Tara Dublin

Among the multiple bombshells that dropped in DC this month, there’s one extra big one that we can’t allow to get lost in the raging garbage fire news cycle Trump somehow created so that no one would trust anything they heard from the media.

Sen. Ron “Chutzpah” Wyden (D-OR, and my Senator, hence my nickname for him) released his highly anticipated report on the Senate Finance Committee’s four-year investigation into the American and Russian banks tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex trafficking ring. The 67-page report specifically focuses on the failure of the Wall Street banks to blow the whistle on Epstein’s financial crimes, with one bank going as far as helping Epstein hide certain transactions to avoid suspicion.

Titled “Looking the Other Way: How Wall Street Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Trafficking,” the report exposes how top bankers shielded Epstein from federal scrutiny by delaying the reporting of suspicious financial activity to the U.S. government, likely in violation of federal anti-money-laundering laws. It includes new details about the extent of suspicious activity reported by Deutsche Bank after Epstein’s death, new details from bank reports filed about suspicious transfers to Epstein through accounts at Bank of America, and names top officials at JPMorgan Chase and other banks who were responsible for reporting Epstein’s shady activities to the government but instead protected Epstein to gain access to his Rolodex of billionaires.

Sen. Wyden’s Epstein investigation first began in 2022, with an inquiry into the sex trafficker’s “absurdly priced” tax planning for multi-billionaire and Trump crony Leon Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management.

In 2024, following a request from Finance Committee Democratic staff for access to Treasury’s Epstein files, the Biden administration allowed Committee investigators to review more than 1,000 pages of documents in person at the Treasury Department. Later that year, Sen. Wyden requested the Treasury produce the specific Epstein file for the Committee to investigate further. He made the same request early in the Trump administration, after the president came into office promising a “greater level of transparency” on Epstein matters.

And we know how that’s been going.

Sen. Chutzpah also obtained Leon Black’s settlement with the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and released new information pertaining to Black’s payment of $170 million to Epstein over several years, ostensibly for tax and estate planning services.

The Trump administration has declined to investigate over 4,700 wire transfers totaling nearly $1.1 billion, as Sen. Wyden detailed in this Twitter thread in November 2025.

The report goes on to reveal that the banks and Epstein’s estate have paid $900 million to settle Epstein-related lawsuits while refusing to cooperate with Sen. Wyden’s investigation. Also non-compliant is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has obstructed access to Treasury’s own Epstein Files (which most Americans don’t even know exist) not just to Sen. Wyden, but to the House Oversight Committee and its Republican Chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) as well.

Weird, huh? I mean, why would Scott Bessent protect Donald Trump, who doesn’t think his marriage to a man is real?

In January, Sen. Wyden expanded his investigation with a new probe into Epstein’s relationship with Bank of New York Mellon and suspicious transactions showing hundreds of millions of dollars Epstein moved through BNY accounts. In late February, following the revelation that Epstein and several associates were targets in a secretive federal investigation into drug trafficking, prostitution and money laundering, Sen. Wyden sought details and a key document from the DEA as to the results of that investigation. Weeks later, Sen. Chutzpah announced that he had learned then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had intervened to block the DEA from complying with Wyden’s request.

I wonder if Sen. Bill Cassidy knows about that part.

But wait, it gets weirder.

The report also includes the juicy reveal that Sen. Wyden’s lengthy 60 Minutes interview about his investigation — something we would have seen Mike Wallace sink his teeth into during the show’s glory years — was cancelled by CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari “Israel First” Weiss, who never met a truthful story she couldn’t kill and replace with some propaganda.

According to the report, Sen. Wyden sat for a taped interview at a Senate Finance Committee hearing room with former 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi on March 26th. The interview was part of a broader segment being prepared by 60 Minutes regarding the conduct of Wall Street banks and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, concerning Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Over the course of the interview, Sen. Wyden answered questions related to his investigation into the transactions financing Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and potential consequences for banks over potentially willful violations of federal anti-money laundering laws.

“However, shortly after the taping of the interview with Sen. Wyden, CBS News Leadership, led by Bari Weiss, made the decision to fire Sharyn Alfonsi,” the report documents. “As a result, the interview with Senator Wyden will not be aired, and it is unclear whether Bari Weiss and CBS News Leadership will allow the broader segment to ever be aired.”

That’s pretty sus, as the kids say.

Sen. Chutzpah announced the 60 Minutes cancellation at the same time he released the report, and it all deserves to remain at the top of the news cycle for multiple reasons. Indie political commentator Aaron Parnas has a great interview with my Senator, which I encourage you to watch in its entirety.

🚨 The Epstein BOMBSHELL Trump Tried to SILENCE, I BREAK the TRUTH

It’s appalling to watch the biggest political coverup in American history play out in front of us like this, with the men named in the files being protected more than the now-adult women they abused as kids. With the new unredacted files handed over to a federal judge, it’s still unknown what consequences Trump’s co-conspirators may face.

Until then, I’ll be sitting down with Sen. Chutzpah on Friday, August 14th, when he’s back home in Portland for an exclusive update on his Epstein investigation.

Something you can always count on from the Trumpublicans is hypocrisy, because nearly everything they say is just full-on obtuse projection language.

There truly isn’t enough space on the internet to break down every example of Trumpocrisy that we’ve witnessed on the daily, but an overwhelming amount of right-wing smokescreening bloviation is centered around sex. I’ve spent far too much time wondering what our planet might look like right now if all conservatives were supported by their parents and taught that their normal and healthy sexual feelings can be expressed safely with a consenting partner.

Instead, you have self-proclaimed “Christian” conservatives getting caught up in sex scandals over and over again. How many televangelists have been brought down by their down-low lifestyles? How many times have we seen them weeping from the pulpit, begging for forgiveness from their followers, so they could keep living their lavish lifestyles?

And how many of them were caught doing the unspeakable to children?

As we’re watching the Epstein Files cover-up play out in front of us, this is a great time to remind everyone that sex scandals in politics used to fully end careers in the pre-Trump years. Democrats are especially good at holding their own accountable, from John Edwards to Gary Hart to Eric Swalwell. When it happens to Democrats, Republicans will go out of their way to shame both parties involved in the scandals. The woman is shamed, the man is forced to resign.

In 2016, when Trump bragged about his conquests on that Access Hollywood tape, MAGA cheered his audacity and bravado instead of being appropriately grossed out by it. The thrice-married philandering Trump, who’s now an adjudicated rapist and the most famous friend Jeffrey Epstein ever had, has permitted them to openly express their misogyny amid the rise of incel culture.

And, as it’s been said repeatedly over these last 11 years of Trump Blight on humanity, their every accusation is a confession.

What I’ve learned about this particular feature is that every accusation is also a warning of something that’s about to drop…on them. And a big one just dropped, my friends.

You might recall that when Katie “Wife of Kapo Nosferatu” Miller tweeted that “Liberal men aren’t attractive,” Twitter was there to prove her very wrong.

KKKatie was barraged with images of Jon Ossoff, Gavin Newsom, Barack Obama, Zohran Mamdani, and other Democratic Men Of Good Looks. And plenty of liberal accounts replying to her kept pointing out that she was probably thirsty for all of them and more after mating with her ancient, traitorous, succubus husband.

Soon after that tweet went viral, we started hearing whispers that Katie had been cheating on Kapo Nosferatu, which no one could really blame her for. But instead of trading up, she made what I’d call a lateral move when it comes to attractiveness:

Elon Musk.

Miller served as a spokesperson for the dumb Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sparked rumors that she was hooking up with Clarice Starlink. Of course they denied it, which only made the rumors grow louder.

Now we’ve learned that not only does Katie find liberal men attractive, she’s also into giant gross men with cold sores— but only the ones who can help her career.

Let’s unpack those one at a time.

Katie had a fling with Eric Swalwell when she was a 22-year-old intern, according to new reports. Remember when Republicans had a field day with Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton? It’s not the same dynamic, but MAGA is oddly silent at the moment regarding the bombshell revelation, especially when they loved dragging Swalwell over the “Fang Fang” scandal. Miller publicly said she was “positive” there were other interns involved with Slimy Swalwell — and hey, there’s that whole “every accusation is a confession” thing again!

I guess KKKatie wanted to get back at Swalwell after he used their old affair as leverage to kill the Fang Fang scandal, and you know how all of that turned out for him.

While we were still mulling over just how gross all of that is, we also learned Katie hooked up with — and if you’re eating or drinking, you might want to set whatever it is aside for this — Steve Bannon.

Steve “Two Shirts” Bannon.

Steve “Open Sores” Bannon.

Dallas, TX - August 6, 2022: Former White House's chief strategist for Donald Trump Administration Steve Bannon reports from CPAC Texas 2022 conference at Hilton Anatole (Shutterstock) Dallas, TX - August 6, 2022: Former White House's chief strategist for Donald Trump Administration Steve Bannon reports from CPAC Texas 2022 conference at Hilton Anatole (Shutterstock)

I know politics makes for strange bedfellows, but when they take that statement literally, it leaves the rest of us wondering what else is going on behind the scenes in DC. Remember Madison Cawthorn’s announcement that MAGA Republicans were holding “cocaine-fueled orgies” all the time?

This is when I should probably interject that KKKatie blocked me on Twitter last month when I went after her for a reply to a tweet from Joe Biden that implied he wasn’t mentally capable of tweeting for himself.

So, I can’t exactly ask her why she’s the way she is. But plenty of other people who aren’t blocked yet are on her case while we all wonder just what makes Katie Miller so attractive to all of these terrible, disgusting, predatory, and evil men.

Here’s a handy chart someone made that’s circulating on social media. I don’t know who the original creator is, but this is the only acceptable use for AI, as far as I’m concerned.

Katie also horrifically harassed Dr. Anthony Fauci and echoed others who called for his imprisonment. But then we learned from his diaries that he was in touch with Katie and Kapo Cuck in 2020 when she was pregnant and they both tested positive for COVID-19, before vaccinations were available.

While MAGA shames women like E. Jean Carroll, Stormy Daniels, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and Anita Hill, they’ll never hold their own to the impossible standards they’ve created for Democrats, which is why it’s up to us to keep shining a light on their hypocrisy.

When you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas, as the old saying goes. In Katie’s case, she’s chosen to wake up with sleaze.

We now live in a country where the Republican Party has fully given itself over to authoritarianism with the razor-thin confirmation of Todd “Trumpsimp” Blanche as Attorney General.

You can tell they’re all super proud of their vote, because they held it in the wee hours of Saturday morning. None of them were coerced in any way into voting, obvs, especially not “Dr.” Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who sounded completely defeated and not at all terrified during his performative announcement from the Senate floor.

Once again, I’ll never understand why anyone is afraid of the bewigged convicted felon adjudicated rapist whose name appears in the Epstein Files at least 38,000 times, mainly because he blocked me on Twitter 11 years ago this month. The guy couldn’t handle some lady from Portland (via a New Jersey childhood in the '70s and '80s), so how could he possibly handle being the president?

If only Dr. Bill Cassidy still had enough medical knowledge to locate his own spine and used that moment on the Senate floor to declare to the world that Trump threatened him if he didn’t vote for Blanche, just like he was threatened if he didn’t vote for RFK Jr.

Instead, Bill Cassidy’s legacy is the Epstein Files cover-up.

Just like all of the other Trumpublicans, as I tried to warn them last week.

But Blanche isn’t alone in his blind loyalty to Trump. In fact, if they held a contest to see who’s spent more time burrowed inside Trump’s alimentary canal, the clear winner would be Speaker of the House Mike “Even Bigger Trumpsimp” Johnson. Like Bill Cassidy, Johnson is from “Loser-iana,” and enjoys ignoring how badly his state is doing while giving his entire life over to Trump.

But Johnson has really set himself apart by hiding behind his “Christian faith,” even as he’s involved in the Epstein Files cover-up at the highest possible level.

Many people have forgotten that before he was voted in as speaker, a group of House Republicans used the chamber floor to pray for MAGA Mike, who’s like if Davey from Davey and Goliath grew up to be a seriously repressed, compromised Jesus freak.

Anyway, Johnson’s devotion to Daddy Donny is disgusting on every level, but his depravity doesn’t end there. Johnson has been campaigning for Brandon Herrera, a Texan who’s running for Congress and uses the Twitter handle “TheAKGuy” (meaning he’s literally a gun manufacturer). Brandon is weakly trying to reclaim “Let’s Go Brandon,” even though Democrats stole that from MAGA and rebranded it as “Dark Brandon.” Aside from being incapable of being original, Bad Brandon seems to lean a little…Epsteinish, shall we say.

I tried to figure out a way to paraphrase Herrera’s own NSFW (or anywhere else on the planet) words about children amid the Epstein Files coverup, but it’s too vile.

The Speaker of the House is fine with that guy, just like he’s fine with the unspeakable things Trump is alleged to have done to children and the real things he’s been legally held accountable for. Johnson has never once prioritized the needs of the American people while in service to Trump, so maybe I shouldn’t have been that surprised when I learned that Speaker Jesus Freak was in Vancouver, Washington (just across the river from the Scary Librul Enclave of Portland, Oregon) last week for a campaign fundraising event for Washington State Senator John Braun.

Braun is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Marie Glusenkamp-Perez (D-WA) in the state’s 3rd District, which is where I lived from 2001 until 2022. “Rep MGP,” as she dubbed herself, is a “former Republican” who was a very late entry in the 2022 midterm elections, with Clark County, WA, Democrats ousting then-candidate Brent Hennrich for the sake of putting a woman in that seat. Rep MGP has been a controversial figure ever since, often voting with Republicans instead of with our party.

While it’s commonplace for high-ranking members of Congress to get out there to boost candidates, it’s pretty sus that the GOP sent the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE to a brewpub, Trap Door Brewing, in the Couve (as the locals call it), especially since he’s such a holy Christian who claims to abstain from alcohol.

Similarly, the party sent Matt “Captain Venmo” Gaetz to WA-03 in 2021 to boost Joe Kent. I could contact the RNC to ask why they sent the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE to stump for John Braun, but I’ll never get an answer.

Weird, huh?

The event, which was invite-only and not widely publicized (more weird!), was spearheaded by the bar’s owner, Bryan Shull, who’s running for a spot on the Vancouver City Council. It’s set off a major controversy, as the bar’s manager and employees had no idea Johnson was going to be in attendance.

And they’re MAD now that locals are boycotting and their suppliers are refusing to deliver to a “MAGA bar.”

I spoke with the manager, a woman who identified herself by her first name, Heather. Four regulars sat at the bar as she told me the timeline while she tried to maintain her composure. Shull made arrangements with the Secret Service to sweep and secure the location on Wednesday night, having handed over the keys as well as the alarm codes. The Clark County Sheriff’s Department provided security outside of the venue, “standing around drinking coffee,” according to Heather. When she was able to speak with Shull about the entire thing, he gave what she described as a “weak apology” — and she's now contemplating working elsewhere.

A post on the Trap Door Brewing Instagram made it clear that the staff doesn’t support their boss, but the damage is done. Like Mike Johnson and everyone else associating with Trump, their rep is forever tarnished.

The Republican Party as we’ve known it officially died this week as Acting Attorney General Todd “Trumpsimp” Blanche’s nomination essentially became inevitable. The personal lawyer of a convicted felon adjudicated rapist Epstein Bestie will almost certainly be the Attorney General of the United States of America.

Blanche will be remembered as the biggest traitor of them all, selling his spine to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin for a currently unknown reason. It’s clear all of the Republicans have a price, or else we’d either be enjoying President Joe Biden’s second term or President Kamala Harris’s first.

Blanche’s fellow spineless co-conspirators in the biggest political cover-up in American history are celebrating a hollow victory at the moment. How quickly they’ve forgotten Lindsey Graham and his tarnished legacy. If they think Trump wouldn’t rap his knuckles on their coffins, they’re very wrong. He’d step over the bodies of his grandchildren to escape a burning building and then blame them for starting the fire. I don’t know why Trumpublicans haven’t learned that their loyalty is never going to be returned, but I guess worrying about a mean tweet is more important than the lives of roughly 349 million Americans.

This farce played out by these fascists is fully insulting to all of us who have a functioning brain. It’s bad enough they’ve all remained silent while Trump vandalizes Washington, DC to make America look even weaker on the global stage, but that they remain willing accomplices is beyond anything the Founders could have imagined when they wrote the Constitution.

Donald Trump had to pay E. Jean Carroll the $5.6 million he owed her, and the Republicans said nothing.

Capital One just revealed in a federal court filing that it closed more than 300 bank accounts affiliated with the Trump Organization in 2021 due to “internal anti-money laundering concerns,” not political motivations, so Republicans said nothing.

Those two stories alone would have ended anyone else’s political career, but as it’s been repeatedly stated ad nauseum over these last 11 years of Trumpblight, nothing seems to stick to this guy.

Except the Epstein Files.

It’s so on brand (which means, it’s completely infuriating) for 2026 that Todd “Trumpsimp” Blanche barely made the deadline to hand over the unredacted files to a federal judge just days before his rescheduled confirmation vote. We should be forever grateful to Katie Phang, because the truth is going to come out one way or another.

I’m not enjoying being a witness to this kind of history, but I’m grateful that my two Democratic Senators (from Oregon) aren’t just sitting there and taking what the GOP’s razor-thin majority is doing to our democracy.

First, Sen. Ron “Chutzpah” Wyden cleverly timed the Tuesday release of his report documenting the Senate Finance Committee’s four-year investigation into the Wall Street banks that funded Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex trafficking ring. I know it’s not going to impact how Senate Republicans will vote, but when you follow the money, as Sen. Chutzpah and team have done diligently, you can’t help but wonder who else’s names are connected to those wire transfers that the Trump administration has declined to investigate.

This screenshot has lived on my phone since November 2025. My Senator DELIVERS, yo.

I can also share that I’m going to have a chat about all of this with Sen. Wyden once he’s home in Portland, and yes, there will be video one way or another. If I know him (which I’m lucky to say that I do), he’ll be in Portland very little, taking the August break to hold more Town Halls around Oregon as we face an increasingly scary fire season.

Just another thing Republicans don’t care about, as Trump has made drastic cuts to FEMA and we basically have no EPA while Interior Secretary Doug “Burgumeister” Burgum gleefully ignores Trump’s destruction of all of our natural resources as well as the Reflecting Pool.

As we fret over the fragility of our democracy, my other Senator, Jeff Merkley, has introduced the For the Republic Act, along with co-sponsors Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

“Authoritarianism isn’t down the street or around the corner—it is here right now,” said Sen. Merkley. “We have all three ingredients of a strongman state in the United States: a rubber-stamp Congress doing the President’s bidding; a deferential Supreme Court finding ‘invisible ink’ in the Constitution to enhance the President’s powers; and a power-hungry President behaving like a king, breaking the law and violating the checks and balances of our Constitution.”

With “new provisions to counter the rise of authoritarianism and erosion of our democratic government under the second Trump Administration, as well as existing legislation,” the For the Republic Act outlines the steps to fight back against the known playbook of authoritarian governments:

[source: Sen. Jeff Merkley]

That’s where we are as a nation, Dear Readers, and it’s all because the Republicans don’t want us to know about the kompromat Putin has on all of them.

Therefore, this is where I’m going to ask you to take action beyond sharing this piece. I’m giving you permission to be furiously angry at the Republicans who got us here.

Unlike Sen. Chutzpah, I don’t expect Republicans to hold any Town Halls during their August recess, but if they do, I expect you to show up and show up MAD. Fighting fascism has never been easy or pretty, but it’s necessary, like cleaning your toilet. Except toilets serve a purpose, unlike Republicans.

If they can’t handle being yelled at, then they should resign. I can give you some questions to ask if you’re feeling shy:

1. Why is Trump more important to you than we are?
2. Why are you covering up the Epstein Files?
   

Everyone in the room would want those answers. You won’t get any real answers, but you’ll get great footage to share. They don’t deserve any peace after what they’ve done to our democracy. We need to use our voices like never before.

Before they take that away from us as well, that is.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blocked me on Twitter this week. And I’m not sorry.

It happened as the clips of his insane CNN interview with Dana Bash were circulating everywhere, and I was furious. We all lived through COVID. We all know what it was like to live in quarantine. We remember the videos of people on their apartment balconies in New York applauding the essential frontline medical workers, from nurses to doctors to EMTs, whenever their shifts ended. We’re haunted by the images of freezer trucks outside of hospitals because the morgues ran out of room for the bodies.

I was blocked for a very NSFW response to a tweet of his celebrating his wedding anniversary to now-blacklisted actor Cheryl Hines. Everyone has curbed their enthusiasm for Cheryl, who’s gone full MAGA while fully ignoring everything that’s wrong with her husband. His whole family has disowned him, but there’s Cheryl still by his side, claiming to be “a Kennedy” when no Kennedy claims either of them.

Photos show that RFK Jr left Cheryl to her own devices when the shooting happened at the White House Correspondents Dinner, with her far behind him as he selfishly made his escape. I guess protecting his brainworms was more important than protecting his wife.

But perhaps even worse than that was when we learned far too much about his affair with journalist Olivia Nuzzi, who went from covering RFK Jr to…well, let’s just say they shared moments in a way that no one should ever have to know about. And now the entire world knows about it, including his wife. So when that cheating, lying, carcass-collecting, science-denying, anti-vax freak tweeted about their anniversary, I just reminded him of what he’s done to his third wife. Instead of reminding him that his second wife died by suicide (after he revealed the details of his affair with their babysitter because he’s just as bad as Donald “Epstein Files” Trump), I went the Nuzzi route and also reminded him that I’d repeatedly warned Cheryl about him.

Cheryl Hines literally chose violence instead of listening to me.

It’s not illegal for her to block me, just like it’s not illegal for Katie Miller to block me. Oh yeah, that happened a week or so ago too, and I couldn’t be prouder. I earned this as well, trust.

This means that it’s possible her husband, Kapo Nosferatu Stephen Miller, is now aware of me. I mean, his boss has had me blocked for 11 years, and I was genuinely surprised that I wasn’t the first person on their “Leftist Influencers” List. If Stephen blocked me like Trump, RFK Jr, and others in the regime, then that would be a violation of my First Amendment rights.

As established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lindke v. Freed, government officials “generally cannot block critics on social media when using their accounts for official state business,” unless there’s a real threat.

It first became a thing when Trump was forced to unblock everyone on social media in early 2017. While he begrudingly agreed to most on the list, I somehow triggered him so much that he was all, “Oh no, not that one!”

August 28th is the 11th anniversary of the best block on Twitter.

The traditional gift for the 11th anniversary is steel. The jail cell jokes write themselves, my friends.

While it’s not technically illegal, I’m also blocked by the three main adult Trump kids, an achievement I’ve dubbed the “Blocked By Trump” Quadfecta.

No Tiffany as of yet, although it’s not really for lack of trying. Ric Grenell blocked me back in 2017 when I tweeted about them being friends.

When I use my First Amendment rights to express my displeasure with the current state of affairs, I really use them. Swearing is also protected speech, so this Jersey Girl is out there dropping verbal bombs while being furious about the dropping of real bombs in Ukraine and Gaza.

So when RFK Jr sat there and yelled lies and revisionist history at Dana Bash (who thankfully pushed back) with his shattered voice, it broke something inside of me. How dare he dishonor the millions who died because of Trump? How dare he, or really anyone, bully Dr. Anthony Fauci, who SAVED millions of lives?

This is how broken our nation is and how fully detached from normalcy things truly are. We could still be seen and even have some fun in the pre-Elon landscape of Twitter, but between his chokehold on the algorithms to suppress liberal accounts like mine and the rise of the MAGA bots, disinformation has replaced discussion.

I just might have more blocks from the Trump regime than anyone else. In the interest of saving space, I’ll just name them, rather than share all of the screenshots of their blocks that live on my phone, like wee trading cards:

Office of Management and Business Director Russ Vought

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon (both of her personal accounts)

Kari Lake, Senior Advisor to the Agency for Global Media (both of her personal accounts as well)

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ)

Rep. Nicolle Malliotakis (R-NY)

Then there are the blocks from the Trump-adjacent traitors like Seb “I Block Everyone” Gorka, Dan “Same, Bro” Bongino (whose block lives on my phone next to Scavino’s because I can’t resist a good rhyme), Jason “Deadbeat Dad” Miller, and Grenell.

MAGA blocks me when I tell them the truth they don’t want to hear. I block MAGA because we don’t have to tolerate harassment as a built-in part of our online experience. Most of the trolling comes from fake accounts, and I’ve developed a very thick online skin over the last decade. I still laugh every time one of the big ones blocks me.

I got under Trump’s thin skin when he was still a candidate, and I’ve used my voice every day since to tell the truth about him and every last one of his co-conspirators.

And this isn’t even all of them.

Dear Democrats,

Since too many people are complaining about you without providing any suggestions on what you could be doing better (other than “DO BETTER FFS!”), I’m here to help. We’re all tired of watching Democrats tweet without really doing anything, or getting into dumb flame wars with MAGA Republicans. Let’s fight smarter!

Before we dive in, I know nobody likes being criticized or hearing the phrase, “You know what you should do?” When someone tries that with me, my immediate instinct is never to do whatever it is, because I’m a stubborn Taurus woman who hates being told what to do, like most women. But in this case, I must insist on telling you what to do, because it’s what you should do.

Not to humblebrag (and yet also to brag like a man with a track record like mine would be allowed to brag about), but I have a long, long history of offering my ideas to people (men) in positions of power who laughed at me, but then made a lot of money from my ideas — but never kicked down any scratch or gave me credit.

Non-political examples from my real life include:

*Telling my first (male) radio boss in 1994 that Radiohead and Beck weren’t one-hit wonders

*Telling my last (male) radio boss in 2006 that creating social media accounts for our station and streaming our signal online were essential for us to stay relevant [I also helped to create and named the station’s annual holiday concert series, which continues to be its biggest annual moneymaker]

*Telling Dave Grohl in 2002 that if he wouldn’t cover my favorite song (“Heroes” by David Bowie) with Foo Fighters at Coachella ahead of their impending rumored breakup, then he needed to write me a song just as good. Dave then wrote “Times Like These,” which is just a rewrite of “Heroes,” and while he didn’t laugh at me, the Foo Fighters also never broke up, and I’m pretty sure I’ll never get any credit for it.

Then there’s my entire Twitter political history, getting blocked by Trump and so much of MAGA, and all of the things I’ve written about how Democrats need to fight the Trumpublicans better. It led one of my followers to dub me Dublin “NosTARAdamus,” even though I’m more of a Cassandra when it comes to the political side of my predictions.

Most importantly, I was a guest of then-DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison at our 2024 convention in Chicago, and I got myself there with all of two days’ notice, because I’m a magical human with amazing connections. I even met Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and his husband, and Rep. Kenyatta told me he read my tweets.

I’m tired of giving away my ideas for free, but I’m equally tired of not getting anywhere when it comes to getting Democrats to listen to me. Short of running for office (never happening, I’d be a nightmare of a candidate), I can either keep screaming my ideas into the abyss, or I can try to get the DNC to at least put me somewhere on the payroll as a consultant.

The number one thing I’ve been screaming about (besides never understanding why no one challenged the 2024 election results, but we’ll circle back in a sec) since January 2025 is how much the party needs our own press secretary.

A Democratic Press Secretary could easily set themselves up at the Capitol and hold a daily briefing to fact-check whatever KKKaroline Lie-vitt had just lied about. An immediate Democratic response every day, similar to the State of the Union response, would have an impact. Every member of the press would cover it, including the right-wing media, because they’d try to make content with gotcha questions. It would be the party’s best opportunity to get the truth out before the lies can take hold.

And it would be a chance to show the American people what Democrats are actually doing to combat the barrage of awful from the Trump regime. Instead of tuning out the way Trump wants us to, more people would tune in because they’re starving for the truth, along with something to hope for.

We need to see more Democrats bringing back some dignity to their offices, and we have the perfect model with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), a new contender for the 2028 ticket.

I’m also very proud of my Oregon Democratic delegation, who’ve collectively fought for all of the right things, yet fly under the radar despite their consistently strong performances. We also have an out and proud lesbian Governor, Tina Kotek, who could really use more support from the party right now, as could the record number of women (51!) currently running for Governor in their own states.

Here’s the free advice I’m offering right now, but I’m not kidding when I say you need to reward those of us out here trying to keep/put as many Democrats in Congress in November, even as the GOP is doing everything to cheat.

1. Every Democratic candidate needs to frame their Trumpy opponents (Trumpponents? Is that a thing we could make stick?) as willing co-conspirators in the Epstein Files cover-up. Make it as much about Epstein as possible. Remind them that both Bill and Hillary Clinton have already testified about Epstein, but Trump hasn’t. Weird, huh?
2. Promise that you’ll demand election integrity now, and then once you’re sworn in, you’ll investigate the 2024 election (told you we’d circle back), because there’s overwhelming evidence pointing to Musk and Trump conspiring to steal it, especially after all of his confessions during that shambolic speech about the 2020 election
3. Promise you’ll impeach Trump and do what you can to cleanse the rest of his compromised Cabinet until we can put Democrats back in the White House.

That’s all you get for now. You know how to get in touch.

Love,

Tara

[Writer’s Note: This is an open letter to MAGA, which in and of itself might be a fool’s errand since they don’t usually read anything longer than social media posts. But maybe someone who loves someone who’s MAGA will see this, and maybe we can start figuring out a better way to reach them, since nothing has worked as of yet.]

Dear MAGA,

I’ve tried to get through to you in multiple ways over the last decade. Despite the way you’ve treated me and anyone else who votes for Democrats, I remain fascinated by the groupthink mentality you deploy as a protective shield against the truths about Trump that don’t sit well with you.

A recent incident within my own social group has led me to consider a different tactic with you. I talked to someone far outside the group (okay, it was my Mom), and she began her reply with, “As an outsider who’s just making an observation, this is what it looks like to me.”

The topic of the conversation doesn’t matter. She prefaced what she was about to say to lay the groundwork for me to hear a different answer from the one I wanted. I also knew she was going to offer me advice that wasn’t going to sit well with me. This doesn’t make her wrong or a bad person. It makes her someone outside of the situation who can see things in a way I couldn’t. She didn’t change my mind, but she did make me pause before deciding what to do next.

I know that’s hard to believe just based on my Twitter history, especially since Trump blocked me in August 2015 and has never unblocked me, but I’m honestly here to help as someone who’s been an outsider from up close this entire time, MAGA.

Since I suffered your horrific cyberharassment during the 2016 campaign, I feel uniquely qualified to discuss your behavior. Those of you who claim to be “good Christians” gave this Jewish woman plenty of reasons to never have forgiveness in my heart for any of you.

Not cool, MAGA.

See, what had happened was, Trump gave you all a green light when you started wearing those red hats back in 2016. Once you were allowed to dump all of your issues on your chosen scapegoats, it was easy for Trump to keep breadcrumbing you by yelling things like “FAKE NEWS!” when something true was said about him.

So he could keep you on the hook, to keep grifting you. I’m sorry, but it’s true.

You voted for him for reasons that actually ended up hurting you as much as the rest of us. Some of you can admit this, but too many of you just haven’t suffered enough personally from his tariffs or his egregious cuts to all of the agencies that keep America functioning. You were mad that Barack Obama wore a tan suit while being a melanated President, yet you don’t care that Trump has demolished Washington, D.C., and turned the Oval Office into the tackiest Hobby Lobby in Moscow.

I understand wanting to belong to a group, especially if you’ve often felt alone in the past. Being a part of MAGA made you feel accepted for qualities which had caused others to reject you. But ALL groupthink is bad, even in groups created for good reasons.

There’s a reason it bothers you when people call you a cult, MAGA. It’s because you exhibit all of the behaviors of a religious cult: Your whole ideology is centered around your extreme devotion to Trump, who’s been able to use social media to manipulate you into near-total submission. Cults use specific behavioral patterns to break down individual autonomy and establish complete social control, which explains the widespread social media campaigns from paid agitators repeating the same lies over and over until enough of you shared them and believed them. Trump’s strategy of overwhelming Democratic strategists worked in 2016 because no one had ever seen anything like MAGA online before.

The biggest example of this manipulation was, of course, January 6th. Too many of you still refuse to call it what it was, and Trump’s pardons will never erase the facts of the day.

MAGA, as someone who is outside of your situation, I’ll always see your behavior in a very different way than you do. I see it as you hurting yourselves, whether you’re aware of it or not, and there’s really no reason for you to keep suffering for someone who’s made it abundantly clear that he couldn’t care any less about you. Haven’t you noticed that he keeps taking things away from you, mostly your money? Did you know that it costs the average American family in a Red State nearly $6,000 more to live this year than it cost before Trump’s tariffs?

The questions I asked in 2016, 2020, and 2024 are still valid, MAGA.

Before Trump, would you have voted for a convicted felon?

Before Trump, would you have accepted any Epstein Bestie as the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2012 instead of Mitt Romney?

Before Trump, would you have let anyone fracture your family over politics?

I don’t know those answers, but I’d love to believe you wouldn’t have done those things.

Because you didn’t, before Trump.

I don’t know how you’re going to make it up to the people you hurt after Trump is gone. Because first, you’re going to have to make it up to yourselves.

You were conned, MAGA. You were hurt and lied to and grifted, and I’m sorry that all happened to you. You hurt others because you didn’t realize you were mad at Trump for hurting you.

Once you understand that, I hope you can begin to heal from Trump, along with the rest of us.

It’s just so weird how Republicans just can’t stop reliving and relitigating 2020.

When they’re not crying about election fraud without any proof (darn those unhackable mailed-in paper ballots!) or denying that January 6th was an insurrection, they’re whining about *checks notes* not enough people dying from the Coronavirus, as a desperate attempt to distract from their participation in the biggest political coverup in American history.

Republicans know that Trump’s manufactured war with Iran won’t stop us from talking about the Epstein Files, and it certainly won’t reverse President Joe Biden’s legitimate victory in 2020, no matter who won’t say so during their Senate confirmation hearings.

Republicans also know the Epstein Files will never go away, especially not when Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is in violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act and has been ordered to either unredact more of the files or explain why they must stay blacked out, all thanks to a real lawyer who hasn’t sold herself to Trump.

Katie Phang brought a lawsuit against Blanche, who is legally obligated to “appear with specific unredacted Epstein files, emails, and documents no later than 3 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 30th,” as she told independent political content creator Aaron Parnas. “But most importantly, Blanche must come and show his work, meaning he has to bring documentation that supports his representations that the redactions that have occurred were done so to protect victims, which we know is really the only permissible exemption that's allowed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act."

We know Todd Blanche’s real answer is always, “Because Daddy Trump did a bad bad thing and I’m protecting him because I love him more than America,” but he won’t say that, and neither will the rest of Trump’s compromised KKKlown KKKabinet. I’m not entirely sure what happens to the Acting Attorney General of the United States if he violates a federal judge’s order, but anyone else would be arrested on the spot. Blanche should already be in prison with the rest of the Republican Party (minus Thomas Massie) but, for now, they still have the Congressional majority and can waste time and taxpayer money on political theater.

That’s why Republicans scraped the bottom of their very empty arsenal on Wednesday by restaging an old chestnut, “Let’s Scapegoat Dr. Fauci!”

If anyone in the first failed Trump administration had had the sense of a goat, they would’ve realized that COVID-19 was the political opportunity of a lifetime. Had Trump spoken as frankly to the public as he did with Bob Woodward in February 2020, he would’ve won in November by a landslide after saving the lives of millions of registered voters.

Instead, both he and Woodward remained silent, each for their own reasons that resulted in earning millions while Americans were dying by the thousands. As a result, the esteemed Dr. Anthony Fauci became Trump’s favorite scapegoat six years ago when the good doctor — who was first appointed as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) by President Ronald Reagan (A REPUBLICAN, y’all) in 1984 — simply told Americans how to protect themselves from COVID-19.

Like, how dare he do his job, right?

But since Dr. Fauci said things that were in direct opposition to what Trump was telling the public, MAGA decided he was the Devil. The anti-vaxxers ramped up their propaganda exponentially, sharing home remedies that killed them rather than saving them.

Anyway, Trump’s egregious mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak clearly still embarrasses him more than having to pay E. Jean Carroll $5.6 million a couple of weeks ago or his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as evidenced by his casual shrug at the White House Correspondents Dinner as journalists accepted awards for reporting on the Epstein Files.

And so the Whitest KKKids U Never Wanted to Know put on a show for Trump to keep the media from remembering that his name is mentioned in the Epstein Files nearly as much as Jeffrey Epstein’s.

I really hate summer reruns, don’t you?

With a performance straight out of the worst dinner theater on the Florida panhandle, lead Bad Actor, Russian asset Sen. Rand Paul kicked off the fascist farce with a monologue full of the most obvious projection language and double talk ever to be entered into the historic record.

The former self-credentialed ophthalmologist had Dr. Fauci’s lawyer removed from the hearing, even though the lawyer had every right to be there with his client.

Dr. Fauci and his family were targeted and threatened by MAGA so badly that President Biden pardoned him as one of his last acts in office to protect him from what Republicans are trying to do right now. In one of the more obtuse moments of the hearing, Not-A-Real-Doctor Rand Paul told Dr. Fauci that a pardon “doesn’t rewrite history… It is the refusal to admit error that destroys trust. That loss of trust may be your most damaging legacy.”

And if that wasn’t ridiculous enough, “Ayn” Rand Paul threatened to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt for invoking the 5th Amendment over 100 times during the hearing, while completely ignoring the Trump Crime Family’s love of the 5th Amendment.

Trump invoked the 5th over 450 times in the fraud case brought against him by another one of his favorite scapegoats, New York Attorney General Letitia James. Eric Trump topped that by taking the 5th over 500 times in the same case.

There are plenty of things I’ve never understood about the people who’ve chosen loyalty to Donald Trump over the United States of America. I don’t have the space to list every single reason he never should’ve been allowed to run again in 2020, let alone 2024, but let's remain in the present for now.

Trump is so far gone at this point, both physically and mentally, that anyone with eyes can see it for themselves. And yet, there’s an entire political party keeping its head in the sand rather than admit to what we’ve all been subjected to for the last 11 years.

I truly cannot comprehend how anyone is still proudly broadcasting their support for an obviously sundowning convicted felon adjudicated rapist who has vandalized Washington, D.C. to make America look as weak as possible on the global stage on our 250th birthday.

The last week alone has provided multiple examples of why any remaining Trump loyalists need to somehow recover their pre-2015 memories and remind themselves of what the American president is supposed to represent.

Friday’s shambolic appearance at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner was just the latest example of what a global embarrassment Trump is, as well as how far the “legacy media” has fallen. When he wasn’t dozing off on the dais or doing a weird thing with his mouth that many people were saying is Adderall and/or cocaine related, Trump delivered another rambling speech that relied on his usual litany of bullying, bragging, and bull.

A room full of journalists and other members of the media sat there and took more of his verbal abuse and lies instead of walking out on him. No one stood up and yelled “LIAR!”

No one defended CNN’s Kaitlan Collins when Trump once again attacked her for not smiling, because he’s disgusting.

It seemed that only Lone Wolf Blitzer was capable of telling the truth about Trump while standing right in front of him.

We certainly can’t expect Jake Tapper to report on Donny Dementia’s deterioration, especially not after he begged Trump for another interview after chatting with him on CNN about Lindsey Graham’s death.

Remember Lindsey Graham? Yeah, I also thought it was weird that Mitch McConnell didn’t issue a statement about his death.

Anyway, the Republican Party of old would be reeling right now upon learning that their leader finally paid the woman he sexually abused and defamed the $5.6 million he’s owed her for the last three years, with interest. But their silence is their compliance, standing with an adjudicated rapist whose name appears in the Epstein Files at least 38,000 times, rather than incur his wrath in a social media post.

This is how far our alleged leadership has fallen. They spend their time trying to out-bully each other on Twitter to please their molting MAGA masochist, lest he reveal whatever blackmail he has on all of them.

We can blame Ronald Reagan for a lot of things when it comes to the present-day GOP. Still, I think it’s safe to say he wouldn’t have tolerated the thrice-married, philandering, five-time draft-dodging Epstein bestie Donald Trump as a candidate, let alone stood for him falling asleep behind the Resolute Desk.

America is a joke on the global stage as the world watches this addled toddler fall and fail. Yet, no one stands up to the Cowardly Lyin’ fraud who bankrupted his own casinos in Atlantic City while laundering money for the Russian mob.

It’s EXHAUSTING to be a thinking, caring person in a media landscape that avoids accountability out of fear of retaliation. Ooh, what’s he going to do, block you on Twitter, Peter Doocy? Even though that’s a violation of a citizen’s First Amendment rights?

Oh wait, Trump doesn’t care about upholding the Constitution. Which I’ve known all along, but more specifically, since August 28, 2015, the day Trump blocked me on Twitter.

Yea verily, the ultimate Twitter Badge of Honor.

When Trump was first sued by the Knight-Columbia Institute in 2017 over multiple First Amendment violations on social media, it applied to anyone he blocked after he was inaugurated. But then they also decided that he should be forced to unblock anyone who’d been blocked when he was just a candidate and was still blocked.

Including lil’ ol me, Dear Reader.

I can’t say for sure how any of it went down, of course. But I like to imagine him sitting behind the then-empty Resolute Desk and being given a list of Twitter accounts to unblock, then begrudgingly unblocking them. “Fine,” he grumbles, going down the list, until he reaches my account. “Oh no, not that one!” Trump harrumphs, “She’s MEAN!”

I’m blocked to this day, and I’m also blocked on his Instagram. That’s how petty this “POTUS*” actually is.

I’m all of five feet tall, and I weigh maybe a buck five or six. If you passed me on the street, you’d clock me as a petite woman with a head of silver hair, and therefore not a threat. I like to say I’m reactive, because I don’t wake up every day wondering who I can piss off. It’s more like, What is he trying to get away with today and how can I help cut through that lie on top of the other lies?

So “legacy media,” please LEARN FROM ME (you too, Democrats) and learn how to stand up for yourselves while standing up to Trump.

It’s really not that hard.

You ask him a question based on facts. It doesn’t matter what it is, he won’t like it. Everyone else on the press line pushes for a response/answer and stands up for each other when Trump bullies them.

Repeat as necessary.

EVERYONE has to stop tolerating his mistreatment. Trump should be pressed by the press to answer questions or they need to walk out on him.

If you’ve been finding yourself swooning lately over the clips of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) calmly and methodically bulldozing Republicans facing Senate questioning, welcome to the “Senator My Boo” Club, my friends.

Movie-star handsome and charismatic, Ossoff was given the moniker by political powerhouse influencer Qondi Ntini, who’s turned “political thirst” into a movement that’s been reframing the way Democratic men run for public office. Her social media accounts reflect a timeline of consistently supporting both Ossoff and his fellow Georgia Senator, Rev. Raphael Warnock, always keeping to the facts while centering the thirst. Not just for good-looking men in leadership (though it’s just true that Democrats have the looks on lockdown), but the thirst for truth and equality in both the government as well as the rest of the country.

And the Ossoff Thirst is very real, y’all. It’s not just the matinee idol looks, though.

Jon Ossoff is a Jewish Democrat who doesn’t take money from AIPAC and tells the truth about Israel at a time when antisemitism is raging like never before.

Thanks to his tough stances on Israel while also holding the Trump regime accountable, Ossoff has emerged as a new dark horse contender for president in 2028, despite his claims of “not being interested” in running. While Democrats need him in that Senate seat, Ossoff would have a clearer path to the presidency should Democratic gubernatorial nominee Kesha Lance Bottoms win in November. His replacement could be sworn in by January, and then Jon Ossoff could very well be on the path to become the first Jewish President of the United States.

We are a nation starved for goodness and truth from our leadership, and Jon Ossoff represents that in multitudes. His calm and patient grilling of Trumpsimp Jay “Whatever You Say, Boss” Clayton last week during his Director of National Intelligence confirmation hearing over the 2020 election set off shockwaves that sent Democratic women into a swoon.

“Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question?” is one of the best questions anyone has ever asked any Republican when it comes to their full fealty to Trump and the 2020 election. They cannot say Joe Biden won, and Jon Ossoff knows why.

While we were collectively still dreaming of a Ossoff presidential run, he made our case for us again on Tuesday. As the Ranking Democratic Member of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Ossoff grilled egregiously underqualified Punch-Drunk Pete “Low-T” Hegseth over the Department of Defense's multiple failures in Iran. Watching Ossoff pummel Petey Pull-Ups is the kind of knee-weakening swoon-worthy stuff Democratic women have been waiting for.

*fans self*

Ossoff can also handle the media on the fly. Or in this case, the strut.

Democrats who aren’t the biggest fans of Gov. Gavin “Studly” Newsom’s emergence as the 2028 frontrunner have started getting very loud about the possibility of supporting a ticket anchored by Ossoff. One thing Ossoff shares with Newsom--aside from a “great head of hair” (as my Jewish mom would say)--is that he triggers Trump, garnering one of the weakest nicknames in the overgrown dumb bully’s litany of weak nicknames for his opponents.

“Os(jerk)off” is about what you’d expect from the least creative low-IQ person to ever nap behind the Resolute Desk. When “Osshole” was right there, too.

It’s fine, what do I know about politics or basic creativity?

Anyway, it’s obviously about much more than Jon Ossoff’s looks. It’s also about Trump losing Georgia in the 2020 election and never being able to prove otherwise, BECAUSE HE LOST. His rambling, shambolic speech that was supposed to finally expose 2020 election fraud only served to expose himself and the Russian interference in both 2016 and 2020. It’s also renewed conversations about the legitimacy of the 2024 election, but in the interest of staying on topic while maintaining my blood pressure, let’s stick to Ossoff triggering Trump, and therefore, MAGA.

We know it’s not Jon Ossoff’s fault that then-Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wouldn’t help Trump steal votes in the Peach State, and as Trump plans a visit there to whine more about losing, Ossoff is clear about the old guy’s obsession with him.

“If there’s one person who committed election fraud in Georgia, it’s Donald Trump when he dialed up our state’s senior most election official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and tried to bully him in a recorded phone call to, quote, find the exact number of votes Donald Trump needed to win in a state that he had lost,” Ossoff told CNN’s Jake Tapper during an interview last week.

(Sidebar: Where’s your book on Trump’s obvious mental and physical decline, Jake?)

As a Jewish American (albeit an atheist), I’m watching the conversation about a possible Ossoff 2028 run with extra interest. I can’t help but wonder if this country is ready to elect a Jewish President when it hasn’t evolved enough to elect a woman of color —or any woman — yet.

But Jon Ossoff checks so many boxes for a Democratic President that I hope he does have that path cleared for him. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d waste time on juvenile Twitter flame wars or allow his campaign to devolve into AI trickery or whatever tactics others are deploying to trigger the Deplorables.

Jon Ossoff would bring dignity back to the Oval Office in a way the entire world needs, not just the American people. I’m pretty sure a President Ossoff wouldn’t bulldoze D.C. to please Putin or try to compromise the entire Democratic Party by using blackmail and threats. Candidate Ossoff would bring back the kind of elevated political discourse we once had, which contained a level of respect between opponents rather than bullying.

It would be, in the parlance of my people, a mitzvah.

It’s just so exhausting to live in the dumbest timeline in global history.

I could give you a decade’s worth of examples of MAGA stupidity, and we could spend the next 1,000 words debating over which is the dumbest of the dupes deployed by Dumb Donald’s Deplorables. For me, it was the sight of everyone wearing those moronic maxi pads on their faces at the 2024 RNC after Trump’s first faux-assassination attempt in Butler, PA. Weird timing, huh?

Anyway, there are just far too many other dumb things displayed by Trump’s poorly educated Red Hat Death Squad of compliant, willfully obtuse mouth-breathers who ain’t much for book learnin’ and never actually do their own research. If any of them were capable of self-reflection or independent thought, we’d be living in a very different timeline where GWB was the last Republican President and no one was trying to dismantle the Department of Education.

[Quick shoutout to Suzanne Bonamici, my Representative, for filing Articles of Impeachment against the least educated Education Secretary in history, Linda “Pile Driver” McMahon].

Instead, they share their collective IQ point to parrot whatever propaganda they’ve been programmed to believe, twisting themselves into conspiracy theory pretzels to avoid all truths. They’re so deeply enmeshed in the MAGA cult that they allow Trump to manipulate their feelings, telling them to get mad about whatever he’s mad about, even though they don’t understand any of it.

Their anger is then misdirected to those of us who trade in the truths about Trump that they’ll never admit. These self-proclaimed Alphas are triggered by literally the dumbest things (literally, as we’ll get to in a sec) while fully avoiding the truth about horrifically violent sex crimes Trump has committed against women and children.

So instead of questioning why Trump finally paid E. Jean Carroll the $5.6 million he’s owed her for the last three years, they channel their anger at whatever convenient cultural scapegoat they can. And right now, they’ve decided that Trump sending Kash Patel to Moscow next month is no big deal, but Oscar-winning film director Christopher Nolan casting a Black woman as Helen of Troy is an abomination.

I’m more than fine with Lupita Nyong’o portraying a woman whose “face launched a thousand ships,” because she’s stunningly beautiful. It’s also more accurate to cast a woman of color in the role considering Greece is a Mediterranean country with proximity to other multicultural nations. It’s like when they get mad over anyone saying Jesus wasn’t white — because he wasn’t.

And if that isn’t enough faux outrage pearl-clutching for you, they’re extra triggered because openly trans actor Elliot Page is also in the movie. Page doesn’t play Achilles as first rumored--how dare they cast him in the same role Brad Pitt played 22 years ago in Troy?

Page actually plays a completely mythological character named Sinon, which Nolan took from Virgil, instead of Homer. The Do Your Own Research dudes would know this if they’d just asked the Google instead of spewing transphobia on Twitter, but what’s the fun in telling the truth?

C'mon now, MAGA, you’re going to pretend the Ancient Greeks weren’t completely fine with all kinds of alternative lifestyles? They’re the ones credited for making wrestling a competitive sport.

The manufactured MAGA idiocy over The Odyssey being “woke” makes my brain cry. I haven’t seen the film yet — I like to avoid crowds, because people don’t know how to behave in movie theaters anymore. Plus, shelling out $25 for the IMAX version doesn’t align with my budget. But I’m an AP Honors English kid, and I know my Greek mythology, thanks. Whatever literary licenses Nolan takes with the story don’t matter, because IT IS A STORY, not a documentary.

The Odyssey is what we now call “historical fiction,” weaving the tale of a Trojan War hero who fights monsters and endures hardships on an epic 10-year journey home to his wife and son in Troy. Historians have argued over the existence of a real Odysseus, but there are no records of a Greek king taking a decade to come home from the war.

Homer cleverly used local geography to make his stories real for the locals who listened to them. Greek mythology is super fun, but MAGA cannot wrap their broken brains around the duality. Yes, kids, there was a real Trojan War. That’s where the history ends, and the suspension of disbelief begins. It’s a fun read, but it’s about as real as any other book about a quest. Like, get mad that Lord of the Rings isn’t a real representation of New Zealand history because that’s where Peter Jackson filmed the movies, she said with a hard eyeroll.

Who cares which actor plays which part in a MOVIE which includes a cyclops, sirens, sorcery, and getting caught between the Scylla and Charabdis (a favorite idiom used by Sting in “Wrapped Around Your Finger”)?

MAGA does, so they can pretend Donald Trump isn’t a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist who vandalized D.C. as a 250th birthday gift for his Daddy Vladdy. They love getting mad about the little things, because the truth about Trump is too big and scary to think about.

From the reviews I’ve read, The Odyssey is exactly the kind of action movie MAGA would love, if they hadn’t been told to hate on it. Adventures on the high seas, gnarly deaths, swordfighting, and LOTS OF MEN on a boat. And it’s so pathetic that ultimate Beta Elon Musk is threatening a “historically accurate” version made by Grok.

“Historically accurate” will be interesting, considering there’s no such thing as monsters — except the human ones like Musk himself who are ruining everything for the rest of us.

But as I’m always here to help, I used Musk’s Grok to give him a head start. I don’t expect any royalties, because my account is so suppressed that I don’t even make the monthly payout threshold, but maybe it’ll reach him anyway.

Over the last six weeks or so, Hunter Biden has emerged as the strongest and most vocal critic of Donald Trump since Gov. Gavin “Studly” Newsom. But instead of using AI to trigger the MAGA cult, Hunter uses “FU,” like a true son of Fightin’ Irish Joe Biden, because he knows his very existence is enough to set them off.

And he couldn’t care less about what they say, because he’s already heard it all, from the not-actually-a-laptop to those thirst trap photos that looked like Herb Ritts took them. Remember when Marjorie Taylor Greene used to bring them to work with her because, like most Republican women, her partner just wasn’t lighting her up the way she needed? I always imagine the staff at the local Kinko’s screaming “Not It!” any time Marge would send her assistant in with yet another thumb drive full of “evidence.”

Anyway, Hunter’s Substack, “Where’s Hunter?”-- cheekily named for the weak MAGA tweets trolling him over his struggles with addiction while they fully ignore the Trump Crime Family — is a treasure trove of truth, showcasing his art and detailing his seven years of sobriety.

In the heart-wrenching entry called “It’s Dad,” Hunter shares the story of the infamous voicemail his father left him, which no one was meant to hear. MAGA mocked Hunter for it because that’s what unloved bullies do.

I don’t believe we’re entitled to know absolutely everything about a public figure’s life, but when that voicemail was released, all I heard, as the mother of sons myself, was his father's love for him. I heard a father’s pain over not knowing how to help his beloved and only surviving son. I understood how much Joe wished his love was enough to protect and save Hunter, because that’s how all loving parents feel. If only our love could be manifested as a protective bubble when we can’t be with our kids.

Hunter also wrote about Lindsey Graham (remember how he died and Trump really didn’t care? Yeah, anyway, back to the garbage fire) better than any Republican did, because once again, a Biden led by example with grace and humility rather than finding a convenient scapegoat to blame everything on.

Everything that happened to Hunter as part of Trump’s political witch hunt happened to a private citizen in our country because the entire Trump Crime Family is threatened by the Biden family's record of being good human beings. Hunter also recognizes Trump’s sick obsession with his family, and the harsh language he uses is merited when he’s talking about what he and his father have dealt with thanks to years of MAGA bullying.

Hunter gave a masterclass in pushing back against Trump in a new and very NSFW interview with journalist and fellow Trump nemesis Jim Acosta this week, and he didn’t hold back one bit when he was asked what he would say if he were sitting across a table from the Orange Menace.

“I’d tell him to go f---- himself,” Hunter replied without hesitation.

And a nation of Democratic women swooned.

“This man has tried to torture me for ... 10 years,” Hunter continued. “The s--t that he says about my dad. His obsession with tormenting my dad. Hanging a picture of an autopen on the colonnade. Demeaning him and all the things he said about him.

“What the f--k kind of man would I be if I didn’t tell him to go f-- himself?”

This Jersey Girl fully approves of that take, as well as all of the other swears Hunter uses when rightfully raging against the adjudicated rapist Epstein Bestie. That’s really how all Democrats should speak about Trump, especially after his multiple losses last week, from his payout to E. Jean Carroll to his pet Todd Blanche tanking his Senate hearings to his shambolic appearance during his Biggest Lie Ever speech on Thursday, which has left Republicans in full disarray.

Amid that rambling nonsense was another targeted threat to anyone who writes or tells any truths about him that he doesn’t like. Hunter Biden has already won in that category as well this week, to the tune of $1.7 million, after emerging victorious in his defamation suit against former Overstock CEO and Trump sycophant Patrick Byrne.

You might recall that farce, but here’s an ICYMI rundown: Three years ago, Hunter sued Byrne (a longtime Trump ally who repeatedly promoted the Big Lie about the 2020 election) over his claims that he had reached out to the Iranian government in 2021, offering to have his father “unfreeze” $8 billion in Iranian funds in exchange for a bribe. It was a major MAGA trolling point, which Trump himself shared on his shell company-funded Truth Social.

Byrne is also named in the Epstein Files, just like Trump and unlike anyone with the last name Biden, which is just another weird coincidence.

What I love most about Hunter Biden’s DGAF attitude is that it’s also my attitude. He tells all of the harsh truths about himself before MAGA can, taking the wind out of their collective bullying sails. He points at everything Republicans are willfully ignoring about Trump and says all of the things elected Democrats can’t — at least, not publicly — lest they risk their proximity to power. But what does Hunter Biden have to lose, after everything he’s been through?

Absolutely nothing.

What can MAGA say about him that hasn’t already been said?

Absolutely nothing.

So what can Democrats learn from Hunter Biden?

Absolutely EVERYTHING.

They might not use the same salty language, but the truth about Trump is still true, no matter how you say it. Facts don’t care if you swear, because Trump is the real profanity, and he doesn’t get to decide what’s true.

Even if he never runs for office, Hunter Biden will be a guiding voice during a dark time, and I hope more people will start listening to him.

Dying doesn’t automatically erase a person’s track record, no matter the circumstances. But you can tell how little the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) truly meant to Donald Trump simply (stressing that “simp” part) based on the “eulogy” the president posted on Truth Social.

Truth Social

Not only did he make Graham’s death all about himself, but he also used a photo that identified him as the “Acting President of Venezuela,” because Trump has to make literally everything about himself — even someone else’s death.

Trump also didn’t waste any time making sure Lindsey’s Senate seat didn’t remain empty for long, especially with his favorite pet, Todd Blanche, being grilled like a cheap Trumpsteak by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump’s co-conspirators and paid shills sent out flowery messages of MAGA propaganda that praise Graham for *checks notes* never speaking out against the Dear Leader.

MAGA is also fine with Trump’s fellow war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu, not only praising Graham, but returning to the United States to attend Graham’s funeral.

Poor Lindsey’s body was still warm when Republican South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s younger sister, Darline, who has precisely zero years of government experience, to serve in that seat until the midterm elections.

Why no, that’s not normal in any way, but when was the last time our lives felt anything like normal? Trump went from zero to president, so why not zero to senator? He needs that vote to secure Blanche as Attorney General, but since Republicans are actually breaking ranks, her vote may not even matter.

Graham’s death has nearly fallen out of the news cycle, replaced by Mitch McConnell’s not-at-all proof-of-life photo op and Trump’s Biggest Lie Ever speech on Thursday night. But the initial response to his sudden demise and an “investigation” by the FBI as a response has set off the online conspiracy theorists, which is just par for the (golf) course when it comes to the way death is handled on social media.

Nobody can just die of natural causes anymore. Graham was said to have been complaining about not feeling well on Saturday night. But he didn’t want to miss his chance to praise Netanyahu yet again on Meet the Press Sunday morning, so he reportedly told staffers he would get medical attention after the interview.

“I can’t die now,” Graham is said to have joked. “I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out, and do Israeli-Saudi normalization.”

The Trump regime’s version of “normalization” is pretty far from normal, but few were willing to point that out when talking about Graham’s death.

Still, there are tactful ways to talk about someone reprehensible that you had to work with, for example, as former President Joe Biden did.

Leave it to Joe Cool to always set the standard for keeping it classy. A lot of Democrats did a lot of tightrope walking with this one, calling Graham “their friend” that they “often disagreed” with. Nobody with proximity to power wants to lose that proximity, as Charlotte Clymer sharply pointed out on Facebook on Wednesday.

As for me, I shared the same three screenshots of Graham that have been living on my phone for as long as Lindsey has been compromised.

There was a time when Lindsey Graham told the truth about Trump, but then he got an invitation to play golf that he definitely should’ve turned down, because he sealed his legacy on a putting green.

The official cause of death was “Myocardial infarction related to heart disease,” and self-recrimination for 10 years is hell on the ticker. Self-hate sure does rot you from the inside out.

I’m not sorry for any of the energy I spent criticizing everything about Lindsey “Friend of Israel” Graham, from his hawkish tactics to always voting against the LGBTQ community. Anyone who tweeted anything less than a glowing post about “Leningrad” Lindsey Graham got the full clutched-pearl version of MAGA, who took projection language to another level whenever they talked about the way we were talking about him.

It’s ridiculous for them to keep pushing multiple false narratives at once, because they can’t keep up, but the notion that death makes someone a saint really doesn’t work when their Dear Leader sets this kind of an example.

Telling the truth about our elected officials, both living and no longer living, will remain an act of resistance until Democrats are back in power, especially when the GOP refuses to ever acknowledge the truth about Graham, Trump, the Epstein Files, or anything else.

The frustrating thing about telling the truth is knowing that you’re right, but that it ultimately may not make any difference to the people who need to hear it the most.

Welcome to my job amid the last 11 years of Trump's blight on all of our political norms — most significantly in the way he’s abused the members of the media.

Trump hates a lot of things about himself, which is why he overcompensates by bullying and scapegoating others so that his failures — from a plane to his failing health to America’s anti-climactic 250th birthday celebrations — are never the story, even as he remains the center of attention. It’s a deft game he’s been playing for a long time, along with his long MAGA con, and Trump couldn’t tell anyone any truths on purpose if he tried.

However, he still manages to tell on himself even as he’s trying to cover up the truth, bragging instead about how a female reporter couldn’t possibly come close to acing a cognitive test like he did.

But why so many visits, Paw Paw? Why do you need so many cognitive tests? Because boasting that you still know the difference between an elephant and a squirrel isn’t the flex you think it is. But if anyone pushes back too hard with the questions, they’ll end up on his Enemies List, or in court.

This is fully unacceptable, just like everything else he’s been allowed to get away with, up to and including his vandalism of D.C. to make us look as weak as possible on the world stage on our 250th birthday.

Back when his reign of terror first began, Trump’s tactics were exacerbated by the rise of social media as a campaign tool. The one thing Trump’s been truly successful at doing is using Twitter as a literal bully pulpit to slow-boil his cult into believing that only the things he says are true, all while also poisoning them against the traditional media he’s now taking over. Trump’s lies were elevated and shared across multiple platforms by paid agitators bolstered by targeted algorithms; those self-proclaimed “influencers” care more about the extra digits in their bank accounts than anything else and have lost sight of what it means to be an American (if they’re not made in a Russian bot farm, that is).

Without social media, Trump would’ve remained the joke candidate he was back in 2015 and would’ve been trounced in the primary, if he even lasted that long.

Instead, here we are in a culture that now celebrates meanness instead of rising above it, with the MAGA cultists in Congress covering up multiple scandals to keep themselves on Trump’s good side. Self-proclaimed “patriots” have been so entrenched in this decade of deception that what started as leaning into lies and propaganda has become a campaign to fully disrupt our democracy and force us into fascism.

At the same time, Trump’s targeting of specific individuals in the media has crossed the line, from verbal abuse of reporters as non-responses when he doesn’t want to answer them, to threats, doxxing, and now lawsuits over the lingering questions around his health amid multiple scandals.

Trump is now going after several journalists from the New York Times who dared to report accurately on his Qatari Bribe Jet, which was meant to be a stand-in for Air Force One but had to be grounded after it was learned it lacked the proper security and technology to shield the Airborne Oval Office from attacks.

This fact was just too much for the Thin-Skinned Vulgarian, who sent federal agents with subpoenas to some reporters' homes, demanding they appear before a federal grand jury investigating “a potential crime.”

Are you feeling Orwellian enough? The crime of reporting the truth.

Which I do here, and elsewhere, as do plenty of other people who make their living in the truth-telling news space. I guess some of us just fly under the radar more than others, said the woman who’s approaching her 11th anniversary of being blocked by Trump on Twitter.

Trump’s compromised DOJ told the BBC that it's “investigating illegal leaks,” adding, "Reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are."

Sure, they aren’t. Let’s ask Brian Tyler Cohen how he feels about being one of the three journalists currently being doxxed on the official White House website because he reported on Trump’s health. That’s something other members of the media should be asking Trump about while standing as one. While also asking about the plane, his health, and the Epstein Files. Because that’s their job.

If Trump and his staff keep hiding the truth, the media should be pushing harder to get at it without being threatened by the government. The White House Correspondents Association has already issued a statement declaring its solidarity with the reporters named in the Trump subpoena (Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt):

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also issued a statement regarding the subpoenas. “Donald Trump’s war on the press is looking for another victim, this time the storied federal prosecutors' office in Manhattan,” said group president Bruce D. Brown. "The subpoenas it issued to journalists at The New York Times break from longstanding Justice Department practice to protect the public interest and press independence by requiring prosecutors to only seek information from reporters as a last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted. When Jay Clayton appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, members of both parties must not let him escape accountability.”

We are supposed to have full transparency when it comes to the presidency, and yet whenever anyone reports the truth about Trump, he attacks them. It should never have been tolerated in the first place, but ever since they gave him that first inch in 2015, he’s taken everything — except responsibility for anything.

Of all the Donald Trump loyalists currently getting away with the biggest political cover-up in American history, Acting Attorney General Todd “Yes Sir, May I Please Have Another” Blanche is the biggest Trumpsimp of all.

Aside from publicly declaring how much he “loves” Trump (full cringe in effect), Blanche has been committing a federal crime every single day for the last 233+ days (as of this writing) by willfully violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Which was signed into law by the least transparent person to ever fall asleep behind the Resolute Desk, aka Blanche’s crush and Jeffrey Epstein’s former frenemy.

Trump’s former personal attorney never should’ve been allowed anywhere near the federal government, but let’s not get mired in the weeds of what shouldn’t be allowed regarding the entire illegitimate Trump regime, or else this article will run super long. More troubling facts have recently emerged about Blanche, including his participation in the dangerous July 4th joyride flyover, which was also a federal violation.

Blanche was a passenger aboard a vintage jet piloted by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, despite the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initially rejecting the planes as “too risky.” Even Transportation Secretary Sean “Road Rash” Duffy, who lives in Trump’s alimentary canal when he’s not taking fully-funded road trips with his wife and nine kids, objected to the flyover because of the low altitudes. But then Blanche whined to Trump that he wouldn’t get to ride on the big airplane, so Trump gave permission.

That’s who Trump wants to be our permanent attorney general, so that our Justice Department will essentially be his personal law firm. That’s not what the DOJ is meant for, just like the AG isn’t meant to act as the president’s personal lawyer, which 1,200 former DOJ employees are reminding everyone about ahead of Blanche’s Senate confirmation hearings next week.

“Justice Connection today sent a letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee signed by more than 1,200 former DOJ employees spanning 14 administrations and thousands of years of collective experience, opposing the nomination of Todd Blanche to serve as Attorney General,” the announcement on its website reads, followed by a statement from Stacey Young, executive director and founder.

“Since his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche has shown time and again that his guiding star is fealty to the president, not the Constitution,” Young wrote. “That fealty led to the purge of thousands of experienced career employees, a loss that will have a generational impact on the Justice Department’s ability to carry out its mission and maintain credibility with the courts and the American people.”

The letter is signed by former officials who served during Republican and Democratic administrations, including U.S. attorneys who led major offices across the DOJ and the FBI. Most significantly, dozens of attorneys who worked in Blanche’s former office in the Southern District of New York signed the letter.

It’s certain to be at the center of Blanche’s two-day grilling next week from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with the egregious cover-up of the Epstein Files. Blanche will need every single Republican member to vote for him before his nomination can go before the full Senate, which isn’t actually a slam-dunk for him. He’s facing serious opposition from Sen. John “Cornholio” Cornyn (R-TX) and outgoing Senator Thom “DGAF” Tillis (R-NC), both of whom have voiced “concerns” regarding Blanche’s involvement in Trump’s IRS lawsuit settlement. But he’s also walking a thin line when it comes to making a final decision, and that line is where his spine should be.

And then, as always, there are those pesky Epstein Files, which were supposed to have been released thanks to the intrepid lawyering of an actually patriotic attorney, Katie Phang.

If I could ask the not-at-all Honorable Todd Blanche questions that he would be required to answer while under oath (because he never responds to me on Twitter for some weird reason), they would be:

1. Why do you love Trump more than America?
2. How could you read about those unspeakable crimes against children in the Epstein Files and still choose loyalty to Trump?
3. Circling back to my first question, why are you so eager to go to prison for a con man who’s never stopped grifting the American people?
4. Follow-up: Are you aware of the full punishment for treason against the United States, and if so, why aren’t you testifying against Trump to get a reduced sentence?
   

Honestly, it’s the first question that matters to me the most. That’s also the only question all of Trump's loyalists should be asked on the record. I mean, there’s nothing you could offer me, no amount of Musk’s trillions, to turn against my country, so if any Congressional Republican chooses Trump over the United States, they should be forced to resign their seats immediately.

Not a single one of them has called for Trump’s resignation now that he’s being forced to pay E. Jean Carroll the now-$5.8 million he’s owed her for the last couple of years. There’s also the latest bombshell firing of all of the remaining non-compromised election officials because Trump can’t legitimately win an election. An email I sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune wasn’t returned by my deadline, but it’s not like he was going to answer my questions anyway.

Todd Blanche knows they’re going to steal the midterms if they’re not stopped. Election interference is yet another federal crime he’s blatantly committing in Trump’s name, and I’m done watching them all get away with literally everything. We must keep screaming the truth about this until Democrats figure out a way to stop another steal instead of ignoring it, like they did with the 2024 Presidential election.

There used to be consequences for treason, and unlike culottes, that’s a trend I’d love to see come back this summer.