinsky joined the F.B.I.’s field office in Los Angeles in 2009 as a civilian assistant and spent the next 15 years supporting agents who were pursuing public corruption and cybercrime cases, including a prominent investigation in 2016 into North Korea’s efforts to hack into the computer systems of the Hollywood studio Sony Pictures.
That same year, after 49 people were slain in a shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Mr. Maltinsky raised his hand for another responsibility. He became deeply involved in helping the F.B.I. pursue diversity initiatives, ultimately winning a top prize for his efforts from the bureau’s leadership in Washington.
In 2021, in recognition for his work, his lawsuit says, the assistant special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field office presented him with the pride flag that had flown for the entire previous month outside the office on the grounds of the Wilshire Federal Building.
For nearly the next four years, the flag was displayed on the wall of Mr. Maltinsky’s work space along with other personal trinkets, he said, including a Darth Vader coffee mug and figurines of characters from the TV show “Stranger Things.”
No one seemed to mind until after Mr. Trump, who has targeted diversity measures, was re-elected and someone at the Los Angeles office complained about the flag, according to the lawsuit. Mr. Maltinsky’s supervisor told him about the complaint, but also said the way in which the flag had been displayed was “entirely permissible and appropriate,” the lawsuit said.
By June, Mr. Maltinsky had left Los Angeles and started classes at the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Va. He made it through 16 of the course’s 19 weeks and was already assigned to the field office in Seattle when he was fired by Mr. Patel.
Pamby,
you're dumb and you're stupid, and we have multiple examples of how you
do not follow the law. So why should we believe that releasing the Epstein documents will prove to be any
different?
Do
we need to get Senator Adam Schiff in on this so he can again explain
what your job duties are? You seemed very confused in that Senate
hearing and your actions and statements go to an angry idiot exploding because they can't handle the basic responsibilities of their job.
Pamby, you do get that people are comparing you to John Mitchell and that is not a compliment, right? Gary Owens makes the comparison and also notes:
Today,
Attorney General Pam Bondi is in the hot seat. She should recall
history. Hiding incriminating Watergate tapes and potentially
incriminating Epstein files have one common thread – both Trump and
Nixon fought for months to not release the information under any
circumstance with the latter stepping down from office.
The
continuous “games” that Trump and his administration have played with
regard to the Epstein files are not fooling anybody. If Trump truly
wanted the files to be released he only has to ask the DOJ to do so –
period.
Well,
Bondi claimed months ago that there was nothing to see in the Epstein
files, and therefore there were no grounds for further investigation or
prosecution. Today, Trump has ordered her to “find something”
incriminating about a list of prominent Democrats allegedly involved
with Epstein.
Is it me or does anyone else see something wrong here?
“Opening
up a new investigation” after saying there was no need for further
review of Epstein files, seems weird. It would only serve the purpose of
allowing the attorney general not to release key parts of the Epstein
files because they would be the subject of an ongoing investigation. The
problem for Bondi is that she said before Congress there was no need
for any further digging into the files. Both cannot be true.
We
must remember that when you look back at why Nixon stepped down from
office, it was not because of the original crime – breaking into the
Democratic National Committee headquarters; rather it was because Nixon
and his administration sought to cover it up. It was the obstruction of
justice charge that brought him down. It also led to the conviction and
prison time for his attorney general, John Mitchell, as well as others
involved. Nixon was eventually pardoned by his successor, Former
President Gerald Ford.
Pam pretends that AG is a partisan job. She pretends that her skills are prejudice and ignorance.
As
2025 got underway and Republicans began to worry about losing their
narrow majority in the U.S. House in the upcoming midterm elections,
Donald Trump and his White House team launched a radical operation: The
president started to direct GOP-led state legislatures to launch
mid-decade redistricting schemes, abandoning the usual process.
The
goal, of course, was to gerrymander district maps so Republicans could
win 2026 elections the year before voters started casting ballots.
The
gambit was an immediate success: GOP policymakers in Texas redrew their
map to give Republicans five additional seats; Missouri Republicans
rigged their map to deliver one additional seat to the party, and GOP
legislators in North Carolina delivered another seat to Republicans soon
after.
Roadblocks, however, soon emerged. For
one thing, key Democratic officials started pushing back in the opposite
direction: California is moving forward with a plan that would match
Texas’ scheme, and related efforts are under consideration in Maryland
and Virginia. A newly redrawn map in Utah, meanwhile, is likely to
deliver another seat to Democrats.
For another,
some red states have resisted the White House’s demands. A Trump-backed
scheme in New Hampshire stalled; Kansas Republicans have balked, at
least for now, in response to a redistricting plan; and GOP officials in
Indiana, who’ve been the target of intense White House lobbying, are
apparently walking away from the idea. Roll Call reported:
The
president did not take the news well. In fact, Trump published on
Saturday morning a lengthy harangue to his social media platform,
condemning specific state senators by name and chastising Mike Braun,
Indiana’s Republican governor, “for not working the way he should to get
the necessary Votes.”
And then what happened? David Gilmour (MEDIAITE) notes:
An
Indiana state senator publicly castigated as a “RINO” by President
Donald Trump over redistricting was the target of a “swatting” incident
just hours later, according to local authorities.
The
president named Sen. Greg Goode, a Republican from Vigo County, in a
Truth Social post on Sunday, saying he was “very disappointed in” him
and insinuated he was not backing the White House’s push to redraw the
state’s congressional maps.
Goode has not stated a position on the plan, though Trump’s post suggested otherwise.
Sheriff
Derek Fell said deputies were dispatched around 5 p.m. on Sunday after
Terre Haute police received an email “advising harm had been done to
persons inside a home, located in southeastern Vigo County.” Officers
struggled to make contact at first, Fell said, but eventually confirmed
the residents, including the senator, were safe.
Goode
and his family “were secure, safe, and unharmed,” Fell said, adding
that an investigation showed the threat was a hoax, “also known as
‘swatting.'”
To that the obvious question is: Where's our bimbo?
Pam
da Bimbo Bondi, where are you? Donald is responsible for that swatting
and Pam has grandstanded on swatting. So where's her statement?
Where's the hypocritical Pam da Bimbo Bondi?
I
know where the harlot is on redistricting. Last Thursday, the Dept of
Justice -- presided over by tramp-tramp-trampoline Bondi -- issued this:
The
Justice Department announced today that it filed legal action against
Governor Gavin Newsom and Secretary of State Shirley Weber for the State
of California’s newly adopted redistricting plan enacted with the
passage of Proposition 50. The suit alleges that the plan mandates
racially gerrymandered congressional districts in violation of the Equal
Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Proposition
50 amends the California Constitution, allowing the legislature to draw
a new congressional-district map. Substantial evidence, including that
in the legislative record and public statements, indicate that the
legislature created a new map in which Latino demographics and racial
considerations predominated, in violation of the Equal Protection
Clause.
"California’s redistricting scheme is a
brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the
democratic process," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "Governor
Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of
Californians will not stand."
"Race cannot be
used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely
what the California General Assembly did with Prop 50," said Jesus A.
Osete, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
"Californians were sold an illegal, racially gerrymandered map, but the
U.S. Constitution prohibits its use in 2026 and beyond."
"The
race-based gerrymandered maps passed by the California legislature are
unlawful and unconstitutional," said First Assistant United States
Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California. "The U.S.
Department of Justice is moving swiftly to prevent these illegal maps
from tainting our upcoming elections. California is free to draw
congressional maps, but they may not be drawn based on race."
The
Department’s motion to intervene in Tangipa et al v Newsom is pending
before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Assistant
Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon has been recused from this case.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jesus A. Osete will
represent the Department on this matter.
Updated November 13, 2025
Tore up from the floor up Bondi wants to go after California. We put it to the vote. Unlike Texas where Chump called Greg Asshole and told him he needed five more seats in Congress so get to redistricting.
Pam and the Justice Dept weren't at all bothered by that or by the map Texas produced. But since a court struck it down, shouldn't you have seen some warning signs? Ari Berman (MOTHER JONES) reports:
In a bombshell decision on Tuesday, a federal court in Texas blocked a new congressional map that was created after President Donald Trump demanded that the state redraw district lines to hand Republicans five new seats.
“Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map,” wrote Jeffrey Brown, a Trump-appointed district court judge. His opinion—backed by David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee and the district’s senior judge—found that Texas’ map violated the 14th and 15th Amendment by discriminating based on race. Judge Jerry E. Smith, a Reagan appointee, filed a dissenting opinion.
The panel’s two-judge majority pointed specifically to a Justice Department letter from early July that claimed that four congressional districts where Black and Latino voters comprised a combined majority were “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott cited that letter as the rationale when calling a special legislative session that month to redraw its congressional map. “The Governor explicitly directed the Legislature to redistrict based on race,” Judge Brown wrote.
Texas Republicans claimed the redistricting effort was motivated by partisan politics, a practice which the Supreme Court has said cannot be reviewed in federal court. But Brown concluded that “the letter instead commands Texas to change four districts for one reason and one reason alone: the racial demographics of the voters who live there.” The judge was unsparing in his criticism of the Justice Department, writing that the letter was “challenging to unpack” given its “many factual, legal, and typographical errors.”
Wow. It's as though the judge was rebuking you, Pammy. When do you follow the law? We're watching you and we just don't see it. Raul A. Reyes (LOS ANGELES TIMES) reports:
Dayanne
Figueroa was on her way to work in Chicago last month when she drove
onto a street where an immigration enforcement action was in progress.
As she attempted to drive around the chaos, an unmarked vehicle collided
with her car. Masked men jumped out of the vehicle, guns drawn and
dragged Figueroa from her car by her legs. She was thrown into a
minivan, taken away and held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for hours. Dayanne Figueroa is an American citizen.
Figueroa’s arrest, captured in a now-viral video,
illustrates the growing number of U.S. citizens caught up in federal
immigration actions. These arrests and detentions violate ICE guidelines
as well as the Constitution.
Figueroa’s case is not an isolated incident. The nonprofit newsroom ProPublica has documented more than 170 cases of U.S. citizens, mostly Latinos, being detained at raids and protests since January.
Americans
have been tackled, tased, beaten and shot by immigration authorities.
Some citizens have been held without access to counsel or the ability to
call their loved ones. They include a 79-year-old man who was
body-slammed to the ground by agents in Van Nuys, an Army veteran in
Camarillo who was tear-gassed before being thrown in detention for three
days, and a Cal Poly Pomona grad who was knocked down by agents and
spent two nights in jail.
Where
are the investigations, Pamby? You are the attorney general of the
US. You do realize you are tasked with protecting the American people.
Is it that you don't know your job or that you just don't want to do
your job?
While you stand before the American people asking us to trust you, you've done nothing to earn our trust.
That includes her failure to see that the Justice Dept punishes government employees who threaten and bully and harm the American people. Hafiz Rashid (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:
The
Trump administration has not hired the best people to work for
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of them was arrested for sex
trafficking as part of a three-day sting earlier this month.
The
man is an auditor for ICE, and was one of 16 men arrested who were
allegedly attempting to solicit a 17-year-old girl in Bloomington,
Minnesota. The ICE employee, 41-year-old Alexander Steven Back, could
face federal charges, said Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges at a
news conference on Tuesday.
Back,
a resident of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, responded to a fake online ad
“offering prostitution services,” and wasn’t dissuaded when an
undercover officer pretending to be 17 years old wrote “U ok if I’m a
lil younger than my ad says … just wanna be honest.”
“Sure,” Beck responded, according to charging documents.
“K cause I am 17 and one guy got hella mad at me,” the undercover officer, going by the name “Bella,” replied.
“Bella”
told Beck that she was 17 a second time, and then gave him a
Bloomington address, where police arrested him and took his phone.
“When he was arrested, he said, ‘I’m ICE, boys,’” Hodges said. “Well, unfortunately for him, we locked him up.”
Under
the Trump administration, ICE’s hiring has become so haphazard that
many people aren’t properly vetted, with some being turned away due to
disqualifying criminal backgrounds or failed drug tests. Many end up
being terminated because they don’t meet academic or physical standards.
Beck’s case seems to show that the agency is attracting the wrong kinds
of people.
Chump's doing poorly in the polls as America grasps just how awful he truly it. Tom Sanders (DAILY BEAST) reports:
President
Trump’s disastrous handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the
cost-of-living crisis has seen his approval ratings dip to just 38
percent, the lowest since his return to power.
Trump’s
popularity with Republicans, once considered untouchable, has also
started to wane, dropping from 87 percent to 82 percent as the
president’s growing alienation from his base has seen cracks begin to
form in the MAGA coalition.
Of the REUTERS poll, Andrew Stanton (NEWSWEEK) adds, "Furthermore,
only 26 percent said Trump is doing a good job at managing the cost of
living, a 3-point decline from 29 percent earlier in November. Nearly
two-thirds (65 percent) of respondents, including a third of
Republicans, disapprove of the president’s performance handling the cost
of living."
President
Trump’s historic gains among Latinos during the 2024 presidential
election are seemingly dissipating as the voting bloc sours on the
administration’s immigration and economic policies.
According
to an October CNN poll, only 20% of Latinos approve of Trump’s
performance in office, down from 41% in February. The dramatic drop far
outpaces the drop in confidence from Black and White Americans, who have
seen a 4- and 9-point drop, respectively, in that same period.
President
Donald Trump has deployed federal troops and National Guard units to
multiple U.S. cities in an effort to support local law enforcement
during periods of unrest. Critics have raised concerns that the
deployments may violate constitutional protections and questioned
Trump's justification for the costly deployments. According to the
National Priorities Project, the total cost of the operations has
approached nearly $500 million nationwide.
D.C.
reportedly had the highest deployment costs, with L.A., Portland,
Chicago, and Memphis following. The White House has argued the missions
are lawful.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Wealthy donors with business in front of Trump admin raise bribery concerns
Stop Ballroom Bribery Act would root out pay-to-play opportunities involving public property primarily used by President or Vice President
Bill Text (PDF) | Bill Two-Pager (PDF)
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, introduced the Stop Ballroom Bribery Act to root out apparent bribery and corruption involving President Trump’s ballroom, the first piece of legislation addressing the ballroom that would impose donation restrictions. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee Committee on Investigations, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined as co-sponsors.
Wealthy individuals, corporations, and organizations have lined up to fund President Donald Trump’s new $300 million White House ballroom, many of whom currently need something from the Trump administration — raising serious concerns of quid-pro-quo arrangements and possible bribery. Ethics experts have argued that the apparent pay-to-play relationship between Trump and business leaders oversteps the norms of presidential behavior and could erode Americans’ trust in government.
“Billionaires and giant corporations with business in front of this administration are lining up to dump millions into Trump’s new ballroom — and Trump is showing them where to sign on the dotted line. Americans shouldn’t have to wonder whether President Trump is building a ballroom to facilitate a pay-to-play scheme for political favors. My new bill will put an end to what looks like bribery in plain sight,” said Senator Warren.
"Donald Trump is raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build himself a White House ballroom at a time when millions of American families can barely make ends meet," said Ranking Member Robert Garcia. "It's outrageous that the White House won’t reveal who’s bankrolling Trump’s pet project, and that the people’s house could be funded by shady figures, corrupt money, and bad actors. This bill will ban contributions from anyone with a conflict of interest, prevent bribery, and ensure we can hold any administration accountable for blatant corruption."
“President Trump has put a ‘for sale’ sign on the White House—soliciting hundreds of millions of dollars from special interests to fund his $300 million vanity project. Our measure is a direct response to Trump’s ballroom boondoggle. With commonsense reforms to how the federal government can use private donations, our legislation prevents President Trump and future presidents from using construction projects as vehicles for corruption and personal vanity,” said Senator Blumenthal.
Key ballroom donors currently have business interests in front of the Trump administration. For example, Google, which recently donated $22 million to settle President Trump’s censorship lawsuit against YouTube, will benefit if Trump’s DOJ decides not to appeal a recent judicial ruling in a relevant antitrust case. Meanwhile, Union Pacific Railroad is seeking federal approval of a lucrative merger and Palantir is working to get more federal contracts.
The White House has refused to be fully transparent, publishing only a noncomprehensive donor list missing multiple key donors and offering donors anonymity. Donations for projects like the ballroom are often channeled through the National Park Service (NPS) and philanthropic partners; nonprofits with formal ties to property used by the President and Vice President raise unique conflict-of-interest risks when fundraising from individuals and corporations with interests in front of the federal government.
The Stop Ballroom Bribery Act would:
-
Impose pre-donation restrictions. A donation could only be used for applicable projects if the Senate-confirmed directors of the National Park Service (NPS) and Office of Government Ethics (OGE) determine that the donation complies with key restrictions, including:
-
Ban donations from entities and individuals that present a conflict of interest.
-
Make clear that donations cannot be conditioned on receipt of benefits from the federal government, be coerced, or appear to influence government action.
-
Ban the President, VP, and their families and staff from soliciting donations.
-
Require Congress to approve any foreign government donations.
-
-
Impose post-donation restrictions, including:
-
Prohibit displaying donors’ names and logos as recognition of the donation.
-
Impose a two-year cooling-off period before a donor to a covered project can lobby the federal government.
-
Prohibit converting leftover donated funds to anyone’s personal use or using leftover funds to benefit the President, VP, or their family or staff.
-
-
Require transparency, including:
-
Donors must disclose any meetings with the federal government (including the President and VP and their spouses, children, and agents working on their behalf) that occur within one year of the donation.
-
NPS must publish on a quarterly basis details of all donations to covered projects (amount, donor name, meetings between the donor and federal government, etc.).
-
Donations cannot be made anonymously or in someone else’s name.
-
-
Enable enforcement, including:
-
Permit judicial review of the NPS-OGE decision that a donation is permissible.
-
Allow state attorneys general and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to seek civil penalties and disgorgement of the donation, and the DOJ to seek criminal penalties.
-
The bill would cover the construction, improvement, or other alteration of property on the White House grounds, the VP’s residence, or other public property that the President or VP regularly use (such as Camp David or Air Force One); events hosted at such locations; and monuments or other structures that honor a living President or VP.
The bill is endorsed by Public Citizen, Democracy Defenders Action, People For the American Way, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
“Over the past year, President Trump has raised millions of dollars for vanity projects at the White House—like paving over the Rose Garden and demolishing the beloved East Wing. These funds have come from private donors without meaningful transparency or accountability,” said Virginia Canter, Chief Counsel and Director for Ethics and Anticorruption at Democracy Defenders Action. “The highest office in the land should never be for sale, nor should it ever appear to be. The No Auctioning Off the White House Act would restore accountability and ensure that the President’s decisions about 'the People’s House' are guided by integrity, not by private donations.”
“President Trump's decision to unilaterally destroy the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom financed by wealthy individuals and corporations not only ignores our country's laws but raises serious ethical concerns - namely, whether individuals and corporations funded this project in the hopes of buying access and influence,” said Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “Senator Warren's Stop Ballroom Bribery Act would block this dangerous line of influence by inserting critical restrictions and guardrails into the donation process to ensure that government officials act in the interest of the American people rather than in the interest of donors to President Trump's personal projects. CREW proudly endorses this legislation and urges the Senate to pass it without delay.”
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The following sites updated:
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Chump stands against the 9/11 families6 hours ago
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