YAHOO!  NEWS: 

 ‘Five Alarm Fire’: 

Devastating New Poll Shows Trump’s Approval Cratering to 33%.

MERITOCRACY IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS JUST ANOTHER LIE

 

Pete Hegseth removed 4 decorated Army officers from a promotion list. 

Two are Black. Two are women. 

The Army Secretary refused—called their records exemplary. So Hegseth overrode it himself. Possibly illegally. His chief of staff reportedly said Trump wouldn’t want to stand next to a Black female officer at public events. 

These officers gave decades to this country. Hegseth erased them and called it meritocracy. 

Call it what it actually is: white Christian nationalism.

From "Military Times:"

"Neither the Defense Department nor the White House has offered an explanation based on the officers’ performance or record for Hegseth’s decision. About three dozen officers remain on the promotion list, according to the Times; the majority are white men. 

'This moment should not be separated from a broader, documented pattern,' Jose Vasquez, executive director of Common Defense and an Army veteran, said in a statement. 

'Since taking office, Hegseth has fired generals, renamed ships, and systematically targeted women and people of color in uniform. He is not making our military more lethal. He is making it more loyal to him and that is the true threat to national security and military readiness.' ”

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Just a reminder: 

This shameful erasure of women and people of color from the Department of Defense comes from the administration whose leader, Donald J. Trump, nominated Matt Gaetz, a former U.S. Representative who was the subject of a long-running Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into allegations of sex trafficking and sexual misconduct. 

Federal prosecutors investigated allegations that Gaetz and a former associate, Joel Greenberg, paid underage girls and escorts for sex, and violated sex trafficking laws. The probe ended with no charges filed against Gaetz. 

Following his nomination for U.S. Attorney General and subsequent resignation from Congress in November 2024, the House Ethics Committee released a report in December 2024.The report stated there was "substantial evidence" that Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl, engaged in sexual activity with women in exchange for money, used illegal drugs, and accepted impermissible gifts. 

The Trump administration claims it makes its decisions on personnel based on merit, except when it comes to the cabinet heads Trump nominated. Those decisions are based on ass-kissing loyalty and fanatical allegiance to Trump.

• Pete Hegseth (Secretary of Defense): Often described as the "least qualified" pick, Hegseth, a Fox News host and combat veteran, was picked to lead the Department of Defense, a role overseeing over 3 million employees and a $850 billion budget. Critics, including Senator Tammy Duckworth, pointed to his lack of high-level management experience compared to previous secretaries.
• Matt Gaetz (Attorney General - Withdrawn): Tapped to lead the Department of Justice, the former Congressman had no experience as a prosecutor or judge and was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, leading to questions about his suitability for the role. Gaetz withdrew from consideration.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Secretary of Health and Human Services): A prominent critic of vaccines, Kennedy was selected to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), prompting concern from health professionals about his lack of traditional public health experience.
• Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence): A former Democrat and Fox News contributor, her critics pointed to her lack of background in the intelligence community and past controversial foreign policy views.
• Linda McMahon (Secretary of Education): Former WWE executive who was tapped for the Department of Education, drawing criticism over her background. 

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

"People who elect corrupt politicians, impostors, thieves and traitors are not victims... but accomplices" ~ George Orwell

SATURDAY NIGHT WUNDERKIND

 

Joelle Poon is just 3 years old.

At three years old, she'd still be considered a toddler!

She played Shoshtakovich's Waltz #2 from memory!

GUEST POST BY DAVE MILLER

What if we really screwed up? 

What if the plans that POTUS Trump had for success in an Iran war are nowhere to be found 

What if the only way to subdue the mullahs and the religious fanatics ruling that country is to commit massive ground forces for an indeterminate amount of time? 

What if Iran does not trust the US Government under Trump because as they have noticed, he and his Admin cannot, based on empirical evidence, be trusted? 

What if what the Trump administration is offering Iran for peace is mostly— as some have reported— the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action from the Obama years that President Trump rescinded in his first term, but which Iran has now rejected? 

What if all of our high-tech, multimillion-dollar weapons are, as Russia has recently found, no match for a basement-built force of fast, nimble, cheap drones that can wreak havoc across borders and make safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz impossible?

Then what do we do? 

We have elected a president whose administration has shown itself unable to think strategically, unable to be truthful with the American people, and unable to admit when it is wrong, reset, and move ahead. 

America and the world are facing a critical moment right now. And the person in charge seems to have no clue what we should do.

‘Damning’ New Evidence Suggests Trump Stole Classified Documents to Advance Business Interests

 

This is the result of poorly informed voters believing a convicted felon --  a man who partied for decades with convicted pedophiles and is mentioned in the Epstein files thousands of times -- would make America great again. 

The most shocking realization of the Trump era is that people who identify as Conservative Christians admire and idolize Trump, who has never shown any adherence to Christian values and its commandments. 

After 10+ years, a minority of the American population still clings to the idea that Trump is some sort of liberator who'll deliver them to the promised land of a great America and the return of their savior. There is nothing in his character or life's work that remotely matches their delusions, even if they continue to believe their god is using this deeply flawed human being as an instrument of change. 

Meanwhile, almost every day new evidence of his corruption surfaces while he wages war on a country that did not attack us. 

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 ‘Damning’ New Evidence Suggests Trump Stole Classified Documents to Advance Business Interests 

 “If the DOJ is so confident in Trump’s conduct, why are they desperate” to hide former special counsel Jack Smith’s report, wondered Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. 

Democrats on the US House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday demanded that President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice “stop the cover-up” of former special counsel Jack Smith’s full investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents following his first term, after new material sent to the panel revealed that some documents were stolen to advance the president’s business interests. 

Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi about “cherry-picked documents” related to Smith’s investigations into Trump’s taking of classified documents, which he stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

"The special counsel’s team found Donald Trump held onto documents so secret only six people could legally review them — and believed his reason for doing so was personal financial gain."