Trump's about to be drowned in American Flag Blue
Nick Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.
Opinion
Trump's crooks are scared to death by what's happening right outside the White House
You can hear the whispering in the White House across the Mall from the Smithsonian Aviation Museum, "Well, that didn't work, and that's bad — really bad." They're talking about the "Great American State Fair."
Aaron Rupar, the Left's irreplaceable and most deeply embedded intel agent, captured Fox News's inability to paper over a debacle devoid of people.
Did the rapture happen overnight? Fox & Friends is broadcasting from a completely empty Trump state fair on the National Mall.
There seems to be little risk in ruling out the rapture as an explanation. After all, we're still here, and if one actually reads the Gospels, whether you consider those words divine or secular, the message marks Jesus as history's most influential progressive, and thus liberals who follow Jesus's real message sit firmly ensconced pretty much anywhere but the Great American State Fair.
To be fair, no one's followers bothered to show up, either, and that's both good and bad. Certainly more good than bad, but still...
This week marks this nation's 250th birthday, a date which any self-respecting nation should find notable enough to stand somewhat proud — or if not proud, a nation populated by committed citizens, people with at least interest or agency. And there's our first clue to the problem, the "self-respecting nation" part.
Most liberals believe that the Trump regime exists, at least in large part, to block us from respecting what remains "our" country. No shame in that, he does call us the nation's biggest "enemies." It would be bizarre to feel warm loyalty to a country whose leader labels you not just an outsider, but an outsider for whom he has plans, dark plans
More interestingly, it looks undeniable that even MAGA has lost respect for the country under Trump.
Interesting. They are the ones who use "MAGA" interchangeably with "Patriot." It is probably even more important to note that, while the stereotypical liberal enjoys workshopping their latest novel at an effete coffee shop, or attending a MOMA somewhere, not even MAGAs will deny that they were born to attend a good fair, with a rodeo, country or gospel music, those corny games that promise stuffed animals bigger than your date, and a good elephant ear. (Stop here for a moment. Once a decade, a good elephant ear is really, really good. Liberalism can also be practical, and coffee is only coffee, whereas an elephant ear...)
And yet the MAGAs born to be there didn't show up, either. So what's up?
First, the practical — very practical. There are fewer and fewer Americans who can travel nationally to attend an actual State fair, never mind travel to one of America's most expensive cities to enjoy a "National Fair." Survey after survey shows that Americans' primary concern is "affordability," and thus likely plan to spend less money even at the county fair. So the price of literally everything, from gas to food, is likely holding a lot of people back.
But let's get to the reason behind those White House whispers.
Like anything else undertaken by the federal government under this regime, Trump himself stamped personal ownership on this event. Up to this point in history, Trump affiliation alone — a fair masquerading as a rally — would motivate many MAGAs to sacrifice the prices and show their support. And yet, not only are they not showing up, but the White House likely senses this may be less about "affordability" and more about "affiliation." It has been a long time since Trump has had a clear win, polling is way down, and he seems doomed to some clear losses in the near future. Everyone, even MAGAs — maybe especially MAGAs — are weary of close association with a clear loser.
It might go even deeper. It might well be that even MAGA has its limits as to what it will let Trump personally claim. Perhaps they will even allow him to "own" Air Force One, but maybe not personally own what should have been "our" birthday. The cynics commenting below will say, "No chance, MAGA has no limit..." and they will be right describing some MAGAs. But even MAGA voters' values still lie on a spectrum, and the evidence in front of our faces demands explanations.
Rejecting Trump affiliation might be explanation number one. Which doesn't mean liberals won.
This column spent much of the late spring warning about a hot summer burning with unrest, possible real clashes between protesters and law enforcement, violence, which would do nothing but play directly into Trump's hands. So far, we've seen almost none of it, thankfully. But it might have been good to see the National Fair surrounded by protesters, reminding everyone that the country used to be at least "more" fair, even while admitting it's never been close to fair for all. But even that hasn't happened.
Right now, it's hard to escape the sense that the issue could be that the subject is "America." Most Americans are just too tired to give a s--t. If Trump and MAGA are nothing else, they're exhausting, and perhaps, they, too, are exhausted.
Now, that's really, really bad news for a White House that exists only upon the premise that enough Trump followers care so much about him that their loyalty and protection remain non-negotiable: from stealing 747s to Trump actively resisting investigating Epstein, all but forcing even his supporters to admit, "It sure looks like the guy doesn't want anyone to know what happened back then." There is no Trump regime without "Trumpers."
Fine, but, never mind back then, Trump still needs protection in the here and now, and on a lot more issues than just Epstein and personal planes, or what happened on Epstein's personal plane, and if the White House senses that his followers are distancing themselves from him, such as not attending what was a "personal rally" in the form of a national fair, that has to constitute not a "huge" worry, but "the" worry.
And yet, that only means that Democrats should care now more than ever, now sailing with the wind, finally, a chance to hand Trump an anchor. Granted, Democratic inaction is harder to read than MAGA motivation, but it still sits out there as a possible concern.
The United States needs intense, invested, and imaginative changes. Right now, the country sails almost rudderless as Trump and his gang enrich themselves; MAGA voters definitely have plans to make things worse. But if we can be sure of anything, it is that any real change requires a lot of people to really care. They will, if pressed. But Dems? Dem leaders?
You care.
You wouldn't be reading this if you didn't. Can we be sure enough of us care, or — worse yet — can we be sure that our leaders care? Hakeem Jeffries is not standing on a podium just outside the Mall speaking in front of 50,000 people about making America itself "more fair."
That seems a bit "off."
It sure looks like Trump's voters care less and less, preferring to keep their distance while saving some money. And that has to scare the sh... spit out of the White House, which cares dearly about one thing — saving dear leader. You can be damn sure that the more distance MAGA voters put between them and him, the more willingly Trump makes fast changes of the most horrific type, the type that doesn't so much ruin a celebration as negate it.
But have no doubt, the Mall remains empty, and it's empty for reasons important to both sides. Whatever those reasons might be, none are good for the White House. It doesn't take an elephant ear to hear the whispers.
"This sucks."
They don't even know how right they are.
Jason Miciak is a Rawstory Columnist, former editor of Occupy Democrats, political consultant, author, attorney, and single girldad. Please follow him on Bluesky, and he can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com. He does read and respond to comments and appreciates just how much can be learned in doing so.
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Trump lawsuit backfires as he's ordered to reveal his darkest secrets
The failure of the American media is one of the biggest disappointments of the last 11 years.
Instead of standing together and standing their ground with integrity and dignity when Trump began bullying them in 2015, media organizations let him wear them down with his never-ending litany of insults. Once a toxic narcissist knows they can get away with it, they’ll just keep hurting you and taking things from you.
Our media never properly pushed back against Trump because, before his 2016 campaign, they’d never had to defend themselves against personal attacks from a candidate or a president. They went from treating him like the joke he should have always been to giving him absolute power over their newsrooms. While we’ve seen individual moments of pushback here and there, Trump ultimately prevails every time. Either he makes the reporter the story by bullying them, or he gets away with not answering their questions because he’s too busy scapegoating them as a distraction from whatever he was asked about.
It disgusts me every time, because no one stands together on that press line. I don’t care which outlet you work for — when Trump bullies one reporter, he’s bullying them all. They should be demanding the answers he refuses to give, because that’s their job. But they should also be demanding that he stop treating their colleagues like a middle school bully.
From the outside, it might look like it’s too late. Every news outlet we once trusted is now owned by a billionaire with their own personal political agendas. While ABC beefs with the FCC over Jimmy Kimmel, CBS’s full capitulation to Trump is complete. And now, David Ellison is about to do the same to CNN by putting Bari Weiss in charge there as well.
Everything about this is anti-American. Our First Amendment rights are being violated by an oligarch class that’s been allowed to take over far too many media outlets, and with the White House now targeting members of the independent media, how long before Trump tries to shut down the internet so no one can talk about the Epstein Files or his failing health?
There are many ways to fight back against male white corporate oppression, however, and one news network is setting the examples for all of us to follow. And there’s no way the FCC can intervene on Trump’s behalf this time, because it’s not an American network.
All hail the venerable British Broadcasting Company (BBC), both on television and over the wireless, as they used to say. The BBC has always set the standard for journalism, and that’s remained true during the Trumpian nightmare garbage fire.
Because he can’t control them.
He can sue them, however, because that’s what Trump does whenever anyone with a big enough audience tells the truth about him. It’s a favorite con of his, burying and then bankrupting his enemies with endless depositions and appeals.
Trump is desperate to rewrite the history of his failed coup after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden, despite all of the footage that’s still readily available to everyone.
So, of course, Trump is now suing the BBC for $10 BILLION, crying “defamation” after it aired a documentary about the January 6th insurrection, in which they used some of the footage of his Ellipsis speech that he claims was “edited.” Yes, the same speech that was live-streamed by all of the MAGA terrorists in the crowd, just like the subsequent attack on the Capitol.
While plenty of other institutions have caved to Trump, the stiff upper lips at the BBC aren’t intimidated so easily. In fact, they’re going after what the January 6th House Select Committee never could get: Trump’s January 6th phone records.
Discovery is glorious, especially when it’s used for good. Not only are they asking for Trump’s phone records from the Day of Rage, but also the days leading up to his desperately violent attempt to stay in power.
But they’re not stopping with Trump’s actions regarding January 6th; the BBC has also served a subpoena related to his revocable trust, which is run by Don Jr. It contains private information on the Trump Crime Family’s assets and business relationships, so just imagine what the BBC might find if they gain access to all of Trump’s financials.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Trump’s phone records would show whether or not he ever called any state’s governor to have them send their National Guard troops to the Capitol to fight off the MAGA crowds. We already have the footage of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer essentially co-Presidenting by taking the action Trump never did and, hopefully, the BBC will also use this clip as part of its defense should the lawsuit go to trial.
Any American news outlet could have done the same as the BBC, even without a lawsuit against them, but they haven’t, and they won’t.
We all know the truth about January 6th because we were all witnesses. Whether we watched it online or on TV, the live feeds were readily available and were recorded. Trump may have pardoned everyone he could in connection with January 6th as a part of his revisionist history (except Marjorie Taylor Greene, she wrote while very much savoring the schadenfreude), but the BBC has all of the same receipts that we have.
Trump will be forced to drop this suit and post that it was another “witch hunt,” or some other tired line, because this case is unwinnable for him. If he keeps moving forward, he’ll be exposed under discovery in multiple ways. He’s never threatened to sue anyone for saying he’s in the Epstein Files, which tells you plenty about how much he fears the discovery process.
American media outlets need to follow the BBC’s example and start telling the truth about Trump again.
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This bizarre move shows things are getting mighty grim in Republicanland
Either I have firsthand evidence that the Republicans are barking up the wrong trees in their desperation to raise midterm funds, or I’m being trolled by them – or both.
This started about a week ago when I received the strangest and most hilarious email from none other than JD Vance, who has been identified in some circles as the Vice President of the United States – crazy as that seems. It was addressed to “Ray Liberalitus,” which I’m imagining has to be a purposeful misspelled slur on my proud liberalism (“Liberalitis”?).
If it was a laughable attempt to p--- me off, it didn’t work.
How I landed on this bogus list of potential financial contributors is quite the mystery. All I know is the Veep invited me personally – or at least “Ray Liberalitus” – to take a Vice Presidential Survey that included the following observation: “From day one of my career, it’s been an honor to have you on my team. You’ve stood by me from day one – when I count my blessings, you are high on my list.”
Let me just say, if I’m as good as it gets for this dude in terms of “blessings,” he probably doesn’t have many. Also, inserting “day one” twice in the same sentence shows pathetically lazy writing skills.
And man has this dude been getting some dreadful intel. His fundraising research seems to be roughly as solid as his peace negotiation skills. I mean, if they’re so hard up for cash that they’re turning to Ray Liberalitus, things must be looking mighty grim over there in Republicanland.
Of course, again, they could simply be trolling me – in which case I’d have been honored.
In any event, I’d dismissed this as a one-off and figured Ray Liberalitus would never hear from them again. But I was mistaken.
Come early Friday morning, evidently because they hadn’t heard back from me, they began moving in the heavy artillery.
The person credited with sending this second email was one Donald J. Trump. The subject line: “I want you on my team!” Since it included an exclamation point, I knew this guy claiming to be the “president” meant business.
I carefully opened the email to find the all-caps message, “PRESIDENT TRUMP: I NEED YOU!” Again with the exclamation point. And consistent with the previous email from his VP, it somehow understood my name to be Ray Liberalitus.
“Ray Liberalitus,” the bizarre plea began. “We’re in the middle of the most important midterm election of our lifetime.” So far, so good. I was onboard. But then came the next sentence, which I simply couldn’t abide: “And if we’re going to make it TOO BIG TO RIG (all caps and bold and in red), then I’m going to need thousands of TRUMP-LOVING Patriots like you to make a small sacrifice of your time.”
Damn. How would I tell him that: A. I’m TRUMP-HATING; and B. My time is far too precious to help him fuel this particular authoritarian adventure? I knew Trump was going to be heartbroken and instinctively understood I’d need the proper venue to let him down gently. I decided this column would have to do.
But wait, there was more – and it was all in bold:
“I’m calling on you, a TRUE MAGA WARRIOR, to join MY MAGA MAJORITY FORCE and STAND with our Party in the fight to SECURE THE VOTE.”
I instantly saw that this push came directly from Fearless Leader. Who else would rubber-stamp such a fractured textual mix of caps and lower case? The utter lack of consistency is signature. I suddenly felt like he was speaking directly to me – or should I say, DIRECTLY TO Me.
It continued, “Radical Leftists know they can’t win in November if you’re on my team, Ray Liberalitus.” I have absolutely no doubt this is accurate. Unfortunately, the theory is destined to be put to the test, since I am in fact one of those very same Radical Leftists to which he refers and I won’t be within 10,000 miles of his team. Or at least, Ray Liberalitus won’t be. He does whatever I tell him.
But I digress.
Continuing: “They’ll do anything to keep our America FIRST movement from keeping our Congressional majorities. But I know you’d NEVER let that happen.”
Oh, but it seems the president has greatly misjudged me. Not only would I let it happen, I’ll be part of the team heading up the resistance to assure it. I’m rather shocked that a man of Trump’s superior intuition and wisdom could so misinterpret Ray Liberalitus’ motives, but there you are.
“With you by my side on the MAGA Majority Force, we will finish the job of saving our country once and for all,” the pitch went on. It mercifully concluded, “I’ll be checking back for YOUR NAME on the roster, Ray Liberalitus. Join my team TODAY.”
I’m afraid the president will be waiting an awfully long time to see that “Liberalitus” handle on his side.
The page also featured a “JOIN TRUMP’S MAGA MAJORITY FORCE” link that takes you to a spot to volunteer for the campaign or poll watch, or extend the privilege of tossing money in the trash, er, I mean, into his slimy coffers.
As I was writing this, yet another email showed up with a return address of rnchq.com (for Republican National Committee headquarters) from VP Vance again, as if Ray Liberalitus was bought and sold on Team MAGA. It’s an enigma, all right. To my knowledge, I have never contributed a penny to these people or registered for anything involving them, so it must be a matter of screwing with me, possibly because I contribute to Raw Story.
Whatever the reason, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure Ray Liberalitus infiltrates the ranks of these amoral bastards. The idiots who created him seem to think he’s already one of them. Maybe there’s value in his pretending to be a TRUE MAGA WARRIOR after all.
Yes, two can play this trolling game. Let’s get it on, suckers.
(Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.)
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These right-wing monsters have finally met their match
The number one complaint I hear from liberals is that Democrats “aren’t doing anything” to push back against the illegitimate Trump regime. I understand why they might feel that way, but it also bugs me when people complain without offering solutions.
We’ve needed a dedicated Democratic Press Secretary out there every day since January 2025 to tell the truth about what’s going on in our government, or to tout their accomplishments amid the most insane political environment in modern history.
Since we STILL don’t have one, we have to do our part to keep the truth at the top of the news cycle. Everyone should be hammering the worst VP of our lifetime, JD “Vladimir Futon” Vance. There are plenty of failures to ask him about, but I’m mostly focusing on that secret Situation Room meeting where they discussed covering up the Epstein Files to protect Trump when they should be bringing justice to the victims and survivors.
As my Senator, Ron “Chutzpah” Wyden (D-OR), told me after a Juneteenth press conference in Portland last week, Democrats don’t need to wait to get our majority back to hold Trump and his remaining loyalists accountable. And he wasn’t just blowing smoke, my friends.
While he and other Senate Democrats prepare for his mid-July confirmation hearings, Acting Attorney General Todd “Trumpsimp” Blanche is now facing serious charges for violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
You can thank an unelected Democrat, lawyer Katie Phang, for this. Katie deserves all the praise for her tireless work on exposing everyone involved in the Epstein cover-up scandal.
Congressional Democrats are doing all they can while the GOP clings to its razor-thin majority in both chambers. A major Blue Wave is predicted for November, with a solid chance of a Democratic sweep to literally clean House (and Senate). Once the new Congress is sworn in, you can expect A LOT of accountability. Impeachment for Trump and his co-conspirators is absolutely on the table in the wake of the endless Epstein Files scandal, among other crimes committed by Trump and his cronies.
That’s why Trump is scrambling to privatize the Postal Service and ban mail-in voting. Republicans know they can’t legitimately win enough elections, so they’re doing the same preventative kinds of cheating they tried in 2020. What we’re seeing now is what they planned to do in 2021, but they failed thanks to so many of us voting by mail from our locked-down homes.
Democrats are hip to their ways by now, and Oregon, where we’ve been voting by mail since the mid-90s, is leading the national fight for our voting rights.
Trump’s loss in 2020 is why January 6th happened, which Democrats know all too well. We’ll have plenty of work to do starting in January 2027, starting with impeachment and bringing all of Trump’s loyalists to justice. Democrats running for office this year need only use the visuals from the “America 250” celebrations as a reminder of what Trump has done to DC. His vandalism of our landmarks was all part of his plan to weaken us on the global stage, and instead, he’s the one who looks even weaker.
But that doesn’t mean Democrats can’t accomplish anything right now.
Elsewhere, Democrats are demanding accountability for the deliberate destruction of the government agencies that are meant to take care of Americans, not make things worse for us. Democrats continue to push back against NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s happily making Americans vulnerable to airborne diseases or a chemical attack from a foreign enemy. I’m especially looking forward to his Nuremberg-esque trial once a Democrat is back in the White House. But let’s get back to what we’re doing this week.
Democrats are laser-focused on exposing Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education. This was a major part of the Project 2025/2026 plan; re-educating America’s whitest kids to become an obedient army of Christian drones so they could begin implementing their Final Solution.
Therefore, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), who happens to be my Congressperson, took major action and stood on the House floor on Thursday to introduce Articles of Impeachment against Education Secretary Linda “Pile Driver” McMahon. Trump put The Wrestling Lady in charge of educating America’s next generations because she donated a bunch of money to his campaign, and also because both of them are greedy traitors who don’t care about anyone but themselves.
Democrats deliver on their promises despite the obstruction from Trump’s compromised co-conspirators. “I got involved in politics as a mom advocating for public education, and it’s what led to my run for public office,” Rep. Bonamici told me via email. “Congress created the Department of Education and gave the Department the responsibility to administer programs, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and to enforce the civil rights of students through the Office of Civil Rights. Ninety percent of students, and ninety-five percent of students with disabilities, attend public schools in Oregon and across the country. But instead of administering those programs and many others, the Secretary moved them out to other agencies in her quest to shut down the Department of Education, something she does not have the authority to do.”
Secretary McMahon has violated federal law and betrayed students, families, and educators. It's time for her to go. #ImpeachMcMahon pic.twitter.com/08dHU9erKu
— Suzanne Bonamici (@RepBonamici) June 25, 2026
At the same time, Energy Dems are calling out Interior Secretary Doug “Burgumeister” Burgum and are demanding answers about Algaegate and his loyalty to the Creature from the Green Mar-a-Lagoon.
And Rep. Ted Lieu REALLY wants to know which “79-year-old” got an experimental drug from Eli Lilly to keep him alive a little longer. Go, Ted!
Those are just a few examples of how lucky we are that our elected Democrats aren’t just watching things happen, they’re fighting to make sure things don’t get even worse. Let them know you’re watching, and you expect them to keep pressuring their Republican colleagues.
That’s how Democrats deliver.
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This disgusting mannequin of a man is stomach-churning — even by Trump standards
I will never forget reading New York Times book critic Dwight Garner’s 2002 review of Jared Kushner’s loathsome memoir, Breaking History, because if you cull it down and paraphrase it, it becomes a perfect description of Kushner the person.
So I’ll attempt to use the magic of Garner’s wonderful wordsmithing.
Kushner is a soulless, mannequin-like vanity project. He is the ultimate political arsonist, happily burning down the very democratic foundations and institutional norms that he relies on to sustain his global grift.
His efforts on behalf of his equally grifting and crooked father-in-law are queasy-making money-grabbing stunts that feel exactly like watching a cat lick a dog’s eye goo. He is a deeply uncomfortable, unnatural experience. He is superficial and self-serving.
Oh, there is so much more to say about Kushner, but column space prohibits me from expanding on my rewording of Garner’s poetry.
Kushner is nothing more than a spoiled real estate heir who got his job because he married Trump’s daughter before Trump did. I’m referring, of course, to Donald’s well-documented incestuous infatuation with Ivanka.
What business did he have negotiating nuclear disarmament with Iran? That sentence, however, gives it all away. Because his business is an illicit and, arguably, illegal one.
The original JCPOA nuclear deal was negotiated over years by the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Russia, and China, with nuclear physicists and non-proliferation experts, and ran to 159 pages.
Now, you tell me why a guy whose business dealings have frequently hovered near severe financial distress was sitting at a table yammering about nuclear weapons.
Iranian officials were reportedly confused when the White House kept sending Kushner and his partner Steve Witkoff, since neither has any background in nuclear policy. One former senior State Department official who participated in actual Iran nuclear negotiations said it plainly: “I’m not saying you need to be a diplomat to be a good negotiator. But you need to have some sense of history, and you need to know geography.”
If you base your assessment of Jared Kushner’s diplomatic chops and sense of history on those criteria, you can once again relegate him to dog-eye goo.
And since this deal involves enormous sums of money, Kushner’s association with companies in financial distress should instantly preclude his participation. The framework deal released, and presumably the one the prodigal whiz-kid helped cook up, would release up to $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, authorize Iran to sell oil on global markets in U.S. dollars, and, if a final deal is reached, lift all sanctions on Iran entirely.
Energy analysts say Iran could ramp up exports to roughly 2 million barrels per day, one-third higher than before the conflict, potentially unlocking hundreds of billions of dollars for the Iranian regime. Iran’s total frozen assets abroad are estimated at somewhere between $124 billion and $167 billion.
From the looks of it, “negotiator” Kushner is giving away money fast and furiously, much like Saudi Arabia gives money to Kushner.
And just who in Iran will see that money? The Iranian people have lived under crushing poverty and religious authoritarianism for nearly half a century. The regime that runs Iran doesn’t build hospitals and schools with windfall money from the Kushner cash machine.
No, it funds proxy militias, builds missiles, and pays for the apparatus of repression that keeps its own citizens in line, and they will never see a dime of it. They never do. And J.D. Vance’s comments about turning over a “new leaf” in the relationship with Iran are as naive as…well, Jared Kushner!
I will wager money I don’t have that Jared is involved in all this wheeling and dealing because he is representing the interests of his father-in-law and two brothers-in-law, dunce Donny Jr. and dim-witted Eric.
It’s all so blatantly obvious, and no one is sounding the alarm.
Let’s be abundantly clear about why Kushner was really there, and that was to make sure the Trump family gets their cut.
Whether it’s reconstruction contracts, sweetheart investment deals, or some back-channel percentage of the billions being unlocked, Kushner is the family’s eyes on the money. He and Trump couldn’t care less about Iran’s nuclear program, its regime, or its people. They care about the cash and making sure some of it flows back to them. That’s the only reason he was in the room.
Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, has garnered $6.16 billion in assets with an eye-popping (not eye-goo in this case) 99 percent of its funding derived from foreign nationals, including sovereign wealth funds operated by the governments of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund invested $2 billion into Affinity, despite senior Saudi officials registering their own opposition, which was overruled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself. Only the dubious MBS would override his own financial experts to hand billions to a guy with a lousy investment track record.
Meanwhile, as Kushner purportedly represented the United States in negotiations with Iran, his private equity firm was simultaneously seeking to raise an additional $5 billion from foreign sources, and Affinity’s representatives had already met again with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Rep. Jamie Raskin put it bluntly: “You cannot both be a diplomat and a financial pawn of the Saudi monarchy at the same time. You cannot faithfully represent the United States with billions of dollars in Saudi and Emirati cash burning a hole in every pocket of every suit you own.”
If Joe Biden had sent his son-in-law to negotiate a nuclear framework with Iran, Republicans would have whipped themselves into stroke-inducing frenzies. There would be unrelenting, hysterical screaming from the dog-eye-goos at Fox News.
Yet here we are. Jared gets to run all over the Middle East and meddle in nuclear deals, and gobble us cash simultaneously, and no one is stopping him.
Sen. Ron Wyden said it plainly last year about the malevolent misanthrope: “Jared Kushner makes up for his flaws as an investor by being a wildly corrupt appendage of his father-in-law’s wildly corrupt administration.”
Thoughtful words, for sure, but much too kind.
In the end, Kushner remains a soulless mannequin of pure vanity, a political squatter who burned down the guardrails of law and decency just to clear a path for his own enrichment, leaving the rest of us with the queasy-making task of watching something akin to a cat lick a dog’s eye goo as he squirrels away the money.
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Trump triggers a crippling nosedive with desperate rebrand
Many of us spend too much time depressed about the seemingly never-ending list of things that President Donald J. Trump gets away with. But we need to refamiliarize ourselves with the well-known dangers of what the military tends to call "mission creep," applied in a slightly different context, no less dangerous.
If one had to summarize Trump's "mission" from the golden escalator 11 years ago until today, it would be something like "all glory to Trump." And yet, of late, we see the creep (all entendre intended) push toward something a little different, less "glory," more "gaudy," less greatness, more gauche. For a guy who now spends more time worrying about his legacy than your dignity, that creep might now result in a plane crash, but not one that smolders.
American hearts tend to pump with almost perplexing pride in the presence, or even just the image, of Air Force One. Yes, we all know that "Air Force One" is a mere call sign for any plane carrying the president, even a Cessna, but everyone knows we're talkin' real "Air Force One," and that's the powerful point. The image of that giant converted 747 landing in foreign capitals, or even El Paso, simply has a breathtaking, iconic effect, the robin's egg blue with a dash of yellow, a design strongly inspired by Jackie Kennedy (and then tragically used in one of history's most poignant and tragic moments, with her husband's body lying in a casket in the back). The mere sight of that plane landing connotes "power," importance, as if the entire country just landed, not just a president.
That Trump fancies himself as a "brand man" makes it all the more mystifying as to why he'd ffff... mess with an Air Force One "brand" more iconic than Budweiser. (Or at least close.)
Actually, concentrating on the notion for a moment, it is easy to see why Trump is willing to ditch "the perfect" brand in favor of... the new "not even nice, never mind perfect." That Air Force One, that brand, belonged to something bigger than him, not just a nation, but the promise of that nation, a promise that, whether deserved, earned, or not, used to bring the world to a stutter, "America." Much bigger than "Trump."
And up with that, he will not put.
Like the White House, like our money and monuments — indeed, like the country itself — Trump believes it is all now a reflection of him, personally, less president than king or demigod. A new American president with a North Korean-inspired feel. Thus, a plane that conjured Carter landing in the Middle East, Reagan in Reykjavik, Bush over New York after 9/11, Obama as the Black family boarding, or bringing the body of a beloved John F. Kennedy "home," well, it had to go.
Not only did Trump need a plane that conjures Trump alone, but he alone wanted to own it, and somehow, despite the profound number of laws prohibiting such a laughable idea, he appears to be getting away with it. A gift from Qatar, it is truly a wonder that the plane he's about to take over, if not official ownership, yet, doesn't have "Trump" prominently defined on its livery... yet.
God help us all.
Beyond the fact that no one really gave any president sole permission to ffff.... mess with the Air Force One design, if one truly must do so, and apparently he must, then why on earth not go straight to flag colors of red, white, and blue? Why pick midnight blue, gold, and burgundy, a color scheme that screams "Ralph Lauren" more than "Reagan," another president we hated, but was maddeningly "presidential" and not "commercial." This plane looks less Air Force One, more "modernized Southwest."
Back to things that matter even more than color schemes - though, please - we all know that the design itself does matter, in the same way the Rose Garden mattered, the White House mattered, even the reflecting pool, not only did absolutely no one beyond Trump demand changes to Air Force One aesthetics Americans appreciated and loved, what really matters is this: All these changes scream "ownership" and that comes with risk, even for Trump.
Before readers sigh, "another article predicting a scandal that rids us of Trump," not that this isn't about pitchforks and torches forcing him to leave office. This is about another two approval point drop of the type that does actually matter. Because, please know, this country's most powerful politicians do obsess over those numbers, and every lost foot of elevation on Trump's glide slope matters to an entire industry built to protect Trump.
Mike Johnson is less likely to make an earnest ass out of himself defending Trump polling at 32% than 42, dropping to 26% (Not impossible if the economy suddenly gets much worse), and Johnson would find himself more quarterbacking the offense against Trump than coordinating the defense. Oh, and it's amidst polling like this when one often sees a particularly painful presidential leak from the Epstein files.
Washington D.C. retains ways to bite back at people who bring others down.
So now back to the plane crash. Ask Trump how much branding matters. He has spent a lifetime believing in his brand and, of course, at any given point, about 25% of Americans are willing to die for it. But a president can't survive with 25% approval ratings, not because suddenly the Senate will impeach him, but suddenly things that were once held back, White House secrets, Epstein intrigue, side deals worth billions of dollars, things that used to be kept mostly hidden by inside loyalists, suddenly hit the front page of the New York Times.
And even though Air Force One's livery issue is nothing — absolutely nothing, when compared to masked ICE storm troopers roaming the streets in search of anyone brown, cutting Obamacare funding, cutting SNAP funding, disenfranchising southern Black Americans, forcing "white testosterone" on everything from the military to Harvard, doesn't mean the issue doesn't mean something, something grossly disproportional, but means something nonetheless.
The fact that Trump will tell anyone complaining, "Look, if you don't like the color scheme, don't worry, you can have your real Air Force One back when I step down to fully devote my time to golf and further riches, leaving this smoldering pile of scrap to President J.D. Vance, because this plane is mine and I'm keeping it" isn't going to help him — indeed, that attitude alone might blow an engine on takeoff of his next project.
Because even though Americans believe we're exceptional, we're still people, and people are both weirdly beautiful and also just weird. This is especially true when it comes to branding that brings about certain memories, certain comfort, ask anyone at Coca-Cola circa 1990. There is a reason that the top of The New York Times font hasn't changed in 100 years, McDonald's still has ridiculous "golden arches," Google became a verb, and our hearts palpitated a bit seeing that giant 747 with robin's egg blue landed on another continent to address a major global issue. "The United F'ing States Just Arrived," y'all.
And that's what it gets down to. He wants it to scream "Trump just arrived," and that's dangerous. Even some supporters step back and think, "We liked him as president because he used to own the libs, now it seems more like he wants to really own all of us." And that type of thinking causes a movement to lose pressure, and pressurization never matters more than when trying to fly 30,000 feet above it all.
Is this going to bring him down? No. Could it unforgivably matter too much and bring his polling down a bit? Yes. Could that arrogance, that sense of ownership, that sort of fly-by of real issues upset a formerly loyal FBI agent to just let "slip" a document, picture, something Epstein? Yes. Could something suddenly flying on two engines cause Mike Johnson and John Thune to point out that the captain is ultimately responsible while putting on their parachutes? Yep. Can all of that, added together, create a bigger blue wave? You bet. And so does it actually matter? Actually... maybe. And that's a risk.
Meanwhile, feel free to make a joke out in the heartland to the farmer paying 60% more for fertilizer this year, watching that new Air Force One on final approach to Des Moines, and quip, "Why is the president of the Philippines interested in all this," or "I didn't know the president now flies Southwest — I bet HE gets seats assigned." You'll be surprised how many people are getting a little tired of this "I am the United States" attitude.
No, the plane itself isn't likely to crash. But nothing could matter less if the guy claiming ownership of the plane continues to risk crashing himself. There is a reason he never tried stuff like this the first time around; he had to answer to us again, and claiming ownership of Air Force One is bad branding, perfect color scheme, whatever.
It was bad then. It is bad now. And those of you who think none of this could ever possibly matter in the long run aren't thinking creatively enough, nor big picture. Ten thousand perfect landings mean nothing when suddenly "your plane" isn't cared for like it once was and maybe starts leaking fuel. The mission's creep may approach an American-branded no-fly zone.
He won't crash on a runway. But if things get bad enough, it is possible he'll run away to avoid a true crash.
Jason Miciak is a Rawstory columnist, former editor of Occupy Democrats, author, political consultant, attorney, and single parent girldad. Please follow him on Bluesky, and he can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com... And yes, he reads the comments and deeply appreciates that readers care, even when slaying him or a column. We're all in it together.
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This nuclear message is built to stomp MAGA — and it isn't corruption
Every reader here understands it is hard to overstate the importance of November's midterm elections. The GOP controls every branch in our Constitutional framework, and the vast majority of Americans agree that the nation is in crisis, providing Democrats with fertile ground on which to harvest winning issues, perhaps combining victories in both Houses of Congress. Ironically, the sheer number of problems angering voters created by the terrifying authoritarian White House presents a difficulty, a good difficulty, but a difficulty nonetheless. Standing ankle deep in red political muck, what is the single most powerful message to squeeze out the most blue political juice?
According to recent reports, leading Dems believe the answer lies in highlighting and taking up the fight against the GOP's blatant corruption.
Yeah, but...
Americans vote first and foremost with their pocketbooks. An infinitely qualified Kamala Harris is unforgiveably not president right now, primarily because of moderates' misconceptions and misrememberings regarding the economy under President Trump 1.0 — an economy that mostly rode the stable Obama wave after the Great Recession. With the economy now looking vulnerable at the very least, better understood to be failing fast by many, why would Democrats not lead with what has traditionally been the political focus in nearly every election and certainly seems to be in this one?
Thankfully, Democrats do apparently somewhat understand the dynamic, or at least mostly, and plan to link the corruption as an emotionally evocative and easily understood subset or adjunct to economic pain and fear. As explained in a report by NBC News:
“We’re doing it in every corner of the country,” said a national Democratic strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity. “And the idea is it’s an affordability cycle, and so everybody cares about affordability, No. 1, when you pair the message with the reason that your costs are going up is because politicians care more about themselves, they’re corrupt, they’re bought by corporate donors or they’re lining their own pockets, and that’s why they’re not looking out for you, that’s the most potent mix of the two arguments.”
Yeah.
Mostly.
Or one could say that the most potent mix of "any" argument is "Gas is $5.00 a gallon, making everything more expensive, and the Trump regime spends more time making life easier for people building data centers than those dropping off kids at daycare centers."
But, okay - Dems are close.
Anyone who has read this column at all for the last few months knows that if there is a central theme, it is that Trump has never had to do anything, much less explain himself about Epstein matters or wars that push prices to the brink, amidst an unstable or teetering economy, thus now making him infinitely more vulnerable on every issue. Donald Trump and his blood red army in Congress are uniquely adept at finding a stupifying number of issues they created in what was just three years ago a well-functioning, well-respected nation. Voters understand that.
Voters also understand that, even though Trump gave himself a new 747, openly obstructed an investigation into the world's most notorious child-sex trafficker, found time to engage in open day trading on stocks that just happen to move up quickly after he impacts the company's fortunes, and has a saintly sensitive side for convicted rich people crying out for mercy in the form of pardons, that by all appearances, Trump and the Republicans fail to notice that things are getting tough out here, where a pound of hamburger costs twice the amount of a gallon of gas, and both costs rose way too fast against wages that refuse to rise. It would seem imperative that first, before lobbing criticism at the corruption, or pointing to corruption as the primary culprit causing the economic pain, Democrats must start by telling voters how much we understand that pain, we see and feel the devastation, share the concerns, and aim to do something about it — and only then, after establishing that everyone is on the same page, at that point, note, "And who could keep track of an economy anyway when one's first and only priority is enriching oneself?"
This is not necessarily a criticism of the Democrats' strategy; it's more cautionary. Yes, they must make a nuclear-powered run against MAGA. They must list the reasons they oppose this administration's zoo-break when it comes to selling the nation for scrap. But it's never enough to solely be "against" something or someone; it is just as critical that candidates fight "for" their vision, the one that begins — and perhaps ends — with "I see how hard things have become and unlike the folks in charge now, my first priority will be doing something about making life economically easier here for you, my ideas include, ABC-123, and the reason none of those things are getting done right now is the administration is too busy getting rich abusing their positions. You will never get help from someone too busy helping themselves.
The issues do go hand in hand, but it may not be the best idea to wave the "Corruption" flag as the key to winning. It makes more sense to integrate the corruption as a prominent prong within an umbrella message that says, "I'm for helping you get through this economic pain by getting your healthcare back, increasing wages, scaling back A.I., all the things that will never get done by a regime too busy buying itself luxury airplanes with luxury beds for... reasons, along with insider trading, managing the non-Epstein investigation by the hour, it's no wonder they don't have any concern for you, they haven't had time to ask how you're doing. Not that they ever cared to begin with."
A word to the highly sophisticated and politically astute progressives here. Yes, when one gets right down to it, the real issue in this upcoming election is whether we want to continue this experiment in democracy or not, because authoritarianism has set in and gets increasingly entrenched by the day. Understood, 100%.
But that is not understood, at least not well enough, by voters who don't pay as much attention to politics as you but know infinitely more about programming language, irrigating, firefighting, teaching trigonometry, or ICU nursing than you, but they do share your frustration with prices and jobs. Those people may not yet know just how dangerous the situation has become, and in an ideal world, one could sit down and describe the ways this nation is in far more trouble than mere troubling inflation. There simply isn't time — not to persuade the 20% of the people in this country who decide control of the government in purple districts and states.
Yes, it is unfair. No, it doesn't make sense. Sure, it makes one long for a parliamentary system where a vote of no confidence could be had, and the entire lot knocked out, but we're here, and thus charged with the duty to do the best we can with what we have in the time we have it.
Additionally, we have every right to demand we live in a nation that doesn't always lead with its wallet and personal economic concerns. We should create a nation in which the majority cares about climate change, cares about getting that transitioning kid medical coverage rather than mocking or making a monster out of him, a nation that sees healthcare as an obvious basic human right, demands its DEI initiatives, and is already grappling with impending AI dangers to employment and society writ large, with talk of universal basic income and other such mature planning. We have every right to that country, we just don't live in it — not yet.
Yes, Democrats - please do make sure that this regime's corruption is put forth front and center. But please make sure it is exhibit "C" under Argument I: "The economy is hurting you and will hurt you more unless you allow me to help fix it by ABC - 123, and you know that the Republicans won't do those things because they've been fully in charge two years now and things have gotten noticeably worse, meanwhile we see a regime committed to little more than breathless corruption, enriching themselves as priority one, priority two, and every priority thereafter ending in a number.
Bonus round. The more stable the economy becomes for everyone, the more wages keep up with prices, and the more contentment the lower and middle class, the more open we all are to discussions about climate, about LGBTQ concerns, why DEI makes the nation stronger, why ICE is a crime against humanity, and so much more.
It is really hard to get voters to care about much of anything when they're busy caring about buying food that month, and the maxim holds true even with a president who steals 747s, probably sells pardons, and engages in insider trading.
Thankfully, these issues all harmonize, in part because the GOP has ever only known one political riff. We just have to make sure the lyrics hit the heart, head, and the wallet, just not necessarily in that order.
Jason Miciak is a Rawstory Columnist, past editor of Occupy Democrats, an author, political consultant, attorney, and a single parent girldad. Please follow on Bluesky, and can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com, and does read the comments with interest, having learned a great deal from readers.
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Resist Trump's rambling and pay a hefty price
I am hearing terrible things about Raw Story. Just terrible. People are telling me — very smart people, the smartest people — that some of you are not giving this column your complete and undivided attention. That’s bad. Very, very bad. Frankly, it’s a disgrace.
You think I don’t notice? You think I can’t tell when you’re skimming? When you’re reading every third paragraph? I notice everything, believe me. When you keep checking your phone while I’m in the middle of making an absolutely tremendous point, not good. Wrong. It makes me very upset.
You think I don’t see it? You think I don’t know when you’re not absorbing the words completely? I know it, and for anyone caught doing it, I’m considering sanctions. Nothing major at first. Maybe your television remote only works when you’re standing up. Maybe every shopping cart you touch develops an annoying, mysterious wobble. Maybe all your socks slowly rotate inside your shoes throughout the day.
You laugh. That’s why you’re a loser. You’re all losers.
There’s talk that you should be investigated. Everyone is saying it. It has nothing to do with me. You should face consequences because it’s treasonous. When you criticize what I write, it’s always fake news.
Don’t you dare stop reading this now. Close it and there will be consequences. You’re low IQ. You’re weak. If I sued you, you wouldn’t have the stomach for it and you’d run like a coward.
Now I remember what this is all about. My memory is better than anyone my age. All the doctors are telling me, and they can’t believe it. They say, “Sir, how is it that you have the memory of a 20-year-old? It’s simply not possible.” And I tell them my brain is much bigger than average. That’s probably why.
I know that if I write “Pizza. Suitcase. Popsicle. Hyena” here right now, I’ll remember what it is by the end of this column and in that exact order. I’m brilliant that way.
Where was I? Oh yeah. If this column does not receive the attention it deserves, I’m prepared to take drastic action. I will authorize a 300 percent tariff on browsers. Every time your eyes jump ahead to the next paragraph before finishing the current one, you’ll owe an additional paragraph of mandatory reading.
People are saying it’s fair.
And don’t even think about skipping to the end. We know who you are. The analytics know. The internet knows. Don’t make me recruit better readers from other columns. Don’t test me. I’ll do it.
OK. Now let’s talk about Iran. Stupid country. We should have obliterated them when we had the chance. Actually, wait, we did obliterate them and wiped their civilization off the face of the earth, but they survived somehow. And what kind of gratitude do they show? They close the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic. So terrible.
If they don’t agree to rip up the Memorandum of Understanding (I call it the MOU) and agree to better terms, we may just have to obliterate them again. It would be very sad, but that’s how regime change works. You go from one idiot regime to another.
It’s kind of how it is with the Dumocrats. The Radical Left Lunatics are determined to destroy this country by paying their taxes, helping the people who need help most, and being decent to one another. Quite frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach. This is why the Enemy From Within poses the greatest THREAT to America and Americans. They are SCUM, and by SCUM I mean a Strategic Coalition for Unlimited Mhorribleness.
These thugs are all Communists, Marxists and Fascists, sick people who want to see the country succeed on their own terms. It’s disgusting. They are traitors practicing seditious behavior who must be stopped. Only unconditional surrender will be acceptable.
For the next several hundred words, I would like to explain why what you are reading now is the greatest column ever written in the history of columns. Bigger than Hemingway. Bigger than Twain. Bigger than the Magna Carta, which many people now agree was basically an early draft of one of my social media posts.
I’d also like to talk about the upcoming 250th anniversary of our country. I call it the Semiquincentennial. That’s a word that I made up and no one has ever spelled correctly until now. It marks 250 years since the signing of the Gettysburg Address. You can look it up.
It is my Great Honor to discuss it, about the rockets’ red glare and the bombs bursting in hair. And about the Failing New York Times. They never acknowledge my brilliance. They would rather talk about my poll numbers, which are, of course, rigged, like the 2020 Election. Don’t worry, we’ll be fixing that soon, and this column is the start of that movement.
Stay with me here. Daydreaming is not allowed! Beginning immediately, anyone who daydreams while reading this column risks being placed on a watch list. Not a government watch list. Worse. A disappointment watch list.
Every morning, you’ll receive an email that simply says, “We expected more.”
If readers would just give these paragraphs their full attention, none of this would be necessary. But some people insist on testing me. Let this be a warning: disrespect will not be tolerated. I will personally make your computer stop working. And trust me that I can do it. I can do anything I want. There are no limits to my literary power.
Now, let’s see if I can remember the five elements of my memory test sequence from earlier in the column. Here they are: “Cheeseburger. Diet Coke. Hypertension. Stroke. Funeral.”
There you go. Perfect. Like always.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
(Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.)
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There is no bottom for this cruel Republican Party
The canvas of Kansas is painted with fields of golden wheat, sometimes as far as the eyes can see.
Children who have chosen paths in life that have taken them away from their rural upbringings return to help with the harvest. While the pace is hectic, there is a peacefulness that prevails as we realize the fruits of our labors. From that peacefulness, perspectives often emerge, whether about one’s own life or the bigger picture of which each of us is just a speck.
In the course of a life and career that has taken me to several corners of the world — and that has allowed me to cross paths with folks from all walks of life — a basis for reflection on America’s situation has emerged. I have seen the best and the worst of humanity. But not even Webster could have imagined the words for his dictionary that would be apt to describe the current state of these United States of America.
I had the opportunity, perhaps I should say the privilege, to listen to remarks made at the dedication of former President Obama’s presidential center. Those remarks reminded me that governing means bringing people together, not tearing them apart. My thought was echoed in a couple of the songs that were performed at the dedication: “Higher Ground” and “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
On many occasions during the months since January of 2025, I have thought of the famous words uttered during the McCarthy era of the 1950s. “Have you no sense of decency?”
While the context then was different than now, those words are applicable every day — in fact, multiple times every day — as more pronouncements flow from President Donald Trump’s administration. We also need to amend the quote to include “no sense of decency or truth.”
Just when one thinks that Republican officials trawling through the barrel have found a bottom, we realize that that is not the case.
Sadly, our Kansas Republican congress folks have no backbone to speak out. All of them are old enough to know better. Cruelty and incompetence are more and more apparent as the days pass. Those who behave in that manner are given a free pass — time and time again.
During the wheat harvest, I find the time to be alone with my thoughts. I can spend time to, shall we say, contemplate the universe. I say to myself—this cannot be. Yet, it is.
I also ask myself how any decent person can continue to support a man whose only agenda is enriching himself and his family, at the expense of America’s standing in the world. Forget the labels — Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever — and ask the Make America Great Again disciples why they have left truth and decency at the door.
There has never been a period in my lifetime when I have had serious doubts about the future of America. Up until now.
The foundation of our democracy is being destroyed, one day, one act, at a time. Yet so many stand silent. In the heat and dust of a Kansas wheat field, it is all so crystal clear. We must look in the mirror; we must speak out. And we must do the right thing. We owe that to future generations.
Ben Palen is a Kansas native and a fifth-generation farmer and agriculture consultant in Colorado and Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
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America’s moral rot and open betrayal of basic decency on display at Trump's fair
America greets our 250th birthday not as the last, best hope of Earth, but under a noxious cloud of broken promises, betrayed ideals, hateful discourse, public corruption, and petulant, petty public leaders peddling horrendous lies without shame.
A great bulk of everyday people are sinking in a quicksand of endless struggles, feeling desperate, helpless, hopeless, while our feckless, egomaniacal, careless, reckless ruling class showers itself in gaudy, self-obsessed, look-at-me excess.
The most vile aspects of our national character and the worst of the American stereotypes crash around our public space chewing up people’s lives and hawking them into the spittoon of our collective historical shame:
Loud, loudly wrong, ignorant, excessive, might-makes-right, cruelty, armed-to-the-teeth, strutting and striding, bullying, and oh-so-tough.
Oh, so weak.
So very very weak.
So insecure, and so obviously so insecure.
Deluded like children playing at action heroes in their movie-minds, with no care or concept of the depth and breadth and complexity of actual human life in the very real world.
Except children have the capacity for growth and wonder and curiosity impossible for these calcified so-called adults running the country.
The callous selfishness of, Greed-is-good and I’m-gonna-get-mine-so-who-cares-about-anybody-else.
The cowardly myopia of, It-doesn’t-affect-me-so-what-do-I-care.
The chilling ignorance, lack of empathy, lack of humanity, lack of compassion, and lack of historical comprehension spewed in the eternal American sins of continued shameless racism and discrimination being enacted once again as a matter of brutal public policy.
And they think they’re being clever.
They especially think they’re being clever when the courts that they’ve vandalized, radicalized, and politicized officially excuse their atrocious behavior.
This time the pathetic fools declaim, Racism-is-actually-over-it’s-reverse-racism-that’s-the-problem, as they follow the timeless playbook.
And this debased ignorance becomes sanctified in the decisions of the nation’s highest court, to roll back civil rights, voting rights, human rights.
The sick, fetishized cruelty of, Good-I’m-glad-those-people-are-being-hurt-they-deserve-it.
The stone-cold pathological depravity of, Empathy-and-compassion-are-actually-bad-things.
America faces our anniversary as the world’s oldest democracy not as a celebration but a reckoning.
We must now take stock of our situation and decide whether we shall snuff out the remaining embers of our constitutional republic in sacrifice to the egomania and moral rot of the age.
A free people may vote their way out of freedom; that is a free choice, but it is also a robbery of future generations who would never then have any such choice.
This betrayal of future generations steals their birthright, the “apple of gold,” as Abraham Lincoln called it, the “political religion of our nation” enshrined in the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, and never yet fully realized, now being betrayed once again.
Consider the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence in full.
In full is key.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident…”
It begins with our fundamental equality as human beings — and therefore deserving of the same exact natural rights and dignity no matter who we are, all of us included, nobody left out, all of humanity.
The second sentence does not end at the individualistic “pursuit of happiness,” a common mistake.
It ends much later, not on the note of individualism in the introductory clause, but on the collectivism, collective interest, and supremacy of the people over the government found in its concluding lines.
Because all of this — all of our government, everything you see — is meant to be for the safety and happiness of the people, all the people. Full stop.
That’s so far from reality right now it’s a joke, and that’s where we’ve gone so catastrophically wrong.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
The introduction about the individual under the laws of nature is an extension of Lockean thought based on Thomas Aquinas based on a synthesis of Augustine of Hippo and Aristotle:
This fundamental idea that we are all, by our nature, indeed born free in nature, in the full bloom of our individual righteousness of diversity, and we only bind ourselves together voluntarily in what Rousseau called the social contract.
The Declaration acknowledges the greater truth of that bond, and its basis in both our individual natural rights and our free choice of social contract, by proclaiming that all governmental power is derived “from the consent of the governed.”
This is the contract for our collective good, where we recognize that our own narrow self-interest must have limitations to protect the interests of others and our collective interests now and into the future — even and perhaps especially for our ideological opposites — because that’s how we ensure the protection of ourselves, and aspire to liberty and justice for all.
Moreover, “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends” — destructive of the people’s natural rights to life and liberty, meant to be secured in the bond of self-government — the people further reserve the right of supremacy over our government to do as we wish to effect our collective safety and happiness.
Put simply, all power is inherent in the people and politicians are nothing but public servants. Do not worship them, ever. They are your employees, nothing more. Hold them accountable, relentlessly.
And if politicians are only serving themselves, if they are only serving their own greed and lust for power and the moneyed elites who plunder and profiteer, and they sacrifice the public good at the altar of power and greed and ego, then they have betrayed the public trust and they are of no use to our self-government in their positions.
Past Americans spilled their blood for the rule of law now being ignored.
Past patriots gave their lives for the freedoms, liberty, and protections now being betrayed.
The birthright of future generations is at stake.
We can continue on in a hateful mess of chaos and destruction, or we can heal and build together.
That decision is before each and every one of us right now, and every day.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com.
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Trump's long con on his drooling MAGA base came into focus right before America 250
Donald Trump’s deliberate vandalization of DC, along with our democracy, has reached a tipping point where even his most loyal cultists are questioning his motives.
Just not enough of them…yet.
Senate Republicans are starting to break ties with Trump over his full capitulation to Iran in Versailles. The Senate approved a House-passed resolution on Tuesday directing Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from Iran after four GOP senators broke ranks and voted to undercut his plan to keep using Iran as a distraction from the Epstein Files.
Along with that loss, Trump also failed again to get his racist SAVE Act passed, so the petty PAB, who’ll never accept responsibility for the algae bloom that is the Reflecting Pool, retaliated by canceling his planned signing of the Housing Affordability Bill on Wednesday at the Capitol.
Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat running for Senate in Michigan, summed up the “why” of it all soon after Trump blasted his own party for not making voting harder for women in America.
“To be very clear about what’s happening right now,” McMorrow tweeted, “the President won’t sign @SenWarren's bipartisan HOUSING bill package to address the housing crisis and bring your costs down unless he’s allowed to make it harder for any woman who may have changed their name to vote.”
What a giant misogynistic baby.
MAGA celebrated Trump’s latest outburst as they continue to willfully cling to whatever weak line of BS he’s now peddling. The same cult that doesn’t care about paying exponentially more for everything from gas to groceries to healthcare costs is also fine with Trump vandalizing every monument in the nation’s capital.
They screamed when Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden and Barack Obama added a basketball court to the White House grounds. Yet they’re oddly on board with everything Trump has done in the name of “improving” what he claims Democrats have “ruined.”
They had no problem with Trump decorating the Oval Office with tacky gold-plated crap all over the walls, as if he looted a Hobby Lobby in Moscow.
Appallingly, they were fine with him demolishing the East Wing of the White House. We have no idea if the historical artifacts collected by all the first ladies have been preserved, but it’s not like MAGA cares about that when they can own the Libs like this.
They cheered him on when he paved over the Rose Garden to make it look like another tacky patio at Mar-A-Lago, just without a pool. And then they went full Idiocracy when they celebrated him turning the South Lawn into a traveling parking lot carnival trailer park, with a cage built to watch shirtless men beat the crap out of each other on his birthday.
The White Trash House and its grounds now look like Putin already bombed it and is working on the full occupation. And now we have Algaegate, aka the Reflecting Pool of Green Goo, to really drive home just how much Trump hates America.
Of course, MAGA is letting him dictate what they should say and feel about the latest visual example of “Everything Trump Touches Dies.” Trump went from bragging that he “has the best pool guy” to making up imaginary vandals to blame for the “American Blue” water turning “Drain the Swamp Green.”
Went back to the reflecting pool with a waterproof camera. Here’s what it looks like underwater where a section has peeled up and was removed. pic.twitter.com/jWS9LtGGZE
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) June 19, 2026
Trump has been bragging about arresting the “vandals” who are “cutting up the floor” of the Reflecting Pool with “big knives,” but that’s not what’s happening. Instead, completely innocent people who pulled floating pieces of the pool floor and others have been taken into custody. Trump threatened more arrests if any other “vandals” tried to do any more vandalism.
It’s also another perfect example of how Trump has swindled his cult over and over for the last 11 years. Trump has a lengthy track record of hiring the cheapest labor he can find and still not paying his contractors, so it’s not really a surprise that every single “improvement” project has failed spectacularly.
Because that’s been his plan all along, because it’s the same plan he’s repeatedly used throughout his life, both before and after he flung his loaded diaper all over our political norms. Here’s how Donny Three Card Monte draws them in, then plays out the rest of the con:
First, he announces he’s doing something to “make improvements” over something either President Obama or President Biden did, because he’s a jealous and constantly overcompensating for everything he hates about himself, which is everything. He has a guy, the best guy, who’ll get millions for doing the damage. Check out this Dick Tracy villain, the latest weirdo in TrumpWorld to get in on the grift.
That’s Trump donor and Florida Man John Cafaro. Like most of Trumpworld, Cafaro has a criminal record; in this case, it’s two prior convictions, one for bribing a member of Congress and another for an illegal loan that violated campaign finance laws.
Anyway, the con then shifts based on the reaction. If it succeeds, then Trump keeps up the lie to sustain the con for as long as he can. If it’s badly received or fails spectacularly, which is almost always the result, the narrative suddenly shifts, and Trump finds a convenient scapegoat for his own failure.
That’s why MAGA members of Congress are blaming “vandals” and bringing back old propaganda about Dr. Anthony Fauci, because it’s his turn once again on Trump’s Spinning Wheel of Favorite Scapegoats to use as a distraction from the Epstein Files.
This is what Washington, DC, currently looks like ahead of what’s supposed to be a celebration of America’s 250th Birthday.
This isn’t the winning he promised MAGA.
It’s the winning he promised Putin. He’s giving America to Daddy Vladdy as a gift on OUR birthday. That’s the visual Putin wants, a destroyed DC for him to occupy.
And MAGA still refuses to see what’s right in front of them.
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America suffered an unconscionable gut punch — but the worst is yet to come
The headlines out of the Supreme Court came at us in waves Thursday morning, like a barrage of punches to the gut:
- Supreme Court Allows Trump to Block Asylum Seekers at Border
- Supreme Court Allows Trump to End Deportation Protections for Haitians and Syrians
- Supreme Court Strikes Down Hawaii Gun Restriction Limiting When, Where People Can Carry Firearms
- Supreme Court Overturns Jury Award to Missouri Man Who Contracted Cancer Through Use of Weedkiller Roundup
I wondered when the next headline might be, “Supreme Court Approves Name Change of United States to Trump States of America, because the country is entirely his now. The court majority has kowtowed entirely to a madman, transforming us into a nation not of immigrants but white Christian fascists determined to obliterate everything this country once stood for.
In one fell swoop, this corrupt Supreme Court made it extraordinarily difficult for immigrants to seek refuge on our shores; for foreign nationals who have fled to America due to war and natural disasters to remain here; for sane people to feel safe from crazy people with guns in public spaces; and for those who have been granted a death sentence through use of an herbicide to receive any financial relief for themselves and their families.
It's really kind of amazing how one purportedly intelligent group of lawmakers can get everything so wrong. But of course, it’s hardly an accident. It’s the Supreme Court majority’s agenda to deliver everything our lawless president seeks on a silver platter, in the process destroying decades, even centuries, of precedent and/or established law.
In blocking asylum seekers huddled at the border in particular, the court ruled to effectively abandon the desperate pursuing better lives, or even continued existence, period. It inspired Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, to invoke the memory of the voyage of the MS St. Louis that in 1939 was carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution during the Holocaust – and yet was denied docking in Cuba and the United States. It fated most of them to death and remains one of the darkest chapters in our history.
Sotomayor reasoned that Thursday’s ruling turning away migrants seeking asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border strands them and dooms many, if not most, to a similar fate. And of course, she’s right.
Essentially, the court majority hung its argument on an infuriating technicality – essentially, that their physical presence on Mexican soil meant that the asylum seekers had not yet “arrived” in the United States. But of course, that’s really the whole point. They weren’t here yet. They urgently sought to change that status by being on the doorstep of comparative freedom in their application for refuge.
But now, that door is being cruelly slammed shut in the faces of noncitizens looking to do the right thing via the application process rather than trying to sneak in. The conservative majority, unmoved in their heartlessness, said migrants stranded at the border do not “arrive” by “attempting, and failing, to set foot in this country.”
The fact that these people face such severe violence and extortion in their attempt to enter America was immaterial to the argument.
You know what this means, don’t you? Essentially, the inscription on the Statue of Liberty no longer applies. Here’s what it was:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Now it’s more like:
“Give me your skilled, your vetted, your Christian.
Those who qualify under our restrictive laws
Seeking opportunity through lawful paths we determine.
The door will remain locked until further notice.”
Concurrent to this brutal and unconscionable decision was the second one that gave Trump the green light to end temporary deportation protections for as many as 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians in the U.S. legally on work authorization visas. They and other Temporary Protected Status foreign nationals will now have to seek some other form of safeguard from being bounced out.
The big question in all of this is, of course, why. Why have we become a nation that no longer welcomes the immigrant and, in fact, does everything in its power to torment and prosecute those who are simply seeking better lives for themselves and their families? What is the point of having transformed ourselves from the Land of Opportunity to a police state inside of a decade?
The one thing it has nothing to do with is stamping out crime. The stats show that both documented and undocumented immigrants are significantly less likely to commit violent, property, or drug offenses. To assert otherwise carries roughly the same credibility as claiming there’s significant voter fraud.
That means it’s all political. It serves the Republican cause to scare their voters into believing that the bad people from other countries are determined to hurt them and take their jobs and are mooching off a system they have no business sharing in.
Obviously, the Supreme Court has bought into this. But why? Why does it serve the MAGA morons and the upper reaches of the judiciary to want to keep the country flavorless and colorless and boring – determinedly English-speaking, Christian, uneducated.
And let’s say these people do want to come here seeking economic opportunity rather than protection from persecution. So what? Are they really going to drain and strain the system of a government that Republicans claim not to want any part of in the first place?
It’s just pure racism and hatred of “the other,” of course. And now it’s being validated by a Supreme Court majority twisting itself into a pretzel to attach their blatant discrimination to some kind of Constitutional standard.
Will the court go the extra mile and finally just do away with birthright citizenship altogether? It would shock many. But given the direction where this all seems to be heading, not me. How about you?
(Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.)
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