Blog Betty (Thomas Friedman is a Great Man was an online novel)

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

The courts

Let's focus on the courts tonight. First, via REUTERS, some Supreme Court news, "The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a student's challenge on free speech grounds to a Massachusetts public school's decision to bar him from wearing a T-shirt reading "There are only two genders" due to concern about the message's effect on transgender and other pupils. The justices turned away an appeal by the student, who was 12 at the time of the 2023 incident, of a lower court's ruling upholding the ban as a reasonable restriction and rejecting his claim that the school's action violated the U.S. Constitution's protections against government abridgment of speech." Oh, the little hateful brat didn't get his way. Boo-hoo. The whole school didn't have to be upended so that he could sport his hate. Greg Stohr (BLOOMBERG NEWS) adds:

The dispute took place in 2023, when L.M. was a seventh grader at Nichols Middle School. After he arrived at school wearing the shirt, Tucker pulled him from class and told him he couldn’t return unless he took it off. When L.M. declined, the principal called his father, who took L.M. home.

L.M. later tried to wear the same shirt with a piece of tape over the words “only two” and “censored” written on top. L.M. removed that shirt after he was confronted by school officials. He wasn’t disciplined for either incident.

LM stands for Little Man and that's all LM will ever be. He's a little Eddie Haskill ass kisser.

As we all know, Donald Chump threatens judges constantly and eggs on his mob to go after them. Now prissy pants Miss Sassy has joined Chump in doing this. Reanna Smith (IRISH STAR) notes:

JD Vance has warned that the courts need to be "deferential" to Donald Trump as he accused them of attempting to "overturn the will of the American people" in a scathing attack on the judicial system.

The Vice President hit out at Chief Justice John Roberts during an interview with the New York Times’ Ross Douthat in which the pair discussed the Trump administration's string of immigration court losses. Vance referenced Robert's recent comments about the role of the judiciary, blasting it as a “profoundly wrong sentiment."

Earlier this month, the Chief Justice defended the importance of judicial independence in the wake of relentless attacks on judges, including repeated rants by the president himself.

According to the constitution, the judiciary “is a co-equal branch of government, separate from the others, with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down, obviously, acts of Congress or acts of the president,” Roberts noted.

“Its job is to, obviously, decide cases but in the course of that check the excesses of Congress or of the executive, and that does require a degree of independence,” he added.

Do you think Miss Sassy cries at night as he realizes that he's still cheap trash and no one with a brain respects him? I think so.

I hope he runs for president in 2028. I can't wait to see Chump torpedo him day after day -- the way Chump will go after anyone and try to destroy them so he can continue to pretend he's great. The minute the GOP gets a new president, Chump is gone and forgotten.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Donnie Dementia's cognitive decline grows more and more obvious.

It was a long and tough weekend for Donnie Dementia as he embarrassed himself in public over and over.

Saturday, Chump dragged his fat ass to West Point. He basically crapped himself in front of the young cadets. Hillary Hanson (HUFFINGTON POST) notes:

President Donald Trump went on a tangent about “trophy wives” during his commencement address at West Point Military Academy on Saturday.

Speaking to graduating cadets, Trump told a story about William Levitt, the real estate developer who pioneered mass-produced homes in suburban developments known as Levittowns.

Trump brought Levitt up as an example of someone who had “momentum” in his career and then lost it. While discussing the life of the “great, great real estate man,” Trump made a point to comment on his marital history.

“He ended up getting a divorce, found a new wife,” Trump said. “Could you say a trophy wife? I guess we can say a trophy wife. It didn’t work out too well, but that doesn’t work out too well, I must tell you. A lot of trophy wives, it doesn’t work out. But it made him happy for a little while at least. But he found a new wife.”

None of that had anything to do with reality or West Point or the cadets. We did note that it had to do with racism. Chump's talking about himself and connecting himself with 'poor' Levitt. Levitt wasn't brought down by any of his three wives. He had a promising career up until his racism began to kill it in the early sixties. Does no one remember The Civil Rights Movement? That's what destroyed him. Racism wasn't going to be accepted and overlooked anymore. Refusing to sell homes to Black people was no longer acceptable.

That simple observation sent some MAGAs into a tizzy and they stormed the public e-mail account insisting Levitt wasn't a racist. He was. We judge people by their actions and by his actions? Levitt was a racist.

And that racism is still felt today. I'm sorry that MAGA is too lazy or stupid for a GOOGLE search. You can read David Kushner's LEVITTOWN: TWO FAMILIES, ONE TYCOON AND THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA'S LEGENDARY SUBURB for starters. It will walk you through the 1957 Civil Rights case. Or you can just skip ahead to a 2019 report by Rachelle Blidner (NEWSDAY):

The current demographics of Levittown reflect its history, residents said. The developers of Levittown prohibited people of color from moving in through contract clauses, a common practice at the time. Restrictive racial covenants were recommended by the Federal Housing Administration to create homogenous communities. The U.S. Supreme Court struck them down in 1948, but William Levitt kept them.

Levittown’s restrictive racial covenant read: “The tenant agrees not to permit the premises to be used or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race. But the employment and maintenance of other than Caucasian domestic servants shall be permitted.”

Levitt developed more than 17,400 partially prefabricated Cape Cods and ranch-style houses in planned communities with parks, pools and schools.

The media all ducked their heads on the racist being mourned by Chump. Even an article laughably entitled "Who Was William Levitt? Trump Recounts Real Estate Mogul's 'Trophy Wife' Story In West Point Speech" failed to note the racism Levitt trafficked in and profited from.

Chump connects with Levitt because he's a racist. And they both had three wives. And, like Leavitt, Chump is being brought down by his racism.

Apparently, the closest CNN has come to calling out Chump's praise for and defense of racist Levitt is to term the remarks a speech for "a political rally." Like the one he gave at Madison Square Garden?

Naomi LaChance (ROLLING STONE) reports:

Over and over again, courts have ruled that the Trump administration's actions are unlawful. Speaking before the West Point cadets, Trump expressed hope that judges will stop standing in the way and allow him to continue his lawless deportations, framing them as necessary to stop a criminal "invasion" at the border. "It's not easy, but hopefully the courts will allow us to continue," he said.

Trump separately praised his record so far as president.

Every speech is about Chump, every remark. There's never been a bigger self-promoter or anyone as vain as Chump. He demonstrated that on Memorial Day as well.

That's when Donnie Dementia spoke at Arlington National Cemetery. Graeme Demianyk (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:

President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that his two terms in the White House had moved in mysterious ways as he addressed thousands of veterans on Memorial Day.

Delivering remarks at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump mused on how he is only in the White House for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and soccer’s 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, as well as next year’s events to mark the U.S. signing the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago, because he “missed that second term.”

Andrew Gamble (IRISH STAR) adds:

United States President Donald Trump unashamedly used his Memorial Day address to boast about upcoming major sporting events coming to America.

On Monday, Trump took to the podium to give an interesting speech on Memorial Day. Rather than talking about the sentiment of the day as he visited the Arlington National Cemetery with Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump took his opportunity to gloat about the World Cup and Olympics coming to American shores across his second term.

United States President Donald Trump unashamedly used his Memorial Day address to boast about upcoming major sporting events coming to America.

Benedict Smith (THE TELEGRAPH) observed, "Donald Trump told a Memorial Day ceremony attended by families of war dead that he had 'everything'." Jack Blanchard (POLITICO) offers this recap of the weekend:

On Saturday — as is traditional — the president delivered the annual commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Except most presidents would not don a baseball cap emblazoned with a political slogan and then veer off for the best part of an hour with a campaign-style rally speech attacking “drag shows” and “critical race theory,” complaining about their treatment by law enforcement and offering musings on — checks notes — “trophy wives” to the watching cadets.

On Sunday — less traditional, though becoming commonplace — Trump abruptly canned the 50 percent tariffs he’d announced barely 48 hours earlier on one of America’s closest allies, the European Union. (The two sides now have six weeks to cut a deal.) A few hours later, Trump was tearing into Russian President Vladimir Putin for killing civilians in Ukraine, insisting that “something has happened” to send his former friend “CRAZY” … while ignoring the fact Putin has been doing exactly this for the past three years.

Then on Monday — back to tradition — the president delivered a solemn Memorial Day tribute to the fallen at Arlington National Ceremony … except most presidents maybe don’t get quite as political as he did. And they certainly don’t precede the occasion with a 174-word ALL-CAPS social media post which starts “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY …” and takes in “MENTALLY INSANE” migrants, “WARPED RADICAL” Democrats and “USA HATING” judges, among others.

Finally, Trump wrapped the long weekend … by pardoning former Sheriff Scott Jenkins, of Virginia, who was facing 10 years in prison after being convicted by a jury of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes. (Jenkins blames a Joe Biden-appointed judge for his plight, and it seems the current president agrees.) Despite the jaw-dropping nature of this move, it will barely register in the context of the past six months of American politics.

He covers so much but leaves out Donnie Dementia. Others were not so circumspect. Elle Griffis (IRISH TIMES) points out:

The aggressive tirade comes after a week in which his mental and cognitive abilities were called into question during public appearances.

On Saturday. Trump appeared to show his age during his commencement speech at the West Point Military Academy. Some observers felt he seemed uncertain about where to go after his wandering speech.

Social media users criticised also criticised his conduct at the prestigious event , as he didn’t stop to shake hands with or salute any of the graduates.

Then on Sunday he made a blunder during an interview about US steel. The Republican leader was asked about Nippon Steel’s $14.3 billion investment in US Steel.

The Japanese steelmaker will partner with US Steel, keeping its headquarters in Pennsylvania. However, the recent blip had him mixing up Nissan and Nippon Steel. He said: “But they're going to invest billions of dollars in steel. And it's a good company. Nissan is a very good company.”

Sabrina Haake (RAW STORY) explains:

To ensure that the United States will always be led by a coherent, functioning President, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment provides for the prompt, orderly, and democratic transfer of executive power in the event the president is incapacitated, physically or mentally. Trump’s tariff debacle, where he thrust out his chest, flung economic incoherence at the world, then flip flopped only two days later, was the strongest evidence yet- in a roiling sea of evidence- that he is mentally incapacitated.

Despite inheriting the strongest post-covid economy in the world, Trump keeps insisting that the US economy is broken and in need of saving.He insists global trading partners who sell us more than they buy from us- even countries that are a fraction of our size- are “taking advantage.”

Trump’s tariff drama was so asinine, he’s either self-dealing or insane. Frankly, although they are not mutually exclusive, I’d prefer the former. I only wish that rumors swirling in the media today, suggesting Trump’s tariffs were a hustle, an insider scheme meant to enrich his backers, were true. Trump being a self-dealing crook poses less danger to the world than him making than no sense at all.

Leaders of the EU are too intelligent to sneer out loud at Trump’s flip flop on tariffs. Aware of his deranged lust for revenge, they are reluctant to utter the truth about his economic ignorance. But the world is aware, even if Americans aren’t, that our president is deranged.

Because Trump’s administration hasrefused to release his medical records, other mental health professionals have come forward with their own assessments. The emerging consensus is that Trump, showing cognitive decline, is presenting signs of advanced dementia.

Dementia. Dementia Donald.

.Back to that pardon, Jared Gans (THE HILL) reports:

President Trump issued a full pardon Monday to a former Virginia sheriff who had been convicted of bribery, alleging that he was a victim of a “weaponized” Justice Department under the Biden administration.

Trump announced his pardon of Scott Jenkins, who was convicted in December of accepting more than $70,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing local businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in the office.

Why did he pardon him? Because Chump doesn't see it a crime. He's so corrupt and crooked that he thinks bribery is perfectly normal and doesn't give a damn that the he violated not just ethics, not just laws but the public's trust as well.

BLUESKY on the pardon.

We'll wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray' office:

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) decision released this morning, which concludes that President Trump is illegally impounding funding approved by Congress in violation of the Impoundment Control Act (ICA):

“This legal decision affirms what we’ve long known: the President is breaking the law to block funding Congress passed on a bipartisan basis and that is owed to the American people—simply because he disagrees with it. This plain fact is unacceptable—and it cannot stand any longer.

“Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law by wide margins and specifically provided funding for every state to build out a network of chargers for the electric vehicles that families are increasingly turning to and that are being made right here in America. These investments should be getting out the door—creating new jobs and helping Americans get where they need to go without interruption—but President Trump has illegally choked this funding off.

“These bipartisan investments need to start flowing immediately—as do the hundreds of billions of dollars in other investments President Trump is holding up. I don’t care about Russ Vought’s personal interpretation of our spending laws; the Constitution is clear, and President Trump simply does not have the power of the purse—Congress does.”

Presidents do not wield the power to unilaterally withhold or block investments that have been enacted into law through what’s known as “impoundment.” This foundational principal has been affirmed time and again. The Impoundment Control Act (ICA) of 1974 makes this plain and establishes limited procedures the president can and must follow to propose delaying or rescinding enacted funding—procedures Trump has not sought to use.

The Impoundment Control Act also charges the GAO with the responsibility to investigate and report to Congress when the president illegally withholds funding—as it has done today. In recent testimony to the Committee, the GAO acknowledged that it has opened 39 impoundment investigations and counting. Today’s announcement marks its first decision in one of those investigations. The ICA also authorizes the Comptroller General to file suit when the president illegally impounds funding.

Since his first hours in office, President Trump has illegally blocked funding owed to communities across the country through a variety of different means. Senate and House Appropriations Committee Democrats have been tracking Trump’s illegal funding freeze and found that, as of April 29^th, President Trump is blocking at least $430 billion in funding owed to the American people. More information is available HERE.

In today’s decision, the GAO concluded the Department of Transportation (DOT) violated the Impoundment Control Act when it delayed expenditures for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program that were required by law to be spent. Its decision states in part: “DOT is not authorized under the ICA to withhold these funds from expenditure and must continue to carry out the statutory requirements of the program. If DOT wishes to make changes to the obligation and expenditure of funds appropriated under the NEVI Formula Program, it must propose funds for rescission or otherwise propose legislation to make changes to the law for consideration by Congress. …. DOT’s withholding of NEVI Formula Program funds violates the ICA.”

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $5 billion in funding from fiscal year 2022 through 2026 for NEVI. The program provides funding to states to strategically create an electric vehicle (EV) charging network, which is critical to meeting new demand from American consumers. A 2024 study projected the U.S. would need 182,000 direct current fast chargers to accommodate the growing EV market—nearly triple the current capacity of just over 55,000. But President Trump has blocked all new obligations of funding for the program—blocking states from using these investments and hurting communities across America.

###

Kat's "Kat's Korner: Bruce and Melanie -- a better music industry would be getting the word out" went up yesterday. The following sites updated over the long weekend:

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Fiona Apple's back with something important to say

I wasn't planning to post this weekend but Fiona Apple has a new song.

"Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)" available at: https://FionaApple.lnk.to/Pretrial Visit https://LetHerGoHome.org to learn more about the song and cause, to donate, and to take other actions Donate directly: https://givebutter.com/s9WDXn Volunteer to Court Watch: https://CourtWatch.org Learn more about Black Mamas Bail Out: https://www.dmvbailout.org Video produced by Zealous (https://zealo.us) and Special Operations Studios (https://www.special-operations.co/) Subscribe to the official YouTube channel: https://FionaApple.lnk.to/subscribeYD Watch more videos by Fiona Apple: https://FionaApple.lnk.to/listenYC/yo... Follow Fiona Apple: Facebook: https://FionaApple.lnk.to/followFI Spotify: https://FionaApple.lnk.to/followSI #FionaApple #Pretrial #LetHerGoHome (C) 2025 Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

Musically, I really like the song because it's catchy. I also like the fact that this is an important cause.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Friday, May 23, 2025. The administration's lies are so bad even PEOPLE MAGAZINE is reporting on them, Pam Bondi thought deleting a transcript on the White House website meant it was gone from all public records, the war on immigrants continues, and much more.

As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed the hideous budget bill early Thursday and it now heads to the Senate. Jen Psaki was a member of the Obama administration -- spokesperson for the State Dept was her most prominent role in the Obama administration -- and a member of the Biden administration -- White House press secretary. On her MSNBC show last night, she addressed where things stand now.

So although some Republicans are saying the bill will be final before the leave for July 4th vacations, Jen notes that it often takes five months. And she notes that in whatever time it takes, this measure crammed through in all night sessions will now be subject to scrutiny from the press and to comment from the public which may impact what stays in and what doesn't. As of this week, it is not a done deal.

And that's good because there are so many awful things about the bill that we already know.

Katie Phang has left MSNBC and is now with the MEIDAS NEWS NETWORK. Yesterday, she addressed the administration's latest DOGE lies.

To avoid honoring the Freedom of Information Act, as Ann noted last night, the White House is now insisting -- in a legal filing -- that Musk is not "a part of DOGE."

Not a part of DOGE?

Lie.

We know it's a lie.

I know it and you know it.

Pam Bondi knows it.

The White House, as I was informed by someone in the administration -- Donald and Tulsi, figure out who your leaker is!!! -- has been deleting postings that undercut and expose the lies they tell in their legal filings -- the many lies they tell in their many legal filings. Supposedly, this move was recommended by the 'genius' that is Pam Bondi

That's why they've taken down a February posting.

404 / Page Not Found

We couldn’t find that page. Back to home.

You know they're stupid. Maybe Secretary of Education Linda McMahon tutors them all daily -- that would explain how they get more stupid each day.

But mistaking herself for Blair on THE FACTS OF LIFE, Pam Bondi was hit with 'another one of my brilliant ideas' and shared that they needed to be sure that things that undercut and exposed the lies that they were telling in legal filings -- they're telling a lot of lies in legal filings -- are not seen, they should pull them from the White House website.

[Added at 6:40 pm EST May 23, 2025: A CNN friend called to tell me Brian Stelter wrote yesterday about disappearing things at the White House website. In his report, Brian notes HUFFINGTON POST's SV Date reported on disappearing items at that website on May 15th. Was not aware of those, sorry. What we're noting above is Pam Bondi called for things to be pulled down because the official record doesn't match what the administration argues in court filings.]

Again, they're really stupid.

Yes, they pulled a transcript of a joint-interview that Chump and Musk did in February.

But, sorry, that didn't make the interview disappear.

It's still out there. Sean Hannity interviewed the two.

Via ROLL CALL, this is from the transcript of the interview and I'm pulling what I feel are key sections that refute the lie that Musk was not part of DOGE -- and I don't have time to fact check the two liars -- three, forgot Sean! -- so here we go:

Sean Hannity 00:00:04-00:00:05 (1 sec)

Great to see you.

Elon Musk 00:00:05-00:00:05 (1 sec)

Thanks. Thanks for having me.

Sean Hannity 00:00:05-00:00:07 (1 sec)

I've been reading a lot about you.

Sean Hannity 00:00:07-00:00:21 (15 sec)

I've got to start with this. So, he's working for free with DOGE. He's -- he's kind of put a lot of his life on hold, and you sued Twitter a number of years ago. You just made him pay you $10 million?

Donald Trump 00:00:21-00:00:22 (1 sec)

That's right. That's right.

Sean Hannity 00:00:22-00:00:23 (1 sec)

That's -- that's right. [Laughs]

Donald Trump 00:00:23-00:00:26 (2 sec)

Well, I sued -- I sued from long before he had it.

Elon Musk 00:00:26-00:00:26 (1 sec)

Yeah. Yeah. [Inaudible]

[. . .]

Donald Trump 00:08:02-00:08:21 (19 sec)

Because, I mean, he doesn't talk about it. He's actually a very good businessman. And when he talks about the executive orders -- and this is probably true for all presidents: You write an executive order and you think it's done, you send it out; it doesn't get done. It doesn't get implemented. They don't implement it. They -- maybe they're from the last administration -- and they are, in some cases.

Donald Trump 00:08:21-00:08:41 (21 sec)

You try and get them out as fast as you can. But I could -- as soon as he said that, I said, "You know, that's interesting." You write a beautiful executive -- and you sign it and you assume it's going to be done, but it's not. What he does is he takes it, and with his hundred geniuses -- he's got some very brilliant young people working for him that dress much worse than him, actually --

Elon Musk 00:08:41-00:08:42 ( sec)

Yeah, the do.

Donald Trump 00:08:42-00:08:44 (3 sec)

-- they dress in just t-shirts. [Laughter] You wouldn't know they have 180 IQ.

Sean Hannity 00:08:44-00:08:48 (3 sec)

Wait. Wait. So, what -- he's -- he's your tech support?

Elon Musk 00:08:48-00:08:48 ( sec)

I --

Donald Trump 00:08:48-00:08:48 ( sec)

No, no. He is --

Elon Musk 00:08:48-00:08:50 (2 sec)

I actually virtually am tech support.

Donald Trump 00:08:50-00:08:50 (1 sec)

He's much more than that.

Elon Musk 00:08:50-00:08:52 (2 sec)

I actually am tech support, though. But that's --

Donald Trump 00:08:52-00:09:05 (12 sec)

But he gets it done. He's a leader. He really is a -- he gets it done. You get a lot of tech people, and you have people, they're good with tech, but they -- he gets it done. You know, I said, in real estate, you had guys that would draw beautiful renderings of a building, and they'd draw the rendering, it would be great, and you'd say, "Great.

Donald Trump 00:09:05-00:09:20 (15 sec)

When are you starting?" But they were never able to get it built. They couldn't get the finances. They couldn't get the approvals. It would never get done. And then you have other guys that are able to get it done. You know, they could just get it done. I was in real estate. Same thing in this. He gets it done.

Donald Trump 00:09:20-00:09:42 (22 sec)

So, when he said that -- he said, "You know, when you sign these executive orders, a lot of them don't get done, and maybe the most important ones," and he would take that executive order that I'd signed, and he would have those people go to whatever agency it was -- "When are you doing it? Get it done. Get it done." And some guy that maybe didn't want to do it, all of a sudden, he's signing -- he just doesn't want to bothered.

Sean Hannity 00:09:42-00:09:47 (5 sec)

Does -- do a lot of those executive orders have to be codified into law to -- do you need the Republican Congress to follow up?

Donald Trump 00:09:47-00:09:49 (3 sec)

Yeah, and they will. A lot of them will be. Yeah.

[. . .]

Donald Trump 00:11:06-00:11:19 (13 sec)

But the team we have is -- is really unbelievable. But those executive orders, I sign them, and now they get passed on to him and his group and other people, and they're all getting done. We're getting them done.

Sean Hannity 00:14:18-00:14:31 (13 sec)

But this is the interesting -- but this is where we are as a so- -- a society. And I -- I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to do it anyway. You're doing all of these things. At DOGE, nobody at DOGE gets paid a penny, correct?

Elon Musk 00:14:31-00:14:33 (3 sec)

Well, actually, some people are federal employees, so they do.

Sean Hannity 00:14:33-00:14:34 (1 sec)

Oh, okay.

Elon Musk 00:14:34-00:14:43 (9 sec)

Yeah. They're [Inaudible]. But it's fair to say that the software engineers at DOGE could be earning millions of dollars a year and instead of earning a small fraction of that as federal employees.

Sean Hannity 00:14:43-00:14:45 (2 sec)

Okay. So, just --

Donald Trump 00:14:45-00:14:46 (1 sec)

And they're very committed people.

Elon Musk 00:14:46-00:14:47 (1 sec)

Yes.

So the exchange tells us that Musk has a bunch of 'geniuses' under him (Donald's term) and that Musk is implementing these executive orders as Chump signs them. But he's not a part of DOGE?

Remember Alien in the Oval Office?

That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "I Have Two Daddies" -- remember that day now? Where Musk went to the Oval Office and spoke to reporters while rubbing his son's head repeatedly against his crotch?

Via THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY PROJECT's transcript, here's some of what was said February 11th regarding Musk and Doge:

President Donald Trump: And we're going to be signing a very important deal today. It's DOGE. And I'm going to ask Elon to tell you a little bit about it and some of the things that we've found, which is shocking: billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse. And I think it's very important.

And that's one of the reasons I got elected. I said we're going to do that. Nobody had any idea it was that bad, that sick, and that corrupt. And it seems hard to believe that judges want to try and stop us from looking for corruption, especially when we found hundreds of millions of dollars' worth—much more than that—in just a short period of time. And we want to weed out the corruption, and it seems hard to believe that a judge could say, "We don't want you to do that."

Well, so, maybe we have to look at the judges, because that's very serious. I think it's a very serious violation.

I'll ask Elon Musk to say a few words, and we'll take some questions.

Elon, go ahead.

Senior Adviser Musk. Sure.

So, the—at a—high level, if you say, "What is the goal of DOGE" or—and, I think, a significant part of this Presidency is to restore democracy. This may seem—like, "Well, aren't we in a democracy?" Well, if you don't have a feedback loop—

X Æ A-Xii Musk. [Inaudible]

Senior Adviser Musk. Okay, X—we'd have to—if you—[laughter]. Sorry. I tell you, gravitas can be difficult sometimes. [Laughter]

So, if—there's not a good feedback loop from the people to—the Government and—if you have rule of—the bureaucrat—or if the bureaucracy is in charge and—then what meaning does democracy actually have? If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives in the form of the President and—the Senate and the House, then we don't live in a democracy. We live in a bureaucracy.

So, it's incredibly important that we close that feedback loop, we fix that feedback loop, and that the public—the public's elected representatives—the President, the House, and the Senate—decide what happens, as opposed to an—a large unelected bureaucracy.

[Senior Adviser Musk continued his remarks, concluding as follows.]

So, what—what I really want to say is, like, it's not optional for us—to reduce the Federal expenses; it's essential. It's essential for America to remain solvent as a country, and it's essential for America to have the resources necessary to provide things to its citizens and not simply be servicing vast amounts of debt.

The President. And, also, could you mention some of the things that your team has found, some of the crazy numbers, including the woman that walked away with about $30 million, et cetera?

Senior Adviser Musk. Right. Well, we—are—we do find it sort of rather odd that, you know, there—are quite a few people in—the bureaucracy who—have, ostensibly, a salary of a few hundred thousand dollars but somehow managed to accrue tens of millions of dollars of net worth while they are in that position, which is—[laughter]—you know, what—what happened at USAID. We're just curious as to where it came from. Maybe they're very good at investing, in which case we should take their investment advice, perhaps. But just—there seems to be—mysteriously, they get wealthy. We don't—why? Where does it come from?

And I think the reality is that they're getting wealthy at the taxpayer expense. That's— the—that's the honest truth of it.

[Senior Adviser Musk continued his remarks, concluding as follows.]

So, anyway. So, I think—you know, that's an example—like, at a high level, if you could say, like, how do we increase prosperity, is we get people to do—to shift from roles that are low to negative productivity to high productivity roles. And so, you increase the total output of goods and services, which means that there's a higher standard of living available for everyone. That's—that's the actual goal.

Everyone is very quiet, by the way. Is it—are people normally this quiet? [Laughter]

Q. Your—detractors, Mr. Musk——

Senior Adviser Musk. I have—what?

Q. ——including a lot of Democrats—

Senior Adviser Musk. I have detractors?

Q. You do, sir.

Senior Adviser Musk. I don't believe it.

Q. ——say that you're orchestrating a hostile takeover of Government and doing it in a nontransparent way. What's your response to that criticism?

Senior Adviser Musk. Well, first of all, you couldn't ask for a stronger mandate from the public. The public voted, you know, that we—have a majority of the public vote voting for President Trump. We won the House. We won the Senate.

I don't have time to correct all the lies but this is a lie that keeps getting repeated. Donald Chump did not get a majority of the votes.

He got 49% of the votes, Kamala Harris got 47% of the votes.

That is not a majority. It is a plurality.

They are not the same thing.

Alien Musk is a racist born and raised in apartheid South Africa. He does not know democracy. He's supposed to know basic math but as evidenced by his terming a plurality a majority, I doubt his math skills as well.

Musk: The people voted for major government reform. There should be no doubt about that. That was—on the campaign, the President spoke about that at every rally. The people voted for major Government reform, and that's what people are going to get. They're going to get what they voted for.

And—a lot of times, you know, people—they don't get what they voted for. But in this Presidency, they are going to get what they voted for, and that's what democracy is all about.

I thought it was immigration and cheaper grocery prices that people voted for? It's amazing how they lie and use the claim that less than half of the voters selecting Chump

Q. Mr. Musk, the White House says——

Senior Adviser Musk. Yes.

Q. ——that you will identify and excuse yourself——

Q. I have one more.

Q. ——from any conflicts of interest that you may have. Does that mean that you are, in effect, policing yourself? What are the checks and balances that are in place to ensure that there is accountability and transparency?

Senior Adviser Musk. Well, we—actually are trying to be as transparent as possible. In fact, our actions—we post our actions to the DOGE handle on X and to the DOGE website. So, all of our actions we are—maximally transparent. In fact, I don't think there's been—I can't—I don't know of a case that—where—an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization.

And—so—you know, and—the kind of things we're doing are, I think, very— simple and basic. They're—not—we're—you know, what I mentioned, for—example, about Treasury just making sure that—payments that go out, taxpayer money that goes out is —categorized correctly, that the—the payment is explained, that organizations on the Do Not Pay list, which are—it takes a lot to get there—they actually are not paid, which currently they are paid.

These—are not individual judgment decisions. These are about simply having sensible checks and balances in the system itself to ensure that taxpayer money is spent well.

So, it's got nothing to do with, like, say, a contract with some company of mine at all.

Government Ethics/Efficiency Efforts

Q. But if there is a conflict in—of interest when it comes to you, yourself—for instance, you've received billions of dollars in Federal contracts when it comes to the Pentagon, for instance, which the President, I know, has directed you to look into——

Senior Adviser Musk. Yes.

Q. ——are you policing yourself in that? Is there any sort of accountability check and balance in place that would provide any transparency for the American people?

Senior Adviser Musk. Well, all of our actions are—are fully public. So, if you see anything—you say, like: "Wait a second. Hey, Elon, that doesn't—that seems like maybe that's—you know, there's a conflict there." It's—it's not like people are going to be shy about saying that. They'll say it immediately. You know?

Q. Including you, yourself, right?

Senior Adviser Musk. Yes. But it's what—transparency is what builds trust, not simply somebody asserting trust. So, not somebody saying they're trustworthy, but transparency so you can see everything that's going on. And then you can see am I doing something that benefits one of my companies or not. It's totally obvious.

Q. But——

The President. And if we thought that, we would not let him do that segment or look in that area—if we thought there was a lack of transparency or a conflict of interest. And we watch that also.

He's——

Q. [Inaudible]

The President. He's a big businessman. He's a successful guy. That's why we want him doing this. We don't want a—an unsuccessful guy doing this.

Now, one thing also that Elon hasn't really mentioned are the groups of people that are getting some of these payments. They're ridiculous, and we're talking about billions of dollars that we've already found. We found fraud and abuse. I would say those two words, as opposed to the third word that I usually use. But in this case, fraud and abuse. It's abusive because most of these things are virtually made-up or, certainly, money shouldn't be sent to them. And you know what I'm talking about. It's crazy. So—but we're talking about tens of billions of dollars that we've already found.

And now a judge, who is an activist judge, wants to try and stop us from doing this. Why? Why would they want to do that? I campaigned on this. I campaigned on the fact that I said Government is corrupt, and it is very corrupt. It's very, very—it's also foolish.

We're stopping there. I can only stomach so much garbage. JFK said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Chump says, "I campaigned on the fact that I said Government is corrupt, and it is very corrupt." Yes, when headed by a Convicted Felon it is very corrupt. But it's not supposed to be nor is the leader of our government supposed to verbally attack and insult the government or threaten judges or do any of the nonsense that Chump does.

They're lying and the public record exposes them as liars. Musk was a part of DOGE, he was over it and Chump felt the need to bring him into the Oval Office to address reporters with questions regarding DOGE. Pam Bondi doesn't control the internet, thank goodness, so she can only suggest taking pages down from the White House's official site.

But reality remains all over the internet and she can't erase the public record -- though we all know she'd love to if she could. And, again, good luck Tulsi and Donald and figuring out who passed on about Pam's 'brilliant idea' that Donald knew was going to be the answer in court filings.

They lie in court filings all the time. Especially when it comes to their war on immigrants. They have to lie because the administration is made up of disgusting people doing disgusting things. AP reports the latest disgusting effort on the part of the White House:

The Trump administration is seeking to end an immigration policy cornerstone that since the 1990s has offered protections to child migrants in federal custody, a move that will be challenged by advocates, according to a court filing Thursday.

The protections in place, known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, largely limit to 72 hours the amount of time that child migrants traveling alone or with family and detained by the U.S. Border Patrol. They also ensure the children are kept in safe and sanitary conditions.

Government attorneys called the Flores agreement an “intrusive regime” that has “ossified” federal immigration policy. In a motion filed Thursday afternoon, they contend that the agreement is no longer necessary after Congress passed legislation and government agencies enforced policies that also implement standards and regulations called for in the agreement.

They truly are vile and disgusting. They kidnapped over 300 men that they then sent to a gulag in El Salvador. The men were denied due process, they were denied their rights. One of them is noted by Christopher Wiggins (THE ADVOCATE):

When Jon Lovett and Tim Miller take the stage alongside Sarah Longwell — a prominent anti-Trump conservative, publisher of The Bulwark, and out lesbian advocate — at Washington, D.C.’s Lincoln Theatre during WorldPride, the tone will be fast, furious, and undeniably funny. Expect jokes. Possibly drag. But beneath the riotous banter and righteous shade, the “Free Andry" event is dead serious.

The Crooked Media–Bulwark live show, slated for June 6, is a fundraiser for Andry Hernández Romero, a 31-year-old gay Venezuelan asylum-seeker who came to the United States legally, seeking protection from violence for being gay. Instead, he was disappeared by President Donald Trump’s administration and deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison — a place so dystopian it’s been compared to a modern-day concentration camp. His lawyers haven’t heard from him since. There is no proof of life.

“This is the worst thing that Trump has done — which is a very competitive category,” Miller said in an interview with The Advocate. “They kidnapped someone who followed the rules, lied about him, and disappeared him.”

Hernández Romero’s ordeal began after he made an asylum appointment through the CBP One app, a legal channel established by the Biden administration and repurposed under Trump. He passed a credible fear interview and was detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center, a CoreCivic-run facility in California. He had no criminal history. His lawyer was preparing for his hearing. Then he vanished.

The administration is a collective of War Criminals. They are lying about people and they know they're lying. Meredith Kile (PEOPLE MAGAZINE) reports:

Gabbard's chief of staff, Joe Kent, reportedly instructed the National Intelligence Council to edit official assessments so that they aligned with Trump’s statements about Venezuelan gang activity

Leaked emails show that Tulsi Gabbard's top aide urged intelligence officials to change their findings on Venezuelan gang activity in order to align with statements President Trump has made on immigration.
Gabbard’s acting chief of staff, Joe Kent, emailed the National Intelligence Council about their report, writing, “We need to do some rewriting so this document is not used against [Gabbard] or POTUS.”
Gabbard, who serves as the director of national intelligence, later fired two top intelligence officials over the fallout from the report.

Tulsi Gabbard’s right-hand man allegedly directed a group of intelligence officials to alter their report on Venezuelan gang activity so that it would align with statements President Donald Trump has made on immigration.

[. . .]

However, the Feb. 26 intelligence assessment that Kent wanted to alter directly contradicted the idea that the gang was affiliated with the Venezuelan government or the Maduro regime.

The National Intelligence Council — an internal think-tank that analyzes information gathered by the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency and more — concluded in both the initial and revised assessments that the Venezuelan government “probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States.”

We'll wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

ICYMI: Murray Grills Trump’s FDA Nominee on Cancellation of Critical Vaccine Meeting, Upholding Science on Mifepristone, Contraception

***WATCH: Senator Murray Q&A with Commissioner Makary***

Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Appropriations Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Ag-FDA) Subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, grilled FDA Commissioner Marty Makary on the Trump administration’s reckless and chaotic efforts to fire thousands of critical employees at the FDA, conflicts of interest at the agency, and the Trump administration’s attempts to lay the groundwork to rip away access to mifepristone based on discredited junk science from anti-abortion activists.

In opening comments, Vice Chair Murray said:

“Commissioner Makary, the FDA has a really important job to do. Lives literally are at stake. And that work requires the utmost diligence, and care, and commitment to following the science and upholding FDA’s gold standard. We all expect to walk into the drugstore and know that what we are buying has passed a safety and efficacy standard. And we have to be assured of that, and we have to be assured that the work’s been done—that we don’t have to question that.

“So, I don’t think it’s careful leadership when one-in-five people across the FDA are fired, only to frantically then bring some back—because you didn’t stop and think two seconds about whether these jobs were actually important.

“We really, Mr. Chairman, cannot cheap out on the FDA, and expect to maintain the gold standard that means that people know that drugs are safe.

“We can’t just cut, cut, cut and hope no one gets sick when you’re slow to issue a recall, or hope no one needs that medicine that had its approval delayed, or hope there isn’t another infant formula issue while your staff are getting fired, or getting rehired, or wherever they are.

“This work really takes investments, this Committee knows that, and it expects expert staff—like the people that have been shoved out the door. Drug approvals are already getting delayed. Food and drug safety inspections are lagging behind.

“We are going in the wrong direction, fast. We still have yet to see from you a full budget request from you. That is unacceptable.

“You are now testifying that the budget proposes to slash FDA by more than 11 percent. That’s actually news to all of us—and I will tell you right now, that is not going to fly. It is reckless, and it is not going to happen as long as I have anything to say about it.”

[FDA STAFFING]

Senator Murray began her questioning by pressing Dr. Makary on the harm and inefficacy caused by the Trump administration’s mass layoffs and efforts to push out qualified employees across FDA, which have resulted in more than 4,000 staff leaving the agency since the beginning of the Trump administration. “Commissioner Makary, when it comes to your mass firing of FDA employees, in April, you said, ‘I can tell you there were no cuts to scientists or inspectors.’ Well that is not true,” Senator Murray said. “I think Senator Ossoff covered that, and I think the point here is that all of this firing and rehiring—I don’t see how that’s efficient. Frankly, it kind of shows that you don’t know what you’re doing—and you’re breaking things in the process here. So, let me ask you a question, and hopefully it is an easy one for you. Does it save taxpayer dollars to fire staff who work in centers that are fully funded by user fees—not taxpayer dollars—yes or no?”

“You asked me to do an assessment of the staff when I came here for my confirmation hearing, and I hear that you’re criticizing me for bringing back some individuals after the cuts that I was not a part of,” replied Commissioner Makary.

“That’s good—I’m just saying in the long run, this has been very inefficient,” Senator Murray replied. “But my question to you is not about that it, and I know you’ve covered it with several other members. So does it save taxpayer dollars to fire staff who work with centers that are fully funded by user fees, not taxpayer dollars. Is that efficient?”

“The cuts were to HR, IT, communications—,” Commissioner Makary said.

Senator Murray pressed, “They’re funded by user fees, it is not saving any money.”

“In part,” Commissioner Markey interjected.

“But many of the staff you fired were in centers that are actually fully funded by user fees. You know that, correct?” Senator Murray clarified.

Commissioner Makary continued to dodge.

“I’m asking you a specific question about the centers that are fully funded by user fees,” Senator Murray continued.

“That’s one center. That’s the tobacco center,” Commissioner Makary said. “You just said we can’t just keep cut and cut—we can’t keep hiring and hiring, the agency doubled since 2007. So, let me ask you, what is the right number of employees?”

“No, you’re here to answer my questions here, and I’m going to ask some more,” Senator Murray replied. “Without critical support staff you fired, inspectors cannot plan their trips. They cannot do their jobs. I want to ask you, what percent of planned inspections has FDA missed since those April 1^st firings?”

Commissioner Makary said, “In the 12 labs that we have that evaluate food products in the food inspection realm, there are no—as of last week, I just did a check—there are no backlogs. They are running at 100 percent efficiency. There are no drug approval delays despite the—you know, what people want to attribute—”

“That is not what I’ve been told. I have been told—and I would like you to go back and check and report back to us, because we know that some of the planned inspections… that were supposed to take place have been missed. And, to me, why that’s so important, if there is not inspections, the public doesn’t have the information that they need. I am going to run out of time, so I want to move on,” Senator Murray replied.

“There are no cuts to inspectors,” Commissioner Makary said.

“Will you go back and check for me, please?” asked Senator Murray.

“Absolutely,” replied Commissioner Makary.

[CONFLICTS OF INTEREST]

Senator Murray continued by asking about reports of eyebrow-raising conflicts of interest at FDA: “I understand that the FOIA staff producing documents related to ongoing litigation by the Children’s Health Defense—Secretary Kennedy’s organization—was shielded from the RIFs, while other FOIA staff are responsible for FOIA responses at other FDA centers were targeted for termination. Is that true?,” Murray asked.

“That’s not true, senator, we have our FOIA staff. They continue to work at the FDA. I’ve made sure that all the FOIA staff at the FDA are doing their job. We are also using AI to reduce the burden on that staff,” responded Commissioner Makary.

Senator Murray pressed, “Well for the record, my understanding is that the Children’s Health Defense FOIA staff were not fired when other ones were… And that seems like a real conflict of interest to me, considering that the Secretary’s extensive history with that organization, Children’s Health Defense, and his goal to remove authorizations for vaccines. So, I just want that on the record—”

“It’s not true. Well, all FOIA staff are in place,” Commissioner Makary continued to claim.

[MIFEPRISTONE]

Senator Murray moved on to her next question, pressing Commissioner Makary on the Trump administration’s attempts to lay the groundwork to restrict access to medication abortion based on junk science being pushed by anti-abortion extremists. Murray asked: “If a study came out saying that people who took a certain medication experience a certain rate of ‘serious adverse events,’ but the study’s authors refused to say what they were counting as an adverse event—would raise some serious questions about the study’s validity?”

“Yes, senator. So I have the natural inquisition of a scientist that’s done a lot of research. So, I would want to see the underlying data, yes,” replied Commissioner Makary.

“I am, of course, talking about the recent sham ‘study’ from the Ethics and Public Policy Center—it’s an anti-abortion group, it’s bank-rolled by extremists, they fought to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Murray said. “And this ‘study,’ if you can call it that, is unsound and has been widely panned by medical experts. But, days after its release, you and Secretary Kennedy are now suggesting we need a ‘complete review’ on the safety of mifepristone.”

“Now, to be clear: mifepristone has been proven safe and effective in more than 100 studies over three decades. And the people that are now pushing that bogus ‘study’ and saying mifepristone is dangerous for women are the exact same people who think that abortion is never necessary to save a woman’s life, and that 10-year-olds should somehow be forced into childbirth. I believe that this administration is laying the groundwork to rip away access to medication abortion across the country,” Murray said. “This has not gotten enough attention. And I know you’d prefer to keep it that way, but I want you to know: I’m not going to let that happen.”

“I have not seen that study, Senator, and you have not seen that study. So how can you call it a sham, bogus study? Neither of us have seen the study, the underlying data, or the methodology,” Commissioner Makary said.

“Actually, that’s not true,” Murray replied. The Ethics and Public Policy Center is an anti-abortion advocacy group that was an advisory board member for Project 2025, has submitted amicus briefs to the Supreme Court opposing mifepristone, and does not believe in life-saving abortions—putting them far outside the medical mainstream. As the Washington Post fact-check of the ‘study’ points out, unlike most credible medical studies, the Ethics and Public Policy Center report did not undergo a formal external peer review before publication and “moreover, the report oddly does not reveal the database it used”—making it impossible for anyone to view the underlying data. That hasn’t stopped the anti-abortion Ethics and Public Policy Center from launching an activist campaign around the release of the data and even admitting the goal was to “eliminate” abortion pills.

On May 14^th in a HELP Committee hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) secured a commitment from Secretary Kennedy that HHS and FDA would review what RFK Jr. referred to as “alarming” new data on mifepristone—referencing the EPCC study alone. “It’s alarming, and it indicates that at the very least, the label should be changed,” Secretary Kennedy said. “I’ve asked Marty Makary at the FDA to do a complete review and report back.” Senator Hawley secured the same commitment from President Trump’s nominee to serve as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services in a HELP Committee hearing on May 8^th—again, based solely on the EPCC ‘study’ that has not been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal and has attracted widespread scrutiny for appearing to dramatically overstate what it characterizes as “serious adverse effects” associated with the pill.

____________________________________

As a longtime appropriator and former Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, Senator Murray has a long history of demanding accountability and careful oversight when it comes to the safety of products families use every day. At the end of 2022, Senator Murray passed legislation giving FDA new authority to, for the first time ever, regulate the safety of cosmetic products and force a recall when necessary—and she successfully fought to secure funding for this important work last year as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Murray has also previously pressed FDA and industry for answers and action regarding asbestos in children’s make up kits, demanded answers from Johnson & Johnson regarding asbestos found in baby powder, and was a leading voice in holding FDA accountable and pushing for solutions following the infant formula contamination and shortage crisis in 2022.

Senator Murray leads the Democratic caucus on reproductive health care and, throughout her career, has beat back countless Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and other family planning services—and is widely credited with successfully pushing the Bush administration’s FDA to follow the science and make Plan B available over the counter. Senator Murray led the response in Congress to FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a lawsuit brought by Republican anti-abortion extremists trying to rip away access to mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication that was approved by FDA in 2000—Murray led multiple amicus briefs, organized her colleagues, and raised the alarm at every turn. Last June, the Supreme Court dismissed the case on standing groups but Murray made clear that “the nationwide threat to medication abortion has not gone away—far from it. If Donald Trump and his anti-abortion allies return to power, they will do everything they can to rip away access to mifepristone and ban abortion nationwide.” Murray also spearheaded efforts in Congress urging the FDA to follow the science and review the application of Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill, after the FDA’s Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend FDA approval.

In March, at Dr. Makary’s nomination hearing before the Senate HELP Committee, Senator Murray pressed Dr. Makary to commit to upholding the science on mifepristone and contraception—he refused to definitively answer her question.

###

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