6/20/2025

at least 1 brain left on the republican side of congress

u.s. house rep mike lawler hasn't gone full on nuts.  good to know.  there may be a chance for the gop to rebuild after they finally shake chump.


A Republican congressman has called out the Trump administration for cutting the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline service tailored to LGBTQ+ youth.

"This is wrong," Representative Mike Lawler of New York wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"According to studies, LGBTQ+ young people have an elevated risk of suicide and are more likely than their peers to attempt it. We should ensure they have the resources necessary to get help. The 988 hotline has been a lifesaver. This decision should be reversed."
The LGBTQ+ youth program has served more than 1.3 million callers since it launched in September 2022, federal data shows. Since then, callers could press 3 on the phone to be connected to a counselor specifically trained to help LGBTQ+ youth.

Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ youth are at higher risk of suicide. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year found about 26 percent of transgender and gender-questioning students had attempted suicide in the past year, compared with 5 percent of cisgender male and 11 percent of cisgender female students.

The closure of the 988 service comes as President Donald Trump has targeted transgender people with executive orders since returning to office in January. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.


marcia wrote very movingly last night about that awful supreme court decision so please read her 'Another brutal and unjust ruling from the Supreme Court.' 

on marcia, no, we haven't picked out our summer book.  birdie e-mailed asking that and, honestly, birdie, i wasn't even registering that it was time for that.  marcia and i are planning on discussing this on saturday.  

for those going, 'huh?' every  summer, marcia and i pick a book and we read it and we review it.  we've probably done that for 18 years now.

let's close with c.i.'s 'The Snapshot:'


Thursday, June 19, 2025.  An assaulter in chief leads to assaults being dismissed instead of prosecuted.  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth crashes and burns before another Senate committee. 


We're going to start with Senator Patty Murray.  I wasn't at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing yesterday.  But I watched the video below and read the senator's statement before going to sleep last night.  In my dreams, I kept returning to one thing and it's how Chump has degraded our country with his appointees and his executive order that have turned this government into an attack on those who are assaulted.


Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing to consider pending labor and civil rights nominations, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the HELP Committee, grilled Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Acting Chair and Commissioner nominee Andrea Lucas on dismissal of discrimination cases involving people who are nonbinary and the importance of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Senator Murray also spoke out against Trump’s illegal firing of EEOC Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, which she forcefully condemned in January and led a letter in March demanding their immediate reinstatement.

[FIRING OF COMMISSIONERS SAMUELS AND BURROWS]

Senator Murray began by addressing President Trump’s unprecedented move earlier this year to fire two Democratic Commissioners on the EEOC: “On January 27, President Trump made the unprecedented and illegal move to fire two EEOC Commissioners—Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows—without cause. In the EEOC’s 60-year history, the President has never fired a commissioner before their term expired. Commissioner Lucas, in 2021 you actually criticized President Biden’s move to fire the former General Counsel, calling the EEOC a ‘independent agency.’ Now that President Trump is in charge, all of the talk about the EEOC’s ‘independence’ has disappeared. These illegal firings are yet another example of the very long list of ways President Trump is weaponizing and making independent agencies political—in this case, the one Americans actually rely on for justice when they face discrimination at work.”

“I led a letter to President Trump pressing him to reinstate Commissioners Samuels and Burrows, and I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing any nominations to the EEOC until President Trump does that,” SenatorMurray said.

[DISMISSAL OF DISCRIMINATION CASES]

Senator Murray moved onto her questioning, focusing on the EEOC’s recent move to dismiss nearly every lawsuit it had filed over the past year alleging discrimination against transgender and nonbinary workers following President Trump’s Executive Order on “Gender Ideology” that recognizing only two “immutable” sexes: “Under President Trump, the EEOC has moved to dismiss cases they had previously agreed on—by a majority vote—to litigate. For example, the Commission recently dismissed a case, Lush Cosmetics, where the EEOC itself had alleged that a manager: groped an employee, asked an employee for sex, commented on employees’ breasts, tried to engage employees in sexual discussions, and used sexual profanities. Commissioner Lucas, was it your decision to dismiss that case?”

Commissioner Lucas first acknowledged that she had conveniently changed her position on the independence of the EEOC: “Thank you for the question, Senator, and for the opportunity to acknowledge my prior tweet and to note that I was wrong at that time…the agency is an executive branch agency. At the time that I indicated that, I was not aware of the long record that the agency had taken that position, and therefore it’s important for as an executive agency us to follow the President when he directs us in an Executive Order to defend women’s rights and to refer to individuals solely by their biological pronouns—”

Senator Murray redirected Commissioner Lucas to answer her question, saying: “Can you answer the question on dismissing the case? You were Acting Chair of the Commission when Lush Cosmetics, was it your decision to drop the case?”

“It was my decision in consultation with our career staff, unanimous decision of the career staff, that it was impossible to both comply with the President’s Executive Order as an executive branch agency and also zealously defend the workers who we had brought the case on behalf. We could not balance both of those interests and therefore we gave them an opportunity to intervene, and the case proceeds forward with those workers taking a position on their own,” Commissioner Lucas replied.

“I just want to be clear—what you’re saying is that when an employee is groped, propositioned for sex, and called abject slurs at work, the EEOC will do absolutely nothing to enforce anti-discrimination laws if that employee happens to be nonbinary, or otherwise doesn’t conform to this administration’s ideas about gender,” Senator Murray responded. “Is that correct?”

Commissioner Lucas replied, “Respectfully, I disagree with that conclusion.”

“I don’t know what conclusion we come to other than that with that decision,” Senator Murray pushed back.

“It shouldn’t matter what someone’s gender identity is. If they are harassed at work, they should be able to get the justice they are entitled to under the law,” Senator Murray concluded.

___________________________________

Throughout her career, Senator Murray has championed workers’ rights and fought to combat employment discrimination, including as the top Democrat on the Senate labor committee from 2015-2022—among other things, Senator Murray fought back against a proposed DOL rule by the Trump administration that would allow federal contractors and subcontractors to justify discrimination against women, LGBTQ+ people, and members of certain religious groups on ideological grounds. Senator Murray first introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act—comprehensive labor legislation to protect workers’ right to stand together and bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces—in the 116th Congress, and also leads the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act, comprehensive legislation to prevent workplace harassment, strengthen and expand key protections for workers, and support workers in seeking accountability and justice.

###


There are  important issues in the senator's press release and in the exchange in the video.  We're just focusing on the middle one. 


For those who have forgotten, Donald Chump has multiple credible claims of assault against him.  Multiple.  For those who have forgotten, he selected the highly unqualified Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.  Hegseth has allegations of spousal abuse against him -- ex-wife can't talk or risks legal fall out -- and he apparently assaulted a woman who he then settled with and made her sign an NDA and refused to release from that NDA so that she could testify to the Senate during his confirmation hearing.


If it walks like a duck . . . 


And what we're seeing in Chump Land now is a government that works to excuse away abuse while punishing the abused.


Last week, Hegseth was at one hearing after another.  He kept making statements -- his opening statements -- that included what sounded like threats.  Here he is last Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee:

 

I have directed each of the military departments to conduct a review of their Military Equal Opportunity and Equal Employment Opportunity programs and processes. Our personnel deserve fair treatment and a positive work environment that is free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. They also deserve qualified leaders who are empowered to make tough decisions, enforce standards, and restore good order and discipline through balanced accountability. We are going to streamline investigation processes, address problematic behaviors, and mitigate undue mission impacts. Complaints that are unsubstantiated by actionable, credible evidence will be dismissed in a timely manner. Flimsy allegations will not be used adversely against the accused. Personnel who knowingly submit false complaints will be disciplined. This is critical to advancing meritocracy and balancing accountability. It is also the right thing to do for the DoD and our workforce. We will continue to hold leaders at all levels accountable for their actions, but the Department will no longer foster a culture of "walking on eggshells."


Hegseth, like Chump, apparently assaulted women.  And now both men have been put in charge despite that fact.  And read his remarks above.  His anger is directed at those coming forward, not t those who have been put in positions of power.  He wants to talk assaults and the assault that matters to him is the 'poor' person being accused of assault.  He rips into these victims coming forward.  They're liars!  And they will be punished to the full extent!


Most coming forward are not liars.  


And yet Hegseth has nothing to say about them.  Even though it is them that the government owes an apology too. Even though it is them that qualify as the betrayed.  


Hegseth had nothing to say about that despite the huge numbers of service members who have been assaulted by someone in command.  Hill & Ponton is a firm specializing in veterans disability.  They note:


Facts on Military Sexual Assault

  • High demand for VA health care.  1,307,781 outpatient visits took place at the VA for MST-related care in 2015.
  • The likelihood that a person’s mental health suffers and experience suicidal or depressive thoughts increases after sexual violence.  Posttraumatic stress disorder can be common along with other mental health conditions.
  • People who have been sexually assaulted are more at risk for substance use and substance abuse than the general public.[4]
  • Sexual violence and the following psychological trauma also affects victims’ relationships with their family members, friends, and co-workers.
  • Victims are at risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Statistics on Military Sexual Assault[5]

  • Sexual violence remains pervasive. In 2018, 20,500 service members were sexually assaulted or raped including 13,000 women and 7,500 men.  The rate of sexual assault and rape jumped by almost 40% from 2016 to 2018, and for women veterans, the rate increased by over 50% to the highest level since 2006.
  • Of women who reported a penetrative sexual assault, 59% were assaulted by someone with a higher rank than them, and 24% were assaulted by someone in their chain of command.
  • Vast majority of cases go unreported.  76.1% of victims did not report the crime in 2018.
  • Retaliation is the norm. 64% of women who reported a sexual assault face retaliation. 66% of retaliation reports alleged that retaliators were in the reporter’s chain of command. A third of victims are discharged after reporting, typically within 7 months of making a report.  Victims received harsher discharges, with 24% separate under less than fully honorable conditions, compared to 15% of all service members.
  • Low trust and satisfaction in the system. Over 1 in 4 victims who did not report feared retaliation from their command or coworkers. Nearly 1 in 3 victims who did not report feared the process would be unfair or nothing would be done.  Less than half of the female veteran survivors felt well supported by their chain of command.
  • Convictions have plummeted by almost 60% in unrestricted sexual assaults reported since 2015.  In 2018, of the 5,805 unrestricted reports of sexual assault, 307 cases were tried by court-martial, and 108 offenders were convicted of a nonconsensual sex offense.
  • 40% of homeless women veterans have faced MST.  Veterans with an MST history are over twice as likely to experience homelessness.[6]
  • 9 out of every 10 victims of rape are female veterans.[7]

More Facts on Military Sexual Assault

  • High demand for VA health care.  1,307,781 outpatient visits took place at the VA for MST-related care in 2015.
  • The likelihood that a person’s mental health suffers and experience suicidal or depressive thoughts increases after sexual violence.  Post traumatic stress disorder can be common along with other mental health conditions.
  • People who have been sexually assaulted are more at risk for substance use and substance abuse than the general public.[4]
  • Sexual violence and the following psychological trauma also affects victims’ relationships with their family members, friends, and co-workers.
  • Victims are at risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

More Statistics on Military Sexual Assault[5]

  • Sexual violence remains pervasive. In 2018, 20,500 service members were sexually assaulted or raped including 13,000 women and 7,500 men.  The rate of sexual assault and rape jumped by almost 40% from 2016 to 2018, and for women veterans, the rate increased by over 50% to the highest level since 2006.
  • Of women who reported a penetrative sexual assault, 59% were assaulted by someone with a higher rank than them, and 24% were assaulted by someone in their chain of command.
  • Vast majority of cases go unreported.  76.1% of victims did not report the crime in 2018.
  • Retaliation is the norm. 64% of women who reported a sexual assault face retaliation. 66% of retaliation reports alleged that retaliators were in the reporter’s chain of command. A third of victims are discharged after reporting, typically within 7 months of making a report.  Victims received harsher discharges, with 24% separate under less than fully honorable conditions, compared to 15% of all service members.
  • Low trust and satisfaction in the system. Over 1 in 4 victims who did not report feared retaliation from their command or coworkers. Nearly 1 in 3 victims who did not report feared the process would be unfair or nothing would be done.  Less than half of the female veteran survivors felt well supported by their chain of command.
  • Convictions have plummeted by almost 60% in unrestricted sexual assaults reported since 2015.  In 2018, of the 5,805 unrestricted reports of sexual assault, 307 cases were tried by court-martial, and 108 offenders were convicted of a nonconsensual sex
  • 40% of homeless women veterans have faced MST.  Veterans with an MST history are over twice as likely to experience homelessness.[6]
  • 9 out of every 10 victims of rape are female veterans.[7]


 Reading the above statistics, go back and read Hegseth's nonsense:

I have directed each of the military departments to conduct a review of their Military Equal Opportunity and Equal Employment Opportunity programs and processes. Our personnel deserve fair treatment and a positive work environment that is free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. They also deserve qualified leaders who are empowered to make tough decisions, enforce standards, and restore good order and discipline through balanced accountability. We are going to streamline investigation processes, address problematic behaviors, and mitigate undue mission impacts. Complaints that are unsubstantiated by actionable, credible evidence will be dismissed in a timely manner. Flimsy allegations will not be used adversely against the accused. Personnel who knowingly submit false complaints will be disciplined. This is critical to advancing meritocracy and balancing accountability. It is also the right thing to do for the DoD and our workforce. We will continue to hold leaders at all levels accountable for their actions, but the Department will no longer foster a culture of "walking on eggshells."

He is not concerned about the survivors of assault.


He makes no mention of what a betrayal assault is.  He calls out only people coming forward.  Again, the vast number of people coming forward are telling the truth.  But the survivors do not matter one bit to Hegseth as evidenced by his own remarks and what he choose to emphasize.


That's why, Senator Joni Ernst -- you stupid idiot -- you don't vote to confirm someone like him.


When you do, the system of justice is inverted, turned upside down and it becomes about assaulters protecting other assaulters. 


I was at yesterday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing and we're going to cover that.  Pete Hegseth and his DoD cronies, as you will see, were feeling a little wee-wee.



Senator Tammy Duckworth:  In response to my colleague from Oklahoma, I believe the Secretary of Defense has just responded last week and admitted that the $1 billion mission that he led against the Houthis who do not have a navy has not restored the transit of US flag commercial vessels through the Red Sea and in fact has resulted in the loss of two F18 Hornets to the tune of 60 million dollars a piece as well as, I believe, the last count was seven Reaper drones to the tune of another 200 million dollars.  You [Pete Hegseth] are blowing through money like my fellow cadets and I did in our first liberty after basic camp.  Luckily, I didn't end up with a questionable tattoo.  Your facilities, Mr Secretary, since you've taken office has been staggering.  You sent classified operational information over Signal to chest thump in front of your wife -- who, by the way, has no security clearance -- risking service members' lives in the process.  You blew the one million dollar fight against the Houthis whom, again as my colleague says, have no navy and yet you lost all of those aircraft.  You've created such a hostile command environment that no one wants to serve as your Chief of Staff or work with you and other senior DoD leadership roles.  But what you should all be talking about more than all of this is that you have an unjustified, unAmerican use of the military and American cities pulling resources and attention away from core missions to the detriment of the country, the war fighters and, yes, the war fighting that you claim to love.  I don't know if this is because you are too inexperienced and incompetent to understand the real threats facing our country of if its because you are just an unqualified yes-man who can't tell the president how to keep Americans are safe.  You are focusing on renaming bases for Confederate generals.  You said just now to Senator King that to a man and to a woman we would rather be associated with the old Confederate names.  Well I am one of those women.  I served at Fort Rucker, Alabama -- a base that was named for a traitor who took up arms against the United States of America, led troops who killed Americans.  It was renamed for Mike Novosel -- a Medal of Honor recipient who, in his citation for the Medal of Honor, includes that he saved 29 American lives, including hovering backwards in a helicopter towards an enemy bank bunker where a wounded American was laying and saved that -- and saved that person -- including after taking fire himself. I know a little something about what it takes to fly a helicopter when you've been hit by enemy fire. That was heroic.  I'd rather be associated with Mike Novosel  than a Confederate traitor.  I don't know whether you inexperienced or too incompetent but I wonder when you will actually focus on our nation's war fighting mission?  We know that California is just a deliberate, systematic, political and dangerous campaign led by you.  We should not be using our mayor :::: military to play cops against Americans.  General [J Daniel] Caine, a key part of your job is to coordinate military planning across the joint-force.  Is the department currently incorporating into any military plans expanding the use of reserve forces to include the National Guard or active duty troops to support domestic law enforcement -- including in other locations in the United States?  

General J Daniel Caine: Uh, Senator, you know we-we -- uh, carefully

Senator Tammy Duckworth: Yes or no, General.  

General J Daniel Caine:  Well . . . it's-it's not really a yes-or-a-no question, Madam Senator.  We-we plan all kinds of different things.  I'm not aware of any -- I'm not aware of anything.  But the reason why I'm answering is the tags may be looking at something that I'm not aware of.  


Senator Tammy Duckworth:  What are you doing at your level?  You're not aware of that  happening at your level?  Because we know that on his first day, President Trump directed US Northern Command to revise its unified command plan to add new planning requirements to combat and, I quote, "criminal activities."  A series of follow-up executive orders continue to redirect DoD priorities to supporting domestic law enforcement including one in April that tells DoD, and I quote, "it's for law and order."  In other words, do law enforcement's job.  I'd like to enter these executive orders into the record, Mr Chairman. 

Chair Roger F Wicker:  Is there objection?  Without objection. 

Senator Tammy Duckworth: Secretary Hegseth, you say you are force focused -- on war fighting and warriors.  Those are your words. Yet you are diverting untold DoD resources and attention to fundamentally non-military mission of domestic policing across the country.  We have qualified police officers who are trained for that mission. They know those streets better than the Marines you deployed to Los Angeles who normally focus on the Indo Pacific.  And you recently approved 700 more troops in three other states to do admin and logistic works for ICE.  You say all of this is valuable training but I would much rather our troops do tough, realistic training relevant to high-end combat.  Instead of typing in spread sheets for ICE, they should be conducting live fire maneuver exercises, instead of patrolling American neighborhoods and standing in front of federal buildings, they should be rehearsing call-for-fire missions. We have local police who can stand in front of those federal buildings.  And the list of distractions goes on. You are encouraging the DoD workforce to go work for DHS in increasing numbers.  You are pulling the military away from facing foreign enemies who literally say things like "Death to America!" and you're putting troops with weapons aimed at Americans  Mr Secretary, let the military get back to its real job.  Stop forcing them to do DHS'.  And if you want to be DHS secretary, maybe you can apply for that job when you're fired from this one due to your staggering incompetence. 


There is so much worth reviewing in the above.  For example, the senator is correct, 100%, that using the military on American streets is a misuse that weakens the military forces.  And we'll come back to that topic.  But Tammy just laid it out throughout her remarks and I think we need to all be clear on reality and make this the end of 'participation' trophies.

We do not have, in the US, a Fort Kim Il-Sung.

We don't have that.

Why?

He was the leader of North Korea when the US was in the Korean War.  Kim II-Sung was not an American soldier or general or commander-in-chief.  He was an enemy of the American people  

By the same token, I don't care if you're huffing the rags of great grandpappy's Confederate Army uniform, great grandpappy was a traitor to the United States who took up arms against the country.  You've had your time to heal.  Now it's time to get real.  There was never a need to glorify the Confederacy.  

They were traitors.  Pete Hegseth identifies with them because he glorifies the traitors of the January 6th insurrection.  

It's 2025, we're not pretending for the sake of hurt feelings  Everyone who fought in the Civil War is long dead.  Those of us in the country today need to stop walking on egg shells.  That is not me being an idiot like Patricia Arquette who once took to Twitter to slam people who have ancestors that were in the Confederacy.  I'm not blaming you for what some distant uncle Jed did two centuries back.  That has nothing to do with you.  I'm not blaming you for it.  But I am saying that it's time for you to grasp that the propaganda ends now.  F**k GONE WITH THE WIND, f**k all the propaganda.  They were traitors.  They took up arms against the United States.  Traitors. 

Just like the insurrectionists of January 6th.

The classic definition of a traitor, Senator Angus King had noted earlier and asked Hegseth, "Why are you going through these incredible gymnastics, finding current soldiers or other soldiers to rename?  And you slipped a minute ago.  You said 'We're returning these bases to their original names."  He did slip. 

Hegseth slipped and Angus caught it.  King stated, "I don't understand what the motivation is to rename bases for people who took up arms against their country on behalf of slavery."
 
Hegseth spewed a lot of nonsense but it was a hard sell to the Committee. 



Senator Tim Kaine:  Earlier this month, you announced a plan to change the names of three Virginia military bases to restore the names of Confederate era generals on those bases. You researched to find brave American soldiers with the same last names -- Lee, Hill and Pickett -- who had not fought for the Confederacy and declared that those Confederate adjacent names would be restored.  The problem is that you had to strip away the names of four amazing people that the Pentagon and local communities had chosen to honor at the Virginia bases. Van Barfoot, he was a Mississippi native, Mr. Chair, who came to Fort Pickett in the early forties to train for war. He fought all over Europe in WWII.  He won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery leading his platoon in southern Italy.  He killed ten of the enemy, captured seventeen more and escorted two wounded Americans 1700 yards to safety under enemy fire.  Stayed in the army for another 34 years seeing action in both the Korean and the Vietnam Wars and being assigned as the Army liaison to the Virginia National Guard at Fort Pickett.  Long after he retired, he maintained his tie to the Fort and to the Virginia National Guard.  I was at the naming ceremony where this base to which he had devoted so much of his life was named in his honor.  His family was there and they were so proud. Arthur Gregg served in the Army for more than 30 years.  He was the first African-American to reach the rank of Brigadier General, first to reach the rank of Lt General.  Began as an enlisted, eventually decided to become a commissioned officer.  Went to Fort Lee for quartermaster training.  Quickly rose through the ranks as an instructor even though he was not allowed to go to the officers club because of the color of his skin.  He finished his career in 1979 as the Director of All Army Logistics Operations around the world.  He stayed near Fort Leon retirement, raised his family there and was a continuous, beloved presence until his death last summer at 96.  He was actually at the renaming ceremony with his family in 2022 -- at this place that meant so much to him. Charity Adams?  Charity Adams was an Army officer during WWII.  The first African-American woman allowed to join the WACS [Women's Army Corps].  She was the commanding officer of the 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion -- a unique battalion composed primarily of African-American women making sure that American GIs in Europe got their mail during World War II. Our colleagues, [Senator] Jacky Rosen and [Senator] Jerry Moran successfully passed a bill in 2002 giving the 6888 the Congressional Gold Medal.  Charity Adams was the highest ranking African-American woman in the military at the end of WWII. Her family was at the dedication of Fort Gregg Adams, named in honor of these two trail blazing logistic leaders.  They were so proud.  Finally, Mary Walker, the only woman ever to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.  She graduated from Syracuse Medical School in 1855.  She tried to join the Union Army as a surgeon, was turned away because she was a woman.  But the need was so great, she eventually got hired in a military hospital in Washington and then was deployed as an Army surgeon with the Army of the Cumberland and the 52nd Ohio Infantry becoming the first female surgeon in the US Army.  She served all over Virginia including the place where the base is now named after her.  She frequently crossed the battle lines to treat civilians and even treated Confederate soldiers. She was captured a prisoner of war in Richmond until a prisoner release. President Andrew Johnson gave her the Congressional Medal of Honor after the Civil War.  Why did you decide that these four patriots were not worthy enough to have their names on a base.

Secretary Pete Hegseth: Well, Senator, as you know this was never about the names of the bases.  They were renamed to.  

Senator Tim Kaine: So you don't challenge the bases --


Secretary Pete Hegseth: Restoring all bases to their original names were not about erasing. 


Senator Tim Kaine:  Okay, you don't care about their military record, you wanted to restore the Confederate names.  When you called the Gregg family to tell them that their dad's name was no longer going to be on the base, what was their reaction? 


Secretary Pete Hegseth:  Uhm, Senator, the army notified them of that.

Senator Tim Kaine: You didn't call any of the families and I've spoken with the families and the families were called by the press.  That's how they learned about this. They learned about it from the press, you didn't call the Barfoot family, the Gregg family and you didn't call the Adams family. I told the families that I'd ask you about this today.  In fact, two of General Gregg's granddaughters, Avery and Sydney, are right here in the audience.  And I want to ask you this as I close. While you announced that these brave men and women's names would be stripped from the Virginia bases, no orders to that effect have been received by the base commanders.  In light of the patriotic service of Van Barfoot, Arthur Gregg, Charity Adams and Mary Walker, I'd like to ask you simply not to issue the orders changing the names of these Virginia bases.  These families, my Commonwealth, are very proud of these heroes, very satisfied with these names, and ask you not to change them.  Will you honor these exemplary patriots and keep their worthy names in places on the bases they loved and where they served? 


Secretary Pete Hegseth:  Senator, we very much thank and appreciate them for their service and we'll find ways to recognize them but the orders will soon be going to those bases to change the names back to the original name that never should have been changed. 


They never should have been changed.  What a damn fool.  What a damn racist.  

And Hegseth isn't just pro-racist, he's someone who hates Jewish people. 


Senator Jacky Rosen: Secretary Hegseth, would you agree that every senior official in the Department of Defense must reflect the values and conduct that our servicemembers must uphold and our citizens expect?

Secretary Pete Hegseth: Senator, we want to uphold the highest possible standards.

Senator Jacky Rosen: I’ll take that for a yes. Would you also agree that antisemitism and antisemitic conspiracy theories have no place in our government or military? 

Secretary Pete Hegseth: They should not. 

Senator Jacky Rosen: Would you agree that anyone who has posted “antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook,” shouldn’t be anywhere near a position of power? Yes or no, please. 

Secretary Pete Hegseth: Since I don’t believe the characterization of many officials in the news media, I would need to see precisely what’s being characterized. 

Senator Jacky Rosen: But generally… 

Secretary Pete Hegseth: Generally speaking, sure.

Senator Jacky Rosen: Would you not say that if you thought something was coming out of a neo-nazi playbook it doesn’t have any place in our Department of Defense?  Now, Secretary Hegseth, the quote I just read you was referencing Ms. Kingsley Wilson, the DOD press secretary, who my Republican colleagues on this committee have also expressed alarm over due to her public comments. In fact, one colleague said, “Obviously, I don’t agree with her comments. I trust the Pentagon will address this."  However, in the months since, not only have you not addressed these comments, you have promoted Ms. Wilson. This seems to be at odds with President Trump’s commitment to combat antisemitism, which you just said you agreed with. So, Secretary Hegseth, given the rise in antisemitic violence and hate crimes in our nation, and to show that the Trump Administration does have a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitism, will you dismiss Ms. Kingsley from her role as the U.S. military’s spokesperson today? Yes or no. 

Secretary Pete Hegseth: Again, that’s why I referenced the context and characterization. I’ve worked directly with her; she does a fantastic job, and any suggestion that I, or her, or others are party to antisemitism is a mischaracterization attempting to win political points. 

Senator Jacky Rosen: I’m going to assume that your lack of an answer confirms what we’ve known all along, that the Trump Administration is not serious. You are not a serious person. You are not serious about rooting out antisemitism in the ranks of our DOD. It’s despicable. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.


He should be ashamed of himself, he's doing a lousy job in a position he was never qualified for.  The topic of this hearing -- as was the case in three Congressional hearings last week -- was the DoD budget that was due back in February but which Hegseth still can't pull together.  He can't even do the basics of his damn job. 


Senator Angus King: Let me talk about the budget. I don't understand why the budget is coming to us in two pieces. Why not give us an honest base budget instead of putting a piece of it in reconciliation? As I understand it, OMB (the Office of Management and Budget) is saying we are going to have a flat defense budget for the next four or five years. Are we playing reconciliation every year from now on? Why not give us an honest budget telling us what your priorities are, and we can consider it. This committee always works on a bipartisan basis on the defense budget. We all want to see some increases in the defense budget, yet you are giving us this fake [version] — here is a piece of the project, here is another. In the base budget you are cutting ship building in half and saying, well we’re going to make it up in reconciliation. Are we going to have reconciliation every year? Which basically puts a significant part, 10% or 15% of the defense budget in a wholly partisan decision-making process, whereas in the history of this committee it has always been bipartisan. Why are we doing it this way?  

Hegseth could not supply an honest answer.  Honesty is even more difficult for Hegseth than answering yes-or-no questions. 

Republican Roger Wicker is the Chair of the Committee and even he expressed his disappointment over Hegseth's inability, all these months later, to submit a budget plan that's over four months late.  This point was raised repeatedly because Hegsteh is derelict in his duty. 


Senator Richard Blumenthal: I want to move onto another area of questioning. The Chairman has said that you have submitted precious little detail. to quote him, "precious little detail about the budget." I think there is no detail. This budget is literally a rough outline, with shortsighted shortfalls. For example, the shortfall on the Columbia-class, two billion dollars. Only about one billion dollars for Virginia-class. There is virtually no outline or specificity as to how you are going to provide drones to defend and also engage in offensive outline and maneuvers.

He's not doing his job.  He's doing everything but his job and then he lies when he's caught.

The families whose names were being stripped from the forts?  He lies to Senator Tim Kaine that "the army notified them of that."  But, no, that was just a lie.  No notification took place.  He's a cheap, filthy liar who can't pull together a budget, who can't stop attacking former President Joe Biden.  The drunk was wearing his little boy dress shirt and had on even more foundation (make up) then he did in all three of the hearings he appeared at last week.  He has plenty of time for things like that but he just can't manage time when it comes to doing his damn job -- a job that was always going to be over his head.

Senator Elissa Slotkin: Mr Secretary, I said in your hearing -- when you had your confirmation hearing -- that my biggest concern was -- with you at the helm -- was the potential use of the military in ways that contradict the Constitution or that taint what I hope we all want which is an apolitical military.  And when I asked you about an order that was actually given to your predecessor, Secretary [Mark] Esper to deploy active-duty troops on the protesters. You said this was all theoretical.  Here we are a few months later, you've deployed 4700 troops to Los Angeles against the wishes of the governor and my colleague across the aisle is right: It is the first time since 1965 that we have deployed guard troops without the permission of the governor.  In all the incidents that he laid out, the president had sent in the military to protect the protesters, not against the protesters  You may dismiss it.  But I feel like this is a fundamental issue of American democracy.  If you love your country and you want an apolitical military, then it should be the last resort, not the first resort in our country to use them.  So to get to the nontheoritical, have you authorized the uniform military to detain or arrest protesters in Los Angeles?

Secretary Pete Hegseth: Senator, I would just start by saying --

Senator Elissa Slotkin: Just answer the question 

[cross talk]

Senator Elissa Slotkin: What you're doing is something different.  Everyone knows this is a political decision. Right?  So we don't trust that you're using the best interests of the military certainly and of democracy on top of that.  So have you given the order?  That's all I want to know.  It's not theoretical.  For the US military -- not law enforcement, they can arrest all day long, that's their job -- do they have the ability, the uniformed military to arrest and detain protesters currently today.  


Secretary Pete Hegseth: Um-um -- I-I 

Senator Elissa Slotkin: It's a yes or not thing --

Secretary Pete Hegseth: It's amusing --

Senator Elissa Slotkin: It's not -- 

Secretary Pete Hegseth: These troops are given very clear orders --


Senator Elissa Slotkin:Then what is the order?  List it out for us.  Be a man, list it out.  Did you authorize them to  detain or arrest?  That is a fundamental issue of democracy I'm not trying to be a snot. Did you authorize them to do that?

All of these orders and what they are sent there to do are public --

Senator Elissa Slotkin: So say it.  Say it.  Yes or no. 

Secretary Pete Hegseth: I'd like to.

Senator Elissa Slotkin: So say it.  Yes or no. 

Hegseth babbles away and, of course, does not say yes or no but does bring in former President Joe Biden to attack Joe's character and leadership.  They have nothing else to offer but, all these months later, still blaming the previous president.



Senator Elissa Slotkin: Have you given the order to be able to shoot at unarmed protesters, in any way? I’m just asking the question. Don’t laugh. Like the whole country.... And by the way, my colleagues across the aisle—

Secretary Pete Hegseth: What is that based on? What evidence would you have that an order like that has ever been given?

Senator Elissa Slotkin:  It is based on Donald Trump giving that order to your predecessor, to a Republican secretary of defense, who I give a lot of credit to because he didn’t accept the order. He had more guts and balls than you because he said, I’m not going to send in the uniformed military to do something that I know in my gut isn’t right. He was asked to shoot at their legs. He wrote that in his book. That’s not hearsay. So your pooh-poohing of this—it just shows you don’t understand who we are as a country, who we are. And all of my colleagues across the aisle, especially the ones that served, should want an apolitical military and not want citizens to be scared of their own military. I love the military. I served alongside my whole life. So I’m worried about you tainting it. Have you given the order? Have you given the order that they can use lethal force against [unarmed protesters]? I want the answer to be no. Please tell me it’s no. Have you given the order?

Hegseth: Senator, I’d be careful what you read in books, and believing it, except for THE BIBLE.


We're stopping there.  Hegseth is not a Christian.  The thrice married drunk has crashed veteran organizations while padding his own pocket.  There is nothing Christian about him.  But called out in a hearing, he tries to hide behind THE BIBLE. 

THE BIBLE is not what his position requires his knowledge of.  To be Secretary of Defense, one of your 'bibles' has to be THE UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE (UCMN) and Hegseth has demonstrated nothing in action or word to indicate he's even remotely familiar with it.

The following sites updated:




Posted by at

6/18/2025

more on terrorists pretending to be christians


Since the fatal shooting of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband in an act described by a federal prosecutor as a “political assassination,” scrutiny has turned to suspect Vance Boelter’s ties to independent charismatic Christianity, in particular a movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).

[...]

Researchers who study the Christian right have homed in on Boelter’s attendance at a Bible college in Dallas in the late 1980s and missionary work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he delivered sermons critical of abortion and LGBTQ+ people.
Christ For the Nations Institute (CFNI) confirmed that Boelter attended the college from 1988 to 1990, graduating with a “diploma in practical theology in leadership and pastoral.”

Christ For the Nations Institute has been a “merging space” for trends in independent charismatic Christianity, Matthew D. Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic Christian Jewish Studies, told the “Straight White American Jesus” podcast.

Those trends include dominionism — the idea of Christians taking control over the world — and NAR, which emerged in the mid-1990s.

Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, described NAR to Raw Story as a movement whose adherents believe God speaks directly to modern-day apostles and prophets, and which seeks to “restore their vision of what they think 1st-century Christianity was.”
Both Taylor and Clarkson note that Apostle Dutch Sheets, one of the major proponents of New Apostolic Reformation, attended CFNI in the 1970s and taught at the college in the following decade, potentially overlapping with Boelter.

Sheets reportedly met Trump officials at the White House one week before the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Staff at Dutch Sheets Ministries declined Raw Story’s request for an interview.

In the early 2010s, Sheets was executive director at CFNI, where a sign in the lobby displays a quote attributed to founder Gordon Lindsay: “Every Christian ought to pray at least one violent prayer a day.”

Following the Minnesota shootings, the institute said its leadership was “absolutely aghast and horrified that a CFNI alumnus is the suspect,” and that it “unequivocally rejects, denounces, and condemns any and all forms of violence and extremism, be it politically, racially, religiously or otherwise motivated.”

The statement rejected any notion the college’s teachings were “a contributing factor” to Boelter’s “evil behavior.”

The statement also claimed Lindsay’s comment about “violent prayer” has been misrepresented.

“By ‘violent prayer’ he meant that a Christian’s prayer life should be intense, fervent, and passionate, not passive and lukewarm,” the statement said, “considering that spiritual forces of darkness are focused on attacking life, identity in God, purpose, peace, love, joy, truth, health, and other good things.”
Researchers who track the Christian right have taken note of a sermon Boelter preached in Congo in 2023.

“They don’t know abortion is wrong, many churches,” Boelter said, in comments first reported by Wired. “They don’t have the gifts flowing. God gives the body gifts. To keep balance. Because when the body starts moving in the wrong direction, when they’re one, and accepting the gifts, God will raise an apostle or prophet to correct their course.”

Clarkson told Raw Story Boelter’s rhetoric had a familiar ring.

“Nobody but someone influenced by the New Apostolic Reformation movement would say something like that,” Clarkson said.

But Taylor saw a broader strain of charismatic Christianity in Boelter’s sermonizing, connected to the Latter Rain movement, a precursor to NAR that emerged after World War II.

“Many people today would say those are NAR ideas, but they were Latter Rain ideas before they were NAR ideas,” Taylor said. “I don’t know where he picked up these ideas. He’s very clearly charismatic in his theology and in his preaching as well.”


they are terrorists.  plain and simple.  and those of us who believe in god and call ourselves christians have an obligation to call these imposters out.  they are preaching violence and they're being violent.

that's not god's will.  none of what they do lines up with any of jesus' teachings.  they can't even follow the golden rule. that's how out of step they are.  and it is our duty, as christians, to call this out and to make sure that people don't fall for it.  this is not normal and it is terrorism.  these people need to be watched because they are inclined to violence and the put us all at risk with their crackpot notions.

if you're not getting how dangerous this group is, daniel villarreal ('lgbtq nation') reports:

The headquarters of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington, D.C., recently flew the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, a flag associated with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a movement that urges Christians to overtake the U.S. government. The NAR movement largely supports the Trump administration.
In a June 11 post on her X account, SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler posted an image of the flag on her X account, writing, “Today at SBA’s Flag Day Ceremony, we proudly raised a new AMERICAN MADE flag over our headquarters in Washington It is a privilege to serve under its Stars and Stripes – on behalf of the 34 million small businesses who represent the best of America.” One of the post’s images showed the “Appeal to Heaven” flag flying under a U.S. flag.
Flag Day is meant to honor the U.S. flag, and Republicans across the U.S. have been banning any flag from flying at government buildings other than the U.S. flag in an effort to stop the Pride flag from being flown.
George Washington University extremism researcher Jon Lewis told Wired magazine, “The contemporary usage of the Appeal to Heaven flag is synonymous with Christian nationalism, full stop…. That the Appeal to Heaven flag is being flown on a government building alongside the American flag should be shocking to anyone who doesn’t wish to live in a theocracy.”


let's close with c.i.'s 'The Snapshot:'


 Wednesday, June 18, 2025.  Donald Chump continues attacking the economy and continue to waffle and fail to meet promises, we applaud a politician in NYC who stood up for immigrants, we also expose a 'progressive' hero who does nothing on the issue even when immigrants in his own state are targeted, and much more.



First, let's note stats.  Joy Reid's THE JOY REID SHOW is brand new to YOUTUBE and already delivering a huge number of viewers.


Congratulations to her.  MSNBC's huge mistake is her gain.


One more on numbers.  MEIDASTOUH is huge on podcasting numbers.  On YOUTUBE, reaching a half million a video is not uncommon.  Each week, they have a number of videos that reach one million streams or even two million streams.  But nothing like this one they dropped on Saturday.


It currently stands at 4.3 million streams.  Amazing.  Good for them and good for Joy.


Now to news of the world . . . 


Donald Chump has destroyed the US economy.  Despite lies from the White House like "Under President Trump, America is Defeating Inflation," inflation is up under Chump and his lies don't help as prices continue to soar at grocery stores and big box stores.  The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased since he was sworn in.  Last week, Lauren Aratani (GUARDIAN) reported:

US prices continued to rise in May as companies and consumers grappled with Donald Trump’s tariffs. The president has repeatedly pledged to lower costs across the economy.

Annualized inflation ticked higher, to 2.4%, in May, up from 2.3% in April. On a month-to-month basis, the consumer price index rose by 0.1%, down from 0.2% the previous month.
[. . .]

“CPI JUST OUT. GREAT NUMBERS!” Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform, reiterating his call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

But Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate banking committee, said Trump’s tariffs were looming over the economy. “Last week’s jobs data showed a softening labor market,” she said. “Today’s inflation data shows food and electricity prices are up.”

And that's why, whether you zoom in on one state, or pan across the country, Americans are not pleased with the Chump economy.   Sarah Fortinsky (THE HILL) reports:


Sixty percent of surveyed Americans say they disapprove of the way President Trump is handling trade and tariffs, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk poll powered by SurveyMonkey.

In the poll, conducted in early June, 45 percent of respondents said they strongly disapproved of Trump’s handling of the issue, while 15 percent said they somewhat disapproved.



And what of his big boast almost three months ago?  Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) reports:

President Donald Trump and his team promised ‘90 trade deals in 90 days,’ but so far he has only “framework” agreements for two countries in place.

Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs ushered in on April 2 are set to go into effect on July 8.

Skeptics said little progress has been made on making trade deals, leaving American businesses to deal with economic uncertainty.

“We were promised ‘90 deals in 90 days.’ What we have at this point are ‘general frameworks’ for the U.K. and China,” Marc Short, who served in Trump’s first administration as legislative affairs director, told Politico. 


Where are the deals, Chump?  90 days?  Believe that's July 8th -- 9th if you want to be generous.

These 90 deals all going to show up on the last day?  

Or has TACO man proven his detractors right yet again?  ("Trump Always Chickens Out" is what Wall Street dubbed Chump.)  

Chump breaks his word yet again?  

And this inability to deliver on what he promised goes along way towards explaining market concerns. As do his lousy policies.  Eugene Litvak (MARKETPLACE) reports: 


In addition to Medicaid cuts, even Medicare cuts are on the table as Congress debates the healthcare spending provisions in President Donald Trump’s budget bill. The Congressional Budget Office projected that this bill would actually increase the U.S. budget deficit by $2.4 trillion over a decade — with 10.9 million more Americans not having health insurance.

He's destroying the country every day in every way. 

Immigration.  People are being torn from their homes.  The criminals?  No, these are not criminals.  This is not what people heard when they heard Chump thundering on the campaign trail.  In part, that's due to the fact that they heard what they wanted to hear.  This is exactly what those of who were warning about this in 2024 told you would happen.  

And now we're seeing it play out across the country. 




Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained the wife of a Marine veteran during a green card interview in New Orleans, according to the veteran and his attorney.
[. . .]
Adrian and Paola Clouatre married in California in 2022. The Marine met his wife while in the last of five years of military service.

Now residing in Louisiana, they had been working through the legal process to secure Paola Clouatre's U.S. residency. The couple, who have two young children including a 9-week-old daughter, were surprised by ICE's intervention that stemmed from a years-old deportation order.
Adrian and Paola Clouatre married in California in 2022. The Marine met his wife while in the last of five years of military service.

Now residing in Louisiana, they had been working through the legal process to secure Paola Clouatre's U.S. residency. The couple, who have two young children including a 9-week-old daughter, were surprised by ICE's intervention that stemmed from a years-old deportation order.
She was first held in Mississippi and later transferred to Richwood Correctional in Monroe, Louisiana, where she remains.

The couple's immigration attorney, Carey Holliday, said he hasn't been provided access to Paola Clouatre's records. He has also said that her detention conflicts with a national policy allowing "parole in place" for military families, a provision that can help keep service member families together.


That response passes for empathy and compassion in Chump Land.  Meanwhile, Ben Adler (USA TODAY) reports:

Immigrants in this blue-collar town say they are living in constant fear of ICE raids that have rounded up 1,500 undocumented people throughout Massachusetts.

Among those arrested was Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 11th grader at Milford High School, whose story has drawn widespread attention for throwing into stark relief immigration enforcement tensions around the country.
"There's been very high levels of anxiety in the community about immigration enforcement for many months," says Milford High School Principal Joshua Otlin.
Gomes da Silva's family, who brought him to the United States from Brazil when he was 7, are just some of the thousands of immigrants from Latin America whose arrival has reshaped Milford in the past two decades. And now their community is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation campaign.

The fear is pervasive throughout the community, says Reggie Lima, a Brazilian American who on a recent day wore a Trump hat in Milford's Padaria Brasil Bakery.

"Every day, it's on the back of everybody's mind. Nobody leaves home today without checking around, checking the windows, to see if ICE is outside," Lima says.

Chump Land where MAGA psychopaths are encouraged to be even crazier as Chump demonizes people across the country with is coarse and uninformed remarks.  Forget the adults in Massachusetts for a moment and think about Marcelo and other children in school.  MAGA pretends to follow Christ but they don't.  They're hateful sociopaths who do not give a damn what they are doing to children.  Imagine you're the child scared to leave the  house, you're the child being raised in fear?  That's outrageous.  Who would do that to a child?  Only very sick people.  Not Christians.  Don't let them bastardize the name of Jesus Christ.  They're not Christians.  Christians -- real ones -- don't attack children, don't set out to destroy them.  A child is considered innocent and anyone who lacks the compassion to make a child's life better is someone who is not a Christian no matter how hard they lie.   


Lives are being destroyed.  No one applauding this evil should be allowed to pretend that God is smiling on them.  Lives are being destroyed.  Jake Offenhartz (AP) reports on Mahmoud Khalil who has been held since March.  He didn't get to see the birth of his child.  He still hasn't.  What's the crime?  What's the justification for this?  Offenhartz quotes his fie Noor Abdalla sating, "The government is making desperate, last-ditch attempts to keep my husband unjustly imprisoned.  We are not afraid and will not be intimidated, because we know, and the government knows, it is only a matter of time before Mahmoud is free."

Chump lied.  He said it would be criminals that he was deporting.

A lot of stupid people believed him.  

You were stupid if you believed him.  I pointed out here long before the election that what he was proposing would lead to round ups of citizens.  To carry out this awful 'mission,' they'd have to profile.  So it wouldn't just be immigrants, it would be people who might be immigrants.  And we've seen that.  We've also seen those that came to this country on asylum grounds be targeted.  That's why churches -- real ones -- have broken with Chump over immigration.  This has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ.  

That needs to be pointed out daily.  They cloak themselves in Christ but they're not of Christ.  Their hypocrisy needs to be called and confronted. 

Michelle Del Rey (INDEPENDENT) notes the case of a vineyard owner picked up outside his church:

Moises Sotelo-Casas was detained outside of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Newberg, about 25 miles outside of Portland. His daughter, Alondra Sotelo-Garcia, told KGW8 that he’s now being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington.
She found out about her father’s detention when a neighbor spotted his truck and told her mother, she said. After confirming the car indeed belonged to her father, she tracked his location to an ICE detention facility in Portland and saw him later that day.

“I was crying, I was a mess,” she told the outlet. "He was in chains at his feet," she said. "Shoelaces were taken off, his belt was off, he didn't have his ring, he didn't have his watch. Everything was taken from him."

Her father runs a vineyard servicing business called Novo Start Vineyard Service. He’s been in the U.S. since the 1990s, but only managed to start the immigration process while President Joe Biden was in office. Things have changed since President Donald Trump came into power, she said.

"I know there's a lot of talk of, 'Well, he's been here that long, why hasn't he stepped up to do things the right way?' But sometimes laws don't play in your favor. You know, when you're trying to do it, sometimes money is a big factor. Sometimes, money and laws at the same time are just not cooperating at that time," said Sotelo-Garcia.
She said she understands that ICE is seeking to detain criminals, but reiterated that’s not who her father is.


And most of the ones Chump is rounding up are not criminals.  That's why you're not seeing Due Process unless a court orders and demands it.  They lie.  Chump lies.  The idiot Kristi Noem lies constantly.  She lied about US Senator Alex Padilla.  Remember her lies?  He barged into her press conference, he didn't identify himself, she felt threatened.  FBI officers brought him in to the press briefing.  Krystina Alarcon Carroll (RAW STORY) explains:


“While waiting for my scheduled briefing,” Padilla said, “I learned that Homeland Security Secretary Noem was holding a press conference literally just down the hall, and that press conference was causing my briefing to be delayed.”

The senator went on to explain he wanted to listen to Noem’s press conference “in the hopes of hearing Secretary Noem provide some new information that could help us make sense of what was happening.”

“I didn’t just get up and go,” Padilla said, “I asked and was escorted by the national guardsmen and the FBI agent into the press conference.”
“They opened the door for me,” the California Senator said. “They accompanied me into the press briefing room, and they stood next to me as I stood there for a while, listening.”

After the incident, Noem claimed she and security officers had no idea who Padilla was as, she claimed, he pushed towards her in the briefing.

Padilla claims Noem said the purpose of federal law enforcement and military was to “liberate Los Angeles from our governor and our mayor.”

He then asked his fellow senators to contemplate that statement, “To somehow liberate us from the very people that we democratically elected to lead our city and our state.”

“Colleagues,” Padilla said, “let that fundamentally un-American mission statement sink in. That is not a mission focused on public safety, and that simply is not and cannot be the mission of federal law enforcement and the United States military.”



The recordings of the moment show him stating  clearly that he is Senator Alex Padilla before she gives the nod for her goons to attack him.


While we're on the fornicator -- per THE NEW YORK POST -- Kristi who cucked her husband last year and broke The 7th Commandment but wants to pretend she's the Christian and everyone else is not, Krystina Alarcon Carroll also reports:


Immigration and Customs Enforcement could “run out of money by next month,” according to a report from Axios.

The outlet reports the agency is “already $1 billion over budget” as it carries out multiple raids across the country. Axios' lawmaker sources said the Department of Homeland Security, which is in charge of ICE, could be violating “U.S. law if it continues to spend at its current pace.”
“Trump's DHS is spending like drunken sailors," Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the outlet.


Kristi is a liar.  She lies to her husband, you think she won't lie to you?  She's a liar.  So is Chump.

Angry e-mails came in right after Chump announced that he was pausing raids on farms and had heard how this was hurting people (business owners).  Why, oh, why, the e-mailers babbled on, wasn't I giving him credit?

I'm sorry, what website did you think you were at?  We avoided a lot of nonsense in his first term by not falling into those traps.  We didn't run with a story that painted him nicely and we didn't run with ones that painted him badly.  We waited to see what would happen.  And we didn't have to do corrections as a result.  Yes, I ignored his announcement a few days ago.  And, yes, I was right to do so.  Joseph Gedeon (GUARDIAN) reports:



Donald Trump has abandoned his brief immigration and customs enforcement (Ice) reprieve for farm and hotel workers, ordering the agency’s raids in those sectors to resume after hardliners crushed a pause that lasted just four days.

The whiplash reversal, first reported by the Washington Post, exposes the dysfunction gripping the president’s deportation agenda, where competing advisers battle over policy while Trump lurches between contradictory positions.


So the most vulnerable are yet again targeted.  The worst criminals are not toiling on farms.  But these are the immigrants Chump targets.  And he gets a lot of help.

There's a Socialist running for mayor NYC.  I'm like the editorial board of THE NEW YORK TIMES here, I don't see the point of him and he doesn't appear at all qualified to be Mayor of NYC -- a job that a lot like being governor of a small-to-medium size state.  While the Socialist hides away behind celebrities -- ones that do not work or live in NYC, see Ava and my "Media: If MSNBC could just clone Rachel Maddow . . ." -- one person running for mayor does stand up for immigrants.  Jennifer Bowers Bahney (RAW STORY) reports:


New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D), who's running to be the city's next mayor, was arrested by ICE agents at an immigration court in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

Politico's Jeff Coltin posted the arrest video to X, writing, "Mayoral candidate Brad Lander was cuffed and detained by ICE agents after asking to see a warrant for people who were detained after an immigration hearing. Video from the city comptroller’s press secretary @chloecbristow. She says he’s still being held in 26 Federal Plaza."

amNewYork reported, "The city’s elected financial watchdog, and a Democratic candidate for mayor, appeared at 26 Federal Plaza on the morning of June 17 to observe immigration hearings involving individuals marked for potential deportation. Lander’s arrest, which amNewYork observed, occurred as the comptroller and his staff walked arm-in-arm with an immigrant whom federal agents — representing ICE, the FBI and the Treasury Department, each of whom wearing masks to conceal their faces — moved to seize after a court hearing. Moments earlier, the immigrant had their case dismissed pending appeal."


Some video coverage.







So one candidate for NYC mayor really put it on the line -- and made clear in doing so that he'd be more likely to back NY Governor Kathy Hochul in standing up for the residents of NYC -- something disgraced Mayor Eric Adams refused to do.


Brad stood up Tuesday morning.  And Tuesday afternoon?  The always useless Bernie Sanders endorsed . . . the Socialist.  What, you thought Bernie was going to stand up for immigrants?  No, no, no.  Only if they're Palestinian is Bernie going to say a word and most immigrants in the US?  They're Latinos.  Bernie doesn't care about them.


April 21st, in his own state of Vermont, eight migrant workers were rounded up by ICE.  Two days later, Bernie found the 'guts' to issue a brief statement.  Brief?  "NEWS: Sanders Statement on Trump Detaining Vermont Farm Workers" was 46 words from big mouth Bernie.  About an issue.  In his own state. 

One statement.  46 words.

No follow up.


His own state.  And, as of May 23rd, only one had been released.  May 23rd, Dan D'Ambrosio (BURLINGTON FREE PRESS) reported the following bullet points::


Jose Edilberto Molina-Aguilar, a Vermont dairy worker detained by Border Patrol, was released on $10,000 bond.
Two other detained farmworkers, Jesus Mendez Hernandez and Adrian Zunun-Joachin, were denied bond and remain in custody.
Molina-Aguilar's release follows that of Diblaim Maximo Sargento-Morales and Arbey Lopez-Lopez, who were also detained.
Four other farmworkers arrested in the same incident have been deported to Mexico without hearings.
Migrant Justice continues to advocate for the release of the remaining detainees.

One month after his pathetic and weak and tiny statement, he didn't care apparently what happened.  

Wait-wait-wait.  That "apparently" isn't fair to Bernie.  Let's rephrase that: He didn't care.

No apparently.  He did not care.  That's why he's ignored the round up of two more people.  Migrant Justice notes:


Free Nacho! Free Heidi! Not one more deportation!
Posted Sat, 06/14/2025 - 6:14pm

Two Migrant Justice leaders were detained by Border Patrol agents in Vermont on June 14th. Jose Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz was driving with his stepdaughter Heidi Perez in Franklin County when they were pulled over. Agents smashed their car window and violently detained the two community leaders. Both are now at risk of imminent deportation. 



Two more people.  And, again, his own state.  But no press release, no comment for 'big' and 'brave' Bernie.  Since April 23rd, he has issued 28 press releases.

And . . .

not . . .

one . . .

has been about . . . 

Latino immigrants rounded up -- not even when it happened in his own state.

There's a reason Black people have always had a problem with Bernie and a lot of White people don't want to see it.  But look at the immigrants and start noting how big and brave Bernie is when it's a Palestinian immigrant not from his state versus when it's a Latino or Latina.

Democrats will emerge on this issue.  Bernie is not a member of the Democratic Party.  He caucuses with us.  But he's not a member.  And he's clearly not going to stand up for Latinos just like he spent his entire career refusing to stand up for Black people.  If you've read even a little bit here, you know I don't play on the issue of South Africa's apartheid.  Bernie did.  For years and years, he played dumb.  
 
Again, Bernie endorsed today.  And he didn't endorse Brad Lander who put it on the line today to step up and stand for and with immigrants.  For those who are confused, Brad is DSA -- he's a Socialist as well.  But the decisions of which Socialist to support are far above the American citizen's paygrades.  MSNBC and others in the clubhouse decide who's going to get the coverage and who is not.  That's also what has protected do nothing Bernie for years.  And what protects him when he starts in on his nonsense about how we have to get along with MAGA and bend to their issues and beliefs.  

 




 






"While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE," Lander's wife, Meg Barnette, wrote on X.

"This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely," Barnette wrote.

Video of the incident posted online showed Lander outside a courtroom at the city's main immigration court when he is approached by officers, including some wearing masks.

Lander repeatedly asked the officers to show him a judicial warrant before he is handcuffed, per the video posted by Barnette.



Have we shamed Bernie enough to make him speak out in defense of Latino immigrants?  Probably not.    Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) reports:


An Atlanta-based Spanish-language reporter who has covered Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids up close could now himself be deported, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Mario Guevara, an immigrant from El Salvador, was initially arrested at an anti-deportation protest in DeKalb County.
"Online police records show Guevara was arrested by the Doraville Police Department and charged with obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly, and pedestrian walking on or along a roadway," said the report. "On Monday, Guevara’s attorneys successfully petitioned DeKalb County Magistrate Court for a bond, then learned of the ICE detainer which prevents him from being released."
According to attorney Giovanni Diaz, Guevara has work authorization and a pending green card application through his U.S. citizen son, but none of this is a deterrent to his deportation.


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



Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered the following remarks at a press conference on Republicans’ efforts to ban abortion nationwide as part of their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which they are pushing through Congress via the budget reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority to pass in each Chamber.

In addition to kicking 16 million people off their health insurance through massive cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the legislation also seeks to make abortion care impossible to access everywhere by defunding Planned Parenthood—which would threaten the closure of 200 health centers across the country and rip away care from 1.1 million patients—and by banning ACA marketplace health plans from covering abortion services.

Senator Murray’s full remarks are below and HERE:

“Well, you know there is a lot to be mad about in Republicans’ big, ugly, betrayal, and I want to make sure one hugely important issue does not get missed.

“Because I’ve come to know by now there is not a day that ends in Y, where Republicans are nottrying to ban abortion here in Congress. Republicans just can’t help themselves! If they can find a way to attack abortion care—they do it.

“And wouldn’t you know it? They snuck what essentially amounts to a backdoor abortion ban into the health provisions of this big, ugly, betrayal. That’s right, not only does this Republican monstrosity of a bill make health care more expensive, and harder to get—they are trying to stop health plans from covering abortion care altogether.

“This bill would effectively ban health insurance on the ACA marketplaces from covering abortion. This would send a shock wave through the country and put abortion care out of reach for countless women.

“It would be a nightmare for states like mine that require these plans to cover abortion. And it would be yet another blow for women across the country, as abortion access gets pushed farther and farther out of reach by right-wing politicians who think they should get to make deeply personal decisions about women’s health and lives.

“And the attacks don’t stop there. Because Republicans want to shut the doors of one of the biggest health care providers in the country. They want to defund Planned Parenthood.

“That is wildly unpopular with the American people. And it is widely dangerous for patients who turn to Planned Parenthood for a wide spectrum of care—including cancer screenings, and pap smears, and birth control.

“And if it were successful, Republicans would be closing the doors to 200 health centers—and that includes cutting the number of Planned Parenthood health centers in states with abortion access by half—and stripping away people’s access to abortion and other reproductive health care.


“It is hard to understate how devastating that would be. We are talking clinics shuttering across the country, overwhelmingly in states where abortion is legal. We are talking women left with no options for the care that they need.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a rape survivor, or you have a medical emergency, or if you simply do not want to become a parent. Whatever your reason—and whatever state you are in—if Republicans get their way, abortion care will be a lot more expensive, and a lot less accessible. For some patients, it will simply be impossible to get the care they need regardless of how badly they need it.


“We have already seen, with painful clarity, how dangerous abortion bans can be for patients. We have already seen patients pushed to the brink—and even killed—because they could not get the care they needed. And now, Republicans are about to mark the anniversary of the Dobbs decision by taking their extremism to new heights.

“We are not going to be silent about this big, ugly, betrayal, including what it means for reproductive rights. We are not going to be silent about Republicans’ backdoor efforts to ban abortion nationwide, and we are not going to stop pushing back to make sure this bill goes nowhere—except the garbage bin.”

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The following sites updated:





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