The Conversation -- June 14, 2025
By Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune. Thanks to RAS for the link.
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New York Times liveblog: “'A person pretending to be a police officer assassinated a Democratic state legislator in Minnesota and killed the lawmaker’s husband in “an act of targeted political violence,' Gov. Tim Walz said Saturday. The assailant also shot and injured another Democratic lawmaker and his wife, officials said. State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, died in the attack at their home in the Minneapolis suburbs. State Senator John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot multiple times at their house in a nearby suburb, but remained alive as of Saturday morning. The authorities were searching for the assailant, who shot at officers as they arrived at one of the lawmakers’ homes. Chief Mark Bruley of the Brooklyn Park, Minn., police said the gunman’s vehicle contained a manifesto and a target list with names of individuals, including the two lawmakers who were shot. 'We must all, Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence,' Mr. Walz said. F.B.I. officials said they had joined the investigation.” An AP report is here. Thank you RAS for the heads-up. T
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Be Careful Out There.
The Washington Post is live-updating developments related to today's protests.
Marie: BTW, I found that the easiest way to locate protests in my area was to Google "No Kings" and the name of my state. The events were listed by town, in alpha order, and included some details, like time, place and focus of each event.
Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: “The nation is a cauldron of anxiety and anger as it enters the weekend at a moment recalling some of the darkest periods of its history.... Two things, many historians suggest, distinguish this moment from other troubled times in our past. The first is the sheer number of conflagrations taking place at once.... The second thing is Trump himself. At fraught moments like this, it normally falls to the president to step up as the reassuring figure.... Not Trump. When Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democrat of California, protested the dispatching of the National Guard to Los Angeles, the president responded by ordering even more members of the guard to the city, followed by a contingent of Marines. When told that the 'No Kings' weekend protests might spill into Washington on Saturday, Trump warned that anyone trying to interfere with his military parade, which coincides with his 79th birthday, will be met with 'a very big force.' 'What really stands out to me now is that the biggest source of chaos is the president himself,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of political history at Princeton University.”
Sophia Solano & Martin Weil of the Washington Post: “U.S. Capitol Police arrested about 60 demonstrators Friday evening during a protest of the appearance of troops in Saturday’s Army celebration in Washington and at immigration protests in Los Angeles. Capitol Police said the arrests came after a bicycle-rack barrier was pushed down and a police line was 'illegally crossed' while demonstrators ran toward the steps leading to the Capitol Rotunda. The demonstrators, wearing fatigue clothing, then sat on the steps of the Capitol, behind a sign that read 'Vets Say Military off our Streets.' The 60 were part of a larger group that had been demonstrating peacefully at the Supreme Court, Capitol Police said. After they broke away and ran toward the Capitol steps, officers 'began making arrests,' police said.” A CBS News report is here.
Rhian Lubin of the Independent: “Far-right groups are sharing violent messages ahead of the 'No Kings” protests this weekend to coincide with ... Donald Trump’s military birthday parade. Accounts associated with extremist groups are also sharing detailed information about protest organizers, including names and where they work, The Wall Street Journal reports. Protests in more than 2,000 cities are scheduled to take place Saturday. 'Shoot a couple, the rest will go home,' one meme circulating on a Proud Boys Telegram channel said.... The Northern Illinois Proud Boys shared a meme on their Telegram channel falsely claiming the LAPD was seeking support from vigilantes ahead of the protests this weekend.... Experts on extremism in America are alarmed by the posts because they could inspire 'lone-actor violence' or persuade someone to 'get off the couch, pick up a gun and go out to one of these cities,' Jon Lewis ... [of] George Washington University ... told The Journal.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Could these "messengers" be some of the same Proud Boys whom Trump pardoned & released from jail? Why, yes, yes, they could be. ~~~
~~~ Madeline Sherratt of the Independent: “A Florida sheriff issued a stark message to protesters planning to demonstrate this weekend against increasing ICE arrests nationwide. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey warned in a press conference Thursday..., 'If you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains, because we will kill you, graveyard dead. We’re not going to play.'...” MB: Obviously I don't think a person should throw a brick that damages property. But would I kill him for doing so? Absolutely not. And neither would a responsible law enforcement officer. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Chris Hayes ran clips last night of the Brevard County presser. After Sheriff Ivey threatened protesters, a county supervisor came to the mic & told folks that if a protester stood in front of your vehicle, run him over.
Peter Baker of the New York Times: “When ... [Donald] Trump first sought to stage a military parade in Washington, a four-star general ... [told] him that 'it’s what dictators do.' Mr. Trump was unbothered by the comparison, and so on Saturday tanks will roll down the streets of the nation’s capital for the first time in decades. Nor was Mr. Trump evidently concerned about being accused of authoritarian excess for deploying troops to Los Angeles to quell violent protests against his immigration crackdown. If anything, he seemed to revel in the moment, vowing to 'hit' anyone who so much as spit at a police officer.... Yet as a real war broke out this week in the Middle East, Mr. Trump seemed reluctant to get involved, declining to join Israel in its aerial blitz against Iran’s nuclear facilities despite years of chest-thumping threats of 'obliteration' against the Islamic regime.... He has ordered more troops to Los Angeles and Washington than he currently has stationed in Syria and Iraq combined. He seems more willing at the moment to use the military against Americans than against Iranians. He celebrates a show of force on U.S. soil even as he denounces 'endless wars' outside its borders.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Baker says Trump's relationship to the military is "complicated." I don't think so. He and his bro base are isolationists and racists. Their idea of "strength" is "owning the libs," quashing DEI & incarcerating people of color. Making the world safe for democracy? No way. That's not "complicated"; it's self-serving.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: “Trump’s [partisan] rally [at Fort Bragg earlier this week] is the latest event since his return to office that has showcased the president’s disregard for civil-military norms and thrust the Army, specifically, to the center of his most partisan machinations. The turmoil has run headlong into Saturday’s 'grand parade' in Washington celebrating the Army’s 250th birthday, a display of its might — replete with tanks, helicopters, bands and thousands of troops in uniform — that has drawn withering criticism from Trump’s political opponents.... 'Make America Great Again' caps and other pro-Trump paraphernalia were made available for purchase during the event over the objections of Army officials, defense officials said. The merchandise booth, as reported earlier by Military.com, is now the focus of an Army investigation.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Since the story mentions Dan Driscoll, the Secretary of the Army, I guess we had better point out, as RAS did yesterday, that Secretary Dan is awfully proud of having recently spoken to "a soldier on the moon." As far as we mere members of the public know, there is no "soldier on the moon" nor has there been since 1972, more than a decade before Driscoll was born. Go to the videotape. Driscoll is also now the acting director of the ATF, so maybe he indulged in some extra-legal substance he found om the evidence room.
Strawberry Fields, Abandoned ~~~
Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. -- Donald Trump, on social media, Thursday ~~~
~~~ TACO. Hamed Aleaziz & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has abruptly shifted the focus of its mass deportation campaign, telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, according to an internal email and three U.S. officials with knowledge of the guidance. The decision suggested that the scale of ... [Donald] Trump’s mass deportation campaign — an issue that is at the heart of his presidency — is hurting industries and constituencies that he does not want to lose. The new guidance comes after protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s immigration raids, including at farms and businesses. It also came as Mr. Trump made a rare concession this week that his crackdown was hurting American farmers and hospitality businesses. The guidance was sent on Thursday in an email by a senior ICE official, Tatum King, to regional leaders of the ICE department that generally carries out criminal investigations, including work site operations, known as Homeland Security Investigations. 'Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels,' he wrote in the message.” MB: Plus, I'd guess Eric told the old man that his cheesy resorts couldn't find cheap help.
What privacy advocates warned could happen has happened: ~~~
⭐~~~ Kimberly Kindy & Amanda Seitz of the AP: “... Donald Trump’s administration this week provided deportation officials with personal data -- including the immigration status -- on millions of Medicaid enrollees, a move that could make it easier to locate people as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown. An internal memo and emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns. Nevertheless, two top advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security, the emails show. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to comply with the directive. Besides helping authorities locate migrants, experts said, the government could also use the information to scuttle the hopes of migrants seeking green cards, permanent residency or citizenship if they had ever obtained Medicaid benefits funded by the federal government. The dataset includes the information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington, D.C., all of which allow non-U.S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars. CMS transferred the information just as the Trump administration was ramping up its enforcement efforts in Southern California.” (Also linked yesterday.)
April Rubin of Axios: "The U.S. military will not be responsible for law enforcement at Los Angeles protests, the Pentagon said on Friday.... Nearly 5,000 National Guard members and Marines were deployed by the Trump administration in response to anti-immigration raid protests, despite disapproval from a plurality of Americans. 'As of today, we have had no soldier or Marine detain anyone,' Maj. Gen. Thomas Sherman said during a Friday press briefing. 'They have watched federal law enforcement arrest personnel as they were protecting. They have not had to detain anyone at this point.'... Starting today, Second Battalion, Seventh Marines will be responsible for protecting federal property and personnel, Sherman said."
Marie: The poet Robert Burns tells us what may happen to the best-laid plans (assuming you understand 18th-century Scottish dialect). But what about seat-of-the-pants, Trumpity "plans"? How do they fare? ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Slayton of Task & Purpose: "U.S. Marines temporarily detained a civilian in Los Angeles Friday afternoon, the first known case of the military doing so since it deployed to Los Angeles County. The incident was first reported by Reuters, who identified the detained man as U.S. Army veteran Marcos Leao. A spokesperson for U.S. Northern Command confirmed that an individual was detained, but turned over to law enforcement officials after approximately 10 minutes. He was transferred to the custody of officers from the Department of Homeland Security before being released. Per Reuters, Leao was on his way to the nearby Veterans Affairs campus when he crossed yellow tape at the Wilshire federal building, which Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment took over guarding this afternoon. Marines quickly detained him and restrained him using zip ties." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Rachel Parsons, et al., of the New York Times: “... the incident ... was noteworthy in one major way: Federal troops are rarely deployed on American soil and are rarely seen detaining U.S. civilians, even temporarily.... A 19th-century law, the Posse Comitatus Act, generally makes it illegal to use federal troops for law enforcement on domestic soil.... The federal building [Mr. Leao was attempting to enter] is the same one where F.B.I. agents forcibly removed Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, from a news conference on Thursday. The 17-story building includes offices for the F.B.I., the Veterans Affairs Department and a federal passport agency.”
Laura Romero & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty Friday to human smuggling charges, and the judge in case said she would wait to issue a decision on whether he should be released from custody pending trial. One week after he was brought back to the Unites States from detention in El Salvador, Abrego Garcia entered his not guilty plea at his arraignment in Tennessee, where federal prosecutors have charged him with transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. in what they say was a conspiracy involving the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars. Following his plea, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes heard arguments over whether he should continue to be detained, after which she said she would likely issue a written order in the near future -- 'soon rather than later,' she said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Alan Feuer & James McGee of the New York Times: “A federal judge signaled on Friday that she was open to granting bail to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, one week after he was returned to the United States to face criminal charges following his wrongful deportation to El Salvador. If the judge, Barbara D. Holmes, does end up denying the Justice Department’s request to detain Mr. Abrego Garcia as he awaits trial, it would be a significant rebuke of the Trump administration, which has repeatedly accused him of being a dangerous criminal, even a terrorist. But it would also represent a Pyrrhic victory for him and his defense team because, as Judge Holmes pointed out, he would almost certainly be taken into custody by immigration officials. Judge Holmes declined to make a final decision on the question of bail at a daylong hearing in Federal District Court in Nashville where Mr. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to a two-count federal indictment unsealed last Friday.”
Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "... to the right, [Kristi] Noem was the wrong[ed] party [in the incident in which law enforcement officers wrestled Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) to the floor and handcuffed him]. For them, the incident seems to have transformed her into something of a wounded dove.... 'She’s like the most delicate, beautiful, tiny woman,' Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said during an appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast.... 'What actual testosterone dude goes in and tries to break Kristi Noem?'... [There is] glaring racism in the suggestion that Noem, a white woman, is the victim after a Latino man is physically dragged out of a room by multiple Secret Service agents. The pretext of criminality attached to people who are not white pervades this administration. Just this week, Rep. LaMonica McIver, a Black congresswoman from New Jersey, was indicted on charges of impeding and interfering with law enforcement officials after protesting at an ICE facility last month.... In these early days of our fascist slide, it is painfully clear who gets to be 'delicate, beautiful, and tiny,' and who is seen as a violent threat to law enforcement.”
Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “The Trump administration, blocked by a judge from detaining Mahmoud Khalil on one set of legal grounds, has officially shifted to another as it fights to hold him in federal custody. Justice Department lawyers told the judge, Michael E. Farbiarz, on Friday, that Mr. Khalil was being held on allegations that had been added to his case more than a week after his arrest in March. Judge Farbiarz has already suggested the allegations do not wholly explain his continued detention.... Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court filing submitted Friday afternoon that Mr. Khalil [now] was being held on the [later-added] allegations ... that he had failed to disclose his membership in certain organizations when he applied for legal residency in March 2024. Scott Schuchart, a former senior homeland security official, said the government’s shifting rationale in Mr. Khalil’s case was typical of the administration’s broader approach to immigration cases. 'I find it outrageous just with regard to the disrespect with which they’ve treated the court and the entire process throughout this case,' he said, adding, 'It shows nothing but contempt for the rule of law.'” (Also linked yesterday.) The NBC News story is here.
Say, remember how the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and three Democratic members of congress wanted to inspect the privately-run migrant detention center known as Delaney Hall? And how DHS officers shoved them around and arrested the mayor, then the Trumpy prosecutor later brought federal charges against one of the House members ? Well, gosh, it's almost as if those planned inspections were not only legal, they were badly needed: ~~~
~~~ Tracey Tully, et al., of the New York Times: “Meals had been erratic at the privately run facility that last month began holding migrants facing deportation. Some detainees were sleeping on floors. And the water available from faucets was sometimes scalding or foul tasting. Several dozen men in Unit 5, on an upper floor of the jailhouse known as Delaney Hall, had grown frustrated. And after returning Thursday afternoon from a first-floor cafeteria, where they said they had been given slices of bread in place of a meal, they began covering security cameras and smashing at walls and windows. Two security guards stationed in the unit retreated.... By the time the disruption was over, four men had escaped.... The men who escaped had punched a hole through an exterior wall of the jail that [Sen. Andy] Kim [D-N.J.] described as crude — 'essentially just drywall with some mesh inside.'”
Here's a NYT front-page analysis that concludes Trump is a buffoon, a remarkably incompetent negotiator who grossly overestimates his own prowess. There's not much sugar-coating here, and the reporters replace both-siderism with a note that Obama got it done (before Trump foolishly blew t up). ~~~
~~~ Michael Crowley & Edward Wong of the New York Times: “... as a candidate for president in 2024, [Donald Trump] cast himself as a man of peace. His toughness and the 'respect' he enjoys from foreign leaders, he insisted, would enable him to settle conflicts almost with a snap of his fingers. 'My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier,' Mr. Trump said in his January inaugural address. The war in Ukraine could be ended in as little as 24 hours, he said. He would knock heads to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to stop the fighting in Gaza. And he said he would strike a nuclear deal with Iran.... A day after Israel began a massive attack on Iran, however, Mr. Trump’s peace projects are in tatters.... The results undermine Mr. Trump’s argument that he can solve intractable problems with common sense and hard-nosed savvy while ignoring protocol, shunning experts and dispatching inexperienced envoys.... Mr. Trump also appears to be susceptible to conflating flattery and sweet talk from other leaders with a willingness to compromise their interests.... Mr. Trump seems to lack patience with the hard work required to get to real diplomatic outcomes.” ~~~
~~~ Max Boot of the Washington Post: “The president is no warmonger, but his clumsy attempts at making peace keep coming up empty.... In the international arena, [Donald Trump] clearly wants peace. He just doesn’t know how to achieve it. Trump came to office promising to end the Ukraine-Russia war in a day. It has been 144 days since his inauguration, and the prospect of peace appears as remote as ever. Indeed, Russia is mounting a new ground offensive and staging its biggest air attacks on Ukrainian cities. Trump has also gotten tired of Israel’s endless war in Gaza and told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wrap it up. The Trump administration did help to broker a six-week ceasefire, but after it ended on March 18, the war resumed, as brutal as ever. And then, for the past two months, Trump has been trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran while pressuring Israel not to launch a military strike. Yet that is just what Netanyahu has done, sending some 200 Israeli aircraft to attack targets across Iran. On Friday, Iran retaliated by launching drones and ballistic missiles against Israel.... Trump’s disastrous decision to exit the accord in 2018, even though the Iranians were abiding by it, lit the long fuse that resulted in the latest war between Iran and Israel. It is a conflict that Israel is likely to win, but the fact that the shooting has started is a sign of how ineffectual Trump’s diplomacy has been.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's yet another example of Trump's unwarranted self-regard and gross incompetence re: international relations. ~~~
~~~ Surprise, Surprise! Minho Kim & Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “The Farsi language news broadcast for Voice of America was abruptly reactivated on Friday, calling back dozens of workers for the news network who had been put on paid leave as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensified, two staff members at the Farsi news service said. Voice of America, a federally funded news network that reports the news in dozens of foreign languages, had previously included a news service in Farsi, also known as Persian, the language most commonly spoken in Iran. Workers for the Farsi news service were among the vast majority of staff at Voice of America who were placed on paid administrative leave after ... [Donald] Trump signed an executive order gutting the news agency in March.... “After months off the air, we’ve already lost a lot of audience and credibility,” Patsy Widakuswara, a former Voice of America White House bureau chief who was placed on leave and is leading a lawsuit against [Kari] Lake and the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said in a statement. 'They should bring us all back so we can respond to breaking news in all parts of the world.'... [Ms.] Lake ... did not respond to a request for comment.” MB: No, I suppose she was otherwise occupied trying to scrub the egg off her face. Politico's report is here.
Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: “A federal judge in California has halted a State Department plan to lay off almost 2,000 employees, marking a setback to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s push to rapidly downsize the agency. Speaking in court Friday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said an earlier ruling that prohibited federal agencies from laying off people also applied to the State Department’s downsizing efforts.... In response, Alex Resar, a Justice Department lawyer, said that the government would halt plans to send out layoff notices Saturday, according to an account from Reuters. A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and attempts to reach Resar were unsuccessful. The judge’s intervention provides a reprieve, if only temporarily, for U.S.-based employees of the State Department expected to be targeted by the plan to cut positions in what the department’s leadership says is a bid to streamline the agency to focus on 'core U.S. foreign policy objectives.'”
Zach Montague of the New York Times: “A federal judge sided with a coalition of states on Friday that had sued to stop stringent new voting ID requirements that ... [Donald] Trump laid out in an executive order in March. The ruling went further than a previous court decision to block most of the key aspects of Mr. Trump’s efforts to overhaul election law by executive order. In addition to indefinitely blocking provisions that would allow the federal government to require proof of citizenship for new voters, the judge’s ruling on Friday blocks a directive for Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against states that continue counting ballots beyond Election Day. In her opinion, Judge Denise J. Casper of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote that the states were likely to succeed in showing that the order exceeded President Trump's authority and risked disenfranchising some of the electorate. The ruling blocked the order from taking effect until the resolution of the case. 'The Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections,' Judge Casper, an Obama appointee, wrote.” The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Maryland reversed ... [Donald] Trump’s firings of the three Democratic members of the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission, which monitors the safety of products like toys, cribs and electronics. In the ruling, Judge Matthew J. Maddox of the Federal District Court in Maryland said that the law only allowed Mr. Trump to fire the officials for 'neglect of duty or malfeasance,' while Mr. Trump had purported to fire them without cause. 'Plaintiffs have performed ably in their roles,' Judge Maddox wrote, 'and have never been accused of neglect of duty or malfeasance in office by either President Trump or President Biden.'” The opinion linked in the story is provided by the courts and is not firewalled.
Robin Pogrebin & Graham Bowley of the New York Times: “Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery whom ... [Donald] Trump announced he was firing last month, is stepping down, explaining in a statement on Friday that she thought her decision was in the best interests of the institution. This week the Smithsonian Institution, which oversees the museum and has long operated as independent of the executive branch, reiterated that it retains the legal authority over personnel including Ms. Sajet, whom the president had criticized as partisan. The White House had created a list of grievances that it suggested made Ms. Sajet an inappropriate choice to lead a national museum, including public comments about racial and gender inequality in America.” MB: I'm sorry she gave up. IMO, it's worth a lot of heartache to face off a tyrant. (Also linked yesterday.)
Rob Wile, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump continues to enjoy income streams from scores of luxury properties and business ventures, many of which are worth tens of millions of dollars, according to a financial disclosure form filed late Friday. Released by the Office of Government Ethics, Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure spans 234 pages in all, including 145 pages of stock and bond investments, and is dated Friday with Trump’s signature. One of the largest sources of income on the form is the $57,355,532 he received from his ownership stake in World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency platform launched last year. The form shows that World Liberty’s sales of digital tokens have been highly lucrative for Trump and his family." Read on. A New York Times story is here.
Christina Jewett & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “Three of the new advisers appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to guide the government on immunization policy took part in lawsuits casting doubt on the safety or efficacy of vaccines, public records show. In dismissing all 17 members of an influential Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel on Monday, Mr. Kennedy cited what he said was a history of conflicts of interest that he claimed made those experts a 'rubber stamp' on approving vaccines. But adding members who assisted in legal cases that were either against vaccine makers or that suggested widespread vaccine-caused harm raises questions about a different form of potential bias.” ~~~
~~~ Lena Sun of the Washington Post: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week put to rest any doubt about his intent to use his perch as health and human services secretary to advance his long-standing anti-vaccine agenda.... Now that we know Kennedy’s ACIP picks, it doesn’t take much imagination to predict what will come next. The new members will probably cherry-pick 'research' that calls into question the safety and effectiveness of well-established vaccines and advise the CDC to stop recommending certain ones. At best, the vaccines would remain available, though at a cost, as insurers are required to fully cover only ACIP-recommended vaccines. At worst, even those who want vaccines would no longer be able to access them.”
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The Interior Department plans to remove or cover up all 'inappropriate content' at national parks and sites by Sept. 17 and is asking the park visitors to report any 'negative' information about past or living Americans, according to internal documents. It’s a move that historians worry could lead to the erasure of history involving gay and transgender figures, civil rights struggles and other subjects deemed improper by the Trump administration. Staff at the National Park Service, which is part of the Interior Department, were instructed to post QR codes and signs at all 433 national parks, monuments and historic sites by Friday asking visitors to flag anything they think should be changed.... Leaders at the park service would then review concerns about anything that 'inappropriately disparages Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times),' according to slides presented this week at a meeting with park superintendents.”
Marie: Here's a story that may give us a clue as to why Trump/Musk were so eager to fire NOAA employees. I thought it was just because they don't give a damn about people who may depend on tornado warnings or hurricane & other advisories. That's almost certainly true, but maybe decimating NOAA is yet another way of trying to hide the effects of climate change: ~~~
~~~ Ian Livingston of the Washington Post: “Temperatures are forecast to soar into the mid-80s in central Alaska ... this weekend and perhaps into next week. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Sunday afternoon in an area that includes Fairbanks.... Alaska is prone to some of the most significant warming on Earth from human-caused climate change.... Warming in Alaska is two to three times the average of the rest of the globe.”
Mark Berman of the Washington Post: “Seven partners at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher are leaving that business after it reached an agreement with the Trump administration and moving to Cooley, which successfully challenged the president’s actions in court.... The moves, which were announced Friday by Cooley, add to an ongoing exodus from law firms that struck deals with ... Donald Trump’s administration to avoid potentially punishing sanctions.”
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Israel/Iran. New York Times liveblog: “Israel and Iran exchanged deadly attacks for the second straight day on Saturday, and neither showed any sign of heeding international pleas for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities. Israel is targeting Iranian nuclear and military assets. Iran, in turn, has launched barrages of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel. The sweeping attacks by Israel, which began early Friday, have killed more than 70 people in Iran, including four top security chiefs, and damaged the country’s main nuclear site at Natanz. Iran retaliated by launching scores of missiles at Israel. At least three people have been killed and dozens wounded in these attacks. It is the most intense fighting in decades between the two heavily armed countries, and has stirred anxiety over the prospect of an increasingly deadly conflict that could draw in the United States and other major powers.” ~~~
~~~ The AP says it has "the latest" here.
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Listening to Fat Hitler going on about the poor farmers you’d think it was someone else who caused this problem, and now Brave Sir Donald is riding to the rescue. Such a piece of TACO shit.
A story has been circulating online that Fat Hitler was frantically trying to hire people to show up to his $100 million Hooray for Me parade today (that $45 million price tag is hooey). The message was that they had to wear a MAGA cap. People of color were especially invited to cheer on the fat king, and that they’d all be paid $1,000 each. In Trump klepto coins (worthless, of course).
The reason this idea has gotten such traction is twofold. First, most normal people wouldn’t be caught dead at this Kim Jong Trump clambake. Second, he has paid people before to show up and cheer for him. There’s also the fact that he rigs everything to make himself look like a hero.
I’m guessing there won’t be any fat or disabled military personnel on hand today. Fatty wouldn’t want anyone to think he was cool with overweight people or soldiers who had lost a limb fighting for their country. Such suckers and losers. Not like him, smart enough to weasel out of serving by coming up with a phony disability.
Hope it rains like hell all day.
You just know that Fatty would order that tank man to be run over. Protests against his criminal and unconstitutional acts are not permitted in MAGA land.
@Akhilleus: I read or heard a few stories over the last couple of days about how thunderstorms are forecast for Washington, D.C., at the time of the parade. One said the Army might cancel the parade.
But then I saw a clip where Trump said, no, the parade would go on no matter what the weather, because the soldiers were "tough."
I assume Commander-in-Chief Bonespurs will be observing his birthday parade from a weather-sheltered throne.
Also, my thoughts and prayers to the family of the marching tuba player whose instrument gets hit by lightning.
Graham Parsons, who resigned last month from a "tenured position as a philosophy professor at West Point in protest" of T****'s policies, writes, in The Atlantic, on The Shame of Trump’s Parade
"A mark of a free society is that its public institutions, especially its military, represent the body politic and the freedom-enabling equal rights that structure civic life. If service members and the public begin to believe that the military is not neutral but is in fact the servant of MAGA, this will threaten the military’s legitimacy and increase the likelihood of violent conflict between the military and the public. Today’s events bring us one step closer to this disaster.
....
The organizers have made it abundantly clear that today’s purpose is to directly laud Trump and his politics....
Monica Crowley, the State Department’s chief of protocol and a former Fox News host, went on Steve Bannon’s podcast WarRoom to say that the concurrence of the U.S. Army’s anniversary and Trump’s birthday is 'providential.' She called it 'meant to be. Hand of God, for sure.' She added, 'It is really a gift, and we want to be sure that we celebrate in a manner that is fitting, not just of this extraordinary president but of our extraordinary country.' She also expressed hope that the crowd would serenade the president with 'Happy Birthday.' Clearly, Trump isn’t merely the guest of honor; he is the reason for the party."
The Pandora President
The tsunami of terror, fear, chaos, disinformation and lies, greed, lawlessness, unchecked vengefulness, stupidity and ignorance, snickering spite, hatred, shovings, beatings, masked-up intimidation, and the dangerous combination of victim mentality with vindictive superiority which confers a belief that any and all outrages are justified all emanate like toxic fumes from one person, Donald Trump. All of the disjointed seismic eruptions ripping through what we presumed was solid bedrock come from the top.
The seeds of stupidity, distrust, hatred for neighbors and fellow humans, the grasping, lawless get it while you can greed were planted by this fraudulent disgrace of a human being, pushed along or ignored by greedy, sycophantic, and both sides media outlets, aided by a lawless Supreme Court and craven cowards in elected offices all over the country, at ground level, vicious thugs who see all restraints on their worst instincts obliterated, their violence rewarded. We see crackpots and cranks handed the power to fire experts and experienced professionals with gleeful abandon and replace hundreds of years of hard won knowledge with medieval mendacity and feel it in their gut foolishness.
Like Pandora, who spread evil across the world, Trump, with immense support from the above mentioned scoundrels and sycophants, has removed restraints holding back the very worst inhumanity, and anyone saying “stop”, asking questions, protesting, will be taken care of by his inhuman lackeys.
But hey, he needs a parade.
Here is hoping for rain
Minnesota
"Sources have told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ Tom Hauser that two Minnesota Lawmakers have been shot.
Minnesota state senator John Hoffman in Champlin and Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman in Brooklyn Park were reportedly shot in their homes by a gunman impersonating a police officer.
A manhunt is currently underway in Brooklyn Park for a man pretending to be a police officer.
The current condition of both lawmakers and whether any other victims were involved is currently unknown, but reports state multiple victims were at both locations."
from Wired
"As protests continue to swell across the United States in response to aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, civilians are turning to homebrew digital tools to track ICE arrests and raids in real time. But restricted government documents, obtained by the nonprofit watchdog Property of the People, show that US intelligence agencies are now eyeing the same tools as potential threats. A law enforcement investigation involving the maps is also apparently underway."
Violent Racists
"Wait, *What's* Going On In Northern Ireland Now?
Racist riots and violence, in 'protest' of the nation's largely non-existent undocumented immigrant population.
On Saturday, two 14-year-old reportedly Romanian boys were arrested in Belfast on suspicion of having sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl. Absolutely nothing is known about their immigration status or their identity beyond the fact that they required a Romanian translator.
Following this, there were protests in Ballymena, a city of about 24,295 around 50 minutes away from Belfast. The protests quickly turned into violent anti-immigrant riots, and have since spread across the country. About 40 police officers have been injured so far and 14 immigrant families have been whisked away and given temporary housing to shield them from possible attacks."
Craigslist - Seat Fillers Wanted, lol
Daughter and I were driven downtown with a couple and her sister, to the Lancaster, PA for the No Kings rally. It was awesome, with somewhere around 5,000 people there. Lots of clever signs, great energy and some speakers and music. All the local elected Democrats in the legislature and the county were there-- probably 4... (Blue dot in red county and newly red state--) Husband declined to go, citing his unsteady walking and standing, but also concern about people showing up with weapons. Considering the news out of Minneapolis, maybe it was foolhardy to go, but clearly people have decided to not live in fear like hermits. It was great fun to be there with like-minded folks, getting to bellow "This land is your land, ...my land...etc" and listen to the enthusiastic honking of passing vehicles. My "family of friends" was there, making me glad that the people I love are important to us and as well to the country. The signs were super clever-- mine said "Noem" is NOT where the heart is, and In the US, we don't KING our leaders. Not good, but okay for last minute composition. Daughter's were much better, and more artistic.
So, smart Princeton professor muses that the source of all this chaos is or seems to be the president. Um-- duh...
Happy No Kings Day. Hope it was a terrible day in DC.