Thursday, June 25, 2026

Lionel Richie, Dolly Parton, Raye, Ari Lennox, Sam Smith

We all love Lionel Richie.  "Hello," "Penny Lover," "Three Times A Lady" (with the Commodores) and on and on including his epic duet with Diana Ross "Endless Love."  Lionel's in the news. Taijuan Moorman (USA TODAY) reports:

Lionel Richie cut his Minnesota tour opener short after a "dizzy" spell.

The Grammy-winning singer, who is on his Sing a Song All Night Long Tour with Earth, Wind & Fire, performed his grooving hit "Dancing on the Ceiling" while sitting on a step on stage, per the Minnesota Star Tribune. He later told the St. Paul, Minnesota, audience, "When you're feeling dizzy, sit your ass down," admitting he'd never performed the 1986 hit seated. He then launched into the ballad "Three Times a Lady" while sitting at a grand piano.
Shortly after, just over halfway through his set, the 77-year-old singer announced an "intermission," according to the outlet. He didn't return, and after 15 minutes, his band also left. After nearly 25 more minutes with no word, saxophonist Dino Soldo appeared on stage to announce that "unfortunately, Lionel is not feeling well. He won't be able to continue."


Several videos circulating on social media showed Richie, 77, sitting down on the stage several times while performing "Dancing on the Ceiling." He reportedly told the audience that he wasn't feeling well: "When you're feeling dizzy, sit your ass down," he said, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Hopefully, he was just winded and he will be feeling a-okay very soon if not already.  People have been worried about Dolly Parton's health recently.  Emily Cochrane (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:

It honestly didn’t matter whether or not Dolly Parton was going to show up for the opening of her new truck stop in rural Tennessee. Debbe Lamey Welch would not have missed it.

She pulled together an outfit — glittering silver-fringed cape and boots, rhinestone-studded cowboy hat, blonde hair extensions — and left her job at a senior living center just before the bingo game started to make the nearly two-hour drive.

“I thought that this would be the appropriate dress, just in case she might decide to stop by,” Ms. Welch, 52, said.
Ms. Parton did in fact show up, in a fringed blue outfit and sparkling heels, though only for a few minutes. It was a rare public appearance for the 80-year-old country music superstar, even in her home state. Health concerns, which began last year as she postponed and later canceled a Las Vegas residency, grew to the point that Ms. Parton took to social media last fall to confirm that “I ain’t dead yet.”
[. . .]
The fact that hundreds of people had gathered in sweltering heat for the grand opening of a truck stop — albeit one featuring glitter, butterflies and many images of Ms. Parton — was a testament to how much Ms. Parton remains a beacon for her fans in Tennessee.

It was also a sign of how her business empire continues to expand in response to a seemingly insatiable demand for more Dolly. Her SongTeller hotel, complete with her Life of Many Colors Museum of clothing, memorabilia and awards, is scheduled to open in the coming months in downtown Nashville.

The truck stop has its own line of merchandise. And it features “Cup of Ambition” coffee, plus a dog park, a performance venue and a tour bus where people can pose for photos. (There is also an array of gas station staples that are, surprisingly, not Dolly-themed.)


The 2026 BET Awards just got even more star-studded.
On Wednesday, June 24, BET announced many additional performers — including RAYE and Ari Lennox — as well as the list of presenters set to appear at the annual awards show.
Other newly announced artists performing at the 2026 BET Awards include Alexia Jayy, Baby Keem, BJ the Chicago Kid, Durand Bernarr, Erica Campbell, George Clinton, Le'Andria Johnson, Nas, Rapsody and BET Amplified artist Kenny Iko.
The group joins previously announced performers Cardi B, Common, Doechii, Don Toliver, French Montana, Kehlani, kwn, Max B, Queen Latifah, Rick Ross, Tems, T.I. and The War and Treaty.


Sam Smith has announced the release of their fifth album "Hazel Eyes," releasing on August 21 via Capitol Records.

Smith co-produced "Hazel Eyes" with Simon Aldred and David Odlum, touting 12 songs that were crafted with collaborators Feist, Shahzad Ismaily and Rob Moose. The record was partly recorded at Electric Lady Studios and is described in a press release as "a heartfelt ode to the city of New York which Sam now calls home."
"This album is an incredibly special record to me," says Smith. "I have been writing it for over three years with a very small group of beautiful, dear friends of mine. This album is very personal, and I feel I have deepened myself as an artist through the making of it, through being a producer on the record, to walking alongside this record from the start to the finish and pushing myself at every single turn. This record and this music is incredibly romantic. I've learned so many life lessons through making this album, and I've documented it all through the music."

To accompany the album announcement, the singer-songwriter has put out the new single "My Guy," co-written by Smith, Feist and Ismaily, along with its music video.

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


Thursday, June 25, 2026.  Chump and Republican US senators exchange words, Chump's faithful turn out for a speech from the Convicted Felon and large numbers leave half-way through the speech, the courts are delivering some harsh verdicts for Chump, Pete Hegseth remains unqualified to be the Secretary of the Defense, and much more. 


Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) brings us up to speed on the Iran War this morning.


Delusional and demented Donald Chump, Convicted Felon of the United States, no longer can recall what he said mere months ago.  Reanna Smith (THE MIRROR) reports:

For more than 100 days, Donald Trump has reassured the American public that the war in Iran has effectively been won by the US.

He has repeatedly claimed victory in the conflict, even going as far as declaring that it was achieved within the "first hour" of the war. But now the president appears to have backpedaled on those bold claims.
On Tuesday, 116 days after the conflict began, he admitted Iran is only now "on the 'ropes,' ready to go down for the fall." The president took to Truth Social to boast about the achievement as he complained about the US Senate approving a War Powers Resolution demanding that he halt hostilities against Iran and seek congressional approval before continuing any military action.
[. . .]
The post suggests that the US had not already achieved the victory Trump had previously declared.



Yesterday, Chump interacted with Republican senators. Arthur Delaney and Jennifer Bendery (HUFFINGTON POST) report:


It started with Trump demanding to know why anyone would vote for a resolution to end the war in Iran, as four Republicans had done on Tuesday, despite ongoing peace negotiations. 
“He asked, ‘Why would anybody vote for the War Powers Act?’ As he continued, I said, ‘Is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?’ He said, ‘I’d like to know,’” [Senator Bill] Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. 

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on. It was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved, and I want to know what’s going on.’”

Cassidy said he told the president he’d continue voting for resolutions to end the war until the administration gives lawmakers a briefing. He said the account was not necessarily verbatim, but other senators confirmed there’d been a testy exchange. 

“As I recall,” Cassidy continued, “he did not particularly care for my comments, raised his voice. I lost my temper — that’s inappropriate, it’s the Irish in me —  but I again matched his tone and his volume, and it went back and forth, but at some point, my guys said, ‘All right, Bill, sit down,’ and so I sat down and tried to de-escalate.”






The more-than-hourlong meeting with Mr. Trump focused mostly on the Iran war and the War Powers Resolution. On Tuesday, the Senate approved a Democrat-led resolution to keep the president from ordering further military action in Iran. Four Republicans voted in favor of the concurrent resolution, which is symbolic and does not carry the force of law.
A source directly familiar with the meeting told CBS News Mr. Trump expressed his discontent with Republicans, including Cassidy, who had worked with the Democrats on the resolution. 

The president also shared his disdain for Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. "It was very awkward when she walked in right after he said that," the source said.

Murkowski arrived at the meeting late, telling reporters that she had a previously scheduled event. Afterward, she questioned his decision not to sign the housing bill.

"If he chooses to hold up his own agenda because he wants action on the SAVE Act, that's — I guess — his call. It is not helpful to him. It's not helpful to the country, and it's not moving the needle," Murkowski told reporters. "If you don't have the votes, sir, you don't have the votes."



Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) described Trump as “mad as a murder hornet” about the Iran vote, while Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) described the scene as “very much like a hospital board meeting, when a bunch of doctors are yelling at each other.”

Marshall added that “at the end of the day, we'll figure out a way to get along.”

Another GOP senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, called the lunch “very intense.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), deploying some go-to congressional lingo for heated encounters, called it “spirited,” “frank” and “candid.”

And the two also note Chump's inability to move past the Save America Act:

Instead, Trump’s surprise declaration, which appeared to catch even some of his own staff off guard, became the latest curveball for Senate Republicans — following a surprise request for White House ballroom security funding and the announcement of a Justice Department “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that overshadowed and delayed passage of a GOP immigration enforcement bill.

Since then, Trump also has thrown a key surveillance program into limbo and upended the confirmation plans for his own nominee for director of national intelligence.

Most persistently, he has fixated on Senate Republicans passing the SAVE America Act — including by eliminating the filibuster — even though Thune and other GOP senators have said repeatedly that there aren't the votes to do that.

“There is a huge group of people who really appreciate what the president is doing right now and it's the Democrat party,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said. ”And we’ve got to get our act together and stop surprising people and stop having conflicting messages.”

Meanwhile, Chump's name has been removed from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  But the removal was done behind a tarp and the tarp remains obscuring the title of the building.  Mike Scarcella (REUTERS) reports:

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to explain why it placed a tarp over the Kennedy Center's façade after the Republican leader's name was removed from the building under a court order.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said the administration must report by July 31 "the purpose and status of the tarp and scaffolding" now in place at the iconic building.



Last month, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper found that the president had illegally put his name on the performing arts center when it was added in December. Further, the Obama-appointed judge ruled that only Congress had the power to change the name of the Kennedy Center, formally known as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

But it seems Trump’s team isn’t taking that well.
On June 13, workers complied with the judge’s order, removing Trump’s name from the once-storied performance center. But in its place, they erected scaffolding and a tarp that almost completely obscures the name on the building.

The scaffolding and tarp extend almost entirely up the side of the building. Crews even ensured that the doors to the center below the sign remained accessible, suggesting the cover-up would stay in place for some time.
Cooper, for his part, appears to have caught on. On Wednesday, the federal judge ordered a status report by the last day of July detailing “the purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding that Defendants have erected on the front portico of the Center, to the extent they remain at that time,” Deadline reported.

It's not a good time for Chump judicial wise.  Priscilla Alvarez (CNN) reports: 

A federal judge in California on Tuesday issued a nationwide block against the Trump administration’s policy of making arrests at immigration courts, putting an end to a practice that garnered national attention.

Last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement began detaining migrants in courthouse hallways across the country, sometimes moments after pleading their cases. The move raised alarm among attorneys and advocates who said the practice was turning immigration courts from places of due process into zones of fear and punishing people who were following the rules.
[. . .]
In a 71-page ruling, Judge P. Casey Pitts acknowledged the “chilling effect” of ICE’s policy, finding that it was “arbitrary and capricious.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, simply extending the 2025 courthouse-arrest policies to cover immigration courthouses would not cure those policies’ fatal defects. As the Court has previously detailed, the policies entirely fail to address the chilling effect of courthouse arrests on noncitizens’ attendance at court proceedings, which is both a critical factor underlying ICE’s 2021 guidance and an ‘important aspect of the problem’ in its own right,” Pitts said.

Elliot Spagat (INDEPENDENT) adds, "This ruling marks the second judicial setback for courthouse arrests, following a May decision by a federal judge in New York. However, while the earlier order applied only within New York, Judge Pitts' latest decision invalidates the policy nationwide."  And, as Betty noted last night in "Hateful Chump gets blocked in his attacks on trans people," a judge stood up to Chump on medical records. AP's Larry Neumeister notes, "A judge temporarily blocked federal prosecutors in Texas from getting access to the medical records of transgender patients treated at New York hospitals on Wednesday, saying they were part of an improper government effort to “demonize and eradicate an entire population of transgender” people."  Neumeister reports:

At a Tuesday hearing, Failla was critical of the federal government, saying executive orders addressing transgender issues contained “language some people might consider inflammatory.”

She said it seemed from an “atmospheric perspective” that the government was “rounding up” vulnerable individuals by finding out the most personal information about them and then “giving them no comfort they're not going to be ostracized or even harmed.”

“There are episodes of this in our history and they are not nice episodes,” Failla said. “Some may see it as a rounding up of people for all bad purposes.”

Most major medical groups say access to gender-affirming care is important for people with gender dysphoria. Transgender teens, parents and providers have described it as life-saving for children who are depressed or suicidal because their gender identities do not match the gender assigned them at birth.


A divided federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Justice Department is not entitled to Michigan's voter registration list containing sensitive information from voters in the state.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit is now the first appeals court to weigh in on the Trump administration's efforts to obtain the unredacted voter rolls from more than two dozen states. At issue in the case decided by the 6th Circuit is the Justice Department's demand for the information from Michigan.
In a 2-1 decision, the 6th Circuit said a provision of federal civil rights law does not entitle the government to Michigan's voter registration list, which contains the names, birth dates, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers of all registered voters in the state, among other information.


Chump, of course, is used to bad news.  He takes it and then lies about it to make himself look better.  Yesterday, he spoke in DC and even a crowd that turned out for him wasn't interested as evidenced by their departing while his speech was far from over.




Watch the crowd disperse while Donald continues speaking and droning on.  

This after his trip earlier this week to Pennsylvania attracted only a small crowd.  

He is suffering from an enthusiasm gap, to say the very least. 


With midterms approaching, Republicans in Congress should be taking note.  But even when they do something that could help the country -- and help them get re-elected -- Chump has a way of screwing that up.  From last night's THE NEWSHOUR (PBS).




Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

President Trump has upended Congress' plans for a major housing bill, refusing to sign legislation that passed with veto-proof majorities as he tries to force action on his voting reform agenda.

Geoff Bennett:

The tactic is familiar.

Earlier this year, the president derailed a bipartisan deal on intelligence and surveillance legislation while pressing lawmakers to adopt that controversial voting bill known as the SAVE Act. Now he's using a housing package that many lawmakers expected would be signed into law today as a new point of leverage.

Andrew Desiderio covers the Senate for Punchbowl News and joins us now.

Andrew, always great to see you.

So, the White House had prepared for this signing ceremony. Lawmakers were gathered there on Capitol Hill, and then President Trump says via social media that he's not going to sign the bill after all. You have to tweet up on the screen right there. You were there with the news broke. How did Republican senators react?

Andrew Desiderio, Punchbowl News:

They were shocked, I mean, dumbfounded.

As you mentioned, the president has done this a lot lately where he has blindsided Republican leaders. But a signing ceremony usually happens at the White House. This one was set up in the Capitol Building itself here in what's known as Statuary Hall. They had a stage set up. They had the presidential emblem there, a desk for him to sign it.

And just about an hour before he was supposed to leave for the Capitol, he put this message on TRUTH Social, saying that he wasn't going to sign it into law until the Senate and the House sent him, as you mentioned, the SAVE America Act, which is legislation that has virtually no chance of passing either chamber, frankly, at this point, but especially in the Senate, where the filibuster exists.

And what's fascinating about this particular rift between Senate Republicans and the president is that the president was already scheduled to attend a lunch meeting with Senate Republicans right after the signing ceremony, which he came to anyway.

And the conversation ended up devolving into mostly an argument between himself and Senator Bill Cassidy over the Iran war. And the president really didn't open it up for Q&A at all about the SAVE America Act issue and the fact that he's blocking now the bipartisan housing and affordability bill, which, by the way, got 85 votes in the Senate and nearly 400 votes in the House.

Geoff Bennett:

Right, bipartisan, veto-proof majority. What leverage does the president really have at this point as it relates to this bill?

Andrew Desiderio:

Well, he has leverage in the sense that he could just hold out in not signing it.

But there is a 10-day clock that starts to run, but only when the speaker of the House officially transmits the bill to the White House. Speaker Johnson, of course, a close ally of President Trump, has not officially done that yet.

So, if he doesn't actually transmit this bill to the White House, that 10-day clock doesn't start to run. And if he does, then the 10-day clock runs, and, at the end of it, the bill automatically becomes law without the president's signature.

Now, if the president were to get the bill eventually and then veto it, Congress could vote on overriding that veto, but it takes two-thirds in both chambers. If you take into consideration the fact that it got huge margins in both chambers to begin with, you would think that they would be able to easily override this veto.

But veto override votes tend to be very interesting, in the sense that a lot of members back off of their initial support for a piece of legislation when it comes to a veto override because they don't want to be seen as crossing the president.

So who knows, honestly, what's going to happen with this bipartisan housing affordability bill, which Republicans really, really want to focus on, because they know that affordability is the number one issue for voters in the midterms.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, yes, let's talk more about that, because the president dismissed this housing bill as being of minor importance. That was the phrase that he used. But housing costs, affordability remain a top issue for voters heading into November.

So, how much of a political vulnerability does this open up for Republicans?

Andrew Desiderio:

It's a major political vulnerability.

The president's poll numbers are already at historic lows. Voters are already saying that they in these surveys are very dissatisfied with the state of the U.S. economy, the cost of living, again, affordability concerns, and they want to see Congress and the president addressing that.

And, instead, what we're seeing is, of course, the president having this fixation, this obsession on the SAVE America Act, which, as I mentioned before, has virtually no chance of actually becoming law. And it's something that Republican leaders think they can use against Democrats to show that they're against voter I.D., for example, which is usually an 80/20 issue in this country, right?

So what the president is also doing is, he's preventing Republicans from even seeking political benefit from that issue on its face. And so it really is not just blindsiding them, but dumbfounding the Republican leadership up here, to the point where I have Republican senators coming to me and openly questioning whether this president is intentionally, deliberately trying to blow up their congressional majorities.

Geoff Bennett:

Wow.




Loose Lips Hegseth has been a nightmare as Secretary of Defense.  Marco Margaritoff (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:

MS NOW host Jen Psaki on Tuesday interviewed South Carolina congressional candidate Nancy Lacore, a three-star admiral and former chief of the Navy Reserve who was fired last year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Psaki had the pleasure of informing Lacore on the air that she had won the Democratic nomination, but only after the dismissed U.S. service member chronicled her journey into politics following Hegseth’s purge last year of senior military officials.
“It was an abrupt end,” recalled Lacore. “I was one year into what is normally a four-year job, you know, was notified that I was being relieved, effective immediately. I walked out of the Pentagon an hour later — and I struggled to figure out what was next for me.”

She continued, “But the one thing I couldn’t shake was this feeling that I wasn’t done serving. I thought I was going to be in uniform serving for three more years and decided there’s too much at risk. I can’t sit on the sidelines. I can serve differently.”

Lacore launched her campaign in January.

She will now be running in the general election for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, held by Rep. Nancy Mace (R), after defeating Mac Deford. Before learning that she had won the nomination, Lacore explained why a Democrat could be a popular choice.

“I think the fact that every day we turn the TV on and this administration is doing something that harms Americans helps, right?” Lacore said. “People are fed up with this administration. And … I focus on what matters to everybody in this district … the cost of living, affordability.”
President Donald Trump frequently dismisses widespread affordability concerns and has launched a costly and deeply unpopular war with Iran. Lacore said her district has “a huge veteran population” of “fed up” people who approach her about these issues “in tears.”

She also spoke rather bluntly about Hegseth requesting an additional $80 billion from Congress to help cover the cost of the war, calling this “predictable” and “unacceptable.”



She is only one of many qualified people that Hegseth has fired. Along with firing, his 'leadership' has also led to a number of people deciding to leave.   Konstantin Toropin (INDEPENDENT) reports:

General Christopher Donahue, the commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa, is unexpectedly stepping down after only 18 months, the Army confirmed late Tuesday.

Donahue, famously the last American soldier to depart Afghanistan in 2021, will relinquish his command on July 2. His departure marks the latest in a series of nearly two dozen top military leaders who have either retired or left their positions early under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who advocates for "less generals, more GIs" in an effort to streamline the military's senior ranks.
[. . .]
An Army official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, indicated that Donahue’s departure coincides with internal discussions about downgrading the US Army Europe and Africa Command from a four-star to a three-star position.

This potential change comes amid ongoing criticism from Hegseth regarding European allies. Last week, Hegseth informed NATO allies that he would initiate a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe, designed "to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe." He added, "It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors."







The command Donahue now leads is also set to be downgraded from a four-star command to a three-star post, according to another U.S. official, part of Hegseth’s broader push to shrink the number of generals across the force.

Officers serving as four-star generals are only eligible to hold a position of that rank. If there are no other slots available, then the only option left for them is to retire.

Idiot Hegseth was noted last week due to vaccines and his waiving them:


Lawmakers are now pointing fingers directly at the Department of Defense. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Mark Kelly, and Kirsten Gillibrand sent a harsh letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The politicians are demanding answers after a drone strike killed six American service members in Kuwait. The incident occurred during the opening hours of the conflict with Iran.

“We are concerned that this is part of a larger pattern in which this administration has failed to protect Americans in the region from Iranian retaliation,” the letter stated, according to Daily Beast.

Senator Warren did not hold back her criticism. Speaking to ABC News, Warren insisted that Hegseth “must be held accountable” for the tragedy.

She added that “Hegseth’s leadership has been one betrayal after another.” The letter argued there were insufficient “plans to prevent possible harm from foreseeable attacks,” including acts “like retaliation with drone strikes.”


Let's drop back to last Friday:

Hegseth is notorious for so many things -- most of them hideous.  That would include his refusal to wash his hands.  Hygiene isn't a big thing with Hegseth nor are vaccines.  And that's coming back to haunt him.  Greg Jaffe and Maggie Haberman (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials said.

The outbreak at the base in San Antonio raced through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables.

A trainee in his sixth week of basic training died after falling ill on Friday and being taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, the Air Force said in a news release. It was not immediately clear whether the death of the trainee, Keon McDaniel, was related to the flu outbreak.

A comprehensive medical review into his death is underway to determine the cause, according to the Air Force.

In the weeks since Mr. Hegseth’s vaccine policy took effect on April 21, only about 40 percent of Air Force trainees have opted to take the vaccine, which had previously been mandatory, an Air Force official said.

And this is happening right now.  Imagine what awaits come winter.  Hegseth, ruining America just a little bit more each day. 


There's an update on that story, the number has risen to 222.




Zachary Leeman (MEDIAITE) notes a new policy this week: 

Military branches are reintroducing flu shot requirements as an outbreak has been growing at Lackland Air Force Base, where new recruits are trained.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ended flu shot mandates for the military in April, ending a mandate that had been in place since 1945. Hegseth said at the time that it should be a service member’s personal decision whether to get vaccinated or not.

But you can't do that with the flu vaccine and the military.  It impacts readiness.  You'd think even an idiot like Hegseth would have realized that but, no, he didn't.  


Zachary notes:

Approximately 40% of new recruits in San Antonio had flu vaccinations earlier this month, according to ABC News. Now, however, it appears Hegseth’s rule is being walked back as Pentagon officials say new recruits for the Army, Navy, and Air Force will now be required to get flu vaccinations. The current crop of recruits will be vaccinated and all recruits going forward.

There will be reportedly be far more exceptions to Hegseth’s optional rule put in place soon, too, which will lead to vaccination mandates for deployed troops, healthcare personnel, and more.

In a functioning administration, Hegseth would have grasped his last straw several major mistakes ago.  In Chump land, he's just another screw up who screws up repeatedly. 



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

The government website directs women to Option Line, a finder tool for unregulated, often nonmedical anti-abortion facilities that has exposed the sensitive data of pregnant women.

“Moms.gov is not about promoting women’s health—it is an attempt to use HHS resources to further strip women of their rights and privacy.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), pressed President Donald Trump and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the Trump Administration’s new website, Moms.gov, which directs pregnant women and their loved ones to unregulated and often nonmedical anti-abortion facilities known as crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).

“This raises profound concerns about the health, safety, and privacy of people who access this government website at a time when women’s health and reproductive rights face increasing attacks,” wrote the senators.

On Mother’s Day, the Trump Administration launched Moms.gov as “a groundbreaking website for new and expecting mothers,” purporting to “offer[] guidance and information to support the health and well-being of mothers and their families.” Rather than connect people with licensed health care providers and evidence-based resources, a button reading “Find Pregnancy Centers Near You” steers them to an external site called Option Line, a CPC finder tool that collects data on pregnant women.

CPCs receive at least tens of millions of dollars in federal funding and, though advertised as legitimate care providers, do not provide comprehensive reproductive care and are not bound by federal privacy protections, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects “sensitive health information from disclosure without patient's consent.”

CPCs have been known to cause dangerous delays in medically necessary care, putting women’s health and lives at risk. In recent cases, CPCs in Massachusetts and Texas allegedly failed to identify life-threatening ectopic pregnancies, leading to emergency surgeries. These incidents are especially troubling in light of reports that a major CPC support organization advised affiliated centers to avoid providing ultrasounds that could reveal ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, raising serious concerns about patient safety.

The website also includes a direct link to Option Line, a collection tool operated by Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion organization with a history of data breaches. Option Line collects sensitive personal information and may share it with third parties, posing serious privacy risks. In one breach, Heartbeat International compromised the privacy of thirteen people by reportedly uploading an unencrypted training video to the internet revealing their names and medical histories.

“At a time when reproductive health data is being used to criminalize women, the Administration’s use of federal funds to direct women to a private data-collection system, operated by an anti-abortion organization known to collect and share personal data unrestrained by federal privacy guardrails, is cause for alarm and warrants significant scrutiny,” wrote the senators.

“In this hostile environment, women deserve a government that will work tirelessly to ensure that they have access to health care that improves their lives, receive accurate medical information from legitimate health care providers, and that their private health information will be protected. Instead, the Trump administration continues to advance policies that restrict reproductive freedom and block access to care,” concluded the senators.

The letter, sent on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, demands that HHS remove the crisis pregnancy center link from Moms.gov, stop using federal resources to direct women to anti-abortion CPCs, and provide answers to a set of questions regarding how it will protect the health and data privacy of the women who enter this site.

This letter was also signed by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

This letter is endorsed by Reproductive Freedom for All, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Women’s Law Center, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

“Anti-abortion centers—so-called crisis pregnancy centers—push misinformation, rely on deceptive tactics, and endanger pregnant people by delaying access to legitimate care,” said Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju. “These centers cannot be trusted to protect people’s sensitive reproductive health data any more than they can be trusted to protect their health. We thank Senator Warren, Senator Hirono, and Leader Schumer for their leadership in demanding answers about Moms.gov’s alarming promotion of these centers and their history of endangering people’s health and data privacy.”

“Moms.gov is propaganda for anti-abortion extremism, plain and simple,” said Katie O’Connor, senior director of federal abortion policy at the National Women's Law Center Action Fund. “Moms.gov is taking advantage of the fear and confusion caused by the constantly shifting landscape of abortion access to direct pregnant people to dangerous anti-abortion centers, which are known to spread false and misleading information in an effort to dissuade people from getting abortion care. We are grateful to Senator Warren for her leadership in calling out the dangers of this website and demanding more information from the administration about why they are directing people to resources that could put women’s health at risk.”

"The Trump Administration is using Moms.gov to push a coercive, pronatalist agenda by promoting crisis pregnancy centers, or fake clinics, over actual reproductive healthcare providers,” said Rosann Mariappuram, Director of Reproductive Health and Rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families. “Fake clinics seek to deter pregnant people from obtaining abortion care through lies and deceptions. They are known for reckless data practices that endanger the privacy of the women and girls who walk through their doors or visit their websites. Directing people to Moms.gov is one of many tactics anti-abortion extremists are employing to surveil pregnant people. We join Senator Warren in calling on HHS to remove the pregnancy center link from Moms.gov and instead use federal resources to help people get the care they need without fear or judgment."

Senator Warren has led the fight to protect women’s reproductive rights:

  • In May 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led the entire Senate Democratic caucus in reintroducing a resolution affirming that the abortion medication mifepristone is safe and effective and underscoring that law and policy related to the medication must be equitable, transparent, and based on the best available peer-reviewed evidence-based science.

  • In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 12 senators in pressing the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the Commission’s efforts to weaken a rule affirming employment protections for workers undergoing fertility treatments.

  • In March 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Ron Wyden, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee (D-Ore.); and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 23 colleagues in publishing a new report revealing the harm Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have caused to Americans in the six months since their dangerous provision to “defund” Planned Parenthood, buried in their Big, Beautiful Bill, went into effect.

  • In November 2025, ahead of the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation vote for Thomas M. Bell, Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exposed Bell’s flip-flopping and slammed his extreme anti-abortion views.

  • In July 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Michael Stuart, nominee for General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on his dangerous anti-vaccine views, staunch anti-abortion advocacy, and more. Ahead of his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee later today — at which Senator Warren will question Stuart — Senator Warren sent Stuart a letter outlining her key concerns with his nomination.

  • In February 2025, Senators Warren and Duckworth pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s then-nominee for the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on his hostile anti-abortion record.

  • In December 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) reintroduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act, legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information.

  • In September 2024, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the dangerous consequences women faced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

  • In January 2024, on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke on the floor of the United States Senate about the fight ahead to restore abortion rights and protect reproductive freedom.

  • In December 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) led 40 other lawmakers in introducing a resolution in support of equitable, science-based policies governing access to medication abortion.

  • In May 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) expanded their investigation into the effects of state abortion bans on women, as the country neared the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

  • In March 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), sent a letter to Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer, expressing concern regarding recent reports that the company would not dispense medication abortions in 21 states where Republican Attorneys General have threatened the company.

  • In January 2023, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo.) sent a letter to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in support of their October proposed rule on employee status, which would help reclassify potentially thousands of misclassified workers.

  • In November 2022, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and eight Senate Democrats sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf encouraging the agency to defend Americans’ reproductive rights and to consider steps to protect and expand access to medication abortion.

  • In November 2022, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released a new report: Post-Roe Abortion Bans Threaten Women’s Lives: Health Care Providers Speak Out on the Devastating Harm Posed by Abortion Bans and Restrictions. The 23-page report – based on information provided by leading health care providers – reveals the devastating consequences of state abortion bans and restrictions enacted by right-wing legislatures and the impacts of Senate Republicans’ extreme proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks.

###




The following sites -- plus Ann's "Grifter Alexis Wilkins" --  updated:


Posted by at

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Whitney Houston, Neil Young, Madonna, Erykah Badu

Okay, let's start with Whitney Houston news.  Elsa Keslassy (VARIETY) reports:


Oprah Winfrey turned her Cannes Lions appearance into a call for creators to use their platforms for good, talking with festival chair Phil Thomas about philanthropy, legacy and her improbable path from rural Mississippi to becoming one of the most powerful self-made figures in media.
Inside the Lumière Theatre, where she received the festival's LionHeart Award, Winfrey used the stage to meditate on purpose and responsibility before an audience of advertising, media and creator-economy figures. She also reflected on the school she built in South Africa, her friendship with Maya Angelou, her childhood in Mississippi and her memorable interview with the late Whitney Houston on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
[. . .]
She said Houston later returned to the show to perform and had relapsed in her addiction. "I had such trust from ‘The Oprah Show' audience … I think it was [Houston's] last show with us, and she had gone back on drugs," Winfrey said. "The first interview I did with her when we'd gone behind stage and I asked her about her intention, she was clean, but the day she came to my show then to perform in front of the audience, she was not, and she fell off of the stage."
Winfrey said she knew the moment could have been devastating if it became public. "I knew that if that story got out … she would be destroyed by that," Winfrey said. "And so even though the audience was there and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life, and they did not. That would not happen today, I can tell you that," Winfrey added. Houston died on February 2012 at the age of 48 after an accidental drowning.

So that last interview was September of 2009.  Whitney died two years and five months later.  Not really sure who Oprah helped by covering that up and begging her audience to cover it up.  Maybe the world knowing she'd fallen off the stage would have been a rock bottom for Whitney and forced her to get help for her drug addiction?  



A couple of months after releasing the live LP As Time Explodes, which chronicles his 2025 summer tour with the Chrome Hearts, Neil Young has quietly released a free companion concert film, Corduroy Plants, on the Neil Young Archives. The hour-long, eleven-song film centers around most of the songs from As Time Explodes, but lacks "After the Gold Rush" and "Looking Forward."
Like many of Young's recent films, Corduroy Plants was directed by his wife, Daryl Hannah. It's unclear where exactly the individual performances were filmed, and Hannah occasionally cuts from the stage to show footage drawn from recent news events and moments throughout history. 


So that's pretty cool.  Check out AP's picks for song of the summer for more cool.  Madonna's cover photo for INTERVIEW got attention a few days ago.  Now the interview in INTERVIEW is getting attention.  Muskaan Arshad (DAILY BEAST) reports:


Madonna is opening up about the strained relationship she had with her oldest daughter, Lourdes “Lola” Leon—and how writing music together helped bring them back together.

“The song I wrote with my daughter, Lola. She approached me about writing a song together as a way to heal our relationship,” Madonna told Interview Magazine.
“It was a really important moment, and it solidified the idea that now is the time to make this record,” Madonna added, explaining how the two came to co-write “Good for the Soul” for her upcoming album, Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II.



Madonna is just a material girl, living in a material world.

The “Vogue” hitmaker graced the cover of Interview magazine for the Summer 2026 issue and in the accompanying chat, the singer revealed the reason the ultra-hyped biopic with “Ozark” star Julia Garner was scrapped: not enough cold hard cash.
Turns out, Universal Studios was not Madonna’s Mr. Right. According to the pop star, the studio didn’t share her vision for a budget for the film.

“I worked on my script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with the line producers doing budgeting and casting,” she told the magazine. “We had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget because I needed — I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget. You know what I mean?”

The film had been in the works for years, and in 2021 Universal Pictures won a multi-studio auction to helm the biopic. According to Variety, the script followed Madonna from her upbringing in the suburbs of Detroit, her artistic awakening in 1980s New York City, and concluded around the 1998 release of “Ray of Light.”



Erykah Badu will perform at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre on Sept. 11, venue reps announced Tuesday.

Tickets for the show go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday via Ticketmaster. Presale tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Badu will be joined at the show by The Alchemist and veteran rap troupe De La Soul.


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


Wednesday, June 24, 2026.  Chump lies desperately to avoid admitting he lost the war, the American people have had enough and the bulk of them say the Iran War was not worth it, they also look down on Chump as three new polls document, our courts can no longer take the Justice Dept at its word, Epstein remains an issue, Senate Democrats call out the Republican assault on reproductive rights, and much more. 


Ben notes on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS this morning Chump losing it early this morning on social media again.


Chump lost the war and is now trying to spin it -- and everything else -- into a win.


President Trump was eager on Tuesday morning to announce the latest concession that he says his negotiators extracted from Iran, writing on social media that the country had agreed to allow the “highest level Nuclear Inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!).”

But he omitted the fact that as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Iran is required to allow in international inspectors. And his statement came after the Iranians had insisted that there were no plans to allow inspectors into the three major nuclear sites the United States bombed a year ago — and where just about all the nation’s enriched uranium is stored.

The previous day, Vice President JD Vance, leaving the negotiating site at a Swiss resort, said Iran had agreed that if Iranian assets were unfrozen, the United States and Qatari officials would oversee the process and the money would be used to buy American farm products. The Iranians denied that, too, saying that the 14-point memorandum of understanding they had signed with the Americans did not require them to do so.

Negotiating with Iran has always been an extraordinary challenge. But until recently, one rule of diplomatic bargaining has usually held: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” That is how the United States and Iran traditionally have left themselves some trading space, and fine-tuned wording to satisfy the many critics at home who will have to be sold on any agreement. In 2015, when details of the inner-sanctum negotiations leaked, American officials complained bitterly, saying that the news reports were making it harder to get to a final deal.



As the war continues, the cost increases.  And Congressional Republicans appear to struggle with what they would be voting on.  Daniel Hampton (RAW STORY) explains: 

House Republican appropriators are publicly breaking with the Trump White House over what they call a "risky and uncoordinated" strategy to fund the U.S. military, warning that the administration is trying to push critical defense spending through a party-line reconciliation bill that may never reach the president's desk.
In an official addendum to the chamber's defense funding bill obtained by Politico, House appropriators warned that the White House is attempting to fund critical efforts, including weapons and military equipment, through the reconciliation process rather than using it to supplement regular government funding bills. The two vehicles operate on "entirely separate tracks, with different timelines, committees of jurisdiction, and approval processes," appropriators noted.
The rebuke singles out Trump's decision to split funding for the F-35 fighter jet, the most expensive weapons program in Pentagon history, between the annual government funding bill and the reconciliation package.
Analysts said last month the Pentagon's decision to split defense spending between the base budget and a reconciliation package has left members of Congress uncertain about what they're even voting to fund, with one expert calling the situation "symbolic of the disorder and chaos."


Alexander Bolton (THE HILL) notes Republicans in the Senate are not confused:

President Trump and Republican senators are headed for a collision Wednesday, when they will be meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss two major sources of strain: the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act and the Iran peace deal.

Republican senators are bracing themselves for an unpredictable, and potentially heated, discussion as tensions have been building with the president for weeks.
The meeting will give Trump’s critics within the GOP conference a chance to air their grievances like they did during an explosive meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche last month.




The Iran War further destroyed the US economy.  And Americans have noticed.  Alicia Civita (LATIN TIMES) notes:

Most Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump's handling of the war with Iran, according to a new poll released by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, even as his overall job approval rating remains largely unchanged.

The survey comes at a pivotal moment in the conflict, as Trump has shifted from threatening military action against Tehran to suggesting that a new agreement with Iran has been reached. Despite that diplomatic opening, public opinion remains overwhelmingly negative regarding the administration's management of the war.
According to the poll, 65% of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump's handling of issues involving Iran, highlighting widespread skepticism about the conflict that began on Feb. 28. The findings underscore the political challenges facing the president as he attempts to reshape public perceptions of the war while simultaneously pursuing negotiations with Tehran.
[. . .]
Americans' views on Iran closely mirror their broader assessment of Trump's presidency. The AP-NORC survey found the president's overall approval rating stands at 37%, essentially unchanged from previous polling.



A new national poll shows President Donald Trump‘s approval rating at 30 percent, the lowest level recorded in the survey’s recent trend and a figure that, if reflected more broadly, would place him in territory historically associated with difficult midterm environments for incumbent presidents.
The June 16-20 American Research Group survey found that 66 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, while just 30 percent approve. The poll of 1,100 adults carries a theoretical margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The findings come as economic pessimism deepens across the electorate and as both parties begin positioning themselves for the 2026 midterm elections, where voter perceptions of the economy are expected to play a central role.


 Jason Lange (REUTERS) notes a third poll -- still with bad news for Chump:

 Just one in four Americans believes President Donald Trump's war with Iran was worth its costs and a majority worry that a truce with Tehran is unlikely to last, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The five-day poll, which closed on Monday, also showed the war weighing heavily on Trump's popularity, with his approval rating dropping to 34%, a return to the lowest level of the Republican's second term that was last touched in an April survey.
[. . .]
Only 24% of Americans think the war with Iran was worth the costs, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. Half of poll respondents said the conflict was not worth it and the rest were unsure.

Some 63% of Americans think it unlikely that the deal Trump signed will lead to lasting peace between the two countries. About half of Republicans and eight in 10 Democrats said the deal was unlikely to deliver peace. Just 18% of Americans — including 10% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans — see lasting peace as likely.




Americans see the damage Chump has done.  They know he lost the war, they know we suffer because of the war he started.  Heather Digby Parton (SALON) notes that Chump's looking for a win to distract from his failures with the Iran War: 


As the smoke from the agreement clears, a consensus has emerged — even among MAGA media, as Salon’s Sophia Tesfaye has explained — that the U.S. has suffered a profound defeat. This is largely because Trump had no strategy beyond assuming that bombing Iran and killing some members of the nation’s leadership would instantly lead to unconditional surrender and new leadership, which would then welcome Western businesses eager to build resorts on the Strait of Hormuz. For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently assumed that once Trump was committed to the war, he would not back off and would instead escalate as necessary to achieve the goal of regime change. Neither of them understood who and what they were dealing with, and the result is that the U.S. is weaker, Iran is stronger and Israel is even more isolated.
With peace talks having concluded in Switzerland, American delegation’s leader, Vice President JD Vance, proclaimed them a “successful foundation” for a comprehensive agreement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced waivers so that Iran could immediately resume selling its oil. But will any of this really mean anything? Both the U.S. and Iran know that, at this point, neither country’s signature on a treaty is worth the paper it’s printed on. 
For his part, Trump has already declared victory. He is clearly eager to move on from what is undoubtedly the worst foreign policy failure of his presidency — and one of the worst in U.S. history. But since his psyche is so fragile, he will not be able to admit that to himself. Trump will need to bag himself a “win” as soon as possible to erase his defeat in the minds of the MAGA faithful — and to quiet the voices in his head screaming that he has screwed up once again. 
 
Senators are saying that they need to review and sign off on any 'deal' or 'treaty' or 'memo of understanding' or 'chain letter' that Chump signs with Iran.  Chump will probably attempt to blow them off.  But it's getting harder for him to get away with doing that.  For example, Kaia Hubbard (CBS NEWS) reports:

The Senate on Tuesday approved a House-passed resolution aimed at reining in President Trump on Iran, marking the first time such a measure has made it through both chambers and signifying a rare rebuke of the president's handling of the conflict.
In a 50 to 48 vote, four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky — joined the bulk of Senate Democrats in support of the measure. One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, opposed. Two Republicans — Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick — did not vote.
The resolution directs the president to "remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran," unless Congress declares war or authorizes the use of military force. But the measure is a concurrent resolution, which doesn't carry the force of law and doesn't require the president's signature, meaning it is largely symbolic.



Some Democratic senators, including Tim Kaine, have argued that passage of a war powers resolution is necessary, even after the US reached an agreement with Iran and amid ongoing negotiations with Tehran.
“I think it’s a good time to have the vote to say, ‘Hey, if we’re really in a period of maybe some stability here, let’s not just allow it to start up again without Congress being involved in that decision,” he told reporters last week.










America is not on board with the deranged and demented Donald Chump.  John Avlon (ROLLING STONE) observes:

As our 80-year-old Mad King goes on midnight social media revenge benders from the White House, attacking the pope after attacking Iran, enriching his family by billions and comparing himself to Jesus, some of his supporters are now panicking and asking, "Who could have seen this coming?" 
The answer, of course, is any sentient being not blinded by partisanship who lived through the first four years of Trump's presidency, which included more than 30,000 lies, a mismanaged pandemic that killed a million Americans, and culminated with his attempt to overturn an election on the back of a big lie that led to an attack on our Capitol.  
The dangers were so obvious that even the Founding Fathers could see them coming a quarter of a millennium ago. 
The U.S. Constitution was designed to protect the rights of the people against the rise of a would-be tyrant. The founders understood they were embarking on a rebellious project that had never succeeded before. As John Adams scowled, "There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." Their aim was to build a structure that could withstand the forces that destroyed democracies in the past. 
That's why the founders explicitly warned about the dangers of a demagogue, the poison of hyperpartisanship, the corrosive effects of corruption and foreign influence, the politicization of religion, and the erosion of the separation of powers. 


Chump is a liar and he's turned the federal government into liars.  Homeland Security lied over and over about who they were taking in and why and they broke the law and lied about that.  The Justice Department is no longer believed in court.  Todd Blanche has said that the 'weaponization' slush fund is dead.  He's said that publicly and to Congress.  Yet because of the lies this administration has repeatedly told the courts, a judge is demanding that he provide a sworn statement, in writing, that the slush fund is dead and not coming back to life.  And he won't do it.  Because he's lying.  They're planning to bring back the 'weaponization' slush fund.  Todd Blanche is a liar.  And under Chump, he fits right in with the rest of the administration.  Leah Berenson (THE AMAZING TIMES) writes:

Federal judges don’t usually ask the government to prove itself. For most of American legal history, they didn’t need to. When a Department of Justice attorney stood before a court and made a statement, that statement carried a kind of institutional weight – the word of the United States government, delivered by lawyers who understood their ethical obligations ran to the court as much as to their client. That assumption held through administrations of both parties, through wars, political scandals, and constitutional crises. It has not held through this one.
Over the past eighteen months, something has shifted in federal courtrooms across the country. Judges in Virginia, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Florida, Manhattan, and Washington, D.C., have stopped treating the Justice Department’s representations as a reliable baseline. They are demanding paperwork. They are ordering preservation of internal communications. They are referring DOJ attorneys for disciplinary proceedings. Some are raising the possibility of contempt. The unwritten compact between the courts and the executive branch’s lawyers, that the government says what it means and means what it says, is under active pressure in ways that legal observers say have no recent precedent.
The most visible flashpoint right now involves a $1.776 billion fund, Trump legal documents, and a Virginia federal judge who is not satisfied with words.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, sitting in the Eastern District of Virginia, extended her block on the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund in mid-June 2026, while simultaneously requesting that the Department of Justice submit a sworn declaration indicating it was not moving forward with the fund, signed by both the acting attorney general and the Treasury secretary.
The fund itself was controversial from the moment it was announced. The Justice Department set up the $1.776 billion fund, overseen by a five-member commission, to dole out payments to those who could show they were victims of “lawfare” and “weaponization,” terms Trump and his allies have used to describe investigations and criminal cases against them. The roughly 1,500 January 6 rioters Trump pardoned upon his return to the White House in 2025 are among those most likely to profit from the fund, which Trump’s DOJ established as part of a settlement stemming from the president’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had told Congress that the fund was not moving ahead, but Judge Brinkema said the Justice Department would have a week to confirm that assertion with a sworn statement if it wanted to halt her injunction. The judge’s reasoning was straightforward. Brinkema expressed concern over Trump’s own public comments and Blanche’s refusal to commit to rescinding the fund in writing, noting that the president’s statements “carry a lot of weight” and represent “a pretty good indicator that there will be some incentive or motive to make it happen.”
Blanche had already refused to make that commitment in writing when asked to do so by Democratic lawmakers, and Trump repeatedly expressed his support for the concept of the fund, prompting questions about whether the administration was actually abandoning it.

We need to all grasp this.  The Justice Dept cannot be trusted.  The courts can't trust it.  They have lied non-stop over and over to the courts -- and to the grand juries -- and this has happened with no remorse on the part of the president of the United States.  Chump is not fit to be president.  

And it is a mark of shame that our own federal government cannot be trusted by the courts at present.  They have lied repeatedly.  It is outrageous.  




Twenty-three state attorneys general filed a scathing brief Monday calling Trump's settled IRS lawsuit a "collusive sham" that fraudulently used the courts to funnel taxpayer money to the president's allies and immunize the Trump family from federal investigations.
The brief, filed in the Southern District of Florida and led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, urges the court to reopen the case and grant "all necessary and appropriate relief" to "rectify the fraud perpetrated upon the Court and deter future misconduct by those who have sworn to faithfully uphold and support the rule of law."
The attorneys general argued that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's own former personal lawyer, rushed the settlement through two days before the parties were due to answer a judge's questions about whether the lawsuit was even a legitimate dispute. Rather than respond, they say, Blanche executed agreements creating a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and a sweeping immunity addendum that bars the government from ever investigating the Trumps' tax returns, then kept both documents off the court docket until after the case was closed.
"Put simply, the parties’ conduct has revealed that the litigation was nothing more than a corrupt effort to 'defile the court itself' through a collusive sham lawsuit," the brief stated.



The US Justice Department made an illegal deal with President Donald Trump to immunize him, his family and his businesses from audits or other federal probes related to past filings, a group of tax experts and former Internal Revenue Service officials told a judge.
The settlement, part of a broader agreement to resolve Trump’s controversial $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over a leak of his private data, violates a clause in the Constitution barring presidents from receiving any non-salary compensation, the group said in a filing Monday in federal court in Miami.
“The termination of tax audits alone could save his businesses $100 million or more,” according to the group, which includes former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and former Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Kathryn Keneally. “This appears to be a special deal just for President Trump, as DOJ is continuing to defend other cases involving similar leaks of taxpayer information.”
US District Judge Kathleen Williams, who had earlier closed the case after it settled, is considering reopening it to investigate whether the president and the Justice Department defrauded the court by filing a “collusive” lawsuit. It’s the latest fallout from the Justice Department’s controversial settlement with Trump, the first president to sue his own government.



Let's turn to news of the late Jeffrey Epstein -- pedophile and friend of Donald Chump for many decades.





The top news story every day should be that JD “Vladimir Futon” Vance led a secret staff meeting in the SITUATION ROOM nearly a year ago to discuss how to better cover up the Epstein Files to protect Trump, rather than seeking justice for any of the victims and survivors. Aside from the egregious misuse of the Situation Room, we know the entire administration is involved.
Of course, that’s kind of tough with so much of the media under Trump’s sway while he continues to bully anyone who dares to tell the truth about him or ask any questions that might force him to think about things he doesn’t want to think about.
We now know that FBI was told that Trump Tower was a “hunting ground” for “recruiters” to find young women for him to have sex with. And thanks to yet more bombshell reporting, we’ve also learned that at least three million more pages of Epstein documents are still being held back by acting AG Todd “Trumpsimp” Blanche, who seems super excited to be the first to go to prison for Trump.
Blanche will once again face questioning by the Senate, and I was fortunate to grab a moment with my Senator, Ron Wyden (D-OR), on Friday after a press conference centered around Juneteenth and Pride.
“Sen. Chutzpah” is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee and also sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, among his many other responsibilities. He promised me last year that he’d never give up on Epstein, and he continues to deliver on that promise, as evidenced by his most recent questioning of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He also ripped Bessent over the latest Trump grift that was created to enrich his two older adult sons.
As Wyden and I walked out of the press conference, I quietly asked him about the Situation Room meeting. “Wasn’t that something?” he replied.
“So, what people want to see is accountability,” I said. “Do we have to wait until Democrats get the majority back before that happens?”
“Nope!” Sen. Chutzpah immediately responded. He then told me that more hearings were coming, and specifically mentioned Blanche.

In other Epstein news, Robert Davis (RAW STORY) notes:

A legal expert claimed to have uncovered a "clear admission" by President Donald Trump's Department of Justice that it broke the rules to help convicted sex criminal Ghislaine Maxwell get into a minimum security prison.
Liz Oyer, a former Obama administration pardon attorney, argued in a new Substack essay that Trump's DOJ deliberately changed long-standing Bureau of Prisons policies on inmate classifications, thereby allowing Maxwell to communicate directly with the Attorney General's office. She described the change as "highly sus," given how closely Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell seemed to work together to facilitate the transfer.
"In doing my research for this post, I came across what sure looks like a clear admission that rules were broken," Oyer wrote, adding that the Change Notice associated with the new Bureau of Prisons policy was "pretty incredible" to read.
"It empowers the Attorney General 'to designate or redesignate the place of a prisoner’s imprisonment' at his discretion. In other words, the AG can simply direct BOP staff to place a specific prisoner in a specific facility—without regard for any of the established rules," Oyer surmised. "That means that Blanche now has the authority to send Maxwell to any prison in the country (if this holds up against legal challenges). He could potentially even transfer her to home confinement or a halfway house in the community."



The horrors that took place on Epstein Island are a matter of record, but this year, we’ve learned so much more about Epstein’s other covert trafficking property where men, women, and children were abused and at least two foreign women went missing.
New Mexico’s Zorro Ranch is home to many secrets, but despite Tr*mp’s best efforts at allegedly derailing the investigation into the property, the New Mexico DOJ is going all the way in.
Last week, members of the legislative subcommittee to probe into Zorro Ranch sent a number of subpoenas to high-level banks, warning that even the richest and most powerful Epstein clients and associates will be called to task as the investigation continues.
The property known as “Playboy Ranch” saw victims pass through for over 20 years with no one the wiser, thanks to the ranch’s remote location near the state border. When an initial investigation into the 8,000 acre territory was shelved in 2019 after New York prosecutors took the case over from New Mexico state investigators, the site laid fallow for years… until this February, when New Mexico House of Representatives formed the New Mexico House Truth Commission, a bipartisan subcommittee determined to seek answers around Epstein’s crimes specifically at Zorro Ranch.
Epstein associates Ghislaine Maxwell and Lesley Groff have remained tight-lipped about what went down at Playboy Ranch, but the New Mexico DOJ is taking a different route with these subpoenas: they’re following the money.
Not only are JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank getting subpoenaed: investigators are also calling on Google, Peter Thiel’s PayPal, travel booking site Expedia, and phone companies AT&T and Verizon to lock down any records having to do with Epstein’s New Mexico property.
In light of the continuing cover-up concerning Epstein’s personal relationship to Tr*mp, investigators are making a smart move. Individuals might be able to be persuaded—or threatened—into walking back testimony (*cough* Howard Lutnick) but bank statements don’t lie.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

***WATCH: Video of full forum***

***WATCH and READ: Senator Murray’s opening remarks***

Washington, D.C. — Today — ahead of the four-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning the constitutional right to abortion—U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) hosted a spotlight forum titled Post Dobbs Chaos: Republicans’ War on Reproductive Health Care. At the forum, Senate Democrats heard from panelists who have suffered the consequences of the Dobbs decision and subsequent Republican abortion bans firsthand. They discussed how the Trump administration and Republicans are sowing chaos for women and health care providers across the country through ongoing attacks on reproductive rights and women’s health care, alongside escalating efforts to enact a nationwide abortion ban.

“The Dobbs decision was just the beginning of Republicans’ war on women’s reproductive rights—their goal has always been a national abortion ban. Republicans are hoping we don’t notice, but from trying to get mifepristone classified as a water contaminant to defunding Planned Parenthood, we can see clear as day that Republicans are working to enact a national abortion ban,” said Senator Murray. “Republicans have already caused enormous damage, shuttering women’s health clinics across the country, forcing women to carry dangerous pregnancies to term, and decimating access to maternal health care. But Democrats will continue to push for legislation to protect women and health care providers. That’s why we are uplifting the stories of women across the country who have suffered from Republicans’ abortion bans and the providers who are trying their best to care for them. We will keep fighting to restore the right to abortion for every woman in all 50 states.”

The senators’ spotlight forum comes after more than a year of Republican trifecta control of government, during which the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly attacked the reproductive health care American women depend on, creating widespread disruption and turmoil for patients and providers alike. Last year, Republicans in Congress pushed through their Big Ugly Bill that defunded Planned Parenthood and is kicking millions of Americans off Medicaid. Last year, the Trump administration withheld millions in Title X funding, putting more than 840,000 people at risk of losing access to family planning and preventive health care. This year, the administration further destabilized the Title X program by delaying the standard application process for new grants.

Throughout 2025 and into 2026, Republicans intensified their campaign to eliminate access to mifepristone—an FDA-approved abortion medication—through sham hearings, politically motivated reviews, conspiracy theories, attempts to weaponize environmental laws, and by continued efforts to secure abortion restrictions through the courts. More recently, the Trump Department of Justice announced, and later walked back, a $1.7 billion slush fund that could compensate anti-abortion extremists convicted of assaulting abortion clinic staff and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act—notably, despite widespread bipartisan condemnation, Trump refuses to rule out establishment of the fund. At the same time, the Trump administration has abandoned enforcement of the FACE Act, further emboldening those who threaten patients, providers, and access to reproductive health care.

“At my 20-week scan, I received the devastating news of my life, our daughter had anencephaly. Her brain and skull would never fully develop. Nothing could save her. She was 100% incompatible with life. She was going to die. The only question was, when, and whether she would die inside my body, before I knew it, putting my own life at risk. I thought for sure that I would be granted an ‘exception.’ I thought my doctors could show Halo and I compassion. I was wrong. When I asked what my options were, I was told I didn’t have any. Because Texas has an abortion ban. The one person I trusted with my life, my doctor, my healthcare provider, had her hands tied by the State. Helping me could have sent her to jail. … I had no rights to my own body. I was a vessel for the state,” Samantha Casiano, former plaintiff, Zurawski v. State of Texas, said during her testimony. “My daughter, Halo, lived a few agonizing hours before she passed away. While she was still here, her eyes started to bleed. She was like a fish pulled from water gasping for air. She changed colors in front of us, pink, red, blue, purple, until she was gone. That trauma is permanently imprinted in my memory. Because under Texas’s cruel abortion ban, I was forced to give birth to a baby every doctor knew would not survive, and then walk out of that hospital as if nothing happened, like she was never here. It was like sending my child into a war we all knew she would lose. It was cruel. It was inhumane. … Many women do not know this is happening to them until it happens. Right now, as we sit here there is a woman out there reliving my nightmare. I want her to know she is not alone. I see you. I hear you. I stand with you. … I will give my last breath as Halo did to make sure that happens.”

“We found out our baby had a lethal genetic anomaly affecting bone development. Soon my baby’s bones would begin to break in utero at my slightest movement — like bending down to pick up my three-year-old son. At birth, their rib cage would be too small to support lung function. We were told our baby would suffocate at their first breath without immediate extreme medical intervention. This diagnosis came 25 days after Texas’s extreme heartbeat bill, SB8, went into effect. … At the end of the appointment, I was handed a printout of my own medical records with the advice to seek a second opinion — outside of Texas,” Kaitlyn Kash, former plaintiff, Zurawski v. State of Texas, said during her testimony. “A few months later I was pregnant again, but my third and fourth pregnancies ended in miscarriage. I needed medication — the same medication used in medical abortions — to help my body pass the fetal tissue and prevent infection that could jeopardize my future fertility. Because of the fear and confusion surrounding these laws, my prescription was challenged. I was treated like an addict looking for drugs instead of a mother losing her child — navigating a broken, frightened healthcare system while actively bleeding, while grieving, until I was finally able to obtain it through an online pharmacy. My husband and I then chose IVF. Eleven months later, we finally welcomed our second child — the result of my fourth pregnancy in less than two years. As I lay there holding my baby on my chest, I thought — we made it. That feeling was short-lived. My placenta wasn’t delivering. I needed a D&C — a procedure used to clear tissue from the uterus, and yes, also used in abortions. My doctor said it needed to happen quickly. … Fifty minutes after my daughter’s birth, I started violently throwing up and shaking. … I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was told I had lost half my blood volume. I was told I was ‘lucky’ I still had my uterus. … I wish I could tell you I have bad luck. I would love for my story to be a lightning strike. But it’s not. Every part of what happened to me happens to families across this country every single day. … You do not get to know the healthcare you need until you need it. You can be against abortion for yourself. You can never choose it. But you cannot restrict access to a category of medical care without consequences that reach every pregnant person in this country. Every woman you have ever loved — your daughters, your sisters, your nieces, your granddaughters. These bans force unimaginable pain and push hundreds of thousands of women into impossible situations they never saw coming. Trust me. I never imagined it either.”

“Four years after Dobbs, we are still dealing with a massive public health crisis. People still need abortions. They are still getting abortions. The difference is that they now have to travel farther, wait longer, spend more money, and overcome more obstacles to obtain the same healthcare. Those costs do not disappear. They are absorbed by patients, families, providers, and abortion funds,” Megan Jeyifo, Executive Director, Chicago Abortion Fund, said during her testimony. “The total spent on abortion funding has tripled since Dobbs, from just over $16 million to more than $48 million. Every day, we hear from people trying to make thoughtful decisions about whether to start or grow their families while navigating rising costs, unstable housing, inadequate childcare, and shrinking social safety nets. Federal and state policy decisions shape those realities. For many of the people we serve, the decision to have an abortion is inseparable from the economic conditions in which they are raising children and planning their futures. … Many of the women who built this movement have told me they never imagined their children and grandchildren would come of age with fewer abortion rights than the ones they themselves fought to secure. Four years into a new post-Roe era, I cannot pretend things are not sometimes very dark. When we spent a weekend just last month wondering whether access to medication abortion through telehealth and the mail might be dramatically curtailed for millions of people across the country, that was hard. And we know that fight—and others like it—are still coming.”

“Maine is one of the most rural states in the nation, with 40% of its population living in rural communities where access to healthcare can be difficult and, in some cases, out of reach. Indeed, in many of Maine’s rural communities, access to reproductive healthcare has effectively disappeared. A severe shortage of family planning and reproductive health providers, combined with the closure of hospital labor and delivery units across the state, has left many patients with few or no local options for care. As OB/GYN providers have left these regions, existing gaps in care have only deepened in my state,” said Evelyn Kieltyka, Senior Vice President of Program Services, Maine Family Planning. “Maine Family Planning tried to meet the state’s health care crisis head-on by expanding into primary care and offering wellness and preventive services, treatment for acute and chronic conditions, and geriatric care. However, because our primary care model was designed to serve Medicaid patients, we were forced to discontinue these services after we lost Medicaid funding. … Maine is facing a significant shortage of labor and delivery services. Since 2015, 12 rural hospitals have closed their labor and delivery units, and another closure is under consideration this year. To help address this gap, MFP was exploring collaborations with the remaining birthing centers to provide prenatal and postpartum care. These partnerships could have saved patients hundreds of miles of travel, as well as lost wages and childcare expenses. However, without Medicaid funding, MFP cannot consider this type of expansion. … MFP is sending a clear message to the current administration: We refuse to compromise the services and care we offer to our patients. Our clinics offer life-changing care, life-saving care, and we’re not giving up. Congress has the power to restore Medicaid funding to family planning providers who also offer abortion care. I ask that you do everything in your power to do so. The health and well-being of Mainers and their families, as well as that of patients across the country, depends on it.”

“Across the country, around 550 Planned Parenthood health centers provide birth control, cancer screenings, wellness exams, STI testing and treatment, and abortion, where legal. Planned Parenthood health centers see everyone — no matter who you are, where you live, or what problems you’re facing. In many communities, they’re the only providers of reproductive health care. … This week marks four years since the Dobbs decision. It also marks nearly one year since President Trump and Republicans in Congress ‘defunded’ Planned Parenthood by aiming to block most Medicaid patients from using their insurance at Planned Parenthood health centers. These things didn’t happen by accident. They are part of the anti-abortion movement’s coordinated, decades-long plan to make it harder for everyone, everywhere to get an abortion. And the consequences have been devastating,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “Last November, visits for birth control pills were down by 20 percent compared to the same period the previous year. STI testing declined by 11 percent. And in December, breast exam visits declined by 25 percent. That means cancers undetected and STIs untreated. Patients unable to plan for their families and their futures. This crisis is on top of the crisis caused by the Dobbs decision. 20 states now ban abortion. And bans do not stop abortion — they add burdens to those seeking them and those providing them. These cowards are continuing to push their agenda regardless of the human cost. … Planned Parenthood organizations are staying vigilant against this threat — along with threats to mifepristone, Title X, and more.”

“Today is a grim anniversary for America, marking four years since Trump’s MAGA Supreme Court stole women’s rights to control their own bodies,” said Leader Schumer. “Dobbs will go down as one of the worst, most devastating decisions in American history—but for Republicans, it was just the start of their all-out assault on reproductive freedom. Women seeking basic health care are being treated as criminals, doctors are being threatened with jail time for providing it, and families are being destroyed by Republicans who don’t trust women to make the decisions that are right for them and their families. This isn’t care; it’s control. Not protection, but punishment. Republicans created this health care crisis, and they made it worse a year ago when they passed their ‘Big, Ugly Bill’ and enacted the largest health care cuts in history. Democrats are fighting back to restore and protect abortion rights nationwide.”

“It’s been four years since women lost their constitutionally protected right to abortion. Since then, Americans and their doctors have been forced to navigate a patchwork of bans and restrictions on abortion that have resulted in women bleeding out in parking lots, travelling across state lines for care, or being forced to wait weeks to terminate unviable pregnancies,” said Senator Baldwin. “27 million women still live in states under abortion bans and I remain committed to telling their stories until we can restore the rights and freedoms every American deserves to make their own decisions about their own body.”

“Republicans’ long crusade against women’s reproductive freedoms has created national chaos that is a mortal threat to women’s health. I’m grateful to the panelists today who are helping shine a light on the stories of women across this country who continue to be denied lifesaving medical care and basic human rights,” said Senator Smith. “The four-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision is a moment for us to recommit to the fight, and especially to the effort to ensure mifepristone remains accessible and available no matter where you live. I will not stop organizing and fighting until women’s freedoms can be exercised equally in all parts of this country.”

“Four years ago, the Supreme Court stripped Americans of the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions—putting that power in the hands of politicians. The Trump Administration and Republicans across the country are leading a campaign of assault against women’s healthcare, restricting access to critical, often life-saving care. We need action now—I remain committed to never stop fighting for reproductive justice, abortion access, and the simple, foundational right to choose your own healthcare,” said Senator Blumenthal.

“Four years after Dobbs, women are worse off. They are traveling farther, paying more, and facing greater barriers to care. Since Idaho imposed a restrictive abortion ban, more than one-third of the state’s OB-GYNs have left – and women are forced to seek care elsewhere. This strains care in states like Washington that have continued to protect abortion rights. I will continue fighting to restore abortion protections for patients and doctors nationwide,” said Senator Cantwell.

“We must keep working to pass legislation to protect women and their families in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “That’s why I’ve introduced legislation with Senator Murray and others to protect women who cross state lines to get abortions, as well as the providers who care for them. I’m fighting to ensure Nevada and other pro-choice states can continue taking care of women and families who need help.”

“When Trump’s hand-picked Justices on the Supreme Court threw out our constitutional right to choose, they did more than ban abortion—they put women in danger,” said Senator Duckworth. “They crushed the dreams of hopeful parents—including our nation’s servicemembers and Veterans—who live in abortion-ban states and rely on IVF to build their families. They increased the maternal mortality rate because doctors are afraid to provide lifesaving care to pregnant women who are bleeding out or suffering deadly infections. There is simply nothing ‘pro-life’ about Trump ending Roe v. Wade. Nothing.”

“Four years ago, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority abandoned the long-standing constitutional protections recognized in Roe v. Wade, dragging women’s rights half a century backward. The Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress and states across the country have used this as a mandate to attack reproductive freedoms at every level,” said Senator Durbin. “But the fight is far from over, and I will continue to push back against these harmful restrictions on women’s health care and autonomy.”

“Four years after the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision, women across our country continue to suffer devastating consequences. From restricting lifesaving emergency care to forcing patients to travel across state lines for essential services, Republicans’ war on women and our bodily autonomy doesn’t just undermine the fundamental right to healthcare—it endangers millions of lives,” said Senator Hirono. “As the Trump regime continues to attack our basic rights and freedoms, I will do everything in my power to restore and expand access to abortion and family planning services nationwide, and fiercely protect healthcare providers and the patients they serve.”

“By stripping women of our hard-earned reproductive freedoms and jeopardizing access to life-saving health care, the Supreme Court’s outrageous Dobbs decision set back decades of hard-fought progress,” said Senator Shaheen. “Four years later, our fundamental rights are still under attack. The testimonies we heard at the forum are powerful reminders of what we’ve lost since the Dobbs decision and what continues to be at stake in the fight to restore access to the full range of reproductive health care.”

Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights, and she has led Congressional efforts to fight back after the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need; Murray has led efforts to push for passage of these bills on the Senate floor multiple times over the last four years.

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The following sites plus Stan's "THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT," Ruth's "Chump has no sense of style" and Mike's "Chump fades Miss Sassy irritates" --  updated:





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