Tag Archives: news

And So It Goes

Today is Tuesday, August 26, 2025. I’m watching the most wretched piece of bullshit on Jen Psaki’s MSNBC show The Briefing in which she showed highlights of a Cabinet-level meeting with Demented Don. Everyone at the table provided the most fawning, ridiculous praise of the dismantler of democracy that I wanted to retch. Talk about having “yes men” in your cabinet and no one else. The meeting, if it went on any longer, certainly didn’t do one productive piece of business since everyone was just saying how Chump has restored the American dream and other fucking bullshit like that. One idiot member talked about Chump getting a Nobel Peace Prize, which will never happen, in my opinion.

Showing clear signs of being a true dictator, president Demented Don has now targeted a Black Federal Reserve Governor by the name of Lisa Cook for termination, something he clearly has no jurisdiction to do. This offensive against an independent agency such as the Federal Reserve serves as the subject of an online MSNBC article called “Why Trump’s offensive against the Fed’s Lisa Cook is a ‘five-alarm fire,'” by Steve Benen.

Last Wednesday, the arsonist known as Donald Chump targeted Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, by writing online that she “must resign, now!!!” A couple of days later, a reporter asked the clueless president whether he intended to fire Cook. Naturally, he vehemently answered in the affirmative, quickly sending Cook a letter saying that she was “hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately.”

As for who Cook truly is, here is some background information: Joe Biden appointed Cook, an accomplished economist, to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors three years ago, and at that point, she became the first Black woman to serve on the Fed board. Her tenure has been uncontroversial so far – until at least last week.

You must wonder if Cook is being unfairly targeted for no other reason because of her race. If you said yes, you’re correct. In order to manufacture a “legal” reason for going after her, the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Financial Agency, William Pulte, has alleged that Cook “potentially” committed mortgage fraud. However, Cook has not been convicted or even been indicted or formally charged with any crimes. But we do know for a fact that this putrid Pulte is a Chump sidekick and loyalist and is a critic of the Fed. He has conveniently started going after a variety of Dump targets with dubious claims of mortgage fraud.

Here’s the rub on Cook’s firing: it’s fucking illegal. According to multiple sources, the president cannot legally fire a Fed governor simply because he wants to. Under the Federal Reserve Act, the only reason governors can be removed from their positions is “for cause,” or some kind of wrongdoing. As thing stand, Cook hasn’t even been charged, much less convicted, so Dump’s move strongly seems to be illegal.

This starting gun in an egregious power grab by Dump over the Federal Reserve could mean economic disaster for this country if he guts the agency and replaces it with Dump loyalists. The White House is bent on seizing control over U.S. monetary policy, especially as it relates to interest rates. This orange ogre has already launched an unprecedented campaign against Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he’s not satisfied with. If he forces Cook out and replaces her with a Dump automaton, this would gut the institution’s independence and shift power in the direction of this evil Oval Office.

As leading economist Paul Krugman has explained, if Dump successfully corrupts the institution and its work, “We become Venezuela. We become Turkey. We become a place where all of this stuff is just at the whims of the strongman in charge . . . No president should have the power to just arbitrarily control what the Fed does, and least of all this president. So, this is the road to things going completely wild – not five years down the pike, but months from now.” He added, “This is a five-alarm fire.”

The story hasn’t ended with this crooked president thinking he fired Cook; she’s still on the job and has taken legal action. She’s announced her intention to sue the president for this illegal action. Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said today that Cook will be filing a lawsuit, adding that President Donald Trump’s “attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis.” Not anything new, considering this president has his head up his ass.

This newest outrage is just another reason to have soundly rejected him on Election night. We certainly wouldn’t be here if we had.

One positive note today: a Democrat, Catelin Drey, has flipped a deep-red Iowa state Senate seat that the Orange Ogre carried by a massive margin. And with this victory, Democrats have officially broken Republicans’ supermajority in the Iowa State Senate.

Let’s hope that this stunning win in a Dump state is a signal that voters are indeed exhausted by repugnican extremism, tired of Dump’s chaos, and ready to restore some balance.

Drey ran on protecting reproductive rights, defending public schools, and restoring local control to Iowa communities.

Tomorrow I’m not sure if I will be writing my blog since we will be out visiting “Joseph” who’s in a rehab facility after having serious back surgery. Afterward, we’ll be having dinner with his wife “Mary.” But we’ll see. I do have to go to my comic store first.

Have a good Wednesday then.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Sunday, August 24, 2025. The era of Dump vengeance has just begun with the toddler in chief openly going after his political enemies, and the first one on his retribution list is former White House national security adviser John Bolton. An online MSNBC article by Steve Benen explores the hypocrisy of Dump going after Bolton for precisely the same reason that the president himself was almost prosecuted for years ago and that was the taking of classified documents. The article is entitled “FBI searches home of former national security adviser John Bolton, a frequent Trump critic.”

Benen writes, “It’s extraordinary to see the FBI target a prominent presidential critic, suspecting him of the same wrongdoing that led to a Trump criminal indictment.”

It’s Dump who got the ball rolling with Bolton nine days ago when he published an online item in which he condemned Bolton as a “fired loser” and a “really dumb” person. Never mind that this little man is just projecting here as always. He knows he himself is a fired loser for losing the 2020 presidential election and is dumb as a rock. Earlier this week, the president added that Bolton is “stupid” and standing in the way of the peace process in Ukraine.

But this campaign is not just limited to juvenile name calling or online insults. In January, Dump canceled Bolton’s Secret Service protection detail, which Joe Biden had approved after the FBI discovered evidence of an Iranian assassination plot. Around the same time, the repugnican also revoked Bolton’s security clearance.

Now the escalation has reached new heights, with the FBI on Friday raiding Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland, home as part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records.”

To put it mildly, the two men have not been on good terms since Bolton “bolted” the White House. After serving at the president’s side for a year and a half, Bolton warned the public, among other things, that Dump is “unfit to be president.” Of course, the juvenile in chief has responded to his condemnations with an endless stream of insults and complaints about his former aide because he touched a nerve in the thin-skinned president.

Another contretemps involved the release of Bolton’s 2020 book which was very critical of Dump’s presidency. Team Dump lawyers went to court in the hopes of derailing its publication. That effort failed, and the book allegedly became a bestseller.

Three months later, Chump’s Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into whether Bolton disclosed classified information when he published his memoir.

As of now, there have been no public disclosures about the nature of the new allegations, and the author has no idea whether or not Bolton improperly stored classified records in his home.

However, Benen does say it’s “short of extraordinary to see the FBI, led by a hyperpartisan Trump loyalist [FBI head Kash Patel], search the home of a prominent presidential critic – suspecting him of the same wrongdoing that led to one of Trump’s criminal indictments.” Which, of course, were never prosecuted in a court of law!

I strongly believe that the American people will grow weary of this retribution campaign as Dump goes after such personal foes like Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Miles Taylor et al., especially when the economy tanks as a result of his ridiculous meddling in it with the imposition of tariffs. As Democratic political consultant and author James Carville has said, “It’s the economy, stupid!” and that will hopefully be the nail in Dump’s coffin.

Wow! It’s another week ahead of us. This weekend was a perfect summer weekend. Today Elliot and I spent a few hours with our good friend “Deborah” in Brooklyn near Grand Army Plaza where we had brunch at a nice French bistro called Olivier’s and then sat in Prospect Park for a little while.

Have a good week.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Did you hear this one about the current president showing further signs of dementia as he dismantles democracy, bit by bit, where he attacked mail-in voting for no apparent reason other than his strongman pal, Vladimir Putin, put the thought into him very recently. He conducted a particular rant on national television in which he told a narrative about one of his own trips to the ballot box in which a poll worker asked him for a license plate to prove who he was. He informed this supposed poll worker, “I don’t know if I have it. They said, ‘Sir, you have to have it.’ He ended this absurd story by saying, “I was very impressed, actually.”

Who has ever heard of being asked to produce a license plate when voting? No one asks for a fucking license plate before being allowed to vote! A photo ID, which would be on someone’s driver’s license, not plate, is usually required as proof of identity. So has the president just made another gaffe here or is he truly delusional?

In the meantime, Texas Rep. Nicole Collier has slept in her chair in the Texas chamber since she has publicly refused to sign some sort of “permission slip” allowing the state police to shadow them until they return to the legislature to vote on this monumental unfair redistricting of the Texas map. Collier should be lionized for her refusal to bend a knee to corrupt repugnicans in the Texas legislature who will do anything in obeisance to their Supreme Leader – like throw away their own principles and dedication to the Constitution.

In an online Daily Kos article entitled “‘Go home’: Voters boo wannabe GOP governor off stage,” by The AP, the brutal reality came home to roost for Representative Elise Stefanik (who, I believe is a total boob) who was unmercifully booed by her constituents when she appeared at an event in her district on Monday. The people in the audience voiced their great displeasure of Stefanik’s total embrace of pedophile in chief Donald Chump and her vote to pass the “one, big beautiful bill,” which is anything but, as it rips Medicaid and food stamps from millions of Dump supporters in order to cut taxes for the richest few.

Aside from booing, protesters shouted that Stefanik “sold us out!” and told her to “go home,” and also shouted that Stefanik should “unseal the Epstein files,” according to a report from HuffPost.

In her case, the boos became so disruptive that the scaredy cat Stefanik eventually left the stage without finishing her prepared remarks. She was allegedly talking about a local government building that was being named after John Zurlo in Clinton County who died in her district at the age of 86. She did not anticipate the enmity that was going to greet her as she took the lectern.

News Nation Capitol Hill correspondent Joe Khalil reported, “Rep. Elise Stefanik booed off stage at an event in Plattsburgh, NY.” “After a few uncomfortable seconds of screams and boos, she left the lectern rather than deliver her prepared remarks.”

Protesters said they chose to show up to the event to voice their frustrations with Stefanik because the New York repugnican doesn’t make herself available to her constituents.

Here is a representative who has not shown up in her district for months and months, according to Mavis Agnew, a protester who attended the event as she told a local television news station. “She won’t hold a town hall, she won’t take questions. She’s never in her office. People show up at her office constantly, door’s closed. Her representatives, her employees won’t talk to her . . . So this was her first appearance, the first opportunity we had to let her know we’re unhappy.”

And, boy, did they! As you might recall, Stefanik has remained in her district after the dementia in chief pulled her nomination to be United Nations ambassador out of fear the GOP could lose her House seat in a special election. If this event were any indicator, it would seem that many repugnicans should fear losing their seats in the midterms if the bastard doesn’t rig the election in his favor.

This news out of Plattsburgh should be a warning sign to this cunt who thinks she was going to run for governor in blue state New York against Kathy Hochul. Thus a Siena College poll from last month found Hochul leads Stefanik in a hypothetical match-up by a massive 47 percent to 24 percent margin.

I would think she would easily lose her seat based on this evidence when she is up for reelection. Democratic State Senator James Skoufis had this to say about the backlash at Stefanik for appearing at this event: “Elise Stefanik won’t even hold a town hall in her bright red district – I just held four in one week – but she thinks she’s gonna roll up into NYC and run for Governor without a problem. Congresswoman, meet rude awakening.”

I’m hearing the boos and catcalls right now on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show tonight. Another repugnican congresswoman was booed also in a town hall. I’m happy to hear that people are now standing up to repugnicans who had the audacity to pass this horrible bill without realizing how ruinous it will be for many Americans. They are all getting a rude awakening if they risk showing up at town halls in front of their constituents.

Today’s highlight was my driving to Nomad Cafe in Ridgewood, Queens, in the new car on the Jackie Robinson Parkway and having a different sort of breakfast as compared to my Austin Street Diner fare. I had their “eggscape from NY” that consisted of over-easy eggs, rosemary parmesan hash browns, Black Forest ham, and wheat toast, with fresh berries. I also had the coffee which was very good. Looking around, I noted I was the oldest patron in the cafe.

From there, I walked to the Topos Bookstore, located around the corner, on Woodward Avenue. There I browsed the used bookstore for at least a half hour. I won’t say if I bought any books; you’d be upset with me if I confessed that I did.

Later in the day, Elliot and I drove finally to the Ice King of Corona. I have nudged Elliot to go there since the beginning of the summer, and we’ve always had an excuse not to go, but this time I held Elliot to the fire and we left a half hour or so after I returned from Ridgewood. We both indulged in a medium peanut butter ice.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, August 18, 2025. The Texas Democrats, equaling more than 50, who fled the state in the wake of their repugnican colleagues’ undemocratic redistricting of the state map, have now returned, restoring a quorum and allowing the shameful GOP’s efforts to proceed. This new development is covered in an online MSNBC article entitled “Texas Democrats who fled state in protest of gerrymandering return home, restoring quorum,” by Erum Salam.

A more outrageous corollary to this shameful episode in the further erosion of our fragile democracy is the news that I just heard on the Rachel Maddow show tonight about one lone Texas state representative named Nicole Collier, a six-term Democrat representing Fort Worth, who is now being detained in the Capitol only because she refuses to sign a “permission slip” that would place her under 24/7 police escort in order to guarantee that she and her fellow Democratic representatives show up for Wednesday’s special session that would allow repugnicans to ram through racist, pro-Dump gerrymandered maps that would give five extra seats to MAGA.

As of this writing, Rep. Collier is refusing to sign while invoking her First Amendment right to dissent, and the Republican response is to threaten her with arrest. According to an article on the MeidasTouch Network, this measure is “state-sanctioned intimidation designed to silence the minority party and crush any resistance to their fascistic power-grab.”

Today the true hero of the Ukrainian conflict, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and this performative president met in the Oval Office to try to try to remove the stain of Chump’s consummate fawning of his strongman chum, Vladimir Putin, last Friday. I don’t know, literally, how the meeting went, since I couldn’t bear watching the Orange Turd making any kind of pronouncements from the meeting. I did hear, though, that the pedophile in chief announced he wants to get rid of mail-in ballots for the next election, which is just par for the course of someone who is suffering from ADHD. I believe he went off the rails many times during the conference between Zelenskyy and other European leaders who were there to offer support for Zelenskyy.

Let’s just say that everyone should be disgusted with what’s going on in Texas and how this current president intends to steal the 2026 midterm elections. This would amount then to a tremendous abuse of power exercised by this president. But what else is new here with regard to this lawless turd?

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Thursday, August 14, 2025. “Wake up, America!” these are the words spit out by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom today as he outlined a muscular response to what’s happening in Texas over redrawing the electoral map which would favor Republicans over Democrats. An online MSNBC article lays out Newsom’s press conference which, coincidentally, was met with border patrol officers outside supposedly making Los Angeles citizens safe – what bullshit! – and it’s entitled “California governor announces redistricting in response to Texas gerrymandering effort,” by Erum Salam.

Newsom then has called for a special election on redistricting in retaliation against Texas Trumpicans, who have moved – for no apparent reason other than to disenfranchise minority voters – to redraw their congressional districts and further gerrymander the electoral map at the direction of their Demented Leader.

The special election, which Newsom has scheduled for this November 4, will be an ethical litmus test for California voters who must decide if they want to strip their independent redistricting commission of power temporarily in favor of a constitutional amendment to allow the state Legislature to create new maps for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 election cycles. Who knows? Maybe California voters might even vote against it, but I would not think so, given the urgency of the matter and the stakes at hand.

The suave governor was met with loud applause as he began his address on what he deemed “Liberation Day.” This is true Liberation Day, not the bullshit day that Dump announced in April over his ridiculous tariffs. Speaking directly to the camera, he said, “Wake up, America, this is a serious moment. Wake up to what’s going on.” Newsom spoke about the need to fight fire with fire and took direct aim at the dictator known as Chump: “Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.”

He added, “I know they say, ‘Don’t mess with Texas.’ But don’t mess with the great Golden State.”

Trumpican lawmakers have been met with severe criticism over their acquiescence to Demented Don’s demand to redraw the map to gain an additional five seats – a move that would disenfranchise Democratic voters in the state, particularly communities of color. The move is especially brazen given its timing: Redistricting typically happens only after every decade, after the U.S. census has updated demographic information for each state.

A fucking repugnican Texas House member elucidated his whole party’s approach to going down this authoritarian path under Demented Don when he was asked why his fellow legislators were taking such drastic measures to unfairly tilt the balance of future elections, and he arrogantly replied, “Because we can.”

This response should now galvanize other blue state governors to pursue the same approach being undertaken by Newsom in California.

Other people who spoke at the press conference publicly supported Newsom’s strategy, primarily saying that democracy itself was on the line if nothing was done. Erika Jones, a representative of the California Teachers Association union, said, “Our union stands in full support of this ballot initiative. We are ready to do whatever it takes to stop this power grab and fight back against any and all attacks on our democracy, on our students, and on public education.”

What is especially humorous about Newsom’s messaging to Demented Don was his trolling the president on social media and poking fun at his linguistic mannerisms on his own tweets, with his press conference posting on X in all caps, which is a stupid style preferred by Demented Don. He wrote: “PRESS CONFERENCE COMING – HOSTED BY AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON’T LIKE IT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.” Great, Mr. Newsom; hope your mirroring of the president’s own style will get his goat!

The adversary of Demented Don also railed against federal officers who showed up outside the presser: “BORDER PATROL HAS SHOWED UP AT OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL PRESS CONFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED! . . . TRUMP’S PRIVATE ARMY IS ILLEGALLY ON PRIVATE PROPERTY!!! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THIS WEAK LITTLE MAN!!!” It’s so easy to mock this little man who finds himself as toddler in chief a second time.

Today the highlight of the day was meeting four regulars from the Austin Street Diner somewhere else: Diner Bar, in Rego Park, at 12:30 for an early lunch or brunch, whatever you want to call it. Elliot, unfortunately, had two doctor’s appointments and couldn’t join us.

A round table in the back was reserved for us by “Rachel.” I walked in first, then “Norma” and “Marshall.” After them, walked in “Jerry.” Our last attendee was Rachel herself. I have to say that we didn’t speak politics that much, even though we did take a survey over whether Demented Don would survive his second term, and the consensus was that he wouldn’t. We actually spoke more about personal matters. That was quite refreshing. We must have held forth for at least two hours or more. I must have drunk three cups of coffee or more. Then Jerry and I walked back to our neighborhood. I said goodbye to Jerry at his skyscraper building.

Have a good Friday.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, August 6, 2025. In light of the despicable Texas attempt to redraw the political map in order to pick up more Republican seats – in which the pedophile in chief arrogantly chimed in that repugnicans are entitled to five more seats when clearly they’re not – NBC Politics has an article today entitled “Democrats draw up plans to retaliate if Republicans gerrymander Texas – but they face legal hurdles,” and it’s by Sahil Kapur and Adam Edelman and it outlines steps that Democrats could adopt if Texas gets away with this effort to suppress the vote for millions of minority Texans.

Retaliation threats have come from California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who lead states where Democrats control large legislative majorities. Two can play at this game, they say, vowing to eliminate GOP-held seats in their states.

But that’s easier said than done, according to this article. Democrats have legal hurdles to clear in California and New York, which have restricted partisan gerrymandering, which liberal advocates pushed in previous years in the name of good government. But as expected, Texas has no such limits, and that’s why odious Governor Greg Abbott can call a special session to draw a new map.

Still, Newsom of California intends to get around those limits in his state only if Texas dares to enact its GOP-favored map, which is aimed at giving GOPers up to five more seats in the U.S. House, thus giving them a majority yet again.

Newsom hopes to work with the Democratic-dominated Legislature starting this month to set up a special election for a statewide ballot measure on November 4. It would offer a newly drawn map if Texas moves forward, a source close to Newsom told NBC News.

In a fighting spirit after hearing about Texas’ immoral bid to stack the deck against democracy, Newsom said, “We’re not going to roll over. And we’re going to fight fire with fire.” The governor added, “We will also punch above our weight in terms of the impact of what we’re doing. And I think that should be absorbed by those in the Texas delegation. Whatever they are doing will be neutered here in the state of California.”

The potential Republican-held seats that could be flipped by Democrats in California if this change does go in effect is three, four, or five seats, according to Paul Mitchell, a California-based redistricting consultant who has advised Democrats and has said any new House map would be constrained by the Voting Rights Act as well as the governor’s office and the Legislature, which would need to green light it.

As for New York, changing the redistricting process must move forward as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment – a lengthy and arduous exercise that probably wouldn’t lead to new congressional maps until the 2028 election cycle, even if Texas acts before the upcoming midterms.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on All In, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “I wish I could just call a special election and change it. I’d do it in a heartbeat.” She added, “But we have a constitutional amendment process that’s required first. I’m willing to do that. I’m working hard with our legislative leaders to pass legislation immediately – as soon as they return in January – pass it in this current session of the Legislature, go to the next one, which is required, so it won’t be until 2027 we can get it on the ballot. But what would that mean – is that in 2028, we could have different lines.” Thus it appears that New York will have barriers to redraw the map before the 2026 midterms, which is bad.

Maybe only California will be able to sidestep the ingrained barriers to redrawing their maps and can effect change only if Texas gets away with its undemocratic move. The article doesn’t mention other blue states, so I’m not sure what these states could do in light of the Lone Star State’s push for unfairness in the political realm. Let’s see what happens next.

Democracy was in sharp relief at a repugnican town hall held by Representative Mike Flood (R-NE) in Lincoln, Nebraska, as he was pelted with boos, catcalls, and fierce opposition from his constituents who voiced their opposition to his endorsing the “big, beautiful bill” that his party rammed through Congress. You can say that this representative was “flooded” with his constituents’ ire at this town hall.

Thus House members are facing mounting backlash from voters on multiple fronts, including controversies around convicted child predator Jeffrey Epstein and the slashing of Medicaid funding.

In light of such hatred directed at them, it’s totally inexplicable that House repugnican leadership has demanded that their vulnerable members go home on a hopeless mission to try and sell this cruel, unpopular law that election experts have said will cause House Republicans to be ‘eaten alive’ for their support of it. I say, “Let them be eaten alive by their voters who now wish them dead!” Or at least to be removed from political office.

On a personal note, this will be my last blog until next week, probably until next Wednesday, since we will return later on Tuesday. As I mentioned, we’ll be flying to the West Coast to attend our friends’ 50th-wedding anniversary party. And to celebrate our 11th-wedding anniversary on Sunday.

Have a great rest of week and a good weekend.

See you next week.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Saturday, August 2, 2025. Even though the Jeffrey Epstein imbroglio seems to have consumed Capitol Hill over the last month, an online article in CNN reports on what truly concerns Americans now since Congress has taken an unworthy month off for the rest of the summer, and it ain’t this matter. The article is entitled “Epstein files controversy consuming Capitol Hill has fueled less fire at first lawmaker town halls of summer recess,” and it’s by Eric Bradner.

As the subject of the Epstein files has resulted in driving a wedge between Republicans and Democrats who have finally taken the offensive in pressing Donald Chump’s Justice Department to release more investigative material on the issue, lawmakers are not hearing much about Epstein at public town hall meetings they’ve hosted so far.

The debate that’s dominated Washington in recent weeks didn’t come up at all in some town halls Republican and Democratic House members have held – including a raucous event Thursday hosted by Wisconsin GOP Rep. Bryan Steil and two more mild-mannered affairs held by Wyoming repugnican Rep. Harriet Hageman. During others, it’s been the topic of just one or two questions.

“In Wisconsin, on Thursday, Rep. Mark Pocan – a Democrat who hosted a town hall in Prairie du Chien, in neighboring Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s district – brought up Epstein himself, as part of a response to a question about whether Trump might declare martial law and cancel elections.” Which is what I fear the most since this bastard must know that his terrible policies will shrink the GOP’s stronghold on the House in 2026, so why should he allow fair and equitable elections to proceed if he knows he can get away with terminating them altogether, thus leaving the House in republican’s hands for another two years? Before anyone can do anything to stop him, the elections will be history by then.

For his part, Pocan kept his comments focused largely on the GOP tax and spending bill that Dump signed into law on July Fourth – repeatedly warning that cuts to Medicaid could gut Wisconsin’s public health insurance programs and force the state to spend tax dollars filling gaps left by the federal government.

The Democratic congressman said afterward that’s why he mostly avoided talking about Epstein.

“I keep it to economics. I’m an economic, progressive populist. I think that’s how most people make decisions when they go to elections. That’s how Donald Trump won the election. That’s why Donald Trump’s doing poor in the polls,” he said.

At the town hall, one of those people who did bring up the Epstein matter was 38-year-old stay-at-home mother, Krista Brown, who said she has bigger concerns than Epstein – such as whether steep cuts in staffing at the Department of Education will delay action on a Title IX complaint she’d submitted on behalf of her children or whether National Weather Service offices will be staffed, two significant issues worthy of concern.

As for what concerns her, Brown said, “When you live rural, you care about who’s going to plow your goddamn roads – when it’s going to get plowed, if the buses can get through, how cold it is, if the weather’s going to be reported. That’s what matters. And the rest is just going to float away, because pretty soon it’s going to get so hard in real life that there’s not even going to be time to talk about that.”

The relative lack of focus on Epstein at town halls reflects the broader priorities of Americans. A recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that the economy and immigration-related concerns are the issues Americans most important. The poll also found increased Democratic attention to government spending, concerns about separation of powers and the rule of law, and Chump himself.

Even if Epstein isn’t Americans’ top priority, half of respondents said they are dissatisfied with the amount of information released about the Epstein case after the Justice Department released a memo saying there is no evidence the convicted sex offender kept a so-called client list or was murdered. People are not that stupid when it is so clear that Dump is hiding something in this case. That includes 56 percent of Democrats., 52 percent of Independents, and 40 percent of Republicans.

Despite what most Americans think about the Epstein matter, Democrats have sought to force the issue most recently, using an arcane procedural tool to try to force the Justice Department to release all the files related to the odious Epstein, including video, video, and any other relevant documents.

As fucking expected, Trumpicans are now eager to stay away from the topic of Epstein since it’s now perceived as their Achilles’ heel. This issue provoked MAGA Johnson, the Speaker of the House, to even cut short legislative business, sending his cowed members home earlier than expected so as to avoid being forced to hold votes on releasing Epstein-related files. As if this issue will go away by the fall; Democrats should force the matter to rise from the dead when the House returns from its superfluous recess.

At a telephone town hall last week, Republican Rep. William Timmons of South Carolina fielded questions from callers, where one person shared his “outrage” over the Epstein files – asking why the House adjourned “when this hasn’t been dealt with.”

The caller continued, “If there’s a group of pedophiles out there who are just getting away with it, this is an outrage, and I don’t care who they are. I don’t care if they’re the president of the United States.”

Timmons responded that “there is evil in this world, and we have to protect the innocent, so we need to get to the bottom of it.” Then he devolved into the cult of Chump, saying, “The president and the attorney general are doing the work necessary to release all of the information,” which is fucking further than the truth than anyone could believe. Then he continued his groveling before the Supreme Leader, saying, “The Republican Congress should not be attacking the president.” And why fucking not if he’s withholding evidence from the American people?

Well, there you have it, this president is held in contempt by a wide margin of the American populace just seven months into his second term, and it can’t go well for him as he plows on in enacting his very unpopular agenda.

In the meantime, this 79-year-old baby just fired the person who leads the office of labor statistics just for the sole reason that she stated that the jobs outlook was quite dismal right now under Dump’s leadership. Dump stupidly believes that by firing the person who just told the truth will make the truth disappear. It won’t, crybaby! He also evinced his childish persona by telling Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to “go to hell” because he couldn’t get his fucking way with his horrible nominees to be confirmed in the Senate. How this man is president is beyond me!

On a nicer note, Elliot and I took in the lovely weather today by motoring to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and having brunch at Juliette, on Bedford Avenue, and then taking in a thought-provoking jewel of a horror film at the Williamsburg Cinemas called, simply, Together.

This is the debut feature from writer-director Michael Shanks who casts real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a thirtyish couple who give up their Brooklyn home to move upstate so that Millie could pursue a position at an elementary school. It is Franco as Tim who is floundering as a 35-year-old struggling musician, while Millie is the more poised and confident partner. At the beginning of the film, Tim and Millie throw a farewell party in their city apartment, and it is here that Millie gets on one knee and proposes to Tim, which actually results in flustering him in front of their friends. Thus it’s Tim who is more nervous and unsure of himself, and Franco conveys this indecisiveness very well.

When the couple finally move to their new home nestled in a secluded area of upstate, with nature surrounding them, they take a walk one day and get drenched in a rainstorm. It’s when they fall into a hole in the ground and come across a chasm with a pool of water that things take on a menacing turn. The couple see what looks like monstrously destroyed pews and bells in the cave before they drink the water in the pool after depleting their water supply. That’s when the word togetherness takes on a horrific meaning in more ways than one.

The film becomes a metaphor eventually of the kind of codependency many couples prescribe to in long-term relationships. We learn that Tim and Millie know each other a decade and they’re still not married. In a incisive review of this movie by David Crow for Den of Geek, Crow writes, “Tim and Millie are beyond just the monotony of life’s daily indignities and rigmaroles; theirs is an unhealthy marriage, if in name only (he never proposed and flinches when she does at the start of the movie).”

I found this film quite satisfying as a horror film but also as an examination of how a couple truly interacts with one another, and the fact that this is a real-life couple just enhances the whole experience. Go see it and see if you won’t want to be bonded together to your loved one like the couple in Shanks’ film.

Have a good Sunday.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Tuesday, July 22, 2025. This Jeffrey Epstein business is such a hot potato for the convicted felon of a president that his henchman MAGA Johnson, the creepy House Speaker, has decided to shut down the House before a pivotal vote could have been taken to release the Epstein files. This is so fucking immorally blatant that no one is fooled by Dump’s biggest booster doing his duty to appease his Supreme Leader, but as article after article has pointed out, this affair will NOT go away and it could cause permanent damage to Chump’s second term after just six months into his second term.

One online article for AlterNet reveals how ruinous this scandal could be for the adjudicated sexual predator in the White House and it’s titled ‘In danger of coming undone’: Analyst says Epstein crisis exposed 2 key problems for Trump,” and it’s by Carl Gibson.

According to a recent analysis, the so-called president is already struggling to defeat a problem of his own making. In a Tuesday op-ed for The Hill, Democratic strategist Brad Bannon wrote that the ongoing controversy over Jeffrey Epstein is taking all the wind out of Dump’s sails less than a year into his second disastrous term.

According to Bannon, the longer Dump refuses to be transparent about Epstein, the worse it will be for him politically. Oh, don’t you just love this! The bastard is so terrified of the backlash against him that he started bloviating over a former president, Barack Obama, for committing treason. How could anyone in his or her right mind accept this delusional insanity coming from the pouty lips of this psychopath? He is deflecting and distracting even more desperately than ever. And his made-up delusions will not convince anyone that he’s telling the truth!

According to Bannon, he added that the scandal “reveals two key problems with [Trump’s] second term” that pose a significant risk to his ability to be effective in the future. Bannon said, “First, the president has broken a series of promises he made to the American people during the 2024 campaign. Second, he has always relied heavily on his most loyal supporters in times of trouble, but the once solid MAGA base is in danger of coming undone.”

“Trump’s refusal to release the infamous Epstein list is just one of the many promises he made while he was soliciting votes for his return to the White House last year. He has become the typical politician who will say anything to get elected and fail to deliver when he wins.”

Bannon went on to argue that Dump has already burned most of the bridges that helped him get reelected outside of the Epstein matter, including his former friendship with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who was his Number 1 campaign donor in 2024 before condemning his horrible budget bill. He also angered influential far-right podcaster Tucker Carlson by continuing to fund Ukraine in its war with Russia and former White House strategist Steve Bannon (no relationship to the author here) who has used his podcast to tear into Chump’s signature domestic policy legislation for lavishing the wealthy with another multi-trillion-dollar tax cut, arguing instead for significant hikes in the corporate tax rate. This statement from Bannon is very hopeful in terms of Drumpf losing his power as a result of this scandal: this could be the final nail in his political coffin.

“The sorry state of the economy will eventually be Trump’s undoing as it was Joe Biden’s,” Bannon wrote. “But the Epstein scandal gives Trump great grief in the here and now. His failure to follow up on his promise to release the infamous Epstein List of sexual predators has painted a giant kick-me sign on his backside.”

Only time will tell. I’m angry that this asshole called Mike Johnson can just force the House into early recess so this scandal could presumably go away by the time they convene again in September. This will not do and the American public will demand something be done about this affair sooner than later. Let this horrid man not get away with committing rape on 14-year-old girls under the tutelage of the late Jeffrey Epstein. Let’s also hope that his fanatic base of supporters falls away, leaving him in the lurch.

Today is the penultimate day before Elliot and I leave for the sultry state of Florida on Thursday and we did a mitzvah today by driving to Woodmere to help Elliot’s former neighbors “Mary” and “Joseph” by helping Mary with Joseph who has severely hurt himself with his back around July 6. Mary called us earlier this morning to ask us to come out and help her with doing shopping for her. Originally, I thought we were going to stay with Joseph while she went out and did some grocery shopping. When we arrived around 3, that was not the case: Mary desired us to go out to a neighboring FoodTown to buy items on a shopping list. We saw Joseph sort of haunched over on the couch. He had a towel over his privates since he is unable to get dressed. We also discover that his pain was not attributed to his back, but that he pinched a sciatic nerve. This could definitely be very painful, and Joseph mentioned that he’s on painkillers. Mary also mentioned that if these measures did not work on alleviating the pain altogether, then surgery is a final option. We hoped that this would not be necessary and then we went out and drove to the supermarket.

After leaving Mary and Joseph, we had dinner at Lucky Boy Restaurant where we topped off our delicious meal (I ordered eggplant parmigiana with capellini, while Elliot had a Greek salad with tzatziki and pita bread) with a slice of their yummy coconut cream pie.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, July 14, 2025, Bastile Day. As you must know, Bastile Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789, a key event in the French Revolution. It’s France’s national holiday, symbolizing the end of absolute monarchy and the beginning of a new era of liberty and equality. I seriously wonder when will this country have its own Bastile Day after we cleanse ourselves of this wanna-be monarch, Donald J. Dump, out of our collective consciousness?

In the latest effluvia known as an “Extreme” Court decision today, this “Trump” Court, as it really should be called until this asshole leaves office – if he ever leaves office – the court has now allowed this ogre to proceed with his plan to carry out mass layoffs at the Department of Education. Another fucking win for the convicted felon you can say, delivered to him by the Trump Court. An online CNN article by Devan Cole and John Fritze entitled “Supreme Court allows Trump to proceed with mass firings at Education Department” lays out the repercussions of such a terrible ruling made by the Trump Court.

So, in another irrational victory for this fascistic regime, the Court lifted for now a lower court ruling that had indefinitely paused Diaper Don’s plan. The Trump Court’s decision puts that ruling on hold while the legal challenge plays out.

But in a scathing dissent – Go, Sonia, go! – Sonia Sotomayor said her colleagues had made an “indefensible” decision to let Chump proceed with taking apart an agency that ordinarily can be dismantled only by Congress, but in the second era of Dump, this Congress has ceded its entire power over to the Orange Cheeto, so waiting for Congress to do its job is a moot point these days.

“The majority is either willfully blind to the implications of its ruling or naive, but either way the threat to our Constitution’s separation of powers is grave,” Sotomayor wrote in the dissent, which was joined in full by the other two liberal justices.

The Orange Cheeto ordered mass layoffs at the department earlier this year – cutting its workforce in half – but lower courts have blocked that effort.

Of course, the incompetent and loyal Dump acolyte, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who is a former professional wrestling promoter – boy, does she have such sterling education credentials to run this agency – described the court’s decision as a “significant win for students and families.” What world is she in when this can be considered a “significant win” for students and families?

Created during the Carter administration, the Education Department is tasked with distributing federal aid to schools, managing federal aid for college students and ensuring compliance with civil rights laws – including schools accommodate students with disabilities. Most public school policies are a function of state government.

The court’s decision, Sotomayor wrote, “will unleash untold harm, delaying or denying educational opportunities and leaving students to suffer from discrimination, sexual assault, and other civil rights violations without the federal resources Congress intended.” This horrible decision by this extreme court just plays into this regime’s fucking record of destroying civil rights in this country ever since Dump took office in January 2025. In the meantime, people will suffer from being laid off when they clearly shouldn’t be. Also, I ask those justices who gave Dump another unworthy win, how do they sleep at night, knowing that their ruling will lead to so much suffering among the American public? They probably just don’t care.

One thing I got done today is have our new Subaru Forrester repaired after some idiot sideswiped it last Friday near Metropolitan Avenue where I had it parked for about two hours. I called my garage and had the attendant known as “Leandro” take the car to his brother-in-law’s repair shop. The job was done within one day. I was called close to 4 and told the car was ready. The cost: just $600. When I went to the garage before getting ready to be picked up by our friend “Patricia,” I was directed to see the car by the manager, “Jerry.” I walked down the ramp and saw Leandro who took me to the car. The rear of the car, which sustained the damage, looked totally brand new. I couldn’t see anything there (though it was dark in the garage) that looked remotely out of joint. I was told to let the car stay in the garage until Wednesday, and I said I would do that.

In a stunning coincidence with my little “accident” on Friday, today I witnessed the aftereffects of a fucking accident with two parked cars right outside my building! Can you believe that? One car was bizarrely up on the street and the other’s rear fender was badly dented. How then could this happen if those cars were parked? It sounds like my little mishap last Friday, doesn’t it? I asked a neighbor who was doing gardening outside, and she mentioned – without corroboration – that the cars might have been struck by an Amazon van. So there you go? Driving in this crazy city is truly a dangerous sport.

Now I feel a little apprehensive about parking in the same area since I will drive to my comic bookstore on Wednesday like I normally do. It’s the best area in which to leave a car. There are metered spots outside the store, but they are in a very narrow two-way street. And it’s still too warm to walk there. I’ll just have to give it some thought. I could use an Uber both ways, but that will be an expensive proposition. I’ll let you know what happens by Wednesday.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Friday, July 11, 2025. As I’ve already written, this so-called president is suffering from the effects of dementia and today another online article seems to confirm my early suspicions. The Irish Star leads off with an article entitled “Trump sparks dementia worries after confusing old clip of Pete Hegseth as live interview,” by Falyn Stempler, online that depicts how internet users are speculating about Diaper Don’s health after his latest gaffe.

Here the toddler in chief praised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his appearance on Fox News this morning via his ridiculously named “Truth” Social. However, reports confirm that the drunk was not invited onto the show, though an old clip of him was shown on the morning news show. The forced error led many online to question the president’s health.

“Secretary of War [sic] (Hegseth is not Secretary of War, so this is another telling gaffe from the old man), Pete Hegseth was great on Fox News this morning. Talking about modern weapons and warfare. Thank you to Brett Velicovich, who really knows his ‘stuff.” We are really on our war. MAGA!.” What the fuck does “We are really on our war” here means, answer me that. This is another incoherent piece of gibberish from the man who said the immigrants are eating the dogs and cats in Ohio.

Diaper Don appears to be referring to a clip originally posted on Secretary Hegseth’s X account the day before it was shown on Fox and Friends this morning, where he spoke about his efforts to cut through red tape to speed up U.S. military drone production.

Internet users have speculated for months about the state of the 79-year-old president’s mental and physical health, including concerns he has dementia, a degenerative disease that reportedly runs in the family. His martinet of a father, Fred Dump, definitely suffered from it.

A group I never heard of, Verified Republicans Against Trump, replied, “Trump’s cognitive decline is getting hard to ignore.” One member wrote, “I’m not sure Trump knows the difference between live and prerecorded, if we’re being honest.”

Another similarly added, “This man has access to nuclear codes but can’t tell the difference between a broadcast and a repost.”

What is definitely appalling about this tin-plated dictator is a photoshopped image of Dump in a Superman costume that was released by his fucking White House that has left many Americans up in arms. As you should know, the true hero as depicted in the Superman comics for over 80 years is a symbol of hope and the slogan attributed to him is “truth, justice, and the American way.” Do you think for a nanosecond that this convicted felon, adjudicated sexual predator, and overall dumb cluck represents the true American way and the path toward truth, justice, and the American way? Fuck no! is my immediate answer. This idiot doesn’t deserve such a honor bestowed on him even though it’s all a facade! Damn his administration for even releasing such a ridiculous image of their Supreme Leader during the week that this film opens. It will be forgotten long before the Superman film is. And, yes, I still haven’t seen the film. When I do, I’ll let you know.

And this is just wonderful: the news that Dump’s base is furious over the growing Jeffrey Epstein scandal in which Attorney General – another blonde bimbo – Pam Bondi, contradicted her own assertions about releasing the Epstein files and now is pulling back from doing anything about it. Dump’s base was desperately hoping for a wide list of clients including prominent names like Bill Clinton and others on it; of course, it is Dump’s name that his Department of Justice and FBI are scrambling to have concealed in this dossier. So now the maggots are accusing Bondi of telling lies (boy, is that rich!) as well as FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino – both of whom are Chump appointees. Another far-right influencer, maniac Laura Loomer is even calling for Bondi to be fired for her handling of the Epstein matter, and has posted on social media today that Bongino is considering resigning in the wake of this matter. Don’t you just love a rift in MAGA World right now?

Today my anger was aroused when I came back from enjoying my usual Wednesday morning (this time I drove to Royal Collectibles at 12) reading my two comic books and having breakfast at Buen Sabor Latino Restaurant and then browsing the shelves of the North Forest Park Library to examine a new dent on my new car’s fender! I couldn’t believe my eyes! The car was parked on the street on a one-way street and there was still damage done to the car in the rear. Thank God I wasn’t in the car.

So now I’m faced with having to repair the car only after having it eight months. I think it’s better to not report it to my insurance company and just pay to have it fixed on my own. For that, I’m considering telling my garage attendant “Louis” – who took our old Nissan Altima back in August after it was sideswiped by a motorist at Green Acres Mall – about this new dent and taking it to his brother-in-law’s shop. As of now, there’s no problem driving it. And the damage doesn’t look as extensive as it was on the sedan. But I’m still angry. So this date, July 11, is a date that will live in infamy in my book.

Have a good weekend.

And so it went!

Here’s the car with the damage caused to it by an anonymous driver who hit it and ran!