Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

Wednesday, November 05, 2025

Aimee Man, BARNEY MILLER

Some interesting music news. Michael Paulson (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:

“Girl, Interrupted” was a best-selling 1993 memoir about Susanna Kaysen’s experience in a psychiatric hospital. Then in 1999 it became a film featuring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.

Now the title will have another life, as a stage play with songs by Aimee Mann.

The show, written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, is being presented by the Public Theater, a large Off Broadway nonprofit. It is to begin performances next May; the cast has not yet been announced.

The project has been in the works for years, though its contours have changed. Mann has said in interviews that she was asked by Barbara Broccoli, the longtime producer of the James Bond movies, and Fred Zollo, Broccoli’s ex-husband, to write songs for a musical adaptation of the memoir. Their daughter, Angelica Zollo, was also involved with the project.

But then came the pandemic, and the project stalled out. Mann repurposed her work on the show, releasing it as a 2021 album called “Queens of the Summer Hotel.”

Good. The best Aimee Mann album of all time is THE FORGOTTEN ARM. I can't wait to hear what she's doing with GIRL INTERRUPRTED.

And let me note this

A half-century ago, ABC’s “Barney Miller,” a sitcom about seen-it-all cops and kitchen-sink criminals at a precinct in Manhattan’s West Village, aired an episode that began like any other.

Detective Ron Harris (Ron Glass) got a call about a man threatening to jump off the Washington Arch. The payroll department thought Detective Phil Fish (Abe Vigoda) was dead. Capt. Barney Miller (Hal Linden) kept everybody in check.

Then a quippy gay couple named Marty and Darryl, played by the actors Jack DeLeon and Ray Stewart, swished in and made history as one of the first openly gay couples in mainstream American television.

Yet 50 years after it aired, “Discovery,” as the second-season episode was called, is largely forgotten for its important place in the record of queer representation on TV.

That's from a piece at NYT by Erik Piepenburg. I'm noting that to be fair. BARNEY MILLER was an awful show. When Linda Lavin was in the cast and Abe Vigoda was still on the show, it was almost watchable. Almost. A show like that -- dull and boring -- could not last today. FISH -- Abe Vigoda's spin-off -- was watchable and funny. BARNEY MILLER was just a time suckage in the ABC primetime schedule. At least it can be credited for it's role in LGBTQ+ history. Ron Glass, one of the show's stars, was gay. At one point, he had a long running relationship with Tony Geary who played Luke on GENERAL HOSPITAL.

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

Wednesday, November 5, 2025. The morning after big elections with results that should be a wakeup call to Republicans in Congress, Kash Patel sold Chump out to the grand jury (Rachel Maddown pointed that out Monday but no one seems to have paid attention), Bari Weiss requires three million dollars plus in security to do her 'job' at CBS NEWS, Chump's going after American's right to bear sandwiches, and much more.

MEIDASTOUCH NEWS this morning has Ben focusing on yesterday's election.

He makes many strong points. I'm not repeating them. If I don't have something to offer, I'd just post the video. Democrats won and democracy won and that's great. Ben notes that and he notes the sour defeat for Chump.

So let's talk instead about Republicans in Congress.

Chump couldn't have picked a worse night to take his crazy out for a walk on social media.

Imagine you're a Republican in the House -- all up for re-election in November 2026 unless they're retiring -- or a Republican in the Senate up for re-election in November 2026.

Every day you endure Chump's crazy and sometime his direct threats against you and you stay small and compliant because you think Chump's popular. You lie to yourself that the polling must be wrong -- no one could be hated that much.

But yesterday's election results make clear that he is hated. Loathed.

And you've allowed yourself to be intimidated by him and by a tiny MAGA crew that astroturfs your offices and that do not really have the numbers.

Certainly not the numbers needed to save you.

You've deluded yourself. But the results of yesterday's elections are reality.

Markwayne Markwayne is probably too much of an idiot to grasp reality, but a lot of Republicans in Congress do get the message. No daylight between themselves and Chump means a difficult re-election effort.

As we noted months ago, Chump's already in his lame duck period. He can't help the Republican Party and, honestly, when has he ever? It's about building himself, not the party.

Republicans have played the fool and they continue to do so at their own risk. He is sending people out of the party. He's not building, he can't. He only 'became' a Republican when he focused grouped and found out that they were the easiest group of voters to fool. He's not a lifelong Republican. He has no real connections -- even now -- to the actual party.

He's a con man.

Were I a Republican, I would be celebrating last night's results because these results provide an opportunity for actual Republicans to take back their party.

Were I a Republican in Congress? I'd be moving to restore the ACA subsidies immediately. I'd grasp that Chump has no future so it doesn't matter what he does but that I want to be re-elected and attacking healthcare and depriving Americans of healthcare is not the way to win next year's mid-terms.

In fact, they should be reading this press release from Senator Patty Murray's office:

REUTERS: Obamacare premiums double, adding post Halloween fright for US health insurance shoppers

ABC: Trump hosted ‘Great Gatsby’ Halloween party hours before SNAP funding lapsed

***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks***

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon’s Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the thirty-fifth day of President Trump and Republicans’ shutdown.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“As we all know, right now, open enrollment is underway, and Americans are now seeing the true cost of the MAGA health care hike.

“And look, it’s not just the ‘MAGA health care hike’ because Republican leaders are refusing to do anything. Four out of five people who rely on the ACA enhanced premium health care tax credits live in states that Trump won. That is why it’s a MAGA health care hike.

“And over 80 percent of the people who will end up uninsured if these expire are in Trump states. That is why this is a MAGA health care hike.

“The five states with the largest percentage increases, where premiums are quadrupling? All Trump states. The next five, where premiums are tripling? All Trump states. The next five after that? You guessed it, all Trump states. That is why this is a MAGA health care hike. But Republicans won’t lift a finger.

“I have heard one painful story after the next. Dianne in Wenatchee said she is going to see her premium increase by fourteen hundred dollars a month. Damian told me his family faces a $2,000 monthly increase.

“And that’s just my state. A senior in Idaho told me his premium is increasing nearly eightfold. There’s a woman in Tennessee whose premium will jump from $10 a month to well over a thousand.

“Every day, the MAGA health care hike gets harder to fix. But the House is on vacation—seven weeks and counting! Republican leaders are openly saying, ‘Don’t look to us, we never wanted to lower health care costs in the first place.’

“As for President Trump, he’s throwing a blow-out Gatsby party down in Mar-a-Lago. He is pardoning people who helped terrorists launder money—all while he refuses to work on reopening the government, and actively chooses to break the law and ignore the courts to force 42 million Americans to go hungry.

“Remember, USDA had a plan to keep SNAP running longer, even before this shutdown started. Then Trump scrapped it, pulled it off their website. And now he’s proudly posting about blocking SNAP. I mean, he’s basically taking credit, promising it won’t go out.

“And as Speaker Johnson put it—they don’t want to release the ‘pressure.’ They are using the American people as leverage.

“Trump still has the funds to keep benefits going out in full and on time right now. He is choosing not to use them—all while he chooses to build himself a new ballroom.

“Do Republicans not realize that all those families who cannot afford to put food on the table, all those families facing the MAGA health care hike—they are watching as Trump guilds his office in gold and bulldozes the East Wing to build a fancy new ballroom. As he jacks up costs for working families with tariffs and shovels billions at Argentina. And as he showers goodies, pardons, and party favors on his friends, and Republicans shower tax breaks on billionaires.

“These families that are getting hurt are watching us. Their grocery bills rise, their premiums double, and the Republican lawmakers are doing nothing.

“Republicans need to get it into their head: families will not forget this, because they are going to be paying the cost of the MAGA health care hike. Every. Single. Month.

“So they need to get serious. They need to come to the table. And they need to work with us to stop the MAGA health care hike and reopen the government.”

###

Donald lied on social media pretending that the election results were not a reflection on him. Of course they were a reflection on him. And don't forget that he endorsed Cuomo and Andrew lost.

Grasp that even if Andrew had also gotten Sliwa's votes, Andrew still would have lost. NTY:

N.Y.C. Mayoral Election Results ›

race called

Candidate Party Votes Percent

Mamdani

Candidate	Party	Votes	Percent
Mamdani

Dem.	1,036,051	50.4%
Cuomo	Ind.	854,995	41.6
Sliwa	Rep.	146,137	7.1
91% of votes inSource: Associated Press

Zohran got 50.4% of the vote. Cuomo and Silwa together got 48.7% of the vote. This was a slaughter house election for Chump -- he's beaten and bloodied, exposed as the nothing he truly is.

I hope you already caught Mike's "Look out, America, Chump's coming for our sandwiches!" where he's raging against the stupidity of prosecuting someone for the 'crime' of throwing a sandwich. Mike is rightly mocking it. But grasp that this is what the useless and corrupt con man Donald Chump pursues these days: Federal charges against a person for the 'crime' of throwing a sandwich. That's just how pathetic and corrupt and wasteful Chump is. Mike's exactly right, at this point, Chump's coming for our sandwiches.

This while the government shutdown continues and Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson refuses to swear in Adelita Grijalva.-- 42 days after she was elected to Congress and he refuses to swear her in. This is the disaster, corrupt government of Chump.

And America rejected it last night.

In California, we won big.

At stake was redistricting. With Chump ordering Governor Greg Asshole to redistrict Texas to find him five more seats in the 2026 mid-terms, my state put it to the actual people. We don't have a little coward as governor who fears the people. So we put it on the ballot: Do we want to redistrict our state and stand up to Chump's attempts to rig the election?

That's what Proposition 50 was about and we had record turnout.

It won by a landslide. Not by a 'slim majority,' it won by a landslide.

63.8% of those who voted? They voted for Proposition 50. And those who voted against it? They made up a tiny 36.2%

Can someone explain that to Idiot Chump?

He and his stooges have lied that he got a mandate in the 2024 election and some insisting the results were a landslide.

No, he squeaked by.

And if DEMOCRACY NOW! and others working with Norman Solomon hadn't worked so hard to trash Kamala Harris in August, September and October, the results would probably be much different.

But it came down to Chump winning 49.8% of the popular vote and Kamala Harris winning 48.3% of the popular vote. That's not a mandate, that's not a majority -- that's not even a slim majority. He squeaked by.

And he's only grown more unpopular since.

Last night was a landslide. Someone might try educating Chump on what that term actually looks like.

Moving to a different topic. It's always interesting to see what the media is going to glom on and what they are going to ignore. Monday night, when I caught the THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW (MN NOW), I thought Ka$h Patel would be the topic on everyone's list come Tuesday.

But no. Not in terms of what Rachel addressed.

Alright. So does that not matter. Or is Laura Loomer the only one who pays attention to those who back stab the orange menace?

Because what I hear is Patel went around on one media program after anothe defending Chump and insisting he had declassified a lot of stuff. But, in fact, when the cameras weren't watching and Chump couldn't see him in front of the grand jury, Patel said something completely different. Patel stabbed Chump in the back.

One would expect this to result in Ka$h being shown the door. But even GOOGLE AI missed it.

Around the 26 minute mark, Rachel quotes from INJUSTICE: HOW POLITICS AND FEAR VANQUISHED AMERICA'S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT by Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis:

On November 3, the tam stress-tested a possible Trump defense that had been tossed out by one of Trump's loyal foot soldiers. They interviewed Kash Patel, a former Trump White House aide and Pentagon official., before a grand jury that day. When the documents investigation first became public, Patel had claimed in media interviews that the probe was fatally flawed because he knew Trump had declassified broad sets of sensitive records. After hours of testimony, prosecutors would later tell others in an update, Patel pulled back somewhat from his on-air statements, saying he only knew about Trump's efforts to declassify a specific set of documents, and didn't know about the larger expanse of records found at Mar-a-Lago.

Rachel then points out, "So Kash Patel made great hay saying on TV there was no case -- no case here because he personally knew that Trump had totally declassified everything. Kash Patel knew it first hand. He knew all those documents were no longer classified. Then when he got behind closed doors, before a grand jury, under oath, maybe he was not so sure about that after all."

And then the interview with Carol starts. Maybe if MS NOW had clipped that segment and put it on YOUTUBE people would have caught it.

It's not minor. To this days, Chump whines about that raid. He's done so at least twice in the last four weeks.

And it turns out that his defender Patel told the public a lie -- no surprise there -- but wasn't willing to lie for Chump to the grand jury.

Is Chump not aware of that? Is Laura Loomer to busy on the Pentagon bet to tell the Mr. Drysdale to her Jane Hathaway that it's being reported that awful raid might not have happened if Patel hadn't told the truth to the grand jury?

In other news, the deranged idiot who is taking over PARAMOUNT+ already has a problem to explain to stock holders. Bari Weiss.

The photographically challenged Bair has so many strikes against her and Isabel Keane (INDEPENDENT) just reported another one:

The newly-appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss, reportedly has a security detail costing $10,000 a day — even after the network cut 100 staffers in a brutal round of layoffs.

Weiss, a former opinion writer who founded the center-right “anti-woke” digital outlet, The Free Press, has eight bodyguards assigned to her at all times, Page Six reported Monday.

The former New York Times columnist is driven around in a caravan of SUVs, similar to the president or vice president, with the cars and security detail costing the company an eye-watering $10,000 a day, according to the report.

News of the pricey security arrangement comes as the struggling network laid off 100 staffers last Wednesday, leading to the cancellation of two digital shows, the gutting of CBS News’ Saturday morning offering, and the disbanding of its race and culture unit.

At ten thousand dollars a day, that's $3,650,000 a year. They have that kind of money to waste while they're doing all these cut offs? That kind of money to waste on someone who is not a reporter and has never been a reporter. She writes opinion pieces. S**ty opinion pieces. Basically they read, "Sure I eat out my wife but don't worry, I attack trans people so let me in on a pass right-wingers."

She is not journalistically qualified to hold the post she's been given but when you also factor in that she needs three million dollars a year in personal security costs? David Rhodes didn't get that when he was president of CBS NEWS. The fact that this glorified public editor requires it goes to just how unqualified she truly is. Stockholders better monitor the new owner's actions very carefully.

Let's note some coverage of the elections.

And let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Warren: "Half a million people are starving in Gaza right now, and we need to do everything we can to help."

Video of Exchange (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Austin Dahmer, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, on her concerns about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need to ensure Palestinians get desperately needed aid without interference.

Following the declared ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli government, the Trump administration’s plan called for “full aid” to be sent to Gaza “without interference.” Senator Warren raised concerns about the U.S. government’s partnership with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an inexperienced and militarized organization that lacks experience in food distribution.

Mr. Dahmer was questioned about his support for the ceasefire, as he previously tweeted that providing aid to Palestinians makes “U.S. support for Israel look performative." He affirmed his support to Senator Warren for the current peace efforts in Gaza. When pressed about his stance on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) inexperience and limited aid distribution, which led to over 1,000 deaths near aid sites, Mr. Dahmer refused to directly answer the question but acknowledged the need for experienced aid organizations to ensure successful aid delivery in Gaza.

Senator Warren concluded the hearing by calling for more effective aid efforts: “Half a million people are starving in Gaza right now, and we need to do everything we can to help.”

Senator Warren has been a strong advocate of requiring any recipient of U.S. military aid to follow U.S. laws prohibiting the restriction of humanitarian aid, as well as calling for more desperately needed supplies to be delivered to Gaza. She was the first Senator to open up an investigation into the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and has also been a vocal advocate against sending more weapons to the Netanyahu government.

Transcript: Hearings to examine the nominations of Austin Dahmer, of Arizona, and Robert Kadlec, of New York, both to be an Assistant Secretary, and Michael Borders, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, all of the Department of Defense.
Senate Armed Services Committee
November 4, 2025

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, right now we have a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, and we need to make it last. Following the October 7 terrorist attack, Prime Minister Netanyahu initiated a war that has cost nearly 70,000 Palestinians their lives. About a third of them were women and children. We need the ceasefire to put us on a path to peace. Now, one of the tenets of the ceasefire is that all parties must provide "full aid into Gaza" "without interference." This is powerfully important. For months, the Israeli government had a mere total blockade of food, medicine, and other critical humanitarian supplies, leading to half a million Palestinians in Gaza suffering from the first declared famine in the Middle East.

Now, Mr. Dahmer, you've been nominated to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities. If confirmed, you will advise the Secretary on how to align DoD resources to our national security strategy, including enforcing the conditions of this ceasefire.

Mr. Dahmer, do you support President Trump's ceasefire, including ensuring full aid goes into Gaza without interference?

Mr. Dahmer: Yes, Senator, I absolutely support the President's agenda, including his efforts at peace in Gaza.

Senator Warren: Okay, I'm glad to hear you believe that now in the past, you have tweeted that providing aid to Palestinians makes the U.S. "support for Israel look performative." But on top of continuing to limit aid, the U.S. government chose to work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an inexperienced organization with no history in food distribution. It was created by management consultants and run by armed contractors. Previous ceasefires saw more than 400 aid distribution sites, but GHF limited distribution instead of 400 to 4 and on GHF’s watch, over a thousand starving Palestinians desperately seeking food near GHF sites were killed amid multiple reports that the IDF has been opening fire on them.

Mr. Dahmer, do you think the GHF has a record of success in delivering aid to Palestinians?

Mr. Dahmer: Well, Senator, I think President Trump has been clear not only that he's focused on peace, but that he expects both Israel and Hamas to abide by the ceasefire.

Senator Warren: Okay, I appreciate that, but I asked a very specific question. Do you think the GHF has a record of success in delivering aid to Palestinians? It's a yes or no question.

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, I don't have enough information about the specific organization.

Senator Warren: Don’t have enough information? Expertise is critical here, and I'm worried DoD's complete indifference to the experience in delivering aid will only cost more Palestinians their lives.

Now, on October 21 U.S. Central Command announced they had opened a civil-military coordination center where U.S. military personnel will help facilitate assistance from international counterparts into Gaza. The Netanyahu government promptly selected one of the architects of the GHF to be their representative at this U.S.-led center. Press reporting indicates DoD is considering replicating the GHF model, including limiting aid distribution to a handful of sites.

Mr. Dahmer, this is one of the most complex areas to deliver aid. Would DoD be more successful by partnering with experienced aid organizations that have had some real success in delivering that aid?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, thank you for the important question. I would also note that U.S. Central Command released just a few days ago a video of Hamas actually looting an aid truck as it was being delivered—

Senator Warren: So, I appreciate that but that is not the question I asked. I have very limited time here. The chairman is very strict about our time. I'm asking you—this is a complex part of the world to deliver aid in. Would DoD be more successful if they partnered with somebody who actually had had some success in delivering aid in this region?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, if confirmed, I would commit to always working, not only across the department, on our security cooperation efforts and humanitarian aid—

Senator Warren: Could I just have a yes or no on my question?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, what? I'm sorry, what is this? What is the question?

Senator Warren: The question is, it's a complex area to deliver aid. Would DoD be more successful if it partnered with experienced aid organizations that have had success in delivering aid in this region?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, I would agree that a demonstrated record of success would be a positive indicator of future success.

Senator Warren: Well, I appreciate that. Half a million people are starving in Gaza right now, and we need to do everything we can to help.

###

The following sites updated:

Tuesday, November 04, 2025

Yea, Nancy!

Let's here it for Nancy. Charl Wright (THE MIRROR) reports:

Nancy Pelosi has issued a brutal takedown of Donald Trump as she called him the "worst thing on the face of the earth" during an interview with CNN.

Speaking to CNN's Elex Michaelson in San Francisco ahead of California's vote today over Proposition 50, Nancy slammed the president, calling him a "vile creature." Proposition 50, if passed, would allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw congressional maps in a way more favorable to Democrats.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is in support of Proposition 50, said, "He's just a vile creature. The worst thing on the face of the Earth. But anyway."

Elex then asked her to confirm her stance and explain why she felt that way, to which she did, replying, "Because he’s the president of the United States, and he does not honor the Constitution of the United States.

"In fact, he’s turned the Supreme Court into a rogue court. He's abolished the House of Representatives. He's chilled the press. He's chilled the press. He's scared people who are in our country legally."

Good for Nancy. I'm prepared to vote for her in 2026 if she runs. If she wants to spend time with family instead, that's fine too. In which case I'll vote for a qualified person in San Francisco. No, I won't vote for any New Yorker trying to push their way into my community -- forget it AOC staffer, no one wants you, not now, not ever, stay in New York.

Fact Checker

9 hours ago

And Nancy Pelosi is correct. He has so divided our country. And it is a sign that our moral compass is on a downward spiral when we vote in a multiple convicted felon, an adulterer to his three wives, a convicted sexual abuser and an insurrectionist. The Roman Empire died from within.

Jack W.

5 hours ago

Trump is a miserable excuse for the human race. German people after World War 2 had wanted to distance themselves from the name Hitler, Adolf, and other names associated with atrocities by his regime. The name Trump has already begun to follow that example as the American people are now realizing the damage to our constitution and disrespect for all those who have defended it with sacrifice while attempting to destroy our republic that has existed now for 250 years.

Robert Birsel (NEWSWEEK) adds:

What People Are Saying

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic representative for California, told CNN: “The fact is, the president wanted to rig the system because he knew he would lose. People said: ‘Well, two wrongs don’t make a right.’ We don’t like redistricting mid-decade; we don’t think that that’s right. But the fact is, we have self-defense for democracy.”

What Happens Next

Pelosi is expected to announce the path of her career, whether that be retirement or reelection, following the November 4 special election in California on the congressional redistricting ballot measure.

When she was Speaker and Minority Leader, she was often disappointing and you'd be told that due to her leadership position she couldn't do this or that, that leadership meant she had to answer nationally and couldn't just represent her constituents (we are all more liberal than she is). Now she's able to just speak her mind and I say go for it.

A comment on the NEWSWEEK article:

Salad Tsar Yo

14 hours ago

Here Nancy I got this. tRump is an unrepentant and untreated sex offender who ought to be behind bars being held accountable for his sex crimes. He is a narcissistic psychopath who shouldn't be within 5 miles of the whitehouse let alone sitting in the oval office. He is a Komprimised individual who for some strange reason is beholden to Putin. One would hope only for financial reasons but I fear there is more than that to it. It really is sad that our president is such a letch that we have to ask these questions of our other leaders.

I'm proud of Nancy. And I'm proud of my state. We overwhelmingly turned out at the polls today and supported redistricting to stop Chump's attempts to steal the 2026 mid-terms.

Fat Boy Chump, I believe you got checked and balanced.

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

Tuesday, November 4, 2025. The "P" in GOP apparently stands for pedophile, 41 days since an election and a mem ber of Congress is still not sworn in, Senator Elizabeth Warren has some questions regarding cronyism, and much more.

Donald Chump was Jeffrey Epstein's roll dog. And he has no sympathy for the victims of Epstein. But he does have sympathy for someone. Holly Bishop (INDEPENDENT) reports:

Donald Trump said that stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his titles is a “tragic situation”, adding that he feels “badly” for the royal family.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Sunday (2 November), the US president was asked about King Charles’s dramatic decision to officially remove his brother’s Prince and Duke of York titles, amid pressure over Andrew’s ties with Jeffrey Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre took her own life this year because living with what Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell did to her was just too much. But Chump feels sorry for . . . Andrew. Chump is the one who put Virginia in Epstein's orbit. This past summer, he was whining that Epstein stole her from him.

But no sympathy for her, right? None at all.

Erin Mansfield (USA TODAY) reports:

Lisa Phillips felt sick to her stomach.

She stood on the east side of the U.S. Capitol on a clear fall day as one woman after another described how Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused them.

They were groomed as teenagers and young women under the guise that they would just be providing massages to an older man. They said they were scared of saying anything for years.

Phillips looked down at her phone, then across the way at her friends, then back to her phone. She took deep breaths. She adjusted her shirt, moved her shoulders back, and stood up tall. Finally, she stepped to the podium.

“I stand here today for every woman who has been silenced, exploited and dismissed,” Phillips said. “We are not asking for pity. We are here demanding accountability, and I’m demanding justice.”

Phillips set aside the speech she'd prepared. Instead, she would take back power for herself, the women who spoke before her, and the women who would come after her. They had spent years finding their voices, and this was the first time so many had come together in person as a united force against the late financier and convicted sex offender.

“I would like to announce here today us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list,” she said. “We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now, together as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know.”

Six years after Epstein's death, there are hundreds of these women. They call themselves Survivor Sisters, and they're the driving force behind the renewed public pressure to identify Epstein associates they say assaulted them or participated in his trafficking ring. Epstein's estate did not respond to requests for comment. Before he died in 2019, he pleaded not guilty to related charges.

President Donald Trump, who was friends with Epstein in the 1990s, has reneged on previous promises to release the Epstein files, and top officials in the Department of Justice have denied that certain records exist and said they are unable to obtain others. A bill to force the Department of Justice to release the documents is stalled in Congress. But the issue is unlikely to go away given the unabating public interest.

Adelita Grijalva. David Hogg and other whores created an online echo chamber to get behind Deja Foxx -- the way the same group of losers is pretending Graham Platner now. They got her media attention and, until polling came in, she was supposed to be the winner in the Democratic Party primary for the House seat. Just as Adelita won the primary, she also won the general election.

September 23, 2025. That's when she beat her Republican opponent "by a 2-1 margin." But she's still not a member of Congress. Why? Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson refuses to swear her in. Let that sink in.

Joe Reberkenny (WASHINGTON BLADE) explains:

Adelita Grijalva, the recently elected representative from Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District, has already begun making history—without having stepped foot into the Capitol. Grijalva is now officially the longest-delayed member of the House to be sworn in—41 days and counting.

She was elected in a special election on Sept. 23 by a two-to-one margin over her Republican opponent, following the death of her father, Raúl Grijalva, who had represented the district from 2003 until early 2025. The district includes a large portion of Arizona’s southern border with Mexico.

Despite being elected more than 40 days ago, Grijalva has not been given the opportunity to begin her work representing Arizona in the House of Representatives.

Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House and a representative from Louisiana, has offered several explanations for the delay in swearing in Grijalva—ranging from waiting until all votes were certified in the special election (despite not requiring Republicans who also won special elections to wait) to claiming the House needed to return from recess (despite precedent showing new members are typically sworn in the day after their election, regardless of whether the House is in session). Most recently, Johnson has said Grijalva will not be sworn in until the government reopens.

The Washington Blade sat down with Grijalva to discuss the historic delay in her swearing-in, the importance of protecting transgender rights, book bans, environmental issues, and much more.

While Speaker Johnson has given many explanations for the delay, Grijalva said one stands out above the rest—the Epstein files. She ran on a promise to sign a discharge petition to force a vote for the release of the complete Epstein files, a hypothesized document containing the names of high-profile clients to whom the American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein trafficked young girls. Her signature on the petition would be the 218th, the minimum number required to force a vote.

“I’ve now broken all the records for speaker obstruction. Nobody else has ever had to wait this long just to represent their constituents… I never received one communication directly from his office,” Grijalva said of Speaker Johnson’s lack of reasoning for the delay. “It seems to me they’re doing everything they can to stop the release of the Epstein files, and I just don’t know what else it could be.”

41 days to protect the late Jeffrey Epstein. 41 days. It's the GOP's Pedophile Protection Program. Mike Lillis (THE HILL) reports:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday went after President Trump and Republican leaders over the Jeffrey Epstein case, saying their refusal to press for the release of the government files on the convicted child sex offender is tantamount to protecting pedophiles.

Jeffries pointed specifically to Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) decision not to seat Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D) as evidence of his charge. Grijalva won a special election in Arizona on Sept. 23 and is vowing to be the deciding signature on a discharge petition that would force the Justice Department to release the undisclosed Epstein documents — whenever she’s sworn in.

“The Trump administration and Mike Johnson are running a pedophile protection program,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. “That’s what they’ve been doing, and that’s the reason why they refuse to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, for weeks now.”

The Speaker of the Closet is not doing his job. SLATE discusses it this morning in a podcast. NYT's Michelle Cottle observes:

So what’s the holdup? Tough to say, exactly. Johnson has not met with or even spoken to Grijalva about the situation. His office pointed me toward his existing statements, but these justifications for foot-dragging have been a little hard to follow, much less swallow.

The speaker has blamed the government shutdown, which officially began Oct. 1, although he sent the House home early on Sept. 19. He says he is simply following the precedent of swearing in members only when the chamber is in regular session. He has even taken to calling this “the Pelosi precedent,” referring to an episode in 2021 when Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker, waited nearly a month to swear in a Republican member who had won a special election that March.

Not to nitpick, but this argument would sound more convincing if not for the fact that, when two Republicans won special elections in Florida in April, Johnson leaped to seat them within 24 hours even though the House wasn’t in regular session. He used a “pro forma” session to get the job done.

Pressed on the discrepancy, Johnson has offered a convoluted explanation involving a preset swearing-in date, the Republicans’ families having traveled to Washington, the relative timing of the elections and so on. Simply trying to follow his logic leaves you needing a chiropractor.

Bolder still, Johnson has taken to publicly scolding Grijalva to stick to doing her job and stop wasting time … um … spotlighting his refusal to let her officially start that job.

It bears repeating that Johnson is jerking around not just Grijalva but the 813,000 people of Arizona’s 7th District, which runs along the state’s southern border. For instance, until Grijalva is a full-fledged member, her office cannot collect and track a lot of the sensitive information needed to do casework for constituents.

But perhaps the speaker thinks he doesn’t owe the people of Grijalva’s district anything since they overwhelmingly rejected his party’s House pick. Such is the essence of Trumpist leadership: If you don’t support my tribe, you deserve to be ignored, even punished. To have your government funding frozen. To have federal troops swarm your cities. To have your duly elected representative delayed from getting down to work for you. Then maybe next time you’ll know better.

For 41 days and counting, the Speaker of the Closet has worked to protect Donald Chump, not the American people. Adelita Grijalva was duly elected and should be sworn in immediately. Instead, Johnson shirks his dutires and shames his office. Syvante Myrick (THE HILL) observes:

Johnson’s unjustifiable refusal to swear Grijalva in, and his refusal to let the House come back into session to deal with the budget, food and health care crises his party has created, are deeply unprincipled.

Indeed, there’s good reason to suspect that Johnson has a very bad reason for his behavior. Grijalva would cast the deciding vote to force the Trump administration to disclose the files it has on the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Watching Johnson stumble through humiliatingly bogus justifications for his action makes me wonder: When Johnson said that God raised him up to be Speaker of the House as an American Moses to lead our country through a Red Sea moment, did he imagine that his calling would be to take food out of the mouths of 40 million Americans and force millions of families to face devastating health insurance costs — all to protect a president potentially hiding embarrassing revelations in the Epstein files?

Johnson continues to defend and rescue Chump while betraying the American people who continue to walk away from Chump.

Ava and my "Media: Yes, there's a lot of garbage out there but that doesn't excuse 60 MINUTES" went up last night. We covered the chat -- don't call it an interview or mistake it for journalism -- Norah O'Donnell did with Donald Chump on 60 MINUTES. It's an embarrassment. Two 60 MINUTE friends tried to deny that and insisted it was more journalism than numerous TV documentaries. We're not a fan of the faux documentaries -- especially what airs on AMERICAN MASTERS which allows one lie after another to be broadcast. But we looked at a documentary -- APPLE TV's lousy five-part MR. SCORSESE -- and we looked at what 60 MINUTES aired as well as some of the footage that they just shoved over to YOUTUBE.

On the 60 MINUTES chat, a few e-mails are insisting that we didn't cover the issue of pardons!!!!!

No, we didn't. Yes, since the 60 MINUTES segment it has become a news topic. But why would we revisit that topic?

Revisit? We covered it last week in "Media: They fail to note the pattern of ICE lies but make time to defend this year's John Fetterman:"

America, meet your new John Fetterman: Graham Platner.

He's one of many vying for the spot of Democratic Party nominee for a senate seat out of Maine.

One of many.

And he needs to drop out. He was whining Monday night that the Democratic Party was attacking him -- his own party.

Believe his party is the Communist Party -- isn't that what he declared online. Let's go to WIKIPEDIA:

In October 2025, various news outlets reported on Reddit posts by Platner from between 2013 and 2021 in which he called himself a "communist", declared that all cops are bastards, and agreed with a post calling rural white Americans "racist and stupid". In an interview with CNN, Platner said of those comments, "That was very much me f**king around the internet ... I don't think any of that is indicative of who I am today".^[39] In a 2013 Reddit discussion about anti-rape underwear, Platner commented that people worried about assault should "take some responsibility for themselves and not get so fucked up they wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to".^[40] He also referenced political violence in multiple posts; in 2018, he wrote: "Fight until you get tired of fighting with words and then fight with signs, and fists, and guns if need be." Platner also wrote that "an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice" and urged readers to "Get Armed, Get Organized. The Other Side Sure As Hell Is."^[39]^[41] He has said that many of the comments do not represent his current political beliefs, and that they were the product of disillusionment after his military discharge and struggles with PTSD.^[42]^[43] Collins called Platner's internet history "terrible" and "offensive".^[44] Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said that while he did not approve of Platner's comments, he did not consider them "disqualifying".^[45] After the reporting on these comments, Platner's political director, former Democratic state representative Genevieve McDonald, resigned from his campaign.^[46]

Platner said in an interview with Pod Save America that he has a skull-and-bones tattoo resembling the Totenkopf, a symbol worn by the Nazi Schutzstaffel paramilitary organization. Platner said that he and some other Marines got the tattoo while on leave in Croatia in 2007, not knowing its symbolism,^[47] and that he learned that his tattoo resembled the Totenkopf only when reporters and political operatives from DC contacted him during his campaign. He said he had recently gotten it covered up.^[48]^[49] Maine Governor Janet Mills, one of Platner's opponents in the Democratic primary, described the tattoo as "abhorrent". She stated, "I obviously vehemently disagree with the things he's been quoted as saying and doing" but that it was "up to the people" to decide whether he should continue in the Senate race.^[50] However, Platner also called himself an anti-fascist "supersoldier" in an old Reddit comment.^[51]

Is there some homo-erotic desire on the part of DSA -- among others -- when it comes to male candidates who are pure trash? Like Fetterman, Platner doesn't look like he's managed more than two showers a month and DSA tends to mistake that for fortitude.

Tonight, Jen Pskai was all but licking him on air on the soon to be MS NOW.

Weirdo Branco Marcetic took to JACOBIN (the DSA bible) at the start of the week to insist there was a smear job being done on Platner.

Not a smear job, an expose.

He got a Nazi tattoo. Instead of calling that out, the DSA is acting as ridiculous as the fright-wing does when they rush to defend Confederate monuments. And CNN's already exposed his lie that he didn't know he'd tattooed himself with a Nazi symbol until recently was a lie -- he knew as far back as 2006 when CNN was able to unearth the social media posts he'd deleted as part of his effort to run for the senate. Part of that effort, by the way, was getting married (for the first time) last year at the age of forty.

He knew it was a Nazi tattoo and he knew it nearly 20 years ago. He's lied repeatedly and publicly. He's also a mercenary who worked for Blackwater which is somehow being ignored.

Why? Because he cites Bernie as a hero (as did Fetterman) and he cites Socialists as heroes (without noting their political affiliation) (as did Fetterman) so it's time for the same booming voices to try to shout reality down. There are many candidates running of that Democratic Party nomination. Why are Jen Psaki, POD SAVE AMERICA, JACOBIN and others doing advance work for his campaign while ignoring other nominees? And on other comments, he did not minimize rape accusations as some idiots in the media keep typing, he minimized rape. There's a big difference. One is really bad (mining accusations), the other is outright evil (minimizing rape itself). Christopher Wiggins (THE ADVOCATE) explained:

The controversy has rattled Maine’s Democratic primary. Platner, a Marine and Army veteran and political newcomer, admitted to posting homophobic slurs and crude antigay jokes on Reddit as recently as 2021. He apologized for misogynistic and racist comments on Reddit before that. And, he covered up a tattoo he’s worn for 18 years that resembles the Nazi Totenkopf symbol, which he said he got in his 20s during his time in the Marines.

This is the hill Jen Psaki and others want to die on?

And instead of letting it play out, they're trying to rig it, they're trying to railroad the American people.

While they try to lie to us to pimp their favored candidate, they ignore the war on immigrants and so much more.

For example?

Hey, commentators at websites, on YOUTUBE, on MSNBC, every where -- where the hell have you been?

Donald Chump has savaged Joe Biden over the use of an auto pen to sign documents. He's insisted that Joe didn't even know what he was signing. Well last week, Donald served himself up for that kind of criticism but where the hell were you?

David Badash noted Donald had just pardoned Changpeng Zhao:

Asked on Thursday why he chose to issue the pardon, and if it had anything to do with Zhao’s involvement with the Trump family’s crypto business, the President responded, “Who is that?”

“The founder of Binance,” the reporter replied.

“The recent one, yes,” Trump said. “I believe we’re talking about the same person, ’cause I do pardon a lot of people.”

“I don’t know -- he was recommended by a lot of people,” Trump continued. “A lot of people say that -- are you talking about the crypto person?”

Ewan Palmer (DAILY BEAST) covered the story in terms of Republcians and Democrats who objected to the pardon.

But there was always an important point to make that no one seemed to grasp.

Last month, AP reported:

President Donald Trump has added a Presidential Walk of Fame to the exterior of the White House, featuring portraits of each of the previous commanders-in-chief — except for one.

Instead of a headshot of Joe Biden, the Republican incumbent instead hung a photo of an autopen signing the Democrat’s name — a reference to Trump’s frequent allegation that the former president was addled by the end of his term in office and not really the one making decisions.

Chump doesn't know who he pardoned -- and not from earlier this year or even a month ago. He didn't know who he just pardoned. Seems he's guilty of everything he's accused Joe of. Also seems like his not knowing who he pardoned is even more important after Monday's assault by the Republican controlled House Oversight Committee which stated this week their 'finding' that Joe Biden's pardons are not legitimate because they were signed with an auto pen. That's their 'finding' and they can talk about it however they want; however, it is not a judicial finding and it has no weight at all on the pardons Joe issued which stand in spite of Chump and GOP spin.

Last week, William Priest (BARRON'S) observed, "Democracy, once thought to be self-sustaining, is on defense. Like every system before it, democracy has gone through cycles of strength and weakness—but its survival is no longer guaranteed. What is at stake is not simply a style of governance, but the wealth, freedom, and happiness of its citizens." We agree. In the 20th century, there was communism, democracy, socialism, totalitarianism, fascism, etc. When the USSR fell, some political observers declared it a victory for democracy. It wasn't. Democracy, like any political system, can fall. We have to fight for it -- right now, we're really having to fight for it -- and we can't take it for granted. But when we see the media refusing to cover something or refusing to cover it accurately or using their time (while wasting our time) to lie about the candidate they personally support, it becomes obvious that democracy does not mean as much to them as it does to us. If it did, they'd be better at their jobs.

--------------- end of excerpt ----------------------------

Yeah, last week, certain left outlets were too focused on Graham Nazi Platner to address Chump's pardon. He didn't say anything new on 60 MINUTES. But some of the whores for Graham decided to sneak in on the 60 MINUTES chat and act like this was a revelation.

Whores.

Bernie Sanders endorsed him. Bernie has given us a lot of White problems, hasn't he. An e-mail reminded me that one problem is of course Tulsi Gabbard. Bernie's the one who endorsed her and elevated her -- just like he did John Fetterman and like he's doing Platner right now.

I have no idea if 77 is too old to be a US senator or not. But I would guess 83 is. And some of Platner's biggest supporters from the Bernie crowd are attacking Janet Mills for being 77 and wanting to run for the Senate.. Where were they last year? Because Bernie was 83 last year and ran again for re-election when his aged and tired ass should have retired.

Let's note MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.

It is election day and there are a number of important races around the country. I'll be voting for redistricting here in California. I can weigh in there because it's an election I can vote in. I don't weigh in with endorsements if I can't vote in the election.

Strange, isn't it, that Alien Musk doesn't live in NYC but feels he can attack Zohran and endorse Andrew.

After awhile, you really have to wonder about people like this. At MOTHER JONES, Nina Martin notes:

Abortion may not technically be on the ballot in Tuesday’s off-year state elections, but in the post-Roe v. Wade era, abortion is always on the ballot. Since the US Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs ruling that ended the federal right to abortion, statewide elections have become opportunities for reproductive rights supporters and opponents alike to expand or limit access to care by voting on the politicians who create the laws, the judges who enforce them, and, sometimes, on the laws themselves.

When voters have had the opportunity to weigh in directly on ballot measures enshrining abortion protections, those measures have mostly won, even in red states. When the vote is indirect—that is, for people rather than policies—the results are much more mixed. Just consider what happened in 2024, when states that approved abortion-rights measures also went for anti-abortion judges and Donald Trump. This week’s elections are the first time that large numbers of voters can express their feelings about the country’s radical change in direction under Trump 2.0. In five states, the results will also have major statewide and even national implications for access to reproductive care.

CALIFORNIA

California’s Proposition 50, the blockbuster redistricting measure designed to stop Republicans from rigging next year’s midterm elections, will affect all kinds of democratic rights, including reproductive autonomy. Prop 50 would temporarily suspend California’s current congressional maps, which were drawn by an independent citizens commission, and allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to create new maps that would remain in place through 2030. Governor Gavin Newsom and his allies got the idea after Texas lawmakers, buckling to Trump’s demands, redrew their congressional map to elect more Republicans—potentially enough to keep the US House of Representatives under GOP control in 2026 and beyond. If approved by voters, Prop 50 could sufficiently alter the partisan makeup of California’s House delegation—currently 43 Democrats and nine Republicans—to effectively negate the Texas redistricting effort. Polls show that California voters are very much on board.

Republicans currently have a slim six-seat majority in the House; a wider margin could empower them to unleash all manner of new legislative horrors on the country, including, potentially, an extension of this year’s temporary defunding of Planned Parenthood and even a national ban on abortion after 15 or 20 weeks of pregnancy. A Democratic majority, on the other hand, would bring the GOP legislative machine in Congress grinding to a halt. With so much at stake, total spending by both sides is well north of $175 million. During a press call, Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, described the GOP efforts to further gerrymander red states as “a naked attempt to steal congressional seats” and “an emergency for our democracy.” Prop 50, added John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, is “a defensive shield for our democracy and for reproductive rights.”

Continue reading for other states.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office: