Monday, June 29, 2026

How It’s Going

MacFarlane: I feel like all of this was doomed to fail at the Great American State Fair the second Milli Vanilli canceled. Only bad things happen when Milli Vanilli cancels on you.

It’s going to be a chapter of the story of Trump that’s titled, Milli Vanilli Canceled on Trump, but He Persevered.

Yes. Here’s the thing. I’ve got an official document here. I’ve got a Post-it note that lists all the important dates coming up soon on Trump vanity projects.

It’s put-up-or-shut-up time. July 8, he’s going to be in court—or his Department of Justice will be in court—on the slush fund.

July 9, the Department of Justice, has to actually put on paper what it says people did at the reflecting pool. That’s the deadline to charge people either with minor water touching or some type of felonious box-cutter assault.

Then, in mid-July, he’s got to answer for the tarp on the Kennedy Center. The judge wants to know why the tarp is still up there and when the tarp is coming down.

There’s an Epstein file deadline this week….
Working hard to win the midterms! Like a rock. Tied around the country’s neck. And you’re just the guy who can sell that…to MAGA. Maybe. In those three races in New York….
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Telling The Emperor He Is Not Naked—State Fair Edition

It’s a pancake 🥞 eating contest. For MAHA. 🤡 Trump is watching Fox with the picture off. When the people show up, they’ll be there! 🤪
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Why Must Everyone Laugh At My Mighty Sword?

Trump really thinks he has superpowers, which extend to even campaigning for the office. (Please note the POTUS has no Presidential shield from civil judgments, a precedent set at least by Bill Clinton.)

I wonder if the Roberts Court will decide buying interests in a mining company is part of the President’s “official duties”? It is enough to get him impeached and removed from office. But being POTUS is not enough to protect him from civil discovery in the BBC libel suit Trump started.
Also, too, as well: I really don’t think the broad scope of civil discovery in a suit Trump brought as a private citizen is going to support intervention by the DOJ to protect “government interests.”

🍿🍿
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Primal Forces 💰

The Roberts Court has overturned 90 years of precedent to say the POTUS can control “independent agencies,” by firing any agency head who isn’t loyal to the new Administration.

The Roberts Court has also sustained precedent, by ruling POTUS cannot fire a Federal Reserve Board governor without valid cause, which does not include half-baked allegations from anyone named Bill Pulte.

And here is the lesson: government regulatory agencies suck. But YOU DON’T FUCK WITH THE MONEY!💰 

That would be meddling with primal forces.

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😳

Trump: “Do you think people appreciate what a fantastic job we did in building and operating the Great American State Fair at the National Mall, packed with happy people, and everybody loving it? Ask yourself this simple question, ‘DO YOU THINK THAT OBUMA OR SLEEPY JOE BIDEN COULD HAVE DONE IT?’ THE ANSWER IS NO!”
Even flying over the fairgrounds, Trump couldn’t possibly miss how empty it was. Or that it closed yesterday due to rain. “Chaotic” seems optimistic. It looks much more like he’s completely lost touch with reality.
Every Trump debacle follows the same 13 steps. The reflecting pool fiasco is just one of the lower stakes versions of it.
1. Devise unnecessary spectacle
2. Disregard expertise
3. Bypass normal procedures
4. Declare victory too early (bonus if done by AI-slop post)
5. Spend way more than estimated
6. Ignore the haters
7. Realize it is not going well
8. Bypass normal procedures once again
9. Allege conspiracy and sabotage
10. Redeclare victory
11. More blaming
12. Losing interest
13. Pretend it never happened, and move on to the next thing
I think we’re at step 7, although arguably Trump’s post is skipping ahead to step 10. This “fair” is supposed to run through July 10, so we’ll see if they mercifully pull the plug early, or let the corpse just continue to fester. 😳
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Sunday, June 28, 2026

God Giving Trump The Middle Finger

Or, why most state fairs are not scheduled in the summer.

(And global warming is a hoax!)
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Rain, Rain, Go Away…☔️

In the rain? Sure he did. Good to know he doesn’t need to be in the Situation Room getting updates on the “ceasefire” with Iran.

And did the tarp ever come down from the KENNEDY Center?
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Making America Safe For White Americans

TAPPER: Is it the position of the Trump administration that Haiti is a safe country to send these people to?

MARKWAYNE MULLIN: Those that are coming to this country legally, they need to be able to contribute to the US, not be a burden on the taxpayers

TAPPER: But do you maintain that it's safe in Haiti to send these people back? The State Dept has a level 4 do not travel advisory

MULLIN: Well, the do not travel is not for Haitians. That's do not travel for the United States.
The government has an obligation to keep white people safe. Sec. Mullin: “Well, if they aren’t white people….” Three House candidates. Even if I disagreed with their politics, they wouldn’t be a threat to the nation at all. A corrupt felon in the White House whose Id is Stephen Miller? Now that’s a threat.
NOBLES: If the US is still bombing Iran 120 days into this conflict, how can the Trump administration credibly say the war is over?

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL: The major war is over. Think of this as almost just a mop up operation. Let's root for the Trump team for once rather than trying to tear them down.
Especially when they’re doing such a good job of tearing themselves down.
NOBLES: Did President Trump break his promise when it comes to housing and affordability?

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL: I'm concerned about the cost of living. We're still reeling from Joe Biden. Real wages are outpacing inflation right now. This is classic Donald Trump negotiation style.

NOBLES: Wages are not outpacing inflation. That's not correct.
Reality is a fungible good.
NOBLES: There's no evidence that fraudulent votes have changed any election outcomes. Are you trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist?

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL: Look, um, we make pilots before they start flying a plane, we make them get a license to do that. We don't wait until they crash the plane.
I know the concept of analogy can be a tough one, but Markwayne Mullin would struggle to do as badly as that.
Mamdani: "What I saw from Darializa when I would walk the streets of her district was a focus on what she describes as a politics of life. She would talk about how we have to invest in babies, not bombs ... what people in that district are exhausted by is a politics that has justified the spending of tens of billions of dollars in killing civilians overseas while working people are struggling just to do the basics."
"THE DEMOCRATS ARE COMING! THE DEMOCRATS ARE COMING!!”
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This, Too, Shall Pass*

Tl;dr: touch grass.

*obsessions with computers, AI, social media, etc. Passing fancies that, in time, will fade.
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Texas GOP Outreach

2 questions:

1) Beyond unreachable GOP voters, who is this aimed at? 

2). Why is Dan Patrick dressed like it’s still the ‘80’s? Is it a MAGA thing?

I’m also surprised the ad isn’t more Texas-centric. Paul Revere? New England? 

Talarico understands Texas chauvinism better than that:
BTW: So, vote for Dan Patrick because…he’s afraid of King George?
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More Increasingly Extreme Viewpoints

Ossoff: "The president was so humiliated in Hormuz he threw his toys out the stroller and refused to sign the affordable housing bill. That's after he gave some felon donor a no bid contract for the reflecting pool and it filled up with algae, which for some reason required the deployment of the National Guard. And then because of his war and tariffs, inflation rose to over 4%. He promised to bring down prices on day one, do you remember that?"
JD Vance just told you everything you need to know.

He thinks Watergate wouldn't have taken down a president today. He sees a parallel between what happened to Nixon and what's happening now, and he's proud of it.

JD Vance is dead wrong if he thinks a faster news cycle buys him immunity — especially for an Administration that, by his own admission, may be doing things that make Watergate look minor.

And when Democrats have the gavels again, every document, every corrupt act, every quid pro quo, and every conflict of interest that this Administration thought they buried will see the light of day.
Talarico: I believe anyone can be a Texan. It doesn’t matter if you’re an eighth-generation Texan like me or a California transplant like Ken Paxton.

Listen, what makes a Texan is not in the boots or in the truck. It’s deep in the heart.

These billionaires and their puppets have the wrong state of mind. Their hearts and their dreams are just not big enough.
@jamestalarico : This election shouldn't be about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. It should be about chasing a vision of what our state can be: Texas schools that are the envy of the nation, a Texas economy that is second to none, and Texas families that are stronger and healthier than ever before. It won't happen overnight. But a giant state deserves giant dreams.

We are bigger than extremism, we're bigger than partisanship, we're bigger than corruption. Texas is bigger than all of those things. Because it's not just a state. It's a state of mind. It’s a cause. Texans don't like tyrants, and we don't surrender easily.

Tonight, standing before you to accept your nomination for the United States Senate, I make the same commitment to you that my ancestor made 200 years ago: "Any duty that my bodily strength would enable me to perform, either in public or private, that would advance the cause of Texas, I feel anxious and ever ready to perform."
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💯

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“Increasingly Extreme Viewpoints”

As someone who remembers the (state, not federal) supported violence against Americans of the ‘60’s, and the continued political violence of the ‘70’s, handwringing about “extreme viewpoints” in recent times is a bit rich. 

I’ll reiterate Jules Verne’s wry commentary on life in these United States when Phineas Fogg crossed the continent in his journey around the world. He came upon a riot in a small American town that turned out to be a political campaign… for the office of town dog catcher.

“Extreme viewpoints” is the tut-tutting of the would-be ruling class, dismayed that the servants are not quietly dusting the items in the drawing room and making sure the tradespeople use the servant’s entrance. And the temerity to complain about the Grey Lady! When it can be shown she is aware of how unruly the workers are!

Well, I mean! It’s so hard to get good help these days!

(Maybe this concerned apologist could spare a word about the violence of ICE, the Nazi spew of Stephen Miller, the blunt ignorance and threats of the Secretary of DHS, the random mutterings of the President against his perceived political enemies? Or is that kind of mention just not done?)
(Another “extreme viewpoint.”)
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Saturday, June 27, 2026

I’m Old Enough To Remember…

… When ex-Presidents didn’t talk about their successors. Or needed to.
Biden: The reflecting pool reflects something even worse than the narcissism and incompetence at the core of this administration. It’s the corruption. The corruption. The brazen, blatant corruption. Corruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any administration.

Trump has made billions of dollars since returning to the White House. Simply stunning to me.

He has no shame. Frankly, it’s embarrassing for the country. Trump couldn’t care less.

Making money off the presidency is one of the reasons he wants to be president
It’s not a schoolyard taunt to say Trump started it. But he did. And it’s not an excuse to say Trump deserves it. Because Trump needs it, because it is the truth. And the truth will set us free, from this ever happening again.
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🎶”Our State Fair Is A Great State Fair!”🎶

"Don’t miss it, don’t even be late!” 🎶 It’s the best State Fair in our state!”🎶
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Blustering Old Fool

I can’t find it now, but the NYT reported recently that about half our stock of defensive missiles, meant to ward off attack from Chin, have been depleted. 

Trump has been bleating this threat since March, leading to the perfectly legitimate question: “You and what army?”

Maybe the Congress needs to yank his chain more firmly; and someone needs to remind him about the Strait.
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“Illegal Aliens” Still Means “Brown People”

The majority of @illegal aliens “ in America are people who have overstayed their visas. I also love the responses (probably bots, TBH) that we cannot have a country if the 14th amendment means what it says. Although all it did was codify the practice since the Constitution became the law of the land, and erase the distinction that children of slaves were not citizens.

To this good day, it really is still all about race.

And then there’s the “argument” that “illegal aliens” are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. That phrase only excludes children born to diplomats in this country, who enjoy diplomatic immunity and so are not “subject to the jurisdiction.” (But they can be sent back to their country in appropriate circumstances.) Should an “illegal alien” commit an actual crime (entry into the U.S. without permission is an administrative matter, not a criminal one), they are certainly “subject to the jurisdiction,” and liable for prosecution. Diplomats can only be forced to return to their country.

The dumbest clucks in America cluster around posts on Twitter; or fall for the bots who gather there.

Davis’ “plan” would target women from menarche to menopause. And if they are already here “illegally,” what’s the point of that? What would his “plan” actually do? Except prove the cruelty is still the point.
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Rent Control

Trump was sent to military school when he was 13. He graduated 5 years later.

He was never actually in the military. Military school taught him to be the asshole he is today. Life made Barack Obama the better man.

And that’s why Obama still lives rent free in Trump’s head.
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Odysseus’ Long, Hot Summer

 I may be the only person on the planet not looking forward to Christopher Nolan’s version of “The Oddysey.”

I’ll try to be brief. 

Odysseus is Homer’s counterpart to Achilles. The Iliad is “the Rage of Achilles,” and to oversimplify, Achilles is all fury and selfishness (frankly) until the end of the story, when his rage is spent. Odysseus is wily. He comes up with the Trojan Horse, after all. He wins the war Achilles drops out of for awhile, and doesn’t win despite his rage. And Odysseus defies the gods and spends 10 years getting home. Where he proceeds to take out all the “suitors” who’ve been swilling down Penelope’s stores. He is the counterpart to Achilles, the man who is always clearheaded about what he us doing, and charismatic and dynamic enough to carry the story of the 10 year journey to an exciting climax, and lead his men through every danger.

As much as I respect his work, I did not just describe Matt Damon.

In the trailer, Matt Damon all but cries; looks confused inside the giant horse; leads his men into battle with a cry so weak I’m surprised they heard it; and generally seems bewildered and lost. Anne Hathaway, on the other hand, draws on her Catwoman persona and, in the briefest appearance, shows more grit and determination than Damon. She could burn the topless towers of Ilium and take on all the mythical terrors of Greece, single handedly. She could put the fear of God into…the gods. Damon? Meh.

I’ve seen this trend in movies. Joauqin Phoenix played a Napoleon who was barely awake. The real Napoleon inspired France to take on Europe, and Beethoven to dedicate a symphony to him (Ludwig van later recanted that praise). Phoenix couldn’t inspire me to get out of bed. Pedro Pascal, bless him, played Reed Richards as a hapless genius overwhelmed with guilt (because he can’t “cure” Ben), and pretty much the weakest link in the chain of the Fantastic Four.

I get it. “The man” in action movies (what else is this?) as a John Wayne figure who can win WWII single handedly, and only needs a woman at home cooking meals, is a tired Hollywood trope. I have no problem with Penelope being as wily and tough as her husband. Look at what she had to deal with for 10 years. I think Ms. Hathaway nails it. But do we have to turn Napoleon into an anti-inspirational mumbler, and Odysseus into a suburban Dad who can’t find the way back to his cul-de-sac?

Nobody cares, just I’m just gonna read Homer this summer.

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The Popular Historical Trope…

AOC: The Republican Party’s brand is fear. And they have to constantly churn out what they want people to be afraid of—to be afraid of socialists, to be afraid of immigrants, to be afraid of women. They constantly want Americans in fear of somebody because, if you are not afraid of someone who is your neighbor, you’re going to realize who’s actually pickpocketing you.

And that is the large corporations that are engaged in profiteering and jacking up your prices for no good reason. It’s going to be this administration that is engaged in record levels of swindling, theft, tariffs, and attacks on your housing.

And so this is kind of their new thing of the day. But I think that people are feared out. I think everyone’s nerves are shot from constantly being taught and told what country, person, or community to be afraid of. And they just want a solution. They want their groceries to be more affordable. They want to figure out how we’re going to get health care. They want our housing to get under control.

And I think that we’re ready for an affirmative vision, and we’re ready for an affirmative agenda.
AOC: I actually think the more important advice that I would give would be to my incumbent colleagues, which is: you will create a self-fulfilling prophecy by deciding who these young women are before you’ve met them.

And if you are already panicking and sending little messages in your group chats about how these people need to be reined in, tamped down, and shown their place, you are creating the antagonistic dynamic that we do not need.

These are two young, talented, intelligent women who got elected against all odds, against millions of dollars. Perhaps there is something we can learn from them.
AOC: But there are a lot of folks who talk about change in leadership that don't necessarily articulate what their direction is. And so I would say that it's important we talk pretty specifically about the kind of changes that we want, because there are a lot of people in this country, and there are a lot of forces and lobbyists that want the Democratic party to become even more pro-corporate than it is.

And so when I talk about change, I talk about orienting the Democratic party to be unabashedly working class and to orient itself around working class Americans
AOC: Mike Johnson paints this as though it’s some partisan witch hunt. But if you don’t want to be prosecuted for crimes, don’t do crimes.

And he’s talking about running a protection racket. And we are already seeing that this Trump administration has run what some have called one of the largest pedophile protection programs in American history.

And so when Mike Johnson tells a group of wealthy donors, I'm the only thing standing between you, and a consequence that should rattle at the conscience of every American.

What he wants to do is create—or rather, not even create, because it’s already been created—but protect a class of impunity in America that says, “You can commit whatever crime, and so long as you pay a check to us, we will protect you.”

And that is a model of extortion in American politics. And you know what? That’s their pitch.
AOC: I think we’re now in a new time, and I think there is greater recognition of the brokenness that led to President Trump in the first place, which is that growing inequality yields to authoritarianism, and that economic instability and the collapse of democracy are intertwined…
...is that “great figures,” like Kennedy or FDR (to stick with American presidents), come along when we need them.

So let’s be contrarian and turn that observation onto a President no one would praise. After all, we’re supposed to look forward to this great figure saving us from ourselves. But Trump? Trump came along when we needed him?

Yes. Because we rejected two women to get Trump. We did that each time, and we did it quite deliberately. The second time we did although we knew what he’d done to us during Covid, and we knew he’d been convicted of criminal and civil fraud. We didn’t care. He wasn’t a woman (disappointed Trump voters still won’t admit this; just like they won’t admit his overt racism didn’t bother them). That’s all that really mattered, in the end. (Trump ran a joke campaign, Harris did everything she could. It didn’t matter. That’s a factor neither pundits nor consultants want us to think about.)

So Trump came along when we needed him to teach the truth of FAFO. We fucked around. We found out. Character matters. Government experience matters. Government is NOT a business (and looking at Elon Musk and Peter Thiel and the Tech Bros determined to foist AI in us all for their sole benefit, it’s a damned good thing!), and competence bluntly matters.

Now maybe we can improve how the only two choices we get every four years, come to be the only two choices we get. We, the people, need that, too.
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