Thursday, April 24, 2025

Edward Martin, another unqualified embarrassment

If you wonder about the s**t poor choices Donald Chump has made for his administration, grasp that he has no appeal.  That's why he had such a crappy inauguration.  Carrie Underwood's career ended about a decade but nobody told her.  She can't get a solo song played on country radio.  The other losers also aren't hit makers anymore.  Snoop Dogg?  Hasn't had a solo top forty hit -- pop or r&b -- since 2010's "Wet."  Losers.  Don't forget fat boy Jason Aldeen. He's a prissy little fat boy, isn't he?  Anti-gay but sporting more cheap jewelry than my Aunt Aisling.  So grasp that he has no choice but to choose from losers.  Like with his so-called artists trio of Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone.  You'll note that Clint Eastwood, who actually believes in the Constitution and still has a real career, won't take part in that nonsense.  

Only the worst of the worst, the really big failures take part. So keep that in mind as David Edwards (RAW STORY) reports:



Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Edward Martin has apologized after praising a Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist.

In an interview with Forward, which has a Jewish audience, Martin said he had not known about the background of Timothy Hale-Cusanelli when he introduced him during an awards ceremony at President Donald Trump’s golf club in Bedminster last year. At the time, Martin called Hale-Cusanelli "extraordinary."
The event was sponsored by Patriot Freedom Project, a group founded by Jan. 6 defendants.
"I'm sorry," Martin told Forward. “I denounce everything about what that guy said, everything about the way he talked, and all as I’ve now seen it... At the time, I didn’t know it."



As I was reading along -- knowing nothing about Martin -- my thoughts were, "Well he is apologizing.  We can all make mistakes."  Stuff like that.  Then I went to Wikipedia and found so much more:


In August 2006, Governor Matt Blunt appointed Martin as his chief of staff.[22][23] While serving as Blunt's chief of staff, Martin was linked to the controversial firing of Scott Eckersley, then Deputy General Counsel for Blunt. In the summer of 2007, Martin's office had resisted providing his emails to an investigative reporter from the Springfield (MO) News-Leader, who was investigating whether Martin used his office to influence outside groups against political opponents. Martin claimed there were no emails that pertained to the issue. A Blunt spokesman said the administration did not have a policy of retaining emails, although the state Sunshine Law requiring retention for 3 years is widely known.[24]

The administration claimed it had fired Eckersley because he had violated internal policies. He filed a lawsuit against Martin and Blunt for his firing, saying he had been trying to enforce the state law for retention of emails.[25] Several major media outlets filed suit to gain access to Martin's and other emails of the administration. Martin resigned as chief of staff in November 2007, followed by Blunt's General Counsel, Henry Herschel.[24]

After a year-long battle to gain access, in November 2008, the Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch analyzed and reported on 60,000 pages of emails obtained from the administration. They found that Martin had used his state office in 2007 improperly to encourage opposition to Attorney General Jay Nixon among anti-abortion groups, as the Democrat Nixon was likely to oppose Blunt in the next election.[24] He had also pressured political appointees of state agencies to criticize Nixon's handling of some issues as AG. In addition, the newspapers reported that Martin had encouraged outside groups to oppose the nomination of Patricia Breckenridge to an open seat on the Missouri Supreme Court, although Blunt supported her.[24] On May 22, 2009, the Missouri Attorney General's office announced that Eckersley's lawsuit against Blunt and others had been settled for $500,000.[26][27]

In January 2008, Blunt surprised supporters by announcing he would not seek a second term.[28] In February 2008 Governor Blunt appointed Martin as a member of the Missouri State Parks Advisory Board, a position he held until April 2011.[29]

Following Blunt's leaving office, the state completed its own investigation of possible violations of the Sunshine Law under Blunt and Martin. It found that the governor's office failed to properly disclose Mr. Martin's emails."[30] This investigation, which cost the state $2 million, found that Martin had illegally destroyed some emails, in violation of the state's open government or Sunshine Law.[31]

In 2008, Martin founded the American Issues Project, a political group financed by Harold Simmons that ran anti-Senator Barack Obama TV ads during the 2008 United States presidential campaign.[32] Martin appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to discuss the group's commercials.[33]

Martin was executive director of the Missouri Club for Growth, a PAC to support certain candidates financially, and president of the Missouri Roundtable for Life, a pro-life, non-profit group.[34] He also founded Term Limits for Missouri in 2010,[35] which works to pass laws for term limits on all statewide elective positions in the state.

In 2015, Martin was appointed as President of the Eagle Forum, a conservative advocacy group founded by Phyllis Schlafly, though he was removed from the position in 2016.[36] A lawsuit was subsequently filed by a majority of the Eagle Forum's board, including the youngest daughter of Phyllis Schlafy, Anne Schlafly Cori, to bar Martin from any association with the group.[36] During the course of the lawsuit, Martin was found liable for defamation and false light against Cori.[36]

In 2016, Martin co-authored The Conservative Case for Trump with Phyllis Schlafly and Brett M. Decker.[37]

Martin was a CNN contributor in 2017.[38] From 2016 to 2024, Martin appeared more than 150 times on RT America and Sputnik, both of which are Russian state-controlled news agencies.[39] None of these appearances was disclosed to the Senate on a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire asking for a list of all media interviews.[39]



Wait, there's more:

Prior to his appointment, Martin had been involved with the Stop the Steal movement, speaking at a rally on January 5, 2021, where he led chants and claimed "they're stealing [...] our republic." He served on the board of the Patriot Freedom Project, which raised money to support January 6 defendants and their families. He was subpoenaed by the House January 6 committee but did not testify, and had previously represented three January 6 defendants, including a member of the Proud Boys who pleaded guilty to felony charges. On January 6, he posted on social media from the Capitol area, describing the crowd as "rowdy" but "nothing out of hand".[45] Before his appointment, Martin had been an active supporter of January 6 defendants as legal counsel. His foundation hosted a 2024 banquet at Trump's Bedminster golf club honoring Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a convicted Capitol riot participant. As interim U.S. Attorney, Martin initiated an internal investigation into the use of obstruction charges in January 6 cases, characterizing their application as a "great failure".[46]

Martin faced scrutiny for signing a motion to dismiss charges against Joseph Padilla, a January 6 defendant whom he had previously represented as defense counsel. The action drew criticism from legal experts, who noted Justice Department regulations require lawyers to recuse themselves from cases involving former clients for at least one year. [46]

In February 2025, Martin publicly pledged his office's support to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was charged with recommending overhauls to the federal bureaucracy. Martin posted a letter on X promising to "pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people". This statement came amid controversy surrounding DOGE's actions at various federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, where DOGE representatives removed top security officials who had refused to grant them access to restricted spaces.[13]

On February 24, Martin was criticized for referring to himself and fellow United States attorneys as "President Trumps' lawyers" in a post on X.[47][48]

On February 28, Martin demoted prosecutors including Jason McCullough, who had been the lead prosecutor in the sedition case against Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.[49][50]

In March 2025, Martin was criticized for telling the dean of Georgetown law school, William Treanor, that he would not hire anyone who was "affiliated with a law school or university that continues to teach and utilize DEI."[51]

On March 13, 2025, representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked the Justice Department's inspector general to launch an investigation into Martin. Raskin wrote: "In seven short weeks, the list of Mr. Martin's constitutionally, legally and ethically indefensible actions have grown exponentially."[52]

Martin said he would not prosecute Tarrio for allegedly assaulting a woman the previous month at a protest. He further said that the police officer who arrested Tarrio should be reprimanded. "I believe he [the officer] was itching to arrest a [January] Sixer," Martin alleged.[49] Prosecutors determined that it would be difficult to overcome a potential claim of self-defense by Tarrio, and the decision not to prosecute was consistent with other decisions in the past.[53]

In April 2025, Martin was criticized for writing a letter to a scientific journal asking about its partisan slant and whether it offers competing viewpoints.[54]

In April 2025, an open letter criticizing Martin was signed by over 100 former prosecutors who had worked in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who claimed that Martin "has butchered the position, effectively destroying it as a vehicle by which to pursue justice and turning it into a political arm of the current administration."[36]


He is not qualified to be a US attorney general.  He knew exactly what he was doing and he did it.  Now he thinks an apology will make up for it.  No, because it does not seem sincere.  It seems like someone got caught and they want to get confirmed so they're issuing an empty apology.


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


Thursday, April 24, 2025.  Donald Chump continues to wreck the economy and continues to make the case for his own impeachment, security risk Pete Hegseth remains in his position, David Hogg has failed at his mission to communicate, and much more. 




Let's start with Pete Hegseth.  The unqualified Secretary of Defense is in the news for so many things.  Yesterday afternoon, a friend at CBS NEWS called me about this report by Jennifer Jacobs:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources told CBS News. 

The price tag for the project was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures. 


My CBS friend joked that Hegseth was "wounded" by comments in yesterday's snapshot about his looks.  I doubt it.  But, sadly for him, I actually held back on that.  As soon as he returns to wearing his make up on camera I may have to review his looks again.  This time not just because that nose requires much more comment (as does the chin) and not also because I'm interested to see how much work is required to make him Maybelline Cover Girl camera ready -- no, mainly because that vanity is something that the US taxpayer is now paying to preserve.  



Hegseth continues to lie and he's the spawn of a liar (Chump) so it may get confusing.  But let's note one thing clearly.  This was his second leak problem, his second breach of national security.  Shouldn't he be explaining right now why, when the first one was revealed weeks ago, he gave no heads up about this latest example?

He knew during the last scandal, as he lied repeatedly, that he had done another chat on a non-secure device, using the risky Signal app, and he never said, "Let me explain, there's something else."


Maybe he didn't know?

I guess that's possible.  Maybe he got blotto drunk, passed out and can't remember anything on the morning after?

If he wants to offer that excuse, I'm willing to consider it.  But right now, he's just lying.  Gustaf Kilander (INDEPENDENT) calls it like it is, "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did use his personal phone to send sensitive information to two group chats on the messaging app Signal, three officials have told NBC News."  Colby Hall (MEDIAITE) notes, "Hegseth is reportedly troubled by the alleged 'total chaos' reported by his former spokesperson and is “in full paranoia, back-against-the-wall mode,” according to a source familiar with Hegseth’s state of mind over the last month, per CNN’s report."  Morgan Music (LATIN TIMES) notes the Hegseth hypocrisy of it all:


In a 2016 Fox News segment, Hegseth harshly criticized former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her handling of classified emails, declaring that "any security professional military government or otherwise would be fired on the spot for this type of conduct and criminally prosecuted for being so reckless."
"The fact that she wouldn't be held accountable for this blows the mind of anyone who's held our nation's secrets dear, who's had a top secret clearance—like I have," Hegseth continued. "Who know that even one hiccup causes a problem."

Now, Hegseth himself is accused of reckless conduct with the nation's secrets, reportedly sending sensitive information about US airstrikes in Yemen to Signal group chats.


So what say you now, Hegseth?  You've mishandled sensitive information -- that's putting it nicely -- so why shouldn't you be fired?  And don't give us a garbage reply like, "Hillary wasn't!"  Hillary had already stepped down as Secretary of State in February of 2013 -- three years prior to the e-mail scandal emerging.  When Hegseth was screaming she should be fired, she had, again, been out of that job for three years.  

Meanwhile, Hegseth still holds his job.  So what does Hegseth think should be done with him?   Hand him another bottle of beer?  Nod while he exclaims, "I'll drink to that!" 



Jack Hobbs (THE MIRROR) reports,  "White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday for her regular briefing, where she reaffirmed the White House's backing of the Secretary of Defense."

Yes, thus far the White House is standing by Hegseth.

That is correct.

Donald Chump is shirking his duty.  

Hegseth should have been fired immediately.  Now we have a second breach of security and Chump's waiting to see if it'll blow over.

The mid-terms aren't going to blow over.  If Dems end up with control of just one house of Congress -- and they may get two -- look for impeachment charges.  

And they'll be right to impeach and to remove from office.  Nobody wants JD Vance as president but Donald's committing a high crime right now.

The leaking of classified information is a high crime. 

Instead of addressing it, Chump is ignoring it.  That's dereliction of duty.  

Susan Rice was on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC show last night.  (Note, I'm beyond sick this morning.  I don't see the video at MSNBC, I was sick last night.  If it wasn't Lawrence, I'll note it tomorrow but as I'm remembering it, it was Lawrence's show.  ADDED: It wasn't Lawrence, it was Brian Tyler Cohen's YOUTUBE program, we'll note it in tomorrow's snapshot.])  Details of an impending military strike are top secret.  There's no debating this.  And Hegseth's sharing this on two unsecure chats. This outrageous.  She was the National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017.  She knows what she's talking about.  She laid it out very cleary.  He broke the rules.

That's it when you're President of the United States.  You make the call, you fire the idiot.

Chump refusing to do so.  He's dilly dallied for weeks now demonstrating that he lacks the strength of character to do the most basic tasks to ensure the safety of this country.

This is impeachable.  This is not minor.

 Yet, day after day, he refuses to address this situation.

Other countries are aware of this, it's on their news casts as well.

And other countries are far less likely to share important information with us if they have to worry that Gossip Girl Hegseth might let it slip in  a group chat.  That's harming us right now.  When Hegseth's loose lips flutter, that also threatens the people tasked with carrying out a mission -- such as the bombing of Yemen.  

There is no excuse for Hegseth's actions and he should be fired immediately; however, as Chump continues to delay that, we need to expand the spotlight so it includes Donald because he's refusing to do what a president needs to do which is fire Hegseth.

Chump's refusal to address this is a high crime.  It puts the entire country at risk, it endangers the military personnel he is tasking with missions and it harms our relationships with other countries who share classified information -- or used to share -- with us.


Like most people, Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand (CNN) wonder why Hegseth needs to share sensitive information with his wife:

Jennifer Hegseth has been a constant presence in her husband’s inner circle from even before he was confirmed to the Cabinet job. Her involvement thrust her back into the spotlight over the weekend, when it was reported that she was in a Signal group chat with her husband, his brother, and his lawyer, in which the secretary disclosed sensitive information about military operations against the Houthis.

While Hegseth’s brother Phil and his lawyer Tim Parlatore have official positions within the Defense Department, Jennifer Hegseth does not.

A source familiar with the situation told CNN Jennifer Hegseth submitted paperwork for a security clearance, but it was unclear if she received one. When asked by CNN if Jennifer Hegseth has a clearance, a spokesperson said the department does not discuss security clearances for any individual. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson, however, added that Jennifer Hegseth has “never attended a meeting where sensitive information or classified information was discussed.”

 
Jen Psaki noted Monday night on MSNBC that she wasn't allowed to share sensitive information with her husband when she worked for the government. 

You get what you pay for?  Leslie Josephs (CNBC) explains:

America's richest and most powerful companies shelled out millions to fund President Donald Trump's inauguration festivities.

Three months later, some may be asking whether the famously transactional president has their backs. Many of those corporations have had their businesses roiled by Trump's tariff policy and resulting consumer caution, dampening the optimism much of the business and finance community felt when he was reelected.
Some of the nation's largest companies, including General Motors, BlackRock and Meta, donated to Trump's inaugural committee, leading it to raise a record $239 million – more than the previous three inaugural committees took in combined, according to filings released Sunday.


In other words, they didn't get what they wanted . . . nor did they get what they needed.  They tried real hard but they bought from a con man so they got screwed.   And screwed over is what is now happening to American business -- big and small -- thanks to Chump.  AFP reports, "Boeing's CEO confirmed Wednesday that China had stopped accepting new aircraft due to the US-China trade war, as the company's shares surged following a smaller than expected loss" and they quote Kelly Ortberg (Boeing Chief Executive) stating the country  "stopped taking delivery of aircraft due to the tariff environment."  Mary Papenfuss (INDEPENDENT) notes: 


Donald Trump’s tariffs are already triggering thousands of layoffs in American manufacturing plants, mostly in the Midwest and the East.

Companies are ejecting workers in the wake of Trump’s purported plan to use the levies to bring manufacturing jobs back to the country.

The Volvo Group has announced it’s cutting 800 workers at its Volvo and Mack Truck plants in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland.

“Heavy-duty truck orders continue to be negatively affected by market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes, and the impact of tariffs,” a Volvo Group spokesperson told Reuters.

Pennsylvania Democratic state lawmaker Josh Siegel told ABC27 that Trump’s tariffs have been a “devastating blow to Lehigh Valley workers” in a region where Mack remains one of the region’s largest employers.

“Workers are not just numbers—they are parents, neighbors, veterans, and skilled tradespeople who built America’s backbone,” Siegel said.



On the economy, Catherine Lucey, Hadriana Lowenkron and Jaewon Kang (BLOOMBERG NEWS) explain, "Confronted with fresh warnings from financial markets, business leaders and top advisers, President Donald Trump this week eased off on two of his frequent punching bags: Jerome Powell and China."  Yes, Chump has gone from saying he wanted to fire the Fed Chair to his usual lying and pretending that never happened.  Brian Schwartz, Josh Dawsey and Nick Timiraos (WALL STREET JOURNAL) report:


President Trump said this week that he never had any plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, accusing the media of pushing a false narrative that he was out to get the central bank chief.

But inside the White House, some senior officials took Trump’s recent public musings about terminating Powell seriously. As Trump’s criticism of the Fed chair ramped up over the last week, White House lawyers privately reviewed legal options for attempting to remove Powell, including whether they could do so for “cause,” according to people familiar with the matter. The laws that created the Federal Reserve say Fed governors can only be removed before their term ends for cause, which courts have generally interpreted to mean malfeasance or impropriety. Finding a pretext for dismissing Powell would have edged the White House closer to a dramatic escalation with the central bank.
Those discussions came to a halt early this week when Trump told his senior aides that he wouldn’t try to oust Powell. His decision came after interventions from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who warned Trump that such a move could trigger far-reaching market chaos and a messy legal fight, the people said. Lutnick also told the president that efforts to fire the Fed chair likely wouldn’t lead to any practical change on interest rates because other members of the Fed’s board would likely approach monetary policy similarly to Powell, one of the people said.



In an appearance on CNN, the U.S. National Editor for the Financial Times, Ed Luce, claimed President Donald Trump is being schooled — but he ‘isn't learning a lesson’.

‘The Situation Room’ hosts Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown both pressed the editor on the economy under Trump.

[. . ]
"I mean, 1.8% U.S. growth this year is still relatively on the high side. I would have thought if you see a resumption of the trade war. But the significance is that it just sort of feeds into this dawning and quite dramatic realization on the part of markets that U.S. economic policy is going to be capricious, unpredictable and a very hard climate in which to invest whilst Donald Trump remains president. That's really the sort of the salient fact in all of this. They don't trust President Trump."


Let's move over to immigration.  John Clark (WGN) reports:


Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced that the state will take punitive actions against the country of El Salvador for holding Kilmar Abrego Garcia in custody.

“The United States Constitution guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power,” said Pritzker. “The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power stop the Trump Administration from ripping apart our most basic rights.”
Garcia, an accused MS-13 gang member, was deported from Maryland to his home country in March, despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to El Salvador due to fear of persecution.

A federal judge said Tuesday that the Trump administration is ignoring court orders, obstructing the legal process, and acting in “bad faith” by refusing to provide information about the steps they have taken, if any, to free Garcia from an El Salvador prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration nearly two weeks ago to facilitate Garcia’s return to the U.S. from a Salvadoran prison, rejecting the White House’s claim that it couldn’t retrieve him after mistakenly deporting him.


Kilmer remains out of the US after being kidnapped by Chump and thrown into a concentration camp in El Salvador.  He is not the only one this has happened to.  Alex Bollinger (LGBTQ NATION) notes:

Out gay Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) sent letters demanding answers to his “grave concerns” about why gay makeup artist Andry José Hernandez Romero was sent to the CECOT torture camp in El Salvador. Authorities claim that he has tattoos associated with the Tren de Aragua gang, but that assessment appears to have been made by a disgraced former police officer who was working for a private contractor after losing his job with the police force.

While much of America is focused on Maryland dad Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to CECOT due to an admitted “administrative error,” Garcia is asking about Hernandez, a makeup artist who made national headlines.

Hernandez Romero is a Venezuelan immigrant who trekked to the U.S. and entered legally last year at San Diego. There, he asked for asylum, saying that he was being targeted in Venezuela for being gay and due to his political beliefs. He was held in a CoreCivic detention center, where he was screened by Charles Cross Jr.




A federal judge rebuked the Trump administration for thwarting the collection of evidence in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. 

US District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the case, on Tuesday largely rejected the government’s objections to information demands from Abrego Garcia’s lawyers as she keeps open the option of initiating contempt of court proceedings.
The judge said Justice Department lawyers must stop mischaracterizing a Supreme Court order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody and arguing that information can’t be disclosed because it’s confidential for one reason or another.

“For weeks, defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this court’s orders,” Xinis wrote. “That ends now.”



Chump and the crooks who work for him won't reveal anything on the deportees . . . unless they can use it to harm.  Case in point?  Alex Woodward (INDEPENDENT) notes:

The wife of a wrongly deported Salvadoran father living in Maryland was moved to a safe house after Donald Trump’s administration posted a court document that included her address on social media.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura said she began fearing for her safety and the safety of her three children after the Department of Homeland Security shared a protective order from 2021 that prominently featured her address to the department’s 2.4 million followers on X.

“I don’t feel safe when the government posts my address, the house where my family lives, for everyone to see, especially when this case has gone viral and people have all sorts of opinions,” she told The Washington Post. “So, this is definitely a bit terrifying. I’m scared for my kids.”

What they have done is 'doxed' her.  This was not a mistake or an accident.  It's retaliation.  And it's outrageous.  Chump's endless cycle of retribution where he tries to strike out for every real and imaginary slight he feels he's endured?  It  is leaving the US at risk.  His mental decline has been noted -- and should continue to be -- but we also need to grasp that there's also a break with reality taking place as he tries to erase various people in our country.  And there are a lot of ways to erase someone.   For example, Meryl Kornfield, Lisa Rein, Hannah Natanson (WASHINGTON POST) report:


When Richard VanMetter tried to buy a sandwich, he didn’t realize he was dead.

The 76-year-old retired physicist, on vacation in Boca Raton, Florida, in February, assumed there might have been a fraudulent charge that caused his credit card to be declined for a $6 Italian sub purchase. Then he called his bank and learned the government had told every financial institution he had ever interacted with that he had died. The government clawed back his last Social Security check and shut off his retirement checks and Medicare. Months later, he’s still working on getting his pension payments back.

“It has been the bane of my existence,” VanMetter said.

VanMetter had been mistakenly added to Social Security’s Death Master File — a database the government maintains to keep track of deceased people who should no longer receive benefits that is also provided to financial institutions, employers, election offices and other organizations. The agency has acknowledged that about 600 people a month are placed in the database mistakenly, for reasons ranging from clerical errors to bad information.

Now, false claims by Elon Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service about dead people getting benefits have led to a new effort to move millions of names to the Death Master File — increasing the odds that more people who are alive will inadvertently be declared dead, according to current and former officials at the agency, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.


A functioning president would be appalled by what happened to Richard VanMetter.  Grasp that we do not have a functioning president in the Oval Office.  We have a convicted felon experiencing cognitive decline as he abuses the power of the office to seek retribution. 






People of color are not stupid.  And that was especially driven home in this YOUTUBE video to David Hogg.

 

 

 


Who is David Hogg talking about replacing?  People of color especially are concerned when a White man starts talking about replacing members of Congress -- and for good reason.  

David needs to be having a conversation but it's been days since his announcement and he's still not eager for a conversation that reaches beyond the White world.  DSAers want AOC to be the next president but they've yet to make any efforts to atone for what they did to the country and the Black community in 2024.  The sitcom's just fine and not going anywhere.  But maybe the media should hit hard on their other beloved trope: The Death Of The Democratic Party?  If certain self-proclaimed players are unable to listen to minority populations, the party's going to do even worse in 2028.


Elements of DSA want to take over the Democratic Party.  The reality is that, if they want AOC as the presidential nominee in 2028, they need to be talking to the Black community which is not as stupid as the White community.

DSA and MAGA share The Politics of Destruction -- which is why so many people can flip from one group to the other -- Tulsi Gabbard, Jimmy Dore, Jackson Hinkle, etc etc.  

They want to destroy the system.

It's easy for White people to feel that way -- and White-identifying pocs.  

They've been spoiled all their life.  

Spoiled for centuries basically.

Not true for Black Americans.  

We've had to fight to end slavery, we've had to fight for basic rights after slavery, as late as the 1960s the Civil Rights Movement was still ongoing and though that movement did so much, it did not bring about equality.

While spoiled White DSAers sat on their asses and plotted to take down the system, Black Americans had to fight daily for the system to open even a little for us.

So when you start your nonsense about tearing everything down -- again, no difference between DSA and MAGA -- we are going to stop and say, "Woah."  Because the system you are spoiled on is one we're still fighting for our rights in.  And when you talk about your idea of the future, you don't talk about anything concrete or anything that assures us that we will be part of such a system.

David Hogg is just another vain White person.  Vain?  White men with that awful hairdo -- think Gavin Newsom -- are narcissistic  and that's why they continue to believe it's a cool and sexy hairdo when it's ugly and repulsive and should remain with Carrot Top.

David Hogg has taken to slamming James Carville.  Slam away.  I do.  It's the only way you'll ever get his attention.  He's a bean counter who has been overpraised for years (Betsy Wright, as we've noted her for decades, never got her due and she's much more responsible for Bill Clinton getting elected President than James).  But if you're going to slam James be prepared for the return slam.

He hasn't given it yet to David, so I will.  David keeps going around repeating a line about how James' last successful election came before he was born.

Yes, it did.

And that's still one more success than David's had.

Davis is 25.  I supported his run and celebrated it.  I thought he would work with the DNC, take a moment to learn some things and improve the party.  Instead, months after being elected, he's now alarmed many with his plan to primary Democrats in Congress.  


That's really not a DNC job.  And it is alarming many.  The video Ava and I highlighted resulted in more words from David.

More words.

But no response. 


In "The David Divide" above, they play David's reply -- again, not an actual response.

It's appalling.  A White man -- of 25, no less -- thinks he's going to educate the Black community?  He thinks we need him to tell us how we could be participating at the local level?  As though we don't know this, as though we aren't already?  White Messiah, thank you, for your tone deaf reply that is racist and insulting.

This is why David should have kept his mouth shut and listened.  He thinks he has all the answers but he can even respond to basic questions.

He tries to bury us with words that never address anything. 

He preaches slogan and we're not idiots.

After they play David's words, the first onscreen response is from Hooks who types, "all I hear are Justice Democrats, DSA talking points."

Hooks is exactly right.

And this week, Ava and I again noted that the DSA did not have the Black community and does not speak for the Black community.  Their inability to communicate with the Black community is one of the biggest reasons that they are a failure.  For those late to the party, Justice Democrats is a Socialist front created by Kyle and Cenk, it's better termed Justice Socialists because that's what they are.  But they knew Justice Socialists wouldn't get enough support so they tried to trick the people instead by dubbing it "Democrats."  

We're not idiots.  We hear what you're saying and we're not taken in by the sloganeering.  We're fully aware that you're trying to put one over on us and we're not buying it.

David started this and has some time now to clear up what his aim is.  He's insisting it's not about replacing older members with younger members.  Then why, in all the time since he went public on this in April (this month), have they not updated their website:

Leaders We Deserve invests in candidates who reflect our generation and its values matching them with the resources they need to run strong campaigns, win, and change the face of power. Think EMILYs List for young, progressive courageous candidates. 



You're failing on every level, David.  And we're not giving our hard earned gains to back you as a leader when you can't even be honest and you can't even reply to actual questions with real examples.

Clearly, I was wrong to have backed you for your current positions and as you continue to create more of a mess and especially as you continue to alienate Black Democrats, I really think you need to step down from your DNC position because nothing you are doing at present is actually helping the party.  We need control of both houses.  You've offered nothing to demonstrate how your goals are going to help us with that.  

As one member of the House Black Caucus said to me over the phone last night, "It really would be a White man, wouldn't it, who at the age of 25 would think he knew better than the whole damn party?"

Yes, it would.

Yes, it would.

David, maybe you'll be of value in other ways or later in life.  But at present, you're a recent college graduate and that's basically it.  Maybe gets some life under your belt and work on communicating?  At present, we can't afford you and you're not offering much of value.  I don't say that with glee.  I was rooting for you.  But this was your mission that you announced and you've yet to find a way to communicate your goals in a way that isn't racist or insulting.


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

ICYMI: Senator Murray Demands Answers from Secretary Collins Over VA’s Unprecedented Refusal to Allow VA Puget Sound to Participate in Women Veterans Roundtable

ICYMI: REPORT: Trump’s Mass Firings at VA Hurt WA Veterans

ICYMI: Murray Statement on Trump & Elon Plans to Decimate the VA, Firing 80,000 Employees and Putting Veterans’ Care in Grave Danger

***AUDIO HERE; PHOTOS and B-ROLL HERE***

Seattle, WA — Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, hosted a roundtable discussion at the Ballard-Eagleston VFW Post 3063 with women veterans and veteran advocates to discuss the challenges women veterans face in receiving quality care at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and how the Trump administration’s steep cuts across the federal workforce—including at VA—are affecting veterans. Senator Murray’s roundtable at the VFW took place only after the Trump administration refused to allow VA Puget Sound to host or participate in a discussion about the current state of women veterans’ health care. Audio of the full roundtable discussion is available HERE.

Senator Murray has been outspoken in calling attention to how Trump and Elon’s indiscriminate mass layoffs are hurting people—especially veterans—across the country and will undermine services Americans everywhere rely on. She has hosted multiple press conferences with veterans and VA employees in Washington state who are being laid off by Trump and Elon for no reason and through no fault of their own.

Participating in the discussion with Senator Murray today were: Minnette Mason, Veterans Training Support Center Program Manager at the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA); Alyson Teeter, Commander of VFW Post 3063; Barbara Heston-Moore, President of VFW Post 2289 Auxiliary; Sarah Rubin with VFW Post 3063; Dr. Samantha Powers, Director of UW Veteran Student Life; and Shellie Willis, Chair of the WDVA Women’s Veterans Advisory Committee.

“I’m furious that under Trump, VA leadership is barring VA Puget Sound from participating in or hosting this important discussion on women veterans’ issues. Throughout my time in Congress, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, I have been able to have open and honest conversations with VA and engage with my veteran constituents in Washington state—but this administration has proven to be vastly different,” Senator Murray said. Yesterday, Senator Murray sent a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins expressing concern and dismay over the unprecedented refusal—with no justification—by VA to allow VA Puget Sound to participate in today’s roundtable. In the hearing on his nomination to lead VA, his meeting with Senator Murray ahead of the Senate vote on his nomination, and in his own public statements, Doug Collins promised to be maximally transparent with Congress if confirmed.

“Even though women are more likely to seek care through VA, and are more likely to be dealing with depression, anxiety, or sexual trauma—women are also more likely to face barriers to getting the care they need,” Senator Murray said. “And it’s been deeply frustrating to see the Trump administration undermine VA care, fire researchers, and push out other crucial workers who help veterans get care over the past few months, to say nothing of the disrespect they have shown female veterans—literally erasing the history of some women in uniform and denigrating the service of women in combat. I’m going to push every day to make sure you get the respect you deserve, and the care you were promised—whether that’s making sure VA is implementing women’s health care laws I worked to pass, fighting to expand access to IVF services and menopause research, and providing the federal resources we need for VA to improve care for women veterans.”

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a WWII veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for Murray. Advocating for women veterans in particular has been a longtime focus for Senator Murray. As Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in 2010, Senator Murray passed her landmark Women Veterans Health Improvement Act into law. Murray has worked to permanently authorize the VA child care pilot program to increase access to free, quality child care for veterans during their appointments, make much-needed improvements to the women veterans call center, and fix a loophole that left veterans footing the bill for medically-necessary emergency newborn transportation that VA should be covering. Murray introduced and helped pass the Deborah Sampson Act, legislation to address gender disparities at VA that established a dedicated Office of Women’s Health at VA and required every VA health facility to have a dedicated women’s health primary care provider, among other things. Murray also helped to pass the MAMMO Act to expand access to high-quality breast cancer screening and treatment services for veterans.

Last year as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray delivered a record $900 million investment in women veterans’ health care. Earlier this month, Senator Murray introduced bipartisan legislation to require VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to research and study the effects of menopause on women servicemembers and women veterans.

Senator Murray has also been a leading voice in the Senate in speaking out forcefully against President Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firing of VA employees and VA researchers across the country and Elon Musk and DOGE’s infiltration of the VA, including accessing veterans’ sensitive personal information. In recent weeks, Senator Murray and her colleagues sent letters to VA Secretary Doug Collins demanding that the VA swiftly reverse moves to cut VA researchers, as well as multiple letters pressing Secretary Collins to sever Elon Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or other government system with information about veterans, and protect veterans, their families, and VA staff from unprecedented access to sensitive information. Senator Murray grilled Trump’s nominee for VA Deputy Secretary, Dr. Paul Lawrence, on the mass firings of VA employees and VA researchers, and voted against Doug Collins’s nomination to be VA Secretary in early February, sounding the alarm over reports of DOGE at the VA and making clear that the Trump administration’s lawlessness was putting our national security and our veterans at risk.

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Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Businessman Chump Will Tempt You." went up last night.  The following sites updated:


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