Wednesday, April 08, 2026

Wireless Festival cancelled due to Kanye, U2, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, Billy Idol

Kanye?  He's  not going to the UK.  Matthew Robinson (NEWSWEEK) reports:


The Wireless Festival has been canceled after Kanye West was blocked from traveling to the United Kingdom amid backlash over his previous antisemitic remarks.

Britain’s Home Office told the BBC on Tuesday that the rapper had made an application to travel to the U.K. via an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). It added that his application had been rejected because his presence would not be conducive to the public good.

Later on Tuesday, a spokesman for the festival announced that the event had been canceled, saying that “antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent.”

[. . .]
The Wireless Festival said on Tuesday that it recognized the “real and personal impact these issues have had,” and said ticket holders would be refunded.

“As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time,” it said.

“As Ye said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the U.K.”
[. . .]

Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said in a statement on Tuesday: “It has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song entitled ‘Heil Hitler,’ the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism. He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the Black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was ‘like a choice.’
“Even while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title ‘Gas Chamber.’ The Jewish community will want to see genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival.

“As such, we are willing to meet Kanye West as part of his journey of healing, but only after he agrees not to play the Wireless Festival this year.”



Siblings Wendell and Whitney Cole became fans of Kanye West, the artist who now goes by Ye, when they were in middle school. They went to sleep to the sounds of the album “Graduation” and woke up to it before school.

Roughly two decades later, the siblings flew from New York to Los Angeles to attend Ye’s first U.S. stadium show in more than four years, as he attempts a mainstream redemption from past antisemitic and racist statements. Whitney isn’t such a die-hard fan anymore, but bought birthday tickets for her brother, who still connects with the art, if not the artist.
“Listening to his music builds my confidence,” Wendell said.

The Coles represent a range of current and former devotees Ye needs to keep to make his attempted comeback a reality. In January, he took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to apologize for offensive statements.

Those comments included a social-media post threatening “death con 3” on Jewish people. They resulted in Adidas ending a partnership with the rapper and talent agency CAA dropping him as a client in 2022. Last year, he released a song that glorified Adolf Hitler.
Ye put out his 12th solo album, “Bully,” late last month, which arrived at No. 2 on the Billboard chart. He was kept out of the top spot by the K-Pop group BTS, back with its first studio album since 2020.

He has also scheduled a series of international live shows this year, including New Delhi, Istanbul and Madrid. After the rapper was announced as the headliner of a hip-hop festival in London scheduled for July, the city’s mayor and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer were among those who criticized his selection. PepsiCo pulled its sponsorship of the festival on Sunday and other brands followed suit.

I think we all saw this coming and are not at all surprised.  You can't take out an ad in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and pretend that wipes everything away.  It doesn't.  And no one needs Kanye stirring up hate.  Other countries have every right to say, "No, we're not having hate rallies passed off as concerts."  I don't see this as a free speech issue because this is not political speech.  This is  not his problems, for example, with a country.  This is him pilling hate onto a group of people.  If he has changed in recent months, he should have no problem establishing that over time.  

U2 has issued another album.  Didn't know until I read the report by Melissa Ruggieri (USA TODAY):

The start of Lent prompted U2 to unleash “Days of Ash” on Ash Wednesday, a five-song EP that pulsated with frustration and anger at the world.
Six weeks later, the band surprised fans again with “Easter Lily,” a sextet of new songs of “faith, hope and love,” as Bono says in a companion issue of U2's digital e-zine “Propaganda," available online.
The EP arrived on Good Friday, an apt bookend to “Days of Ash,” with songs drenched in symbolism. The title "Easter Lily" is a nod to Patti Smith’s 1978 album, “Easter," Bono confirms in the e-zine.
[. . .]
These songs were birthed for this moment in time, designed for reflection with themes of friendship, forgiveness of self and finding beauty in the darkness. It’s also a reminder of what the band does best – nudging us to think while enveloping us in layers of chiming guitars and the steady heartbeat of a bass drum.


Melding literary intellectualism with poetic imagery, Bob Dylan's lyrics have elevated him to the top of many critics' best songwriters list.

Since his career launched in the early 1960s, Dylan has penned everything from powerful protests (“Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Hurricane”) to tender ballads (“Just Like a Woman” “Lay Lady Lay” and “Sara”) to electrified smash hits (“Like A Rolling Stone.”)

At 84, the Minnesota-born legend with the sandpapery rasp is often at the center of retirement rumors, but he shows no signs of hanging up his troubadour hat.
Dylan has hit the road almost every year since 1988 on his "Never Ending" tour, with the most recent version, the "Rough and Rowdy Ways" world wide tour, beginning in November 2021. The 2026 North American leg of the tour will stop in more than 35 cities, including Columbus.

He and Diana Ross have been touring non-stop.  She kicked off her tour in June of 2022.  

Will Billy Idol match them?  That would take four or five years to know but he is adding dates to his current tour.   Mallory Dwortz (M LIVE) reports:

Billy Idol just unveiled “It’s A Nice Day To...Tour Again!” 2026 U.S. dates including a September show at Acrisure Amphitheater in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Billy Idol is to continue supporting his latest album, “Dream Into It,” throughout another round of “It’s A Nice Day To...Tour Again!” dates. The announcement follows the star’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2026 nomination in February and the release of the new feature-length documentary, “Billy Idol: Should Be Dead,” streaming on Hulu as of March 26.

Following the August 7 start date at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the “Rebel Yell” and “White Wedding” rock legend is scheduled to visit Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville Connecticut; Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor; BankNH Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire; and more before taking over the Fontainebleau Las Vegas for a five-night “Hot In The City” residency during late August and early September.



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


Wednesday, March 8, 2026.  Chump chickens out, people worry about what Pete Hegseth is whispering to Chump, ICE shoots a man in California, Bill Gates set to be deposed by Congress in the ongoing Epstein investigation, and much more. 


Let's start with a reality from Catherine Bouris (THE DAILY BEAST), that the number injured in the Iran War is now 373. That's the official DoD figure.  


Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called on President Donald Trump to back off his threats to kill “a whole civilization,” issuing a rare direct rebuke of Trump as he faces growing criticism from Catholic leaders over his war against Iran.
Coakley said Tuesday, “the threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified,” calling on Trump “to step back from the precipice of war.”


If you missed it, last night was supposed to be Convicted Felon Donald Chump bombing Iran into "the stone age."  

What happened?

Chump caved. 

As Ben notes this morning on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS, Chump decided to go along with Iran's previous ten-point proposal.




Monday, the proposal wasn't good enough for Chump.  Tyler Pager and Erika Solomon (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:

President Trump said on Monday that a cease-fire proposal put forth by mediators between the United States and Iran was a “significant step,” but he warned that it was “not good enough” as his deadline of Tuesday evening for a deal approached.

Iran, for its part, rejected any proposal for a cease-fire, mandating that any peace plan include a complete end of hostilities. Diplomatic talks coordinated by Pakistan and other regional countries were continuing, officials said, even as there appeared to be little agreement on what any cessation of hostilities would look like.

If Iran does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, Mr. Trump has threatened to launch a massive attack targeting bridges, power plants and other civilian facilities that would, in his words, send Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” But the president has also extended self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks, and diplomats around the world were asking whether Mr. Trump would find an off-ramp again or if he would follow through this time with what could be a gigantic conflagration.







Today, MORNING JOE talked about Chump's cave.  





As the war continues to drag on and as things continue to get uglier, there's a need on the part of some to rush to Chump's defense and find an Iago bringing about the downfall of the hero.  For some, the Iago whispering falsehoods to Chump is Pete Hegseth.  Zoe Engels (MEDIAITE) reports:

Officials have accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of misleading President Donald Trump about the Iran War, declaring that “Pete is not speaking the truth.”

Hegseth has been feverishly blasting the media’s coverage of the Iran War, saying Americans would not believe U.S. “success” in the war if they “listened” to the mainstream media.
On March 6, he told CBS’s 60 Minutes that Iranians are the only people who should be concerned about the war.

“No one’s putting us in danger,” Hegseth said of the U.S. “We’re putting the other guys in danger. That’s our job. So, we’re not concerned about that. We mitigate it as we need to. Our commanders factor all of this, but the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”

In a new report by The Washington Post, anonymous officials and analysts are quoted as showing concern about the negative influence that Hegseth’s overzealous, false optimism is having on Trump.



Hegseth’s triumphant rhetoric has stood in contrast to that of Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has not suggested U.S. pilots can use Iranian airspace without concern of enemy threats.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called scrutiny of Hegseth’s public messaging “lies and propaganda.”

“Secretary Hegseth has provided the Commander-in-Chief with decisive military options to achieve our clear, scoped objectives: destroy Iran’s missile arsenal, annihilate their Navy, destroy their terrorist proxies, and ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” he said in a statement. “The Washington Post is pushing a fake story of failure.”

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly rejected any assertion that Hegseth has misinformed the president and said Trump always knew the Iranians would shoot back. “He has always had the full picture of the conflict. Nothing has surprised him or our military planners, who were prepared for any possible contingency,” she said.


[. . .]

Another source of scrutiny emerged March 31, when Hegseth told reporters the number of Iranian missile and drone launches had fallen to a lower level than any other 24-hour period since the war began. The figure was presented as evidence that “relentless” U.S. and Israeli strikes were degrading Iran’s ability to sustain attacks.

But administration officials said Hegseth’s claim was incorrect and that lower 24-hour periods occurred March 14, 15 and 22. “Documents sent around internally contradict Hegseth’s claims,” one official said.


I don't doubt that Hegseth is whispering errors and outright lies into Chump's ear.  But that's why Chump chose him.  Hegseth wasn't forced off on Chump -- no, Chump chose him.  So he's only whispering to Chump what Chump wants to hear. Hegseth was a known liar before his confirmation hearing.  Chump knew what he was getting. 


Now he knew JD Vance was a liar as well and he thought he could count on him.  But Chump decided he was wrong there so he has now distanced himself from Miss Sassy.  Matthew Rozsa notes:


President Donald Trump is degrading his own vice president, JD Vance, over the latter’s opposition to the former’s Iran war — and it is painfully obvious to White House observers.

“Nobody in Mr. Trump’s inner circle was more worried about the prospect of war with Iran, or did more to try to stop it, than the vice president,” reported The New York Times’ Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman on Tuesday. “Mr. Vance had built his political career opposing precisely the kind of military adventurism that was now under serious consideration. He had described a war with Iran as ‘a huge distraction of resources’ and massively expensive.’”
The Times elaborated that, although Vance is not a dove, he privately expressed the belief that a regime-change war in Iran would end badly for the United States. Because Trump wished to engage in some military action against Iran, Vance urged limited action rather than a large-scale campaign, even advocating for Trump to use “overwhelming force, in the hope of achieving his objectives quickly.”

Yet the president has reportedly noticed Vance’s reticence to declare war against Iran and is politically penalizing his own vice president accordingly, including through public displays of how he is out of the loop.


So despite Chump's talking up War Crimes and making outrageous threats, he didn't go through with it.  This time.  And this doesn't need to happen again.

Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following ahead of the deadline Chump had imposed for last night:

Warren: “This is Deranged…Congress Must Pull the Emergency Brake Now”

Link to Video

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new video condemning President Trump’s threat to wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran“ and called for Majority Leader Thune to bring the Senate back into session immediately to vote to stop Trump’s war.

“Congress needs to pull the emergency brake now. We should be voting to stop Trump’s war today…Every Republican who refuses to speak out, every Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let this war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is happening in Trump’s war,” said Senator Warren.

Senator Warren highlighted that American families are paying the price for Trump and Hegseth’s war in Iran.

“Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while our service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around the world,” she said.

“We don’t know what will happen tonight…But I do know that Congress has the power and the responsibility to end Trump's war. Enough. Call your representatives. And tell these Republicans to grow a backbone and do their damn jobs,” she concluded.

Transcript: Senator Warren on Trump Threatening to Wipe Out the “Whole Civilization” of Iran

Senator Elizabeth Warren: I want to talk directly to people who are sick with worry that Donald Trump is threatening war crimes in Iran. In his words, if Iran doesn’t do what he says, their “whole civilization will die tonight.”

The President of the United States is threatening to bomb innocent people and civilian infrastructure in Iran. He’s threatening to commit war crimes. And he is threatening to do it in our names.

This is deranged. And it must stop.

Some say that this is just Trump negotiating.

No. Trump is threatening mass death if he doesn’t get his way. And it’s further evidence that Trump’s war and Trump himself have spiralled out of control.

Trump’s guy in charge of the war, Pete Hegseth, is thumping his chest that the United States has “complete control of Iranian skies” while our brave pilots get shot down.

And you are paying the price.

Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while our service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around the world.

And for what? How is your life better because of Trump’s war?

It is the constitutional responsibility of Congress to not only declare war, but to end war.

Instead, when Republicans have been forced to vote, they have voted repeatedly to continue Trump’s war.

Republican Leader John Thunehune must call the Senate back into session immediately. And Congress needs to pull the emergency brake NOW. We should be voting to stop Trump’s war TODAY.

Make no mistake: Every Republican who refuses to speak out, every Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let this war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is happening in Trump’s war.

We don’t know what will happen tonight. Will Trump back down or will he commit war crimes?

But I do know that Congress has the power and the responsibility to end Trump's war. Enough. Call your representatives. And tell these Republicans to grow a backbone and do their damn jobs.

###




Turning to immigration, Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) reports on Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin's appearance on FOX "NEWS" 

"I believe sanctuary cities is (sic) not lawful," Mullin told Fox News' Bret Baier. "Some of these cities have international airports. If they are a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city? We need to have a really hard look at that."
"So you are saying that big cities that are sanctuary cities that have a big airport, they might lose their customs?" said Baier.

"I'm going to be forced to make tough decisions," said Mullin, also noting that this could serve as retaliation for cities whose lawmakers have obstructed funding for DHS in the standoff over ICE reforms.
Mullin's threat here was met with instant outrage on social media, with experts pointing out he doesn't actually have the authority to do this.


The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Sacramento was launching a probe Tuesday after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers near San Jose, California.

KNTV reported that the Tuesday morning shooting shut down on- and off-ramps on Interstate 5 and Sperry Avenue in Patterson, California.  Lauren Mascarenhas (CNN) adds, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were involved in a shooting that sent one person to the hospital while they were conducting a targeted traffic stop in California’s Central Valley, the agency said Tuesday."  Uwa Ede-Osifo (GUARDIAN) reports that the man shot was Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez:


Hernandez was hospitalized after the shooting. A spokesperson for the Stanislaus county sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction over Patterson, declined to comment on Hernandez’s condition.




A Jamaican national arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after overstaying a tourist visa is disputing the agency’s account of his case, alleging that his identification documents were taken during detention and not returned.

Carlton Junior Burke, 25, said he was taken into custody on October 1, 2025, by federal agents at his home in Madison, Wisconsin, and transported to a detention facility, where he claims his passport and driver’s licenses were collected and not given back.


ICE has earned a reputation for lying about their actions -- to the public, to the courts.  So I'll give Burke the benefit of the doubt. 





Turning to Chump's old friend Jeffrey Epstein. Daniel Ruetenik (CBS NEWS) reports on Epstein's 2008 sweetheart deal:

After serving fewer than four months in jail, Epstein was granted a special arrangement that allowed him to leave custody for up to 16 hours a day, six days a week, as part of a work release program, allegedly to perform work at a charitable organization he had just established called the Florida Science Foundation. 

This continued for the next nine months until his release to a year of supervised house arrest in July 2009. 

Each day during his work release, Epstein was transported between the jail and an office in downtown West Palm Beach by his bodyguard and driver, Igor Zinoviev. His personal attorney, Darren Indyke, was listed as his official supervisor at the job. Epstein agreed to hire off-duty sheriff's deputies to monitor his movements, log visitors and provide security at his office and home. 

According to documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, his SUV used for these trips was outfitted with a bed. An account given to the FBI by one woman included the claim that Epstein engaged in sexual activity with her in the vehicle — while it was parked in the jail lot. 
The woman told the FBI she was a former model from Slovakia who Epstein had first met when she was a teenager and still in high school. She told agents she was recruited from Slovakia by Epstein's friend and business associate Jean-Luc Brunel during her senior year to move to New York City and pursue a career in modeling. She met Epstein at Brunel's birthday party at the New York City restaurant Cipriani in 2003. 

By the time of Epstein's incarceration, she had been involved sexually with him for several years. She was one of four "assistants" granted immunity in a federal non-prosecution agreement that Epstein received in exchange for his plea.

King Charles will be visiting Donald Chump in the US later this month.  Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already requested that Charles meet with them.  Luke Alsford (METRO) notes:

An Epstein survivor has said she is prepared to wait outside the White House to meet with King Charles during his state visit. Rina Oh is willing to hold a mock tea party with other Epstein victims at the White House gates, with an empty chair reserved for the Monarch to sit down and talk with them. The campaigner, who was groomed and sexually assaulted by Epstein from the age of 21, wants the Royals to prove they care about survivors by funding their therapy costs. Her calls for the King to donate to mental health care for Epstein's victims have been supported by the US's leading anti-trafficking organisation, World Without Exploitation. Charles will visit the US with Queen Camilla at the end of April to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence, where he will meet President Trump and address Congress.
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who spearheaded the release of the Epstein Files, wrote to the King last week asking him to meet the sex offender’s victims. However, it is understood that Charles will not be able to meet survivors during the trip. Oh, who lives in New Jersey, said that would not stop her from visiting Washington DC to see the Monarch. She told Metro: 'If the King and Queen really do support the victims, then it would be a nice gesture to meet with some of them. It would show that he cared. I don't mind gathering a group and going to Washington. We'll just sit in and have afternoon tea in front of the White House gates.'

Pam Bondi, the former Attorney General, is expected to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee on April 14th.  Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) reports another 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will testify before the House Oversight Committee on May 6 regarding his past association with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.

Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, the panel’s chairman, announced on March 3 that Lutnick had “proactively agreed to appear voluntarily” and applauded his “demonstrated commitment to transparency” but did not at that stage offer a schedule.
[. . .]
The secretary told Pod Force One presenter Miranda Devine in October that he had been a neighbor of Epstein’s in New York and once visited his brownstone in 2005 but was appalled when his host made a creepy comment about receiving “the right kind of massages” during a tour of the property.

“In the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,” Lutnick told Devine.

However, the release of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice in late December and January revealed that the men had remained in contact after all.

And there's another person who will be deposed by the committee: Bill Gates.  Dan Mangan (CNBC) reports:

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will sit for an interview about Jeffrey Epstein by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on June 10, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke anonymously because the appearance has not been announced.

Gates is one of several people who have agreed to be interviewed by the oversight panel about their dealings with Epstein, the notorious sex offender who killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Tammy Baldwin's office:

Demand comes after Wisconsinites faced weeks long delays getting mail

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) demanded answers from Postmaster General David Steiner regarding long-term mail delays and staffing shortages at post offices across Wisconsin that are impacting local businesses, newspapers, and Wisconsin families who rely on USPS for prescriptions, bills, voting, and more.

“I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin,” wrote Senator Baldwin. “This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my constituents.”

“Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in touch with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and cast their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties for the people we serve,” Baldwin concluded.

In the letter, Senator Baldwin raised that Wisconsinites across the state have faced significant delays in receiving their mail from USPS. Service delays have been especially pronounced in Brown Deer and Madison, where residents reported weeks-long delays in mail delivery.

These delays follow USPS’ implementation of the Local Transportation Optimization (LTO) policy, an overhaul spearheaded by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that has caused widespread service issues in the years since it was first introduced. A March 2025 report by the USPS Office of Inspector General found a general decrease in service in Wisconsin after LTO was implemented.

Senator Baldwin has repeatedly called on the USPS to address rate hikes and delays Wisconsinites are experiencing. In 2024, Senator Baldwin led a group of her colleagues in calling out USPS leadership for unsustainable price hikes and poor service. Baldwin also called on former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to immediately address costly mail delays suffered by Wisconsin newspapers that rely on the USPS.

In her letter, Senator Baldwin requests written answers to the following questions:

  1. What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
  2. How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
  3. Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
  4. How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
  5. How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
  6. Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current findings?
  7. How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?

A full version of this letter is available here and below.

Dear Postmaster General Steiner,

I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin.

This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my constituents. I frequently urged your predecessor to improve service, emphasizing that USPS’s transition to the Local Transportation Optimization policy (LTO) led to a decline in mail delivery reliability across Wisconsin. This was confirmed by the USPS Office of Inspector General’s March 2025 Report for the Wisconsin region, which found a general decrease in service in the state after this disastrous policy was implemented. The report also found that customers were not notified of the impacts to service in their areas until after an issue arose or they directly asked questions. To make matters worse, the supposed cost savings attributed to the LTO were not even effectively tracked by USPS, making it difficult to verify whether the policy delivered any meaningful financial benefit.

Most recently, I have heard from constituents who have endured long stretches without any mail delivery. In Brown Deer, residents experienced significant delays and inconsistent service from the Post Office on Bradley Road. Some reported going weeks at a time without receiving any mail. I have heard similar stories from my constituents in Madison, who have seen lengthy mail service delays across the entire city.

I appreciate that USPS has addressed staffing shortages in these areas, but the agency must continue to prioritize the hiring and retention of workers across the state in order to prevent future staffing issues that contribute to mail delays. Despite my repeated warnings, it is clear that service issues have not been substantially addressed.

I request that you provide written answers to the following questions by April 30, 2026:

  1. What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
  2. How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
  3. Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
  4. How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
  5. How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
  6. Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current findings?
  7. How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?

Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in touch with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and cast their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties for the people we serve. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

###




The following sites updated:

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Tuesday, April 07, 2026

The Beach Boys, Carole King, Lionel Richie, Diane Warren, The Strokes and THE PEDO MICHAEL JACKSON STORY

Musical grab bag.  First up, the Beach Boys.  Lucille Barilla (PARADE) notes:

Though recorded in 1966, this overlooked Beach Boys track didn’t reach its full legendary status until it was celebrated as one of the defining rock songs of the ’70s.

U Discover Music compiled a list of the Top Songs of the 1970s, broken down by genre. In the rock category, the Beach Boys were celebrated for their 1966 song, "Surf's Up."
How did a Beach Boys song from the late ’60s become one of the ‘70s’ best rock tracks? Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks during the ambitious Smile sessions at Wilson's home, the unfinished tune was left on the shelf until 1971, when the band's manager, Jack Rieley, encouraged Wilson to revisit it.

The result? A long-lost classic was finally given the release it deserved, earning its place in rock history reported Ultimate Classic Rock.


STARS INSIDER offers an article called "Songwriters with the most no. 1 singles" but I'm not sure how much weight I can give it.  Number one on their list?  It's Lionel Richie and Diane Warren in a tie.  And they're great songwriters.  But they each wrote or co-wrote eight number one hits.  So why do I have a problem?  Carole King wrote eight number one hits. Maybe more depending on how you count.  "Go Away Little Girl" is one of the either.  Unless you count it as two of nine because it was a number one hit for Steve lawrence and then a number one for Donny Osmund as well.  "The Locomotion" is another that can be one of eight or it can be counted twice because it went number one for Little Eva and then it went number one a decade later for Grand Funk Railroad. At a minimum, Carole's in a three way tie with Diane and Lionel.

Another genre has emerged.  Samantha Darby (SCARY MOMMY) reports:


The older I get, the more I gravitate to the things I grew up listening to. Not just the music I loved in the ‘90s and ‘00s like *NSYNC or Spice Girls or Fall Out Boy, but also the things I heard in the living room on a Saturday morning as my mom cleaned the house, or the songs she played in her black Grand Am with all the windows down as she smoked a cigarette in between errands.
And apparently, all of us are looking for that vibe — because cigarette mom rock is officially a genre. A genre, it must be said, that’s open to interpretation.

The category’s been going around social media for a bit, but there’s even a domain exclusively for Cigarette Mom Rock. There, the meaning of the genre is described as a “feminine counterpart to ‘divorced dad rock,’” but is also meant to conjure up images of your own hard-working ‘90s mom, driving you to baseball practice with the windows down and a cigarette in one hand. What was she listening to? What lyrics did you already know at 10 years old? What was her song choice at karaoke?

For a lot of us, Cigarette Mom Rock includes a Lilith Fair-type genre. Lots of Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, and Tracy Chapman. For others, it feels a lot like Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, and Joan Jett. And for some, it’s the alt-rock icons of the ‘90s like Gwen Stefani, Garbage, and Hole.


And now, the exciting return of a rock band.  Bill Pearls (BROOKLYN VEGAN) reports:

Well we didn’t have to wait long for details on The Strokes‘ sixth album, Reality Awaits. Just a day after announcing the title, they’ve officially shared single “Going Shopping,” the album tracklist, and cover art. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and will be out June 26 via Cult Records. You can preorder the vinyl and CD now in the BV shop.

“Going Shopping,” which was mailed out to a handful of fans yesterday as a cassingle and played live for the first time last night in San Francisco, is out now on the streaming service of your choice and you can listen below.

The Strokes play Coachella’s main stage on Saturday night at 9 PM, just before headliner Justin Bieber, and have festival appearances lined up through the summer.





Meanwhile, pedophiles everywhere are gearing up to see MICHAEL -- the story of I Sleep With Little Boys Michael Jackson.  VARIETY notes a hiccup that's cost the film $15 million in reshoots:

“Michael,” the story of Michael Jackson’s rise to superstardom, was supposed to begin in medias res with one of the darkest chapters of the singer’s life. In one scene from the film’s original script, the King of Pop stares at his reflection in the mirror, capturing his sorrowful gaze as police car lights flash behind him. It’s 1993, a decade after “Thriller” gripped the culture, and Jackson has just been accused of child molestation.   

  But the sequence with investigators who arrive at Neverland Ranch to search for evidence is one of many that were left on the cutting room floor. “Michael,” which Lionsgate will release in the United States on April 24, was supposed to explore the impact of the allegations on Jackson’s life, with much of its third act devoted to the scandal. But that finale was scrapped, along with any mention of the child molestation accusations, according to sources with knowledge of the production. That’s after attorneys for the Jackson estate, which served as a producer, realized there was a clause in a settlement with one of the singer’s accusers, Jordan Chandler, that barred the depiction or mention of him in any movie.

After the late-stage discovery, filmmakers went back to the drawing board to come up with a new ending. The process was further delayed after the house of screenwriter John Logan was damaged in the Palisades fire. As a result, “Michael,” which had been scheduled to land in theaters on April 18, 2025, was delayed to Oct. 3 before moving a final time to spring 2026.   


It's not bad enough that Jordan Chandler was victimized by Michael as a child but now Jackson's estate had planned to victimize him in their film.  And what idiots they are, the attorneys in charge of Jackson's estate not to grasp that legal issue before a screenplay was written and filmed.  


By the way, the nephew playing Michael?  Looks nothing like him.  Not at any phase of Michael's plastic surgery.  The eyes are the first thing you notice and how they're nothing like Michael Jackson's eyes. 


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


Tuesday, April 7, 2026.  One of Chump's 'deadlines' looms (though he's already spoken of hw he may change it), he spent a great deal of time yesterday . . . insulting Joe Biden, his call for War Crimes results in a lot of attention, and much more.




President Trump said on Monday that a cease-fire proposal put forth by mediators between the United States and Iran was a “significant step,” but he warned that it was “not good enough” as his deadline of Tuesday evening for a deal approached.

Iran, for its part, rejected any proposal for a cease-fire, mandating that any peace plan include a complete end of hostilities. Diplomatic talks coordinated by Pakistan and other regional countries were continuing, officials said, even as there appeared to be little agreement on what any cessation of hostilities would look like.

If Iran does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, Mr. Trump has threatened to launch a massive attack targeting bridges, power plants and other civilian facilities that would, in his words, send Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” But the president has also extended self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks, and diplomats around the world were asking whether Mr. Trump would find an off-ramp again or if he would follow through this time with what could be a gigantic conflagration.

At MEIDASTOUCH NEWS this morning, Ben explains that Iran's response is to mock him.



Ben notes that last night  Chump "was telling AXIOS that he may hold off on tomorrow's strikes against civilian infrastructure in Iran."

Today on MORNING JOE, Mika noted the changing deadline(s) from Chump. 



They touch on War Crimes in the segment above.  THE NEWSHOUR (PBS) did a segment on the War Crimes aspect last night.


Amna Nawaz:

For perspective now on President Trump's talk about bombing all of Iran's bridges and power plants and whether that's legal under international law, we turn to retired Lieutenant Colonel Rachel VanLandingham. She spent 20 years in the Air Force and is now a professor at Southwestern Law School.

Welcome back to the show.

You heard in our reporting there the repeated threats by President Trump to bomb Iranian infrastructure. He said specifically there's a plan to decimate every bridge in Iran, to destroy every power plant. You have heard the concerns, Colonel, about this potentially being a war crime.

Based on your expertise, is it?

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

He's both threatening a war crime and he's engaging in a war crime through that rhetoric itself. And I will explain that.

First of all, the law of war, that's not just international law. It's U.S. law. And our military members are deeply trained and steeped in this law. The law of war prohibits measures of intimidation against a civilian population, including threats of violence whose primary purpose is to sow terror amongst that civilian population.

Those civilians whose electricity ensures that there's refrigeration for their medicine for those that are dependent on refrigerated medicine, that provides electricity to hospitals, where there are lifesaving operations ongoing, where babies are being born, whose electricity is helping ensure that the water is purified and clean, they are terrified.

It's reasonably foreseeable to believe that such rhetoric will sow terror amongst the civilian population, and, therefore, one can infer that that's what President Trump intends. So he's committing a war crime just through that language.

Second of all, he's threatening to make our military engage in war crimes and therefore stain their honor and their soul and come back with moral injury. Why? Because threatening to destroy every bridge and every single power plant in the entire state of Iran is called an indiscriminate attack. That is a war crime.

Why? Because the law of war says we don't engage in total war for anymore. We don't believe that children are the enemy and that civilians are the enemy. The law of war says, look, we're going to divide the battlefield, which in modern days is often a city like Tehran, into civilian objects, and they're protected, and civilian people, they're protected.

And then there's military targets, lawful military objectives that make an effective contribution to military action and whose destruction provides a definite military advantage. We divide the world into those two camps. By saying we're just going to bomb everything, bomb every single bridge, every single power plant that serves civilians, that is threatening indiscriminate attack.

And it is one of the most horrible war crimes there are because it brings us back, straight back down the slippery slope to total warfare.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, Colonel, let me ask you, if I may, if the military and their lawyers can argue that, yes, the power plants provide electricity to civilians and they use these bridges, but that the regime also gets electricity from these power plants, that these same bridges are used by members of the Iranian military forces, does that justify making them targets?

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

You have to make an individual case-by-case analysis of each bridge and every power plant that is being considered to be a lawful military objective, because, first of all, just saying, by its use or intended use, has to make an effective contribution to military action, not the regime in general, but to military action.

Second -- and so a bridge, therefore, like the bridge that was destroyed last week, a bridge could make an effective contribution to military action because it's being used as a resupply line. Logistical lines are often a legitimate lawful military objectives in war, despite the fact that they also have a civilian use.

Their destruction at the time has to provide a definite military advantage, but that's not the end of the analysis. The law of war goes even further to say, OK, once you have determined that there's some kind of military connection here, there's a connection to military action, and this destruction or disablement will produce a military advantage, then you have to look at, will civilians be harmed?

And, of course, by taking out power plants that are civilian in nature, civilians will be harmed, because civilian power plants provide civilians electricity to their homes, to water purification plants, to hospitals, you name it, right?

This is why the United States strongly condemned Russia and our State Department concluded that Russia was engaged in war crimes of indiscriminate attacks because it was taking out power plants, electrical infrastructure in Ukraine during the dead of winter, in which Ukrainians were plunged into life-threatening cold without the definite military advantage.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Colonel...

(crosstalk)

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

So, the next step that you -- go ahead.

Amna Nawaz:

If I may, let me just ask you this then. At this point in time -- we have a minute or so left -- what would your advice be to U.S. military commanders if they receive these kinds of orders? What's your message to them?

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

Follow your oath to the Constitution and to the law. Follow, trust your training. Ensure that there's discrete analysis done on every single power plant that's on a targeting list, on every single bridge to ensure that, not only it's a lawful military objective, but that proportionality, that the harm to civilians, right, is not excessive compared to the direct and concrete military advantage to be gained.

And that means that most of these indeed will not pass that test. And that's what our military professionals are trained on. And I really hope they go back to that training and that they're taking these threats of war crimes given by the commander in chief and filtering them through their own training and their own conscience and their own legal obligation to follow the law of war.

Because these are war crimes that they don't follow those steps. And those war crimes do not have a statute of limitations. And many of our -- and it has universal jurisdiction. And so many of our allies could -- if you want to travel to Europe, ensure you don't get engaged in a war crime.





Chump is no longer merely a convicted felon, he's now someone who is  a lame duck with fading power.   Michael Tomasky (THE NEW REPUBLIC) observes:


The presidency of Donald Trump is now officially in collapse. His war is not exactly a disaster, but it sure isn't the cakewalk he envisioned when he sprang it on the American people and the world with no notice on February 28. His firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi because she wasn't sycophantic enough indicates a man who is utterly incapable of understanding anything about how democracy is supposed to work. His economy is a wreck and may well get worse. His proposed budget, especially the half-trillion-dollar increase to the Pentagon, is wildly out of whack with the priorities of the public.
I could go on—and on. But on top of all that, Trump’s purchase on reality, tenuous at the best of times, is slipping fast. Think about what it takes for the “leader of the free world” (a phrase we are now obliged to tuck inside irony quotes) to wake up on Easter morning—the day of the resurrection of the same Jesus Christ in whose name “War Secretary” Pete Hegseth says we are killing Iranians—and post this unhinged and inflammatory comment on social media: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F[**]ckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell -- JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The sentence with the three expletives will catch the notice of most Western eyes, but I have a feeling it’s the next one, and its schoolyard-level sarcastic mockery, that will get the lion’s share of the attention in Iran and across the Muslim world. And that wasn’t even his low point of the past week. His speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday was an embarrassment, rife with conspiracies, self-pitying grievance riffs, tasteless “jokes,” and bile spewed at the usual targets—again, on a venerated day on the Christian calendar, Maundy Thursday, the last full day of Jesus Christs’s mortal life. Trump rendered a supposedly solemn occasion profane in the way only he can do.

A rickety house often stands longer than we imagine it will. The support structures are surprisingly sturdy. But finally one day, something comes along—a hard rain, a mighty wind—against which the beams and foundation are no match.

Donald Chump is losing it.  He is disgracing himself (and this country) on the world stage.  In response to his remarks on Sunday, CAIR issued the following:


“President Trump’s deranged mocking of Islam and his threats to attack civilian infrastructure in Iran are reckless, dangerous, and indicative of a mindset that shows indifference to human life and contempt for religious beliefs. 

“These statements are not made in a vacuum. They follow a long pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies that have dehumanized Muslims at home and abroad. The casual use of ‘Praise be to Allah’ in the context of violent threats reflects a disturbing willingness to weaponize religious language while simultaneously denigrating Islam and its followers.

“Congress must not remain on vacation while the President openly promises to commit war crimes that could trigger even more regional and global conflict. Lawmakers have a duty to reconvene and to reassert their authority over matters of war and peace, and to ensure that no president can unilaterally drag our nation into war.”

Last week, CAIR said President Trump’s Threat to bomb Iran “Back to the stone ages” was “anti-Muslim, racist, and dehumanizing.”

CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.       

Chump is disgusting and is disgusting in public.  Hazel Gandhi (THE MIRROR) reports:


Donald Trump said Kim Jong Un referred to former President Joe Biden as a "mentally re------ person," repeating a disturbing slur by the North Korean dictator.

The president was speaking to reporters to provide an update on the U.S. and Israel's war on Iran today. During this address, he was heard talking about how several allies like South Korea and Japan failed to help the U.S. during the war.

Trump said that Kim, whom he got along with "very well," referred to Biden in a conversation as "mentally re-----." Trump added that Kim said "very nice things" about him.



“Do you notice, he said very nice things about me. He used to call Joe Biden a mentally re{***]ded person, OK? So, don’t tell me about your stuff,” the president said. “[Of] Joe Biden, he said, ‘He’s a mentally retarded person.’ He was so nasty to Joe Biden, it was terrible. But to me -- he likes Trump.”


He's a butcher to his people.  Kim Jong Un liking you is nothing to brag about.  And repeating his real or imagined (who knows with Chump's dementia whether it was said or not) insults about another US president?

Whose side are you on, Donald Chump?

It sure isn't America's side.  America first was the lie you told to get back in the White House.  America first is not "Let me have Netanyahu's back as he attacks Iran."  

Donald has lost it.  The 25th Amendment needs to be invoked.  Paul Krugman called for it to be invoked over the weekend.





Sarah Ewall-Wice (THE DAILY BEAST) reports that he also attacked Joe in front of children at Monday's Easter Egg Roll:

The president, 79, was participating in activities at the annual Easter Egg Roll on Monday, but he couldn’t keep his mind on the holiday spirit and resorted to political attacks while mingling with children.

Trump was sitting at a table with a group of young children and started signing autographs.

“Biden would use the autopen,” he told the kids.
“What?” one confused kid could be heard responding. It wasn’t clear whether he was too young to know about the former president or didn’t know what an autopen was.

“He’d have an autopen follow him, Joe Biden,” Trump told the group. “He didn’t sign. He was incapable of signing things, so they’d follow him around with a big machine. You know what it was called? An autopen.”
But the president was not done talking about the autopen as the children continued with their activities.

“And he’d have the autopen sign for him. He’d take the paper, hand it to his guys. Sign it with an autopen. Give it back,” Trump told the confused children. “Not too good, right?”

As he spoke, some of the children looked around, as if they were no longer interested in hearing what the president had to say.


His vile Sunday comments -- on Easter Sunday, no less -- were beneath the office of the President.  Pablo O'Hana (METRO) observes:


Trump’s Republican Party is dead. Not only in its soul, but in the essential qualities that once defined it. While it may still win seats in the Midterms and retain the loyalty of millions, what truly matters has been lost. The capacity for independent judgment, for institutional self-respect, for the basic reflex of saying ‘No, not this’, is gone. Donald Trump’s Easter Sunday post, in which he threatened to bomb Iranian power plants, dropped the f-word into the public record, and signed off with ‘Praise be to Allah’, is not an opportunity to wake up Republican Party officials, members and voters. It is simply more evidence that they may be breathing, but in reality they’re dead inside. We have been here so many times before that Trump reaction commentary has become its own genre, with its own predictable arc. Something happens. Jaws drop. A Republican or two issue carefully worded statements expressing concern. The news cycle moves on. Nothing changes.


The words are not just shocking. They are unhinged.

“Power Plant Day… Bridge Day… Open the f***in’ Strait… you crazy b*******… or you’ll be living in Hell.” Posted in a frenzy, laced with threats, profanity and mockery, it reads less like the considered voice of the leader of the free world and more like the rant of a barroom bully spoiling for a fight.

And yet this is Donald Trump, the President of the United States, broadcasting to the world. This is what American leadership looks like now. The post lays bare something far more dangerous than bluster. It shows a man losing control of events, of strategy, and increasingly of himself.

 

There is no telling how bad the war and the economy will get, but one thing is starting to become certain: The war in Iran and the escalating economic damage from it is getting in the way of Trump’s true love, which is waging culture wars that stir up the ugliest impulses within the MAGA base. The president desperately wants everyone to stop talking about oil prices, bombed schools and the Strait of Hormuz, and get back to stoking racist hysteria and leading revenge campaigns against his perceived enemies.

Trump’s desperation to refocus attention on his obsessions and grievances was on full display over the weekend. For nearly two days, the White House avoided press questions about the downed fighter jet, presumably to shut down any discussion of the rescue mission that was underway. Instead, the president bellowed a few of his incoherent threats at Iran on Truth Social, but largely focused on his usual obsessions: complaining about ABC News and the New York Times, posting misleading polls to convince himself he’s popular and repeating white nationalist slogans about non-white immigrants. It was only after both Air Force servicemen were recovered that Trump deigned to acknowledge the situation — and of course, to take credit for their rescue.

Trump and his allies are working in tandem to redirect attention away from the war and onto their culture war fixations. On Wednesday, as the Supreme Court was hearing arguments about birthright citizenship, White House staffers and some of the more odious members of Congress fanned out on X, cheerleading for the justices to strip children born to immigrants of their citizenship. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called the 14th Amendment ” the gravest and most preposterous of all constitutional abominations.” On Truth Social, Trump tailored the sentiment to his vocabulary level, calling the constitutional guarantee “STUPID.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the most compulsive MAGA social media users in Congress, tweeted, “The Constitution isn’t a national suicide pact.” The following day, Trump kept whining after realizing the Supreme Court looks likely to rule against him. “Kangaroo Court!!!,” he posted on Truth Social, along with a Fox News video claiming birthright citizenship is a “constitutional wrong.” 

Despite the administration’s hyperbolic efforts to portray a 158-year-old amendment as an immediate threat to civilization itself, Trump and his allies could not turn media attention away from the very real disaster that is the Iran war. Thursday’s headlines were dominated by the surge in oil prices that followed Trump’s failure of a speech. It’s not that the press ignored the birthright citizenship case, but most coverage outside of Fox News focused on how skeptical the justices were of the president’s position.




Turning to Chump's Mini-Me Pete Hegseth, Steve Mollman (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Retired Army Major General Randy Manner warned that the Pentagon is heading into a “very dangerous” moment after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired senior Army officers, arguing the move risks silencing honest military advice during the Iran war.

Manner made the remarks during an appearance on Alex Witt Reports on Sunday, as the decision continues to draw criticism from former senior military leaders and Republican lawmakers with deep defense credentials.
The firings have raised alarm about civil‑military relations at a time when the United States is engaged in conflict and facing high‑stakes decisions that rely heavily on experienced military judgment. Critics say abruptly removing senior officers without clear public explanations risks undermining morale, discouraging a breadth of views, and weakening confidence among troops.

Manner warned that the consequences could be immediate and severe.

“That is an extremely dangerous situation to be in,” he said on Alex Witt Reports. “Only two other leaders in the world have seen that, and that was Stalin and Hitler, who purged the best officers that they had before each of the wars they engaged in."


Let's wind down with this from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's office:


Read NBC’s Story Here

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), demanded more information following reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked or delayed promotions for over a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches of the military. 

Gillibrand’s letter to SASC Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) requests a closed hearing concerning Secretary Hegseth’s actions to examine whether they may have been motivated by politics or inappropriate bias.

The full letter can be found here or below:

Dear Chairman Wicker,

I am writing to request a closed hearing concerning the Secretary of Defense’s decision to withhold promotions for officers selected for promotion to general officer. Public reports allege that these holds may have been motivated by political ideology, inappropriate bias, or immutable and constitutionally protected characteristics rather than merit. Military advancement must remain strictly meritocratic and based on performance.

As a former Chair of the Personnel Subcommittee, I know that there are many appropriate reasons for withholding promotions, and examining the basis of the holds often involves sensitive or adverse information that warrants certain privacy safeguards for the officers in question. It is critical that we both assert the constitutional oversight role of the Senate and ensure that our military is selecting the best candidates for promotion to general officer based solely on merit, free of unlawful bias or prejudice. A closed hearing will ensure that we can protect the privacy of these officers while gathering information to understand the justification for withholding their promotions, with the goal of demonstrating to our colleagues in the Senate and to the American people that they can remain confident in a military promotion system based on individual merit and demonstrated performance.

Sincerely,

###


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