Monday, October 20, 2025

Sheryl Crow & Kenny Loggins

Noting two singer-songwriters in the news.  Sheryl Crow is in the news:

In a series of new posts to her Instagram Stories, the country songstress bluntly addressed Donald Trump's reaction to the "No Kings" protests against his administration over the weekend—and Crow didn't shy away from saying how she really feels.
In response to the people rallied in various cities across the nation to protest the Trump administration on Saturday, Oct. 18, the president shared a contentious AI-generated video that Crow, for one, declared to be "un-American."

The "Soak Up the Sun" singer shared her response to her Instagram Story on Sunday, Oct. 19, reacting to Trump's polarizing new video, which depicted the president riding in a "King Trump" plane and dropping feces on the crowds of American protesters in the streets.
"The president posting a video of himself as king defecating on the citizens of the US peacefully protesting is sick, un-American, and not funny," Crow, 63, wrote in her post.

She continued, "And for those of you who support this man as the leader of our nation, please look inside yourselves and ask yourself if this is the kind of leadership our nation deserves."


Good for her.  Related, Jon Blistein (ROLLING STONE) reports:

Kenny Loggins slammed President Donald Trump for sharing an apparently AI-generated video of him dumping s**t on "No Kings" protesters, soundtracked to Loggins' classic Top Gun song, "Danger Zone." 

"This is an unauthorized use of my performance of ‘Danger Zone,'" Loggins said in a statement. "Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately."
Trump shared the video (which appears to have originated on the Trump meme page @xerias_x) on his Truth Social page on Saturday, Oct. 18, in conjunction with the massive and peaceful nationwide protests. In it, "Danger Zone" plays as an AI version of Trump, wearing a crown and piloting a military fighter jet emblazoned with "King Trump," dumps what sure looks like feces on protesters. (Loggins' statement refers to it as "brown sludge.")

Beyond the allegedly unauthorized use of "Danger Zone," Loggins said of the video, "I can't imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us." 


I read that and thought, "Who the f**k thought Kenny Loggins would be on board wit this crap?"  Because that's not Kenny Loggins.  And everyone should have known that.

But then I thought some more and realized that of course they had to use Kenny.

What?  They're going to play "YMCA" with everything?  That's really all they've got.  They have nothing because the Carrie Underwoods and Jason Aldeans just don't have the fans or the songs that cover enough bases.  

So instead Chump and MAGA have to constantly steal from others to have music worth listening to. 


Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Monday, October 20, 2025.  Trump's war on immigrants is illegal and hidden but Americans across the country rebuked Chump's attacks on democracy in Saturday protests that the whole world saw. 

  J. David McSwane and Hannah Allam (PRO PUBLICA) report on how Convicted Felon Donald Chump weaponized immigration to turn ICE into his secret gestapo police:


The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, created by Congress and led largely by lawyers, investigated allegations of rape and unlawful searches from both the public and within DHS ranks, for instance. Egregious conduct was referred to the Justice Department.

The CRCL office had limited powers; former staffers say their job was to protect DHS by ensuring personnel followed the law and addressed civil rights concerns. Still, it was effective in stalling rushed deportations or ensuring detainees had access to phones and lawyers. And even when its investigations didn’t fix problems, CRCL provided an accounting of allegations and a measure of transparency for Congress and the public.

The office processed thousands of complaints — 3,000 in fiscal year 2023 alone — ranging from allegations of lack of access to medical treatment to reports of sexual assault at detention centers. Former staffers said around 600 complaints were open when work was suspended.

The administration has gutted most of the office. What’s left of it was led, at least for a while, by a 29-year-old White House appointee who helped craft Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint that broadly calls for the curtailment of civil rights enforcement.

Meanwhile, ICE is enjoying a windfall in resources. On top of its annual operating budget of $10 billion a year, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill included an added $7.5 billion a year for the next four years for recruiting and retention alone. As part of its hiring blitz, the agency has dropped age, training and education standards and has offered recruits signing bonuses as high as $50,000.

“Supercharging this law enforcement agency and at the same time you have oversight being eliminated?” said the former DHS official. “This is very scary.”

Michelle Brané, a longtime human rights attorney who directed DHS’ ombudsman office during the Biden administration, said Trump’s adherence to “the authoritarian playbook is not even subtle.”

“ICE, their secret police, is their tool,” Brané said. “Once they have that power, which they have now, there’s nothing stopping them from using it against citizens.”


And they have been using it against citizens, though few have bothered to notice.  At THE GUARDIAN, Aaron Glantz notes:

Some of the most decorated military veterans in Congress say they are outraged after a report in the Guardian revealed US military veterans have been arrested or injured amid protests over Donald Trump’s deportation campaign and his push to deploy the national guard to American cities.

“I went to war three times for this country to defend the right of Americans to say things I may not like,” said Representative Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado and former army ranger who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq as a platoon leader with the 82nd airborne division. “Now is the time for every American to speak out.”

Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois who received a Purple Heart after her helicopter was shot down over Iraq, said: “No one – especially those who have already sacrificed so much for this country – should ever be assaulted, detained or thrown in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting government overreach”.

The Guardian has identified eight instances in which military veterans have been prosecuted or sought damages after being detained by federal agents. Two of those individuals were arrested in late September protesting outside a Chicago-area Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility.

One, 70-year-old air force veteran Dana Briggs, was charged with assault after a video of an incident showed Ice agents advancing on the elderly veteran and knocking him over. The other, Afghanistan war veteran John Cerrone, was tackled by a group of Ice agents, another video shows. Cerrone was detained, held for nine hours in solitary confinement and charged with disorderly conduct.

[. . . ]


In Portland, video shows an agent grabbing Afghanistan war veteran Daryn Herzberg by the hair and slamming his face into the ground multiple times while saying, “You’re not talking s**t any more are you?” according to a Federal Tort Claims Act complaint filed by his attorney.


They operate in darkness and there is no oversight.  All the American people get -- over and over -- is lies.  In "Kristi Noem's perfected her lying strategy" last week, Elaine noted:


Kristi Noem is such a damn liar.  C.I. was talking about that last week in the roundtable.  How she lies and then lies some more and the press reports her original false claims and by the time they implode, they're having to cover something else.  Jordan Green reports:

A dramatic claim by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to have arrested “the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa,” therefore putting the Trump administration in position to “eliminate” the leftwing “network,” was dismissed by both the activist the arrested woman was said to have dated and a leading expert on such leftwing groups.
“I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not now, nor have I ever been, the ‘founder’ of ‘Antifa’ — in Portland [Oregon], the United States, or anywhere else,” said Luis Enrique Marquez, the activist, in a statement on a website promoting a book.

“It’s an absurd claim, no matter how they try to frame it,” Stanislav Vysotsky, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Fraser Valley in British Columbia, told Raw Story.

Nonetheless, Noem’s trumpeting of the arrest of Katherine Vogel, 39, showed the administration’s determination to make headlines as it seeks to paint “antifa” activists as a danger to the American public, and Portland as the supposed base of such groups.

She's a glory hog with no accomplishments so she lies to get attention, it's really that simple. 


A liar -- Kristi  Noem -- supervisors liars -- ICE agents -- and reports to a liar supreme -- Donald Chump.  What you've got is the political equivalent of  Kransekake -- the Norwegian almond ring cake -- only instead of the dough circling itself, stacked on top of each layer, it's lies that encircle and stack up.  And what ight work in a dessert is a disaster in open government.  


 Greg Sargent (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:


As President Donald Trump’s consolidation of authoritarian power escalates, he and his allies have been employing undisguised state-sponsored propaganda to a degree unmatched by any president in modern times. This much, one hopes, is broadly understood—even if a startling number of Americans seem unperturbed by it. But here’s something that’s less discussed: This sort of industrial-scale deception would be far more difficult to pull off if Republicans hadn’t wholly crippled Congress’s oversight function on Trump’s behalf.

All this is driven home by an interesting new letter that Senator Chris Murphy sent Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about a horrifying incident that unfolded during Trump’s occupation of Chicago. A federal agent shot a woman multiple times after she allegedly menaced the agents with her car. Marimar Martinez, who didn’t have life-threatening injuries, is a U.S. citizen.

This incident has been subjected to a barrage of state-manufactured misinformation, and it turns out that MAGA influencer Laura Loomer also was involved in that effort. In response, Murphy’s letter calls on Noem to account for all these official deceptions, and to come clean on whether government information was improperly leaked to Loomer to assist in them.

In particular, just after the shooting, DHS put out a statement claiming that the agents in question had been “boxed in by 10 cars” and that Martinez’s vehicle “rammed” theirs. The statement also suggests she threatened the agents with a “semi-automatic weapon.” All this “forced” an agent to shoot Martinez, who then “drove herself to the hospital.” DHS added that she’d previously doxed agents online. In short, the shooting was wholly justified: The victim was the one doing the terrorizing—of law enforcement.

Yet these claims are undermined by the criminal complaint against Martinez. It only mentions two cars menacing the agents, not 10. It doesn’t mention her gun, let alone her threatening of the agents with one. It says she was taken to the hospital by ambulance. And as the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Martinez’s lawyer says body-cam footage even contradicts the claim that she directly threatened the officers with her vehicle and shows that the agent said, “Do something, bitch,” before opening fire.


As we've noted repeatedly, there is no oversight.  They lie constantly and they get away with it.  That's why last week's news out of Chicago is so important.  Aaron Parnas (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) explains:


Federal immigration officers in the Chicago area will now be required to wear body cameras following recent confrontations with protesters. The decision came Thursday from U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who said she was “a little startled” after viewing television footage showing agents using tear gas and other aggressive tactics.

Judge Ellis, who lives in Chicago, expressed frustration about the ongoing clashes. “I live in Chicago if folks haven’t noticed,” she said in court. “And I’m not blind, right?” Her comments reflected deep concern about the images she’s seen of federal agents’ behavior during enforcement actions linked to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Just last week, Ellis issued an order requiring agents to clearly display their badges and prohibiting them from using certain crowd-control measures—such as tear gas and rubber bullets—against peaceful demonstrators and members of the press.

Despite that ruling, Ellis said she’s been troubled by new reports and footage suggesting her directives might not have been followed. “I’m getting images and seeing images on the news, in the paper, reading reports where I’m having concerns about my order being followed,” she said during Thursday’s hearing.


If you're not getting why oversight is so desperately needed,  Danny Postel  (IN THESE TIMES) provides this overview of recent events in Chicago:


Over the last five weeks in Chicago, federal agents have shot at least two people, killing one (Silverio Villegas González, a father of two who had just dropped one of his children off at school when ICE agents shot him); descended on an apartment building with a Black Hawk helicopter and used flash-bang grenades; tear-gassed protesters and first responders; smoke-bombed a street full of people; reportedly zip-tied children and separated them from their parents for several hours in the middle of the night; shot protesters with rubber bullets; handcuffed a city council member in a hospital; and fired a chemical weapon at a TV reporter as she was driving away, burning her face.

In one of the more shocking moments in this mayhem, on September 19, agents perched on the roof of an ICE detention center in the suburban village of Broadview shot the Rev. David Black, lead pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, in the head and body with pepper-spray projectiles known as pepper balls. Just moments earlier, Black, dressed in his clerical garb, had both arms up in the air and was praying, verbally, for the ICE officers and those detained inside,” as he later recalled to CNN.

Other protesters were shot with pepper balls during the incident. They were chanting, singing and praying — peacefully, Black stressed. We could hear [the agents] laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” he told CNN. It was deeply disturbing.”


Or go with this from KNEWZ,  "Presbyterian pastor from Chicago, Rev. David Black, was struck multiple times by chemical pellets fired by federal immigration agents during what witnesses describe as a peaceful protest outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois. Knewz.com has learned that the incident, captured on video, has sparked widespread condemnation and a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which accuses ICE of using 'violent force' against unarmed demonstrators engaged in prayer and civil disobedience."  Need another example?  Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) reports:


Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pointed a gun at a family, including a mother holding her 3-month-old baby, as they burst into their Oregon home, footage of the incident showed.

The video recorded by Mari Magana and posted on Facebook showed the moment ICE agents kicked down the bedroom door in the family’s apartment in Gresham, approximately 17 miles outside of Portland, Wednesday evening. The video has been shared across social media.

The baby’s grandmother, Gloria Bautista, told The Independent that her daughter has been left shaken by the ordeal.


Children across the country are being left shaken and destroyed.  Alvin Buyinza (MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER) explains

Fear in the Windy City grew after the Trump administration ramped up “Operation Midway Blitz.” The immigration crackdown, launched against city officials’ wishes, has led to the arrest of more than 800 undocumented immigrants since Sept. 8, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

“It is a departure from everything that young people have understood from our America,” Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, says about the escalating presence and actions of immigration authorities in the city.

Aggressive tactics allegedly used by ICE agents include the use of tear gas near an elementary school, raiding a South Side apartment in a predominantly Black neighborhood, and detaining and zip-tying U.S. citizens and children, including Black folks. 

DHS has denied many of these claims and has not responded to Word In Black’s request for comment. 


Friday, US House Rep Ro Khann's office issued the following:

Washington, D.C.–– Today, Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), introduced the ICE Oversight and Reform Resolution to call on immigration enforcement operations to be transparent, accountable, and consistent with constitutional protections for all people in the United States. 

Recent actions from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) federal agents, including conducting raids in unmarked vehicles,

denying members of Congress access to ICE facilities

, and more, have raised serious questions about the protections of due process and civil liberties. 

“These tactics are about avoiding accountability and transparency. We need standards of conduct for ICE agents and to ensure agents cannot trample on civil and human rights. I’m proud to put forth this common sense defense of American values that we should all support,” said Rep. Ro Khanna. 

“We have had enough of ICE abusing their powers and pushing the limits to continue terrorizing our communities. The ICE Oversight and Reform Resolution affirms the bare minimum expectations for our immigration enforcement officers. This resolution builds upon legislation like my own, the CLEAR ID Act, to further demand ICE officers disclose their identity, wear body cameras, get trained to de-escalate situations all to ensure safer interactions during immigration enforcement operations,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

Read the full text of the bill here.

The Oversight and Reform Resolution includes: 

  • DHS will require ICE and CBP personnel to wear body cameras during enforcement operations, preserving footage for oversight.
  • Enforcement personnel cannot conceal their identities, except when an immediate threat to safety exists.
  • Officers must visibly display their name, badge number, and agency affiliation during all public operations.
  • DHS will establish independent civilian oversight boards to review enforcement actions and recommend reforms.
  • All ICE and CBP personnel will be required to undergo mandatory de-escalation training.
  • The Department of Justice will enhance oversight of ICE to strengthen civil rights protections.

Cosponsors: Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30). 

The resolution has been endorsed by: Hindus for Human Rights, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, and Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)


Remember, ICE is one lie circling another.  THE INTERCEPT's Akela Lacy reports:

In addition to deploying tens of thousands of federal agents from across the federal government to carry out his deportation agenda, President Donald Trump is rapidly expanding the network of state and local police going after immigrants through partnerships with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

The aggressive, nationwide law enforcement regime, all taking place under orders from the White House, amounts to what scholars, attorneys, and now a federal judge say are steps toward the creation of a national police force. And the ranks of ICE partners won’t be filled with just local cops: In at least three states, the administration is joining forces with agencies typically tasked with environmental and marine protection, lottery control, and gaming to target immigrants.

“This is quite a common tactic,” said Charis Kubrin, a professor at the University of California, Irvine who studies immigration and crime. ”There’s this idea that we’re going to get local, not just police officers, but nurses and teachers and other public officials involved in enforcing immigration laws.”

It started largely with immigration, using federal agents and a little-remarked-upon program known as 287(g) to funnel funding to local law enforcement for partnerships. The widespread ICE incursions and local police partnerships, however, have also been justified by the myth of an immigrant crime wave.

“There is this moral panic now about migrant crime. This is rhetoric that is at odds generally with what we know about immigration and crime,” Kubrin said. “The research is pretty unequivocal that these policies have no impact on public safety whatsoever.”

“We didn’t really need this increased cooperation,” she said. “The foundational assumption of this widespread immigrant criminality upon which all of these policies and practices are based, is patently not true.”

Saturday,  NO KINGS protests took place across the US, in over 2700 locations, with over 7 million people participating -- which is over twice as many people who turned out for Donald Chump's January 2017 inauguration and Chump's January 2025 inauguration combined.  Ouch, that as to hurt the tiny Chump who's always been such a size queen.

In that night's post ("The meaning of today's NO KINGS protests"), where there was massive turnout -- true in most states -- but in a state that had gone for Chump back in November 2024:


That's Boerne, Austin, Beaumont, Houston, San Antonio, Athens, Lufkin, Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Palestine, Mineola, Fort-Worth and Nacogdoches.  I'm sure there are many, many more.  Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are in the top ten for most populated cities in the United States.  

The reason we focused on Texas is because the state went from Chump.  The November election had 6.3 million people voting for Chump and 4.8 million people voting for Kamala Harris -- 56.14% for Chump, 42.46% voting for Kamala Harris.  


But Texas turned out.  Texas' turnout today is very bad news for Chump.  San Francisco?  We turned out.  But that shouldn't be surprising. 


We delivered 323,719 votes for Kamala and only 62,594 for Chump -- that's 80.33% of us voted for Harris in San Francisco and only 15.53% voted for Chump.  So, yeah, San Francisco turned out and good for us.  


But so did Texas.  And that's got to really worry Chump -- as it should.  The people have turned against Chump. He was headed for lame duck status after the mid-terms anyway.  But today demonstrates that the people have turned against him.  


This is the pushback and he has been put on notice.


Of course with a demented person like him, it may not matter that he's been put on notice.  But Republicans in the House better grasp that it matters since they'll be up for re-election in a year -- and those Republican senators up for re-election better grasp it as well.  


Things are getting very uncomfortable for the GOP and it's only going to get worse. 


Here's some video coverage of the protests.

 


 


 



The following sites updated:





Thursday, October 16, 2025

Ace Frehley

real administrtion

 


holman tips

That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "What's Weighing On The Administration's Mind?"  and  "Bribes Or Tips?


Now for the bad news, another big name death today.  Gavin Edwards (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:

Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist of the hard-rock band Kiss, who often performed in white-and-silver face makeup and sold millions of records during his two tenures with the band — from 1973 to 1982, and then from 1996 to 2002 — died on Thursday in Morristown, N.J. He was 74.

A statement from his family said the cause was a recent fall at his home but did not specify where in Morristown he died.

A consummate showman, like all the members of Kiss, Mr. Frehley was known for playing guitars rigged with pyrotechnic effects and for his distinctive stage persona: He was known as “the Spaceman” or “Space Ace” because of the silver stars on his face. He also designed the band’s logo, with its lightning-bolt letters.

The other founding members of Kiss were the guitarist Paul Stanley, the drummer Peter Criss and the bassist Gene Simmons, who was hospitalized this month after a car crash in Malibu, Calif. All four are slated to receive Kennedy Center Honors in December.


KISS was a rock and roll band.  They had a lot of conflicts and a lot of ego.  Connor McCrory (IRISH STAR) reports

KISS had been one of rock’s biggest acts for years. But after guitarist Ace Frehley and Criss both talked about quitting in 1978, the group paused. They each released solo albums and regrouped for the Dynasty LP in May 1979. It didn’t fix anything. This follows Gene Simmons's recent car accident.

Criss only played on one song due to injuries from a car crash. The album’s lead single, the disco-influenced I Was Made for Lovin’ You, performed well. But longtime fans didn’t like the direction. Attendance dipped. Shows were canceled. Internal divisions grew. 

On December 8, 1979, during a concert near the end of the Dynasty tour, Criss lashed out. Frontman Paul Stanley signaled him to slow down mid-song. Criss exploded.

Ace was in the news back in August.  Janelle Borg (GUITAR WORLD) reported:

It's safe to say that the Kiss universe is never short of drama between the behemoth outfit's various members.

The latest? Many fans have been left wondering why Ace Frehley wasn't invited – or seemingly declined the opportunity – to join his former bandmates at the Kiss Kruise: Land-locked in Vegas event at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas this November, which will also include Bruce Kulick, Kiss’ guitarist between 1984 and 1996.

“They asked me and I declined,” he tells Guitar World matter-of-factly. “There’s no way I’m gonna be involved with that, you know? Their biggest mistake is that they should have done that at Madison Square Garden, not in Las Vegas in a 5000-seater, or whatever it is.”

When GW points out that Frehley has participated in Kiss Kruises – the long-running Kiss-themed cruise excursions – before, he replies, “There are multiple reasons. You know, Paul [Stanley], towards the end [of the End of the Road World Tour], about nine months before Kiss was going to play Madison Square Garden [for its final shows], both Paul and Gene [Simmons] were saying, ‘We’re going to bring everybody out on stage.’

“And then, a few months before the concert, they both changed their tune and said, ‘Ace and Peter [Criss] aren’t going to do it.’ In fact, Paul went on to say, ‘If Ace and Peter got on stage with us, the band could be called Piss.’ So, I kind of got into an argument with him.”


The group has 8 top forty hits in their career.  That included "Rocket Ride" which only made it to number 39 but "Beth" was an actual top ten hit and their second biggest hit, their disco song "I Was Made For Lovin; You," climbed to number 11. 

Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Thursday, October 16, 2025.  As Chump's shutdown continues his 'peace plan' implodes as though it was the American economy,  the Young Republican hate chat, 


As we noted yesterday, Donald Chump was trying to take a victory lap  -- one.  He's still trying today.  He's made it about half way round the track.  You've seen his body, you know how much weight he's hauling.  He may never complete that lap.  Even with people cheering him on -- even with people who know better (Dan Abrams, I'm looking at you) cheering him on.

But it doesn't matter at this point.  


Now you go your way, baby, and I'll go mine
Now and forever, 'til the end of time
I'll find somebody new, and baby, we'll say we're through
And you won't matter anymore
-- "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," written by Paul Anka, first covered by Linda on her HEART LIKE A WHEEL album



As Linda Ronstadt sang, "And you won't matter anymore."  That's where we are now with Donald Chump.  That's because the crowd has drifted, the stadium is empty and it's just a fat and wobbly man trying to complete that lap as he huffs and puffs, sweating causing his orange foundation to drip onto the track.

No one even cares enough to holler, "Come on, fat boy, you can do it!"

And the time window is collapsing as well.  Bel Trew  (INDEPENDENT) explains:


And less than 24 hours after Donald announced this “everlasting peace”, Palestinians were still being killed in Gaza, aid trucks stopped from going into Gaza and a row broke out about the failure of Hamas to return the bodies of dead Israeli hostages.
All of these grim, and sadly all too predictable factors, threaten to topple the whole ceasefire process.


Again, cease-fire.  Not a peace plan.  A lot of lying and fooling, shaking and baking took place.  There was never a peace plan -- thanks to the British press which pushed back on that lie repeatedly.  Pablo O'Hana (UK's METRO) observes, "It’s a shallow 20-point ceasefire and hostage agreement, devoid, in my view, of any meaningful content.  This isn’t a peace deal. It isn’t even a peace process."




Some Americans are slowly learning what Fred Trump sussed out in a matter of days: Donald is an all around failure.  Anna Commander (NEWSWEEK) reports:

A new poll released on Tuesday shows that 57 percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy is getting worse—the highest percentage in over a year.
Public sentiment about the U.S. economy has grown increasingly negative in the closing months of 2025. According to recent polls, a majority of Americans now believe that economic conditions are deteriorating, a trend that coincides with a government shutdown, inflation concerns, and widening partisan divides.
Analysts note that such pessimism can impact consumer confidence, policy decisions, and political outcomes in the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections.

Why do they think that?  Because their own eyes are stronger and far more reliable than anything they could ever see on FOX "NEWS."  Chump has tanked the economy.  Christopher Kuo (WALL STREET JOURNAL) reports:

During a recent trip to the supermarket, Kelvin Lin was surprised to see that the price of a rib-eye steak had jumped to $32.99 a pound.

It had been several dollars cheaper two weeks earlier, he said.

Lin, a 33-year-old software engineer who lives in New York City, complained to the butcher but ended up buying the steak anyway. “It feels terrible,” he said.
Inflation in the grocery aisle is picking up, and stinging consumers. Consumers said they are cutting back on purchases, stockpiling certain foods or exploring more-affordable stores.

“It’s perturbing and upsetting,” said Mark Bookbinder, a 68-year-old engineer who lives in Cincinnati. He has been struck by steady increases in the prices of sliced turkey, cereal and yogurt.

Albertsons Chief Executive Officer Susan Morris said on a Tuesday earnings call that shoppers are choosing smaller package sizes and using more coupons to reduce their grocery bills. She said the supermarket company is looking to cut costs to help counter inflation.

“We see them sticking closer to their shopping list, maybe not buying that extra item, that extra bottle of whatever,” Morris said.


He's a failure.  He's destroyed everything.  Remember his promise that his tariffs (taxes on American consumers) would result in 90 deals in 90 days.  If you're generous, he got seven deals in 90 days -- if you're generous. His failures have harmed the country.  Chris Brennan (USA TODAY) explains:


China, which until 2024 was the biggest importer of American soybeans, has retaliated against Trump's chaotic trade war tariffs by refusing to buy the crop from our country now, shifting its purchases to other countries.

Farmers like Bartman watched with dismay as China, on Sept. 23, bought 7 million metric tons of soybeans from Argentina, a quarter of that country's crop this year, after Argentina suspended export taxes to make the deal.
This happened on the same day that Trump met with a political ally, Argentine President Javier Milei, at the United Nations, just before U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a $20 billion buyout, an infusion of U.S. dollars into Argentina's central bank to try to stabilize that country's tumultuous economy.
And where was Milei on Oct. 14, on the same day Bartman spoke from his tractor? The Argentine president was being welcomed at the White House by Trump. The two men stood for pictures, flashing big smiles and thumbs-up gestures.

A journalist asked Trump what his message was for the people of Argentina. His answer: "We love them. We'll be there for them. They have a great leader, a very great leader."

He'll be there for them.  He just won't be here for you or for me or for any of the American people.

While Americans suffer for his actions, he's bailing out Argentina.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is rightly calling it out. 

 

Chump is not serving the American people.  






He lies and lies and hopes that the American people forget the lies.   Robert Davis (RAW STORY) quotes US House Rep Ro Khanna stating:


He sold the American people on lowering prices on day one.  He sold the American people that he's a business guy, that he's going to get the economy moving, and he's done nothing for America's farmers. Grocery prices are up. You know what I would do with that $20 billion? I would give that money to the American people who have had a 26% increase in coffee tariffs and coffee prices because of the irrational tariffs on coffee. He's made food prices go up. He's hurting America's farmers, and then he's giving the money away to Argentina. We're adding insult to injury by then taking the business away from American farmers and selling it to China.

Exactly.  Chump's destroyed our economy.  He's destroyed the job market.  Adam Downer (DAILY BEAST) notes:

Trump-tapped Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran broke ranks with the MAGA administration and admitted that the economy is sinking under President Trump.

Miran on Wednesday undercut the president’s rosy view of the economy, pointing out that the labor market has become weaker since Trump took office.

“The economy was weaker in the first half of the year versus where it was last year,” Miran told CNBC anchor Sara Eisen at the network’s Invest in America Forum.
Though Miran, 42, didn’t directly criticize Trump for the issues with the economy, he did blame the weakened economy on factors directly caused by his administration.

“Yes, the labor market continued to weaken in the first half of the year,” he said. “I think part of that was due to uncertainty over policy. We might have had the biggest tax hike in history, so maybe there were firms that were holding off on investing until the tax hike was done.”


Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke Tuesday in Philadelphia to the National Association for Business Economics.  Eleanor Pringle (FORTUNE) notes:

 Powell suggested the employment side had weakened further, saying: “While the unemployment rate remained low through August, payroll gains have slowed sharply, likely in part due to a decline in labor force growth due to lower immigration and labor force participation. In this less dynamic and somewhat softer labor market, the downside risks to employment appear to have risen.”
He added that while official data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is delayed given the government shutdown, “available evidence suggests that both layoffs and hiring remain low, and that both households’ perceptions of job availability and firms’ perceptions of hiring difficulty continue their downward trajectories.”


All of the above combines to explain the news Martha McHardy (NEWSWEEK) reports:

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen below water in every major swing state for the first time since taking office, according to a new set of state-level polls.

The latest Morning Consult survey shows the president’s net approval is now negative across all seven battlegrounds expected to decide the 2026 election—Pennsylvania (-2), Michigan (-5), Wisconsin (-8), Arizona (-2), Georgia (-1), Nevada (-3), and North Carolina (-3).
Trump’s slipping approval in every swing state highlights growing voter unease in the regions most likely to decide control of Congress and the balance of power in Washington. His declining support could weaken Republican prospects ahead of the 2026 midterms.



Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn
-- "Shake It Out," written by Florence Welch and Paul Epworth, first appears on Florence & The Machines' CEREMONIALS. 





Vanity Fair magazine has published an exclusive excerpt of the forthcoming memoir of the late Virginia Giuffre, a victim of late Jeffrey Epstein, whom she met while working at President Donald Trump's Palm Beach country club.

Giuffre, Vanity Fair writes, completed work on the manuscript for “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice” in October 2024.

Just weeks before her death by suicide in April 2025, Giuffre wrote to her collaborator on the book, Amy Wallace, “the content of this book is crucial… It is imperative that the truth is understood and that the issues surrounding this topic are addressed, both for the sake of justice and awareness. In the event of my passing, I would like to ensure that “Nobody’s Girl” is still released.”

The excerpt Vanity Fair has published takes place in 2000, when a 16-year-old Giuffre worked in the spa at Trump's Mar a Lago.

Giuffre's father, she wrote, "was responsible for maintaining the resort’s in-room air-conditioning units, not to mention its five-championship red-clay tennis courts, so he knew his way around, both indoors and out."

Giuffre got her job at the spa after passing a drug and polygraph test, she wrote. She also detailedTrump's employee handbook.

The ones assaulted often forgotten and/or ignored by the press.  Virginia refuses to be silenced.  Does Chump think she was a 'hoax'?   And what happens when Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson is unable to stall any further to protect Chump? What happens when he has to seat Adelita Grijalva?   Annie Karni (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:


The Arizona secretary of state on Tuesday certified the election of Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who won a special election 22 days ago in her state.

But Speaker Mike Johnson is still refusing to seat her while he keeps the House out of session during the government shutdown.

So on Wednesday morning, a group of Arizona lawmakers gathered in front of the Capitol and accused Mr. Johnson of protecting pedophiles, obstructing the will of voters and taking an unprecedented political action in refusing to perform the simple ministerial duty of swearing in an elected member of Congress.

“This delay is not procedural, it is intentional,” said Ms. Grijalva, who is poised to provide the final signature needed to force a floor vote on whether to demand that the Trump administration release the Epstein files. “He is doing everything in his power to shield this administration from accountability. That is not leadership, that is obstruction.”


Makes you wonder what Chump has on Mike -- photos of Mike as a wedding guest with a man kissing him on the cheek?  Who knows?  Senator Ruben Gallego is quoted in the report stating, "Speaker Johnson is covering up for pedophiles, did you guys get that? Speaker Johnson is covering up for pedophiles." 



As we've noted for weeks now -- yes, it has been weeks, she was elected September 23rd  -- refusing to seat her is denying her district a voice in the House of Representatives.  She was duly elected.  But Our Lady of Conversion Mike Johnson refuses to swear her in. The American people have had enough of princess' nonsense and the calls for the princess to seat Grijalva are growing louder. Jacob Wendler (POLITICO) reports:

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatened legal action against House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday for failing to seat Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva.

In a letter to Johnson, Mayes accused the House GOP leader of violating the Constitution by unnecessarily delaying the Democrat’s swearing-in ceremony.
“Arizona’s right to a full delegation, and the right of the residents of CD 7 to representation from the person they recently voted for, are not up for debate and may not be delayed or used as leverage in negotiations about unrelated legislation,” Mayes, who is also a Democrat, wrote in the letter.

 



It is time for Johnson to stop lying and to stop hiding.  Ailia Zehra notes:

House Democrats marched through the halls to Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R‑La.) office Tuesday evening, chanting in unison: “What is he afraid of? Epstein!” Their protest targets Johnson’s refusal to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D‑Ariz.), despite her election being certified by Arizona officials.
[. . .]
Opponents point to earlier instances this year when he promptly administered the oath to Republican members during pro forma sessions — something he has declined to do for Grijalva.





Kate Santaliz and Andrew Solender (AXIOS) report that Johnson has wet his Pampers and adults in the room are rolling their eyes as he throws a tantrum:  

"Is Speaker Johnson saying Members can no longer walk in the halls of the people's House to express our viewpoints?" Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), the chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, said in a statement to Axios.

"The real question everyone should be asking is why Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva has not been sworn in. Speaker Johnson keeps changing the story of why he can't swear her in, and this is his latest attempt to distract us," she said.
"We will keep calling attention to his failure to swear her in. We will keep showing up in the halls of Congress demanding that we return to work so we can address the Republican health care crisis."
A Women's Caucus spokesperson stressed that the protest was "peaceful" and denied the characterization that lawmakers "tore down" a poster. Video shows Barrágan removing the poster and placing it on the ground.


Adelita Grijalva spoke with Jen Psaki last night on MSNBC. 


We noted the scandal of The Young Republicans chat yesterday that glorified Hitler, the Holocaust, racism, sexism, homophobic and violence.  Miss Sassy JD Vance always has a lie -- remember, he knew he was lying about Haitians when confronted during the campaign.  He has no respect for the truth.  He's jut a fat man in a girdle -- which Ruth pointed out, please remember, his spanx were on display in a photo during the campaign.  

Let's stop for a minute.  The press failures.  I'm just so damn sick of them.  Fir four years, Chump was president and we had to read crap nonsense from serious outlets suggesint ght Chump's organe skin was most likely due to some illness.  No, it was make up.  Only no can mainstream press admit that.  JD Vance wears eye liner.  The mainstream press didn't want to admit that during the campaign.  Why can't they just be honest?

JD Vance is ons tage with his hands in the air and his shirt rides up revealing he is wearing Spanx.  That is news.  Only Ruth covered it ("Does JD Vance wear SPANX?").  That is news.  And it's news for any number of reasons including vanity but especially considering that Chump and Vance were attacking drag queens, cross dressers and transgender people while both 'men' were wearing make up and JD was in a girdle. 

Back to the point we were on.  JD is cheap little liar who now thinks he can lie to protect the adults -- not young boys, not children -- who were part of the chat reported on by POLITICO's  Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo:

Leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country worried what would happen if their Telegram chat ever got leaked, but they kept typing anyway.

They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

William Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republicans’ vice chair, used the words “n--ga” and “n--guh,” variations of a racial slur, more than a dozen times in the chat. Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, referred to rape as “epic.” Peter Giunta, who at the time was chair of the same organization, wrote in a message sent in June that “everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”

Giunta was referring to an upcoming vote on whether he should become chair of the Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s 15,000-member political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40 years old.

“Im going to create some of the greatest physiological torture methods known to man. We only want true believers,” he continued.


This isn't a one day story.  JD Vance's lies alone means it's not a one day story.  Pam Bondi screeches when the entire country doesn't want to pretend Charlie Kirk wasn't a racist.  She hisses and threatens and forgets what free speech is as did panty waist JD Vance.  (I know 'panty waist' is an insult but not sure what it means but if you're a man wearing girdles in secret, it seems like "panty waist" is a word that would apply to you.)

Chump and Vance cannot be allowed to succeed in their efforts to normalize hate.  As Mike noted,  "Those chat files are disgusting and represent the worst of America.  People defending it or minimizing it are disgusting. "


Let's note a variety of reports and reactions. 

 


The following sites updated: