Dolly Parton will fittingly be memorialized by the Country Music Association following her Aug. 25 death at 80.
The organization announced Wednesday that a two-hour special, CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton, will air next month on ABC, and stream on Disney+ and Hulu. No details about performers were provided yet, although fans can sign up to receive that information when it’s available.
The event will be filmed live at partner Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
While specifics weren’t given, the special was described as “a joyful, emotional celebration of the artist, songwriter, entertainer, humanitarian, and entrepreneur whose music and generosity carried her from the mountains of East Tennessee into the hearts of generations around the world, told through performances, archival footage and personal stories that trace her extraordinary journey to becoming one of the most beloved entertainers and philanthropists in American history.”
That should be something to watch with Dolly's songbook. She has written so many great songs.
Ed Sheeran’s tour of North and South America was plunged into chaos Tuesday when four of his supporting acts abruptly quit in solidarity with the rapper Macklemore, who was dropped for making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.
Hours after Sheeran posted on social media about Macklemore's ouster and attributed the decision to the tour's promoters, Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, the Danish band Lukas Graham, and Finneas posted on Instagram that they were leaving the tour.
Rowe and Lukas Graham would have been replacements for Macklemore on Sheeran’s remaining U.S. dates, while Beoga had been performing several songs — including some the Irish folk band co-wrote — with Sheeran around the middle of each set. Finneas, who is Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year.
“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas said on Instagram. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
As I noted yesterday, I do not agree with Macklemore being dropped from the tour.
The Supremes released “Love Child” in 1968. The soul song rose all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for two weeks. It was so popular that they sang it on The Ed Sullivan Show twice.
When speaking about creating the song, Motown label chief Berry Gordy said, “We arrived at a really touching story about a girl who herself was born out of wedlock and is telling her boyfriend she doesn’t want to go the wrong way with him and bring another love child into the world. We had managed to take a negative image and turn it around in a positive way.”
A year later, in 1969, the band released a follow-up song called “I’m Livin’ In Shame.” It reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the band also performed it on The Ed Sullivan Show.
And, yes, it's Diana Ross & the Supremes. By 1968, that is the group's name. And, yes, the PARADE writer wastes forever and a day on statements from Mary Wilson who, for the record, did not sing on "Love Child." She had ignored Berry Gordy on coming in to work -- I believe it was when Mary was having her affair with Tom Jones -- and Berry warned her she should work now because there might come a time when they wouldn't need her. And shortly after, Diana recorded one of the hits with back up singers -- not Mary and Flo -- and Berry was surprised when he learned that it wasn't the Supremes singing with Diana so he said not to wait around anymore, if Diana was ready and at the studio, just record her and whatever back up singers were handy.
Again, Mary Wilson did not sing on the recording. Nor did Cindy Birdsong. But the PARADE writer includes three paragraphs about Mary Wilson.
Wednesday, September 15, 2026. Ka$h Patel appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee, ICE attacks 2 US teenagers, does Chump still "love inflation" like he proclaimed June 10th, and much more.
FBI Director Ka$h Patel appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. He came with insult lines printed for him. Why? Apparently he wants to be the new Pam Bondi. Josh Fiallo (THE DAILY BEAST) notes:
Patel, 46, printed out attack lines against Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a ranking member on the committee—including suggestions that the senator and his wife are directly profiting from his time in Congress.
Patel’s bullet list, whose first page was titled “DURBIN INFO” and includes bolded and red text, calls out Durbin’s wealth. The list claims that it has “increased 364% since 1997.”
Though he didn't wear a blond wig, there were questions wondering if he was wearing Pam Bondi's undergarments? What is known is that he borrowed her shoulder pads.
He tried to echo her in delivery and in poses such as during the following exchange:
Senator Peter Welch: This is existential. You told Mr. Blumenthal that you weren’t sending FBI agents to election sites. According to [Michigan gubernatorial candidate John James] you said the FBI is on the way. This is about whether the United States Citizens -- Republicans, Democrats, Independents -- are the deciders of this election. Or, there's election interference led by the FBI in the Trump Administration. That's what this is about. Do you pledge that you will not, in any way, interfere in the will of the American people when they go to the polls in November?
Director Patel: I pledge, unequivocally, that I will not participate in your charade of lies.
Senator Peter Welch: Then why are you being such a panderer to President Trump, who's still claiming that he won the 2020 election, and who has said the only way Democrats can win in 2026 is if they cheat. Do you believe that?
92 year old clod Chuck Grassley is the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. If he can continue to breathe, he'll be up for re-election in 2028. At which point, he'll be 94 years old and hopefully able to take a hint that it's time to retire. He won't be missed. Nor will his kiss up efforts such as today when his opening statement contained the sort of remarks Patel should have been making -- statistics and figures for the FBI. He also declared, "You’ll hear Democrats criticizing you for dreamed up failures."
He's got a lot of bitchy in him for 92.
Senator Dick Durbin is the Ranking Member on the Committee. Unlike Chuck, Durbin stuck to facts.
Ranking Member Dick Durbin: One year ago, my home state of Illinois was experiencing the beginning of a ruthless, reckless, deadly campaign orchestrated by this Administration known as Midway Blitz. Masked federal agents armed with military grade weapons and unmarked vehicles descended on Chicago and other communities, bashing in car windows, indiscriminately rounding up people, deploying chemical agents, and shooting innocent people. A border patrol agent shot U.S. citizen and Chicago native Marimar Martinez five times after sideswiping her vehicle. She survived. After Ms. Martinez was shot, DHS [U.S. Department of Homeland Security] branded her as a domestic terrorist. A border patrol agent bragged about shooting her. And an FBI agent falsely claimed she chased a border patrol agent before she was shot. Director Patel, after the shooting, you took to social media, posted a video of a different collision, that you said supported DHS. You said, "Attack our law enforcement and this FBI will find you and bring you to justice." DHS and FBI have since refused to correct the record. No charges filed against Ms. Martinez, who was shot five times by these agents. .In another event, an ICE agent shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez shortly after he dropped his children off at school and daycare. Publicly released video footage and the ICE agent's own statement contradict DHS claims that the ICE agent who shot him was "dragged a significant distance" and "feared for his life." In the past, the FBI would have swiftly responded to these shootings, gathering evidence and working with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to conduct a civil rights investigation. But not now.
Ka$h insisted that the FBI had not refused to investigate and that investigations were currently ongoing. Interesting because Marimar Martinez was shot October 4, 2025. That's 17 days shot of exactly one year ago. And it's still under investigation? And Ka$h still can't correct the record about her attacking DHS?
Two months later, the government dropped its charges against Martinez, admitting that she had not attempted to ram a DHS vehicle. The government refused to release bodycam footage of the shooting, arguing that it contains sensitive material.[2] In February 2026, a federal judge ordered the release of the bodycam footage and other evidence in the case. The footage indicated that Exum turned his vehicle toward Martinez immediately before they collided, contradicting the government narrative.
And yet Ka$h maintains there's an ongoing investigation -- which he can't talk about -- and he refuses to withdraw the statements he made on social media and also refuses to apologize for them.
Republican Senator John Kennedy was puzzled by some of the changes that Ka$h has made including in taking bestiality out of the objectionable list of items that prevented someone from becoming an FBI agent. At one point, he asked, "If Joe participated in bestiality -- not as the animal, but as the human -- don't you think he ought to be disqualified if he voluntarily did it?" Ka$h was concerned that applicant Joe might have been trafficked into it, "They don’t just traffic you for prostitution. They traffic you for degrading acts of all kind. And they force you into that type of conduct. And some of these individuals have gone on to be law enforcement officers who qualified to be law enforcement officers and later applied to the FBI.”
Ranking Member Durbin also raised this issue.
Ranking Member Dick Durbin: According to a memo issued this June, the FBI has lowered its hiring standards by dropping automatic disqualification for applicants who have stolen from prior employers, paid for sex, or engaged in bestiality. In July, you claimed the FBI is "losing too many qualified candidates to the rigors and requirements from yesteryear." Director Patel, do you believe those who have previously stolen from employers, solicited sex, or engaged in bestiality are qualified candidates the FBI is losing? [. . .] What I'm reading to you is that you dropped automatic disqualification for applicants who have been engaged in bestiality. Not victims of bestiality -- applicants who have engaged
Let's note some of Senator Mazie Hirono's remarks.
Senator Mazie Hirono: Mr. Patel, the FBI Director should at least try to be above reproach. But there are many questions and concerns raised about your judgment and character. For example, in August 2025, you took a VIP snorkeling tour around the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, a sacred site. Sacred. That is why these tours are rare. Since 2020, only senior Defense officials, members of the military, and one congressman who was a special forces veteran have participated. And then came you. When this incident came to light in May, Senators Schumer, Durbin, and I sent you a letter. And we asked you three simple questions: First: what personal travel have you taken as FBI Director? Two: what non-official activities have you attended as part of official travel? Three: what has been the cost to taxpayers of these kinds of activities? Three months later, we have received no response. Mr. Patel, when can we expect your response to that letter? Is there a date anywhere when we can expect a response? I don't have a response, do you have it with you? Maybe you can hand it to me. The reason I ask that is because I had a director who said that there was a report that he had, right then and there. And then it didn’t come to me until a lot later. If you have a response, give it to me right now please. I assume there is no response. I'm not going to be holding my breath that you will provide that response. If this snorkel tour were a one-off incident, that would be one thing. But it’s part of a broader pattern of using your office to benefit yourself, showing your lack of judgement and character. You have wasted untold taxpayer dollars driving around in foreign luxury cars, partying in Italy, and flying a private jet to play golf and watch hockey. There has been bipartisan criticism. I'm glad to know that some of my Republican colleagues actually criticized some of this activity, and they have criticized this waste and abuse. Maybe today one of my Republican colleagues will demand an explanation. Now, Mr. Patel, you have clearly politicized the FBI. And whenever you are asked, even today, questions you don't feel like answering you respond it's "ongoing" it'’s "part of an investigation." You think that covers everything and so you don't answer. That is what you’ve resorted to, aside from, I've just watched you today in a very combative mode with my colleague Senator Welch and you attacking him, which is also the way you approach questions that you don't want to answer. And then I note your recent appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee, I'll get to that in a bit. To be clear, there are many things you should answer for. You have been at the helm of the FBI for almost two years, and the list of your failings is long and frankly growing. You have decimated the FBI workforce. The FBI today is down thousands of dedicated professionals who worked to keep our country safe. And frankly, your answers to questions along those lines have been unbelievable. If I thought I could get a truthful answer out of you, I’d ask you questions like what the hell you were thinking firing a dozen Iran experts on the eve of an illegal war with Iran.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Tuesday launched an effort to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, citing the Pentagon’s military actions against Iran.
Massie, a frequent critic of President Trump, accused Hegseth of launching an illegal war that was not approved by Congress. He introduced articles of impeachment on the House floor against Hegseth for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Massie also took the remarkable step of making his resolution privileged, meaning he’s forcing it to the floor for a vote. By House rules, that vote must come within two days.
He argued that Hegseth violated “his oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States” and violated “his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, especially with regard to the commission of war.” He added that Hegseth has “abused the powers of the Department of Defense.”
US House Rep Ro Khanna joined Massie in calling for Hegseth's impeachment.
Massie also criticized the U.S. military's actions in Venezuela, including the capture of the country's former president. And he accused Hegseth of undermining "effective journalist oversight" after shrinking the Pentagon press corps.
He took particular issue with a U.S. strike on an Iranian primary school that killed more than 100 children at the start of the Middle Eastern conflict. The strike "exposed systemic failures in the Department of Defense targeting process," he said.
The Pentagon has yet to release the findings of an investigation into the Feb. 28 airstrike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school. At least 168 people died in the attack, most of them children, according to Iranian state media.
Meanwhile the Iran War has destroyed the US economy. Why Chump chose to go to war is anyone's guess. He said it would be two weeks and it's now closer to the eight month. He's stuck in Iran and can't get out. Martha McHardy (DAILY BEAST) notes:
Donald Trump’s closest White House aides are scrambling to control the fallout from his ill-advised war on Iran as fuel prices hit new highs ahead of the midterm elections.
The conflict, launched by Trump in February without congressional authorization, has disrupted the global energy market and closed the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for oil shipments, driving up energy prices worldwide.
Brent crude climbed to around $109 a barrel on Monday, its highest level since May, while gasoline has reached $4.32 a gallon and diesel a record $6.23, according to AAA.
According to Politico, the crisis has led to “frustration” in the White House as officials desperately seek an exit strategy before elections that could see Trump lose his grip on Congress.
The cost to American households is mounting. Brown University’s Iran War Energy Cost Tracker estimates the conflict has added more than $100 billion to U.S. gasoline and diesel costs, with the average household paying more than $750 extra.
Oil executives have been warning this was coming, and now they say it's arrived: With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut and a key Saudi pipeline knocked offline, industry leaders like Chevron CEO Mike Wirth contend that the global system has burned through its safety nets, reports the Wall Street Journal, pushing crude near $101 a barrel and diesel to a record $6.23 a gallon. The damaged Saudi pipeline alone, which was being used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, took 2.5 million gallons a day off the table, and is expected to be offline for weeks, notes the AP. "All these mechanisms helped to mitigate the price and supply risk," Wirth says. "Those have largely now played out."
The average price of a gallon of diesel in the U.S. hit a fresh record high of $6.27 on Tuesday, according to the American Automobile Association.
U.S. diesel prices are soaring once again as the squeeze in the fuel market tightens, breaching $6 a gallon for the first time on Friday. Higher prices at the pump come as Brent Crude trades at around $107 a barrel, with renewed supply concerns mounting and Northern Hemisphere farmers entering the diesel-intensive harvesting season.
Prices had jumped at the start of the Iran conflict before cooling after refiners ramped up production. The average price for a gallon of diesel was $3.69 a year ago.
The higher prices are a blow to President Trump who made easing the cost of living central to his 2024 re-election campaign and has repeatedly called for lower interest rates. However, energy-cost inflation has boosted expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates Wednesday.
Gasoline prices are rising, but it will be a few months before everyday Americans and policymakers know whether or not the latest spikes will lead to higher inflation.
With the conflict in the Middle East intensifying in recent weeks, prices at the pump are on the rise again, jumping 13 cents in just a week and hitting $4.32 per gallon for regular unleaded on Monday, according to AAA. Diesel prices were surging even more, averaging $6.23 per gallon, the highest average on record.
But whether the latest price spikes will lead to higher rates of inflation in the coming months is a complicated question—and will take time to play out.
It generally takes about three months to see a 10% gas price shock show up in the core personal consumption expenditures price index measurement, which excludes energy and food prices, says Bernard Yaros, lead economist at Oxford Economics.
A “computer glitch” at a New Jersey data center has sent roughly 5,000 gallons of diesel pouring into the state’s wetlands. Michael Gonnelli, mayor of nearby Secaucus, has said the leak came from a storage tank at the site, run by digital infrastructure group Equinix. He blamed the glitch, though the firm said it’s still reviewing the cause. A spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said crews used vacuum trucks and barriers to remove the fuel from a creek before it reached the Hackensack River.
Two U.S. citizen teenagers who were on their way to file enlistment papers to join the Marines were violently attacked by ICE agents, who reportedly detained them for nearly eight hours before letting them go.
Telemundo reports that agents pepper-sprayed the teenagers because they were allegedly filming ICE arresting parents outside of Santos Livas Elementary School in Alamo, Texas. ICE agents were caught on video pulling one teen from the car and punching him repeatedly in the face while he lay on the ground. The other teen, Luis Ochoa, said he informed the ICE agents he was a citizen, but was told, “I don’t give a damn.... Your parents can’t help you now.”
Ochoa is reportedly rethinking his decision to enlist, with his mother telling Telemundo, “How are they supposed to serve a country that doesn’t even uphold their basic rights?”
And we're going back to yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee to note this exchange on immiration:
Senator Alex Padilla: Reports indicate, in July, field offices received guidance to stop investigating confrontations with immigration enforcement officials or agents involved with immigration enforcement. Yes or no, did you or your leadership team instruct field offices to stop investigating excessive use of force by ICE or CBP?
Ka$h Patel: No.
Senator Alex Padilla: Can you reiterate for me, for the community, for the public, what is the current guidance to field offices as it pertains to these types of investigations?
Ka$h Patel: Every single investigation is different, depending on the location, on who the officer is. We have to bring in the lead home agency if it's one of theirs, one of ours.
Senator Alex Padilla: But every incident is investigated?
Ka$h Patel: To my knowledge, every incident is investigated through the interagency process.
Senator Alex Padilla: With FBI participation in those investigations?
Ka$h Patel: Yes, and we’re always called in. We’re always asked to participate because we have some technical capabilities that other agencies don’t.
The U.S. withdrawal is underway, and officials say the hundreds of troops remaining in northern Iraq will be out by the Sept. 30 deadline.
The Iraqi government has linked the U.S. withdrawal to an ultimatum for militias to lay down their weapons. But most have indicated they have no plans to do so.
That leaves major questions about what the day after will look like in Iraq.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Dick Durbin's office:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement in today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing conducting oversight on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) featuring testimony from FBI Director Kash Patel. During his remarks, Durbin underscored that Americans are less safe with Kash Patel leading the FBI as he is far more concerned with weaponizing the agency against the President’s perceived political enemies while covering up the wrongdoings of President Trump’s allies. Further, Director Patel’s personal conduct—wasting and exploiting FBI resources and failing to account for when official business ends and personal recreation begins—has shown that he is a liability to national security.
Key Quotes:
“Let me say at the outset, that we just heard again, an introduction by the Chairman [Grassley] that gave reference to Crossfire Hurricane and a lot of things that are in the history of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Over a year ago, all of the Democrats on this Committee said, ‘Stop giving these speeches, and bring the people before us to testify under oath as to what actually happened.’”
“Jack Smith, the special counsel, who is a constant reference point when it comes to this ‘Grand Conspiracy,’ has volunteered for more than a year to appear before this Committee under oath and answer the questions. What more could we ask of him?”
“Perhaps in a few weeks when we have been promised he will show up, they [Republicans] could start by explaining, why did you wait a year if we are talking about a ‘Grand Conspiracy?’ Jack Smith, the special counsel, will be under oath before this committee. Each of us will have a chance to ask pertinent questions to clear it up. For some reason, the decision was made at some level to let this controversy fester rather than bring the person in who could actually answer the questions.”
“Director Robert Mueller led the FBI at this tumultuous time [post-9/11]. He, more than any single individual, was responsible for modernizing the FBI to combat the threats we face in the 21st century. I was proud to work with him on a bipartisan basis… We didn’t always agree, but I always respected him. He was a patriot and a person of honesty and integrity.”
“Modernizing the FBI has not been an easy process. Balancing a growing focus on national security and terrorism prevention efforts with traditional work investigating white-collar crime and corruption has taken a lot of time and effort. Over the years, the FBI, as it gained more authorities, at times in history, misused it. There is still work to be done to earn public trust and ensure the most powerful federal investigative agency in the world only engages in lawful operations.”
“Continuing to meet new threats while tackling these challenges requires steady, committed leadership from someone who understands the stakes and has the humility to lead as a servant of the public, like Bob Mueller. Sadly for the American people, the current director does not meet these standards. Mr. Patel is the least qualified and most partisan FBI Director in our nation’s history. He does not have the judgment, experience, or temperament of Director Mueller.”
“Before he was confirmed, Mr. Patel falsely claimed in public that the FBI ‘was planning January 6 for a year.’ He compiled an enemies list of public servants he called ‘government gangsters’ who he promised to target if he was confirmed as head of the FBI.”
“Despite the warnings of Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing, our Republican colleagues chose to ignore these facts to prioritize President Trump’s retribution campaign over the safety of Americans. They joined on a partisan basis, confirming Director Patel to lead the FBI.”
“Under Mr. Patel’s failed leadership, decades of efforts to modernize and reform the FBI are being undone, and the Bureau has been reshaped as a political weapon against President Trump’s political enemies and a shield to protect the President and his MAGA loyalists—not the American people. Director Patel has been the central figure pushing the so-called ‘Grand Conspiracy,’ diverting FBI resources to inane debunked conspiracy theories that the ‘deep state’ has been targeting President Trump since his first campaign.”
“Director Patel is also wasting FBI resources to relitigate the 2020 presidential election. How many times have nominees who are judges, respected professionals, professors come before this Committee and refused to acknowledge what every eighth-grader in America knows? President Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden by 7 million votes. That’s simple. It’s obvious. It’s a matter of fact. Yet, these nominees refused to acknowledge that reality because this is part of the great conspiracy theory that Trump never loses anything.”
“To weaponize the FBI against the President’s opponents, Director Patel has overseen a purge of thousands of law enforcement officials. From analysts and agents to the most senior leadership, the Bureau has been deprived of tens of thousands of years of cumulative experience.”
“Director Patel has installed MAGA loyalists as political appointees in key career positions. And he even imposed loyalty tests, requiring FBI officials to undergo polygraphs to say whether they ever criticize him.”
“Thousands of agents have been reassigned from their primary criminal and national security mission to immigration enforcement, with the number of FBI personnel working on immigration matters increasing by over 2,000 percent as of last September.”
“In total, over 9,000 FBI personnel—25 percent of the Bureau—worked on immigration cases between January and September of last year. As part of this shift in resources, the Department of Justice shut down almost 23,000 criminal cases in the first six months of the Trump Administration.”
“To replace the career professionals he purged, Director Patel has gutted hiring standards. Today will be his opportunity under oath to answer some basic questions about the standards being used for new FBI agents. In an interview in July, he claimed the FBI is ‘losing too many qualified candidates to the rigors of the requirements from yesteryear.’ What are those so-called obsolete requirements? According to a memo issued in June, the FBI has removed from its list of automatic hiring disqualifications theft from an employer, sex solicitation, and bestiality.”
“To add insult to injury, Director Patel is trying to take credit for the successful efforts of state and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime. The reality is that violent crime spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been steadily and consistently declining since 2022. Every member of this Committee knows that our state and local police – not the FBI – are primarily responsible for combatting violent crime. Don’t believe me? Look at the data. Cities where the National Guard or other federal forces were not deployed had a 2025 drop in violent crime similar to the cities where they were deployed.”
“It is misleading and offensive for this Administration – which has coddled January 6 rioters by giving them full, unconditional pardons from the President as one of his first acts in office. This Administration has ended the careers of thousands of professional FBI agents because they didn’t meet some political test and blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to local law enforcement– to claim credit for the work of our brave frontline police officers. That is not ‘backing the blue’ by any standard.”
“In fact, the cities where federal forces were deployed experienced widespread abuses of the constitutional rights of their residents—including multiple lethal shootings of American citizens.”
“The FBI is charged with investigating deadly uses of force by federal agents, but it has turned its back on its duties under Director Patel. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security is now the primary investigator of whether its own poorly vetted and trained employees violated the law during the ill-conceived missions.”
“Director Patel has also played a key role in the Trump Administration’s cover up of the Epstein files. Director Patel diverted more than a thousand FBI agents from their critical missions to work on 24-hour shifts reviewing every page of the Epstein files. These personnel were instructed to ‘flag’ any records in which President Trump’s name was mentioned. That review ended in an unsigned memorandum from the Department of Justice and FBI simply claiming, ‘there is no incriminating client list.’ Director Patel has still not responded to our letter from more than a year ago asking about his personal role in this cover-up. But we now know that Director Patel reportedly joined a meeting in the White House Situation Room about how to protect the President from the fallout from this cover up of the Epstein files.”
“Director Patel failed to ensure the Trump Administration actually released, as they were required, everything about Epstein and his co-conspirators. This has come at the expense of the American people, who deserve transparency. And it has also been at the expense of the survivors of Epstein’s abuse, who deserve justice and accountability.”
“So today, we find ourselves in a position where the FBI is expending immense resources to protect President Trump politically and deliver retribution to his enemies—but is diverting resources away from protecting the safety, security, and rights of ordinary Americans and their families.”
“I was proud to be part of bipartisan efforts over the many years to ensure the FBI protected both the security and freedom of the American people. And I’m disappointed that this Committee has stood by since January 2025 as that work has been undone.”
“I look forward to a day – hopefully in the near future – when this Committee will fulfill its duty to hold Director Patel accountable for his leadership.”
Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.
Reba McEntire is paying tribute to her longtime friend on one of the biggest stages.
On August 25, the world was devastated to learn that Dolly Parton had died at age 80 from cancer. At the time, celebrities, including Reba, and fans paid tribute to the star's longtime career in music and TV, which included movies like Steel Magnolias and songs like "9 to 5."
Now, Reba is celebrating Dolly on a bigger platform, participating in a tribute to her at the 2026 Emmys on September 14. After opening remarks from Dolly's Steel Magnolias co-star Sally Field, Reba got onstage to perform Dolly's hit song "Appalachian Memories" in a stunning white bejeweled gown. Viewers saw Reba get emotional while honoring her late friend's legacy.
"I love you, Dolly, very much," she stated at the end of her performance.
Taylor Swift and her cat, a Scottish fold named Olivia Benson, made a surprise appearance alongside Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, during the Emmys. The bit played off Hargitay's hosting duties at the awards show on Monday night.
In the bit, Hargitay as Benson storms into the SVU office and tells the staff that the brass just absolutely needs to know if Swift would be at the Emmys. Because Swifties think everything is a clue, she whips out a "crime board" and tries to connect the dots, like the number of Emmy nominations Abbott Elementary and DTF St. Louis got (13, Swift's lucky number), and how St. Louis is in Missouri, which is also where Kansas City is, and that's where Travis Kelce plays. It's a lot to track, but it all led to Swift's literally head-turning cameo.
So Taylor and Reba and Dolly's spirit were at the Emmys.
Macklemore. He's been fired from Ed Sheeran's tour. I think it's nonsense. I've read Pink's remarks. I think I see what she's speaking of but even so I think it was stupid to fire Macklemore.
Drake is turning 40 years old on Oct. 24, and the OVO boss only has one wish for a birthday gift this year. The 6 God was inspired by seeing comedian Jeffrey Ross receive a video of Jim Carrey roasting him for his 61st birthday, which Ross posted to Instagram on Sunday (Sept. 13).
"Canadian mountain man Jim Carrey sent me this for my birthday," Ross wrote. "It made me so happy I had to share it with roast fans everywhere! EVERYONE PLEASE KEEP ROASTING ME IN THE COMMENTS BELOW ! ROASTING IS LOVE !"
The hilarious clip featured the actor ripping on Ross with jokes about how his mom had to sign an NDA when he was born because he was so ugly.
With a loaded bank account and high-profile connections across the globe, Drake can typically buy himself whatever he wants, but he loved the idea of having Carrey roast him so much that it's all he's looking for as a gift this year.
"Wow this is now all I want for my birthday," he commented.
President Donald Trump’s approval rating on AI was underwater in polls conducted before several artificial intelligence (AI) researchers warned that the rapidly developing technology could pose catastrophic risks to humanity in the coming years.
The issue of AI safety catapulted to the forefront of American political discourse over the past few days after Jacob Coxon, a former AI researcher for Anthropic and OpenAI, sounded the alarm last week, warning that the industry is not acting responsibly. He said there will soon be “superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.”
[. . .]
A new poll from the University of Massachusetts Amherst conducted last month found that many Americans are unhappy with Trump’s performance on AI issues. Only 23 percent said they believe he has handled AI “very well” or “somewhat well,” while 57 percent said he has handled it “not too well” or “not well at all.” An additional 20 percent were undecided.
The poll surveyed 1,000 respondents from August 21 to 26, 2026—before the latest round of AI safety warnings—and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Broken down by party, only 5 percent of Democrats and 7 percent of independents said they believe he has handled the issue well. Even among Republicans, only 51 percent said they believed he has handled it well, while 24 percent rated his performance as “not well,” the poll found.
The youngest Americans were also most likely to give him poor marks on AI—only 10 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 said he has handled the technology well, compared to 19 percent between the ages of 30 and 54 and 33 percent of those older than 55.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten revealed Monday that Americans have grown extremely dissatisfied with President Donald Trump’s handling of AI.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has repeatedly stressed that the U.S. must win the supposed AI race against China. Americans, however, have not been pleased with the president’s approach. Citing data from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Enten revealed that Trump’s net approval on AI — which was already underwater a few months earlier — has begun to crater.
“The American people despise President Trump when it comes to his handling of artificial intelligence,” Enten said. “You could see it right here. Trump’s net approval rating of AI. That’s approval minus disapproval. Look at this overall: he’s 34 points underwater! My goodness gracious! And somehow, that’s become worse over the course of the year because back in March, he was closer to around 25 points underwater.”
That net approval of -34, however, paled in comparison to the low mark set by Independents. Among that voting bloc, Trump’s net approval on AI was a disastrous -61.
He's vested in AI and so he refuses to see what others see, the dangers that others see. He turns a blind eye because there's money to be made and he'll probably be dead within ten years so he's not that concerned about the future of this country. J.D. Wolf (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes:
Trump is once again defending the rapid expansion of AI data centers while dismissing growing opposition to them. In a Truth Social post Monday, Trump described the backlash as an “outburst” and claimed it is happening because “the United States is leading, by a lot, every other country” in AI.
He then warned, “Don’t kill the Golden Goose,” portraying resistance to data centers as potentially threatening the economic and technological advantages he says the United States is gaining.
Trump has repeatedly argued that communities opposing data centers risk missing out on jobs, wealth and other economic benefits. During a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham that aired Friday, he said communities that resist them could “want to be poor” and warned that the United States should not be “the stupid people” who chase data centers away.
He doesn't know how to talk to the American people because he's so out of touch with them. He lives in his bubble surrounded by people who kiss his rear and refuse to tell him the truth. In fairness to them, Chump tends to explode when the truth is told to him so they probably figure, "Two more years? I can ride this out." They can try. But it only further separates Chump from the American people. And, bit by bit, he continues to bleed support. Ed Kilgore (INTELLIGENCER) notes a group whose support Chump is losing:
When Donald Trump reclaimed the White House in 2024 and Republicans won a trifecta by flipping control of the Senate, one story seemed to capture the moment most dramatically. That was the strong trend in the GOP’s favor among Latinos generally, and Texas Latinos in particular, with the rural and small-town precincts of the Rio Grand Valley leading the way. The Texas Tribune explained at the time:
Texas Latino trends were prominent in the optimistic predictions of Republicans that their 2024 gains weren’t just the product of a backlash against a stumbling Democratic Party and its unstable presidential leadership, but signs of a permanent political realignment in the GOP’s favor. But as the 2026 midterm elections grow near, it’s increasingly apparent that Trump has alienated a lot of the voters he won over two years ago, beginning with Texas Latinos, as a new poll illustrates, per Cook Political Report:
A new survey of Texas Hispanic likely voters, conducted for The Cook Political Report and TelevisaUnivision, finds the Democratic candidates in the state’s Senate and gubernatorial contests leading their GOP opponents by a 2-1 margin with the key voting bloc, as President Donald Trump’s job approval rating in the state has sunk to just 33% with a demographic group that swung hard in his direction in 2024.
The poll, conducted August 26 —September 3 by Democratic firm Hart Research and Republican firm OnMessage Inc, also included an oversample of Hispanic voters in the Rio Grande Valley/South Texas, the centerpiece of Trump’s 2024 coalition and the home to three marquee House races (in TX-15, TX-28 and TX-34). In that subsample, Democrats enjoyed a 14 point advantage over Republicans, 53% to 39%, on the generic ballot.
Democrats’ strong showing among Hispanics in the Lone Star state is a significant shift from 2024, when Trump carried Hispanic voters by 10 points and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz carried them by three.
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A significant shift. And these significant shifts are taking part in every demographic set. Marni Rose McFall (NEWSWEEK) notes another group Chump is struggling with:
President Donald Trump’s approval rating on the economy among women has dropped to a new low, according to a new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll showing just over a quarter of women approve of the president’s handling of the economy.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
The poll, conducted September 8-11 among 2,460 U.S. adults, comes as Trump and Republican candidates seek to maintain congressional majorities in the November midterms, with the president increasingly making himself the focal point of campaigns. Speaking to supporters at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas last week, Trump said, “Pretend that I’m on the ballot. I’m on the ballot, just one more time.”
Pretend he's on the ballot? That's not going to work for him. In 2020, he was on the ballot and he lost. In 2016, he did win. But the midterms aren't governed by the electoral college. The midterms are about the popular vote. Chump lost it in 2020 to Joe Biden. But in 2016, when he won, he did so via the electoral college. He lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. So three times, he's been on the ballot. And two of those three times, the American people voted for someone else.
So pretend he's on the ballot?
He's not as popular as he was in 2024 as his fading demographics and low poll numbers demonstrate. And that's because, among other reasons, he's destroyed the economy. Bruce Golding (INDEPENDENT) reports:
The recent surge in gas prices has experts saying the issue could drive the results of November's midterm elections — signaling trouble for Republicans as President Donald Trump admits relief won't likely come before then.
The average national cost of a gallon of regular unleaded topped $4.31 Monday, up 36 percent from more than $3.17 a year ago, according to AAA.
Diesel — which powers delivery trucks, affecting the cost of groceries and other consumer goods — hit a new record high of $6.23 a gallon, up nearly 69 percent.
The situation leaves GOP lawmakers facing a rocky road as they map out their path to victory against Democrats eager to seize control of the House and Senate.
Fortunately, not all elected politicians are as out of it as Chump. On Senator Elizabeth Warren, Aniket Verma (BENINGA) notes:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said on Sunday that President Donald Trump has prioritized his own financial activities, such as selling memecoins, over efforts to ease the cost of living for Americans.
Warren stated in an X post that people “are choosing between paying rent and buying groceries, while also cutting back on insulin and selling plasma just to get by.
The senior Democrat has been a vocal critic of the U.S. health care system, saying it is forcing families into impossible financial choices. She previously cited reports about people skipping medication due to cost, even with insurance.
And it's voices like Warren's that are resonating with the American people as they look around and see inflation everywhere. Julian Fernandez (SO YUMMY) notes the cost of groceries:
Food prices have also continued facing pressure from multiple sources. Severe weather has affected crop yields, bird flu outbreaks have reduced poultry supplies, cattle inventories have shrunk, and transportation and energy costs remain elevated. Tariffs on some imported foods, including products such as coffee, tomatoes, and chocolate, have also contributed to higher prices for consumers.
Even as wages have increased for many workers, housing, utilities, and other living expenses have also climbed, leaving many families feeling that their grocery dollars simply do not stretch as far as they once did. As a result, affordability continues to be one of the biggest financial concerns for households across the country.
The price of diesel is hitting record highs just when many U.S. farmers need it to power combines, tractors and other equipment to harvest two of the nation’s largest commodities, soybeans and corn.
The spike adds to an already tough year for these farmers, who also faced higher costs for fertilizer, seeds and equipment.
Diesel hit a record price in the U.S. on Sept. 4, soaring to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time as the six-month war with Iran disrupted the world’s flow of fuel.
It has gone even higher since then, going for an average price of $6.05 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA.
“Those prices hurt,” said Paul Mitchell, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “And it’s not just the harvesting. It’s the hauling of everything, moving the grain or the silage from the field to the farm and then from the farm to wherever they’re selling it.”
And guess what? Motor oil? The rationing is starting there. Michelle Chapman (AP) notes COSTCO is imposing limits on motor oil:
Costco has raised the price of motor oil sold under its exclusive private-label brand as well as limited how much of it customers can buy weekly as oil prices climb yet again.
Americans looking to try to save some money by purchasing motor oil to do their own oil changes may consider this yet another blow to their wallets, as they are already contending with high grocery prices and inflation worries.
Costco's Kirkland Signature full-synthetic motor oil 5-quart two pack now costs around $58, well above the approximately $30 it had been selling for just last year. Costco is also only allowing customers to purchase two boxes a week.
The wholesale club operator is also limiting purchases of Mobil 1's full-synthetic motor oil 1-quart six pack, which sells for about $44, to five per membership.
Silvian Secara (CAR BUZZ) explains, "Desperate times call for desperate measures, and skyrocketing prices are no longer the only issue caused by the dwindling oil supply. Apparently, the situation is so dire that Costco started rationing its house brand of motor oil earlier this week, as reported by the folks over at The Auto Wire. Its own Kirkland Signature brand had just about doubled in price over a few short months, with 10 quarts of full-synthetic now costing you $58 compared to just 30 bucks around April." Giulia Carbonaro (NEWSWEEK) wonders if WALMART will be the next to ration?
Chump has increased the costs of everything for the American people. But he's not the only one taking advantage of Americans. Sasha Rogelberg (FORTUNE) reports on Chump's buddy Jeff Bezos:
The U.S. workforce has just made the type of history it likely wishes it didn’t. Working Americans are taking home the smallest percentage of economic output, 52.8%, since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the metric in 1947.
But as the share of wealth workers take home through wages—called labor share—is shrinking, corporate profits have exploded, with the S&P 500 index gaining 600% since the beginning of the century, while wages have increased just 12.5% over the same period, adjusted for inflation.
In other words: Corporations are raking in cash, but American workers are reaping less and less of the rewards.
The consequences associated with shrinking labor shares are now becoming tangible. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that across the 11 states sampled, Amazon, the country’s largest company by revenue, has 12,346 workers on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and 11,338 relying on Medicaid. That was nearly triple the number of Amazon employees in need of federal assistance compared to 2020, when GAO conducted a similar report. During that same period, Amazon saw an increase in annual profits from $11.6 billion to $77.7 billion. Amazon’s 2025 revenue soared 12% year-over-year, from $638 billion to a record $717 billion.
That's Jeff Bezos. Chump's friend. Underpaying workers and expecting tax payers to pick up his slack. He really is disgusting human being which is why so many of us rolled our eyes when Meryl Streep was praising him back when she was promoting that bad film she made with Tom Hanks. He's Chump's friend and he's not the American tax payers' friend.
Meanwhile, Chump's administration has been caught deleting evidence. Sarah K. Burris reports:
Former officials in President Donald Trump's administration have been caught by the court deleting messages and potentially relevant evidence despite ongoing court cases and an order to retain documents.
Former Secretary Kristi Noem's top staffer, Karen Evans, served as "one of the ousted Department of Homeland Security chief’s most trusted aides," the report claimed. After she was told to retain information, including Signal chats, she "intentionally destroyed" those messages.
Judge Susan Illston wrote in a court filing that Evans, a former acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) leader, acted with “intent to deprive” plaintiffs of the information requested in the case.
"Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e)(2), plaintiffs are therefore entitled to a presumption that the information lost was unfavorable to defendants," the judge said.
"Evans should have known better," the judge blasted. "She previously served as Chief Information Officer at DHS, in charge of the agency’s records preservation policies. At a hearing on this litigation, her personal attorney touted that 'she is more so an expert” on Signal “than anybody else here[.]'"
Evans created the Signal chat that would likely have been "highly relevant" to the case, but she set her messages to auto-delete in four weeks, according to a message in the chat.
"On March 11, 2026, after she had been named as a defendant in this case and with plaintiffs’ emergency motion pending, Evans shortened the auto-delete timer on one of her FEMA Signal chats. And it wasn’t until April 25, 2026, that Evans created a back-up of her Signal messages, by which point the most timely messages were long since deleted," the judge explained.
Before the facility was shuttered, detainees at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” federal immigration jail were frequently locked in outside metal cages no bigger than a phone booth, according to a damning government watchdog report that said the practice “does not align with standards for humane treatment”.
The findings from the office of the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were published on its website – and offer rare criticism of the Trump administration by one of its own agencies.
The report also provides the first official confirmation that guards repeatedly used the highly restrictive cages on detainees in direct contravention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rules.
In December, the Guardian was the first to report an Amnesty International dossier detailing multiple alleged human rights abuses at the controversial camp in the remote Florida Everglades, including how people were regularly shackled outside in metal cages for hours as well as exposed to brutal heat, sunshine and swarms of mosquitoes.
Homeland Security can't even house people correctly. They refuse to do so. They target a population and once they have them in custody, they don't follow the rules anymore than they did before they took the people into custody. Laura Strickler (NBC NEWS) adds:
The DHS watchdog findings are a rare instance when a federal inspector general has publicly criticized the Trump administration. Since he returned to office in 2025, President Donald Trump has fired at least 18 inspectors general, who operate within federal agencies but are tasked with conducting objective audits and investigating allegations of waste, fraud and abuse of power.
Homeland Security’s inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, is one of the few Cabinet-level inspectors general who wasn’t fired in the purge.
DHS IG inspectors visited the facility in January. The inspector general’s report found the “small metal enclosures” were roughly 4-by-4, or 16 square feet, and facility staff members described them as “calming areas” for “detainees to de-escalate and have time alone.”
The facility also had indoor cages that measured 18 square feet, the report says.
The cages are less than half the size of the smallest spaces that people are supposed to be held in at immigration detention facilities. ICE guidelines say rooms designed to hold one person at a time should be a minimum of 37 square feet. By comparison, solitary confinement cells at federal prisons are around 84 square feet.
Donald Trump's White House is leaving Kristi Noem's rumored lover, Corey Lewandowski, out to dry as a criminal investigation looms over him.
Lewandowski, who ran Homeland Security as Noem's de facto chief of staff before they were both ousted in March, is under investigation over his handling of billions of dollars in no-bid contracts and stands accused of trying to turn taxpayer money into personal profit, according to multiple reports.
Two senior Trump officials close to the president told the Daily Mail the White House will not step in to shield Lewandowski if the Homeland Security inspector general (IG) investigators refer him to the Justice Department for prosecution.
The Daily Mail reported exclusively in March that the watchdog has launched a wide-ranging criminal investigation of Noem, Lewandowski and associates involved in the rewarding of contracts, ordering dozens of current and former employees to preserve all communications including documents, text messages, emails, and phone records.
Chump's where the buck is supposed to stop. And he picked every member of his crooked administration. So all of this is on him, all the corruption, all the illegal actions. The fish rots from the head.
Yesterday, Chump again insisted that every American adult will get a $5,000 check if Republicans control both houses. Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) reports:
Prominent conservative Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire has called Trump’s pledge “idiotic” and “flagrant bribery,” and major Republican donor and Trump supporter Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palantir, described the president’s promise as “bread and circus bribes.”
Trump has also floated the idea of awarding checks to Americans in the past that ultimately never materialized, including $5,000 DOGE checks and $2,000 tariff rebate checks.
He promised a dividend on the tariffs, remember? No one ever saw that. He makes any promise he wants because they're lies and he knows they're lies. He thinks the American people are the chumps but we all know Donald is the biggest chump of them all.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Washington, D.C. — In response to Pete Serrano’s nomination for U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Washington, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has issued the following statement.
“Pete Serrano is not qualified to serve as U.S. Attorney and his extreme right-wing views are completely out of touch with the priorities of Washington state. His record hasn’t changed—he tried to rewrite the history of the violent January 6th insurrection and sides with anti-abortion extremists.
“Let’s be clear about what a sham this is: after federal judges declined to appoint Serrano in Eastern Washington, this administration invented a workaround to install him anyway. Now they want to permanently install Serrano in the Western District. When the federal judges in the Western District appointed a highly qualified prosecutor unanimously—this President fired him within an hour for no cause.
“The people of Washington state deserve a serious U.S. Attorney who will follow the law, not a political loyalist who thinks the law is whatever the President says it is. I will be using every tool I have to block this nomination.”
