HUNTER BIDEN ON THE PASSING OF SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM

 

Class act:

 Remember? 

Trump on the passing of Robert Mueller, Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient:

There are people in this country who voted for and admire Trump. IMO, a miserable failure of a human being.

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

Busy this weekend with watching the World Cup (Yay England!). And the Tall Ships celebration here in Boston Hahbah!

But this cartoon was too funny and too true to pass up:

This is wholly unAmerican and dangerous.

 

What is it about our Constitution that these maniacs do not understand? This is not Constitutional -- it's illegal under our laws, and yet this Christian Nationalist fanatic feels comfortable advocating for something completely illegal and unAmerican 

(BTW, to all those who get hysterical over Mayor Mamdani and Senator Bernie Sanders supporting some form of socialism, neither are advocating breaking the law nor changing the Constitution. It is not illegal to support socialism. It IS against our Constitution for the government to favor one religion over all others.): 

"Pete Hegseth’s pastor just told NPR he wants to strip all American women of the right to vote. Asked why, he answered: 'Because it's a good idea.'

And Pete Hegseth invited him to preach at the Pentagon.

Doug Wilson leads Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. In a sit-down interview, he said he wants the 19th Amendment gone and replaced with 'household voting,' where women only cast a ballot if they are the head of their household. He was blunt about who does the voting in his own home. The man.

He didn't stop at women. Wilson said non-Christians would not be allowed to hold public office in the America he wants. Asked whether they could at least vote, he said, "Yes, probably," then described restrictions on public spaces for non-Christian worship. Church bells, yes. Minarets, no.

Wilson has defended slavery in the American South as a relationship "based upon mutual affection." He believes homosexuality should be a crime. He calls himself a Christian nationalist and says his goal is to turn the United States into a Christian theocracy over the course of several generations, roughly 250 years, one school and one church plant at a time.

And this is the man Hegseth chose to put in front of the U.S. military. In February, the Secretary of Defense invited Wilson to deliver a sermon at the Pentagon, carried on internal Pentagon television, as part of a monthly Christian worship service Hegseth started at the building in 2025. About 300 people attended.

Wilson says he and Hegseth have "met a few times" and "texted some." He opened a Washington church because of how many people in the Trump administration follow his teachings. A Pentagon spokesperson has confirmed Hegseth is a member of Wilson's church network and "very much appreciates" his writings.

Wilson told NPR his vision is "closer to getting a hearing" than at any point in the 40 years he has preached it. He credits the reach he now has to the men who invited him inside the walls of American power. One of them runs the largest military on earth."

THE JOKES ARE WRITING THEMSELVES

 

Note:  I'm glad Platner is out. I'm also glad to see the galloping hypocrisy and non-self-awareness of the Party of Deplorables out in the open.

Platner is as unsavory and disreputable a candidate as ever ran for office, but he has yet to be indicted, put on trial, and convicted of his alleged sexual assault/rape. Unlike Trump, who IS a convicted SA/rapist, AND a convicted felon.

The Republican Party is so insane that it doesn't see that their condemnation of Platner shows them to be the worst, most immoral pandering sycophants on the planet.

The world is laughing at them!

"There's something deeply wrong with him."

 

I'm a fan of Tom Nichols. He's often featured as a guest on our local NPR station in Boston, WGBH, "The Jim and Marjorie Show."

Nichols is also from Chicopee, Mass., a city that produces great thinkers (I'm looking at one of our own commenters!) 

"Nichols registered in 1979 with the Republican Party. 

"In 2016, he described himself as a Never Trump conservative. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Nichols argued that conservatives should vote for Hillary Clinton, whom he detested, because Trump was "too mentally unstable" to serve as commander-in-chief. 

Nichols continued that type of argument for the 2018 midterm elections and advocated that Republicans could save the party by electing as many Democrats as possible in that election.

This observation by him is spot on:

Tom Nichols:  It’s almost like we have a relative in the room, and there’s something deeply wrong with him. And we’ve all agreed not to talk about it. But there is something deeply wrong with him.

His friends know it, his critics know it. His staff, I’m sure, knows it. The world knows it. World leaders know it. And most importantly, our enemies know it, which is why they don’t take him seriously.

Nobody hangs on his words. They kind of do, but mostly out of freakish curiosity to see what kind of wild thing he’s going to say next, not because his words have any inherent meaning or reflect policy.

You know, I spent years teaching students that when the president speaks, it’s policy, and you must pay attention when the president speaks because nobody can contradict him.

Now, you know, are we really cutting off all trade with Spain? Who knows? Maybe. Maybe not. It might have just been a stray electron, you know, careening around inside his brainpan. Who knows?

But this is really dangerous because in the middle of all this stuff—and we can laugh about, you know, the Islamic Republic of Japan and all of that—but he made several statements about an ongoing war that the United States is losing. And no one’s even trying to pretend that they can make any sense of it.

And I’ll just add one last thing that you just brought up.

If this were any other president, this would be a national crisis. I mean, Joe Biden got somebody’s name wrong, and it was headlines. The president gets all kinds of things wrong, completely, you know, is out to lunch at an important NATO summit, and, you know, it’s Wednesday.

The Parties Are NOT The Same

 

Platner vs. Trump

Democrats heard credible allegations and said, “Drop out.” Republicans heard 34 felonies, rape liability, and Epstein files and said, "Best president ever."

Maine Democratic Party Says Platner Will Have ‘No Role’ in Picking Next Nominee 

A top state party official said that Graham Platner’s team had “repeatedly” tried to “put their thumb on the scale,” but he would not influence how the party chose a new Senate candidate.

With Trump’s Backing, Paxton Routs Cornyn in Texas Senate G.O.P. Runoff

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has faced multiple scandals, including indictments for first-degree felony securities fraud in 2015 and a 2023 impeachment by the Texas House for bribery and abuse of office.

From AI:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton: Paxton won the Republican Senate primary and has maintained strong party backing despite a history of scandals, including a 2023 impeachment trial by the Texas House on charges of abuse of office and bribery. He was ultimately acquitted by the state Senate, and his supporters view these allegations as politically motivated attacks by an entrenched establishment.

Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner: Platner lost his backing from top Democrats following a report detailing serious allegations of sexual assault. In response to the bombshell story, Senate leadership and prominent national Democrats actively called for him to step down from the race.

Why the approaches differ:

Party Response to Allegations: Democrats moved swiftly to distance themselves from Platner to avoid damaging a critical and competitive seat in the U.S. Senate.

The Incumbency Factor: In Texas, Paxton successfully galvanized the hard-right and MAGA base, leading national Republicans to rally behind him—and focus their resources on beating his Democratic opponent, James Talarico—even if it caused internal handwringing.

HE RUINS EVERTHING HE TOUCHES

 

#ETTD

"The US men's national team was eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Round of 16 following a 4-1 defeat by Belgium at Lumen Field in Seattle.

Belgium dominated the match, fueled by two first-half goals from Charles De Ketelaere, a capitalizing strike from Hans Vanaken following an error by U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese, and a stoppage-time goal by Romelu Lukaku. 

The lone goal for the Americans was a deflected free kick by Malik Tillman. 

The match was preceded by controversy surrounding the status of U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, who was cleared to play after his red-card suspension was lifted following an unusual intervention from President Donald Trump, a decision that players on the Belgian side admitted gave them extra motivation.

With the defeat, the U.S. joins co-hosts Canada and Mexico as eliminated teams, while Belgium advances to play Spain in the quarterfinals."

MEIDAS TOUCH:

THE TRUMP EFFECT: The USA just lost to Belgium in the World Cup Round of 16 by a score of 4-1, right after Trump personally called FIFA to clear star striker Balogun to play. Sports fans are calling it the Trump curse. He attended the Super Bowl and predicted a Chiefs win, but the Eagles blew them out. He was there when the Commanders hosted the Lions and lost at home. He watched from a suite as Miami fell in the College Football National Championship. He sat in the owner’s suite when the Knicks snapped their huge playoff streak in NBA Finals Game 3. And he attended the Ryder Cup where Europe topped the US team.