Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

3/20/2025

that awful caitlyn jenner, a real c**t

President Donald Trump's attempt to ban transgender people from military service continues an unfortunate history of the armed services excluding marginalized people from the "privilege of serving," a federal judge wrote Tuesday night.

In a 79-page decision, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the Trump administration from enacting the policy and offered a scathing rebuke of the Pentagon's development of the policy.

"The Court's opinion is long, but its premise is simple. In the self-evident truth that all people are created equal, all means all. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less," Judge Reyes wrote.

The ruling came as part of Talbott vs. Trump, a lawsuit filed on Jan. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups Glad Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights on behalf of six active duty transgender service members.

great news.

but where's that c**t caitlyn jenner?

more than any 1, she caused the backlash against trans people. how? by the insistence that people had to pretend she was pretty.

she was a dog. dog faced and ugly. i felt so sorry for jessica lange - a beautiful person - when people were saying jenner looked like jessica.

well caitlyn's loving on her dirty ass man donald chump again and she wants people to know that she is more masucline' than tim walz.

caitlyn, your peer group in maga never stopped seeing you as a man.

they're not calling you a c**t, they're calling you a man. that's how they see you.

note that even though you're crazy as s**t and a danger to this country, i'm not dead naming you.

i'm just noting you're a c**t and a very ugly woman. also a bad parent:

The former Princes of Malibu star also posited that his inconsistent relationship with his father will make him a "better father" to his own daughter.

"I think not having Bruce around growing up and her doing that transition, it was tough just being her son," he said. "I just had a beautiful little daughter. I'm not living for myself anymore. I'm living for her."

Brody added that he's "gonna do the exact opposite of, as far as being there for her, as my father did for me."

At another point in the Special Forces episode, he reflected a bit more on the idea that he wants to be even more present in Honey's life because of how infrequently he saw his father while growing up.

"When you have kids, you need to accept a little bit of responsibility that the things you do are also going to reflect on them as well," Brody shared. "I think it really has shaped me to do everything different and to really be there and to be present to my little girl."

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

Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Daily carnage in Gaza so where are the ones who told you not to vote for Kamala now?

This morning, Jason Burke (GUARDIAN) reports:

Israel has launched a fresh wave of airstrikes in Gaza on the second day of its resumed offensive in the devastated Palestinian territory.

The attacks were far less intensive than the massive strikes early on Tuesday morning, which killed more than 400 people and shattered the relative calm since a 19 January ceasefire paused the 18-month war.

Three people died in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Sabra suburb in Gaza City, while another left two dead and wounded six others in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, Gaza health officials said.

Mahmud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence agency, put the death toll higher, saying that 13 people had been killed since midnight, including several in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza’s south.

Let's note Tabitha from yesterday.

And what does fatty think now? Fatty's Samraa Luqman. She's the 'activist' in the video above bragging about giving her son the Donald Chump hat.

Fatty was all over the media. She was part of Norman Solomon's effort to destroy Joe Biden's chances at re-election, the group that morphed into an anti-Kamala Harris group when Biden dropped out. In fact, fat and facially mutilated Samraa Luqman was the co-chair of Abandon Harris. And strictly observant Muslim men in other countries made fun of her because of all those piercings on her face. But she just knew best about everything.

Remember, kids, it was DSA. That's why I do not trust them. They're Socialists who hide in political closets. Rashida Tlaib is one. They pose as Democrats for public view but they're Socialists. Democratic Socialists of America. They started in the early 80s and check those early years stories where they bragged to any outlet that would listen that they were going to be the new big party. They were going to destroy the Democrats. Not right then, you understand. They needed ballot access. So they'd run on the Democrats spots but they were going to change everything. They had 20,000 across the country and it was going to be millions any day now. Over 45 years later, they're around 80,000 nationally so maybe given them another four decades and they'll finally crack one million voters -- which still wouldn't be enough to win a presidential election

156,302,318 t is how many people voted in 2024's presidential election but while they can't elect a president, they can -- and did -- do their lying and whoring to make a worthy candidate not seem worth voting for.

Turnout is everything in an election. And when the Dems have turnout on their side, they win. So Chump only won because of the whores and liars, the tricksters -- the Amy Goodman freak show crowd.

As Mike observed last night:

We could have had Kamala Harris. She would have been a great president. But DSA -- Democratic Socialists of America -- worked to defeat her. Some DSAers hide in the Green Party and some hide in the Democratic Party. But they are Socialists. And they lied to people. And that's how Chump got in the White House. If you're new to how DSA scammed the country, read C.I.'s "2024: The Year of Betrayal From Inside The Left." which addresses how Amy Goodman lied and worked to defeat Kamala. And be sure to also read Ava and C.I.'s "Media: How Amy Goodman harmed immigrants and helped elect Chump."

We could have had Kamala. But DSAers like Rashida Tlaib lied and whored and now we're stuck with Chump. Now we're stuck waking up every morning to a new nightmare.

Be nice if at some point they could take accountability for what they did.

And until they do? We won't trust them.

We don't trust them because they lie. When Samraa was running in 2022 (and losing) against Alabas Farhat and Khalil Othman, she was public about being DSA. But when it was time to tank Kamala, they didn't need DSA. They needed people to believe they were Democrats because then the narrative was 'Democrats aren't supporting Kamala.' Had the same media outlets told the truth and went with headlines like "Socialist aren't supporting Kamala," it wouldn't have had the same impact.

And that's what led to Sarah Smith (BBC NEWS) writing junk like this in October of 2024:

I expected to hear some of them say they couldn’t vote for Harris, and would be sitting out the vote. But Samraa Luqman, who describes herself as further left than most Democrats, said she is not only voting Trump but is actively encouraging others to do so.

“I believe there has to be accountability for all the lives lost,” she told me. “I do not forgive the Democrats for it, and I will not be scared into voting for them.”

"Further left than most Democrats"? Of course she is, she's a Socialist. But BBC didn't do the work required and identified her as a Democrat in the photo accompanying their article. November 1st, she got NPR coverage:

And across the cafe, Samraa Luqman, a Yemeni American community organizer, is ready to pick those votes up for Trump.

She said she met with former President Trump recently in Dearborn, where he made a promise to her to end the war. That stands in stark contrast to his public statements, in which he said Israel should “finish the job” and criticized Harris and Biden for calling for a cease-fire. At a rally for Trump just this weekend, speakers used racist and misogynistic rhetoric, including Rudy Giuliani. He demonized Palestinian toddlers, falsely claiming they are “taught to kill us at two years old.”

Asked why, despite this rhetoric, she believes Trump’s promise to end the war, Luqman says he’s more likely to do so than Harris.

“Believe him or not, if there is a 99% chance that Trump is going to continue the genocide and I have to weigh it against 100% chance that it's going to continue under Harris, I'm going to take the 99% chance,” she said. “The fact that there is that slight hope means that I need to go with the best thing for my people.”

And she’s not the only one making this calculation. This weekend, several prominent Arab and Muslim leaders endorsed Trump at a campaign rally in Michigan.

Luqman’s children are half-Palestinian, and this year of watching kids being killed is intolerable, she said. She blames the Biden administration and Harris directly for these deaths.

“It hurts a lot. That hurt has transformed into rage,” she said. “I will do everything in my power to ensure Harris loses. Whatever I can do. And, I’m still a Democrat.”

She sees this as a path to building real political power for a community that has over 200,000 votes in Michigan. For context, Trump won this state by about 11,000 votes in 2016 and Biden won by over 150,000 in 2020.

No, she wasn't a Democrat, she was a Socialist attempting to take over the Democratic Party. A Democrat would never say of their own presidential nominee, "I will do everything in y power to ensure Harris loses." A Socialists from DSA would. It's the type of behavior Maurice Isserman denounced in his 2023 column for THE NATION entitled "Why I Just Quit DSA:"

And then suddenly, in the second decade of the 21st century, DSA had a growth spurt, not unlike SDS in the mid-1960s, bringing it belatedly to national political relevance. Tens of thousands of eager young recruits were energized by the 2016 presidential bid of democratic socialist Bernie Sanders (although Sanders was not a member of DSA), and the election to Congress of DSA members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib in 2018, joined by Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman in 2020.

Unlike my generation, for whom the overriding issue of the late 1960s was opposition to the war in Vietnam, most of DSA’s new members were attracted to the organization by its proposals for substantial, vital, and above all realizable domestic reforms (Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, student debt relief, tenants’ rights, etc). As a result, between 2016 and 2020 DSA’s membership expanded from 6,000 to 90,000-plus, while dropping the average age of members from 60-something to 20-something. Scores of new chapters opened up, including many located in cities and states that haven’t seen an active socialist presence since the era of Eugene Debs, if ever. And those young, energetic recruits proved remarkably politically savvy and successful in the field of electoral politics, not only elevating four members to Congress, but also sending nearly 200 others to state legislatures, city councils, and other offices, almost always as Democrats.

All well and good -- except for the return of the entryists. Suddenly, in the eyes of revolutionary purists in a host of small competing sects, DSA was no longer to be sneered at as just a reformist swamp. “Why rob banks?” career criminal Willie Sutton was once allegedly asked by a reporter. “Because that’s where the money is,” he replied. The exchange is apocryphal, but substitute warm bodies for cold cash, and it offers a concise explanation for DSA’s sudden attractiveness to sectarian strategists. Unknown numbers-- hundreds, perhaps more -- started joining in 2016, some of them former members of defunct Marxist-Leninist groups, others (in violation of DSA bylaws) still belonging to and carrying out the agendas of such groups. They proceeded to quarrel and compete among themselves, splitting and recombining under various banners like “Red Star,” “Marxist Unity Group,” and even the “Communist Caucus.” But they remained united in one overarching shared aim -- to take a well-meaning, not particularly well-organized, and essentially social democratic organization still committed in practice to the original DSA vision of creating “the left wing of the possible,” and reinvent it as the mass vanguard party of the proletariat that somehow they had never been able to pull off while operating under their own banners of deepest red.

DSA, meanwhile, thrived between 2016 and 2020—because it proved it could win victories in the here-and-now, give-and-take world of electoral politics. And that, ironically, was intolerable to the entryists (who preferred to refer to themselves as “partyists”), because they didn’t want socialists to remain as a wing of, or even a loyal opposition within the Democratic Party. They wanted a break, in the not terribly distant future, from the intolerable compromises required to appeal to mainstream voters and to compromise with mainstream politicians. And they also believed that DSA members elected to public office were, first and foremost, obliged to follow the positions adopted by the organization, rather than their constituents or their own conscience, as if they were already subordinate to the dictates of an old-fashioned Marxist-Leninist central committee.

At each of DSA’s biannual conventions in recent years, the sectarian caucuses (comprised of entryists and those they recruited) gained strength in the organization’s ruling body, the 16-member National Political Committee, until finally achieving a working majority in the August 2023 convention. There is a curious aspect to this influx of new leaders. Virtually nobody in the organization, outside the ranks of the various caucuses, knows who they are, or what they stand for. (DSA members, take this test. Go to this website, and see how many names you recognize, and of those you do know, how many can you assign to the caucus or viewpoint they represent?)

In the old days, everyone in DSA knew who Mike Harrington was and who Barbara Ehrenreich was and how they agreed upon or differed on organizational priorities. The same was true of other leaders in responsible positions in the old DSA, who tended to have long and public track records as organizers and writers. Whatever its shortcomings, there was nothing mysterious about the inner workings of DSA back then. Can the same be said today?

As the new hard-line caucuses gained influence, the issue of Palestine became ever more important in DSA’s internal political culture. In 1982, when DSA began, support for Labor Zionism was widespread in its ranks. But over the next several decades, the Labor Party faded as a political force in Israel to be replaced by right-wing Zionists, and the prospects for a “two-state” solution to the Palestinian question evaporated. I doubt if many DSAers today would describe themselves as Zionists of any stripe, although many (at least many of my acquaintance), remain committed to Israel’s right to exist as well as its right—within limits that it too often violates—to defend its national security. In any case, there are few if any DSAers, veterans as well as newcomers, who are not critics of Israel’s repressive policies in the West Bank and Gaza.

But that doesn’t account for the singularly important role of Palestine in DSA’s rather short list of international concerns, completely overshadowing the attention paid, for example, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or to the rights of other oppressed peoples, like the Kurdish Muslims, or China’s Uyghur Muslims. Concern for Palestine, entirely legitimate in itself, also served other purposes for DSA’s new sectarian leadership, furnishing a convenient stick to beat DSA’s moderate wing if it wasn’t willing to embrace the most extreme positions on the Palestinian question—up to and including denying Israel’s right to continued existence.

Starting as far back as the 2017 national convention, chants of “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” began to be heard at DSA gatherings, and support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel became a litmus test within the organization for political purity. For the sectarians, discrediting elected DSAers who fail that test helps to move the organization closer to the desired break with the Democratic Party. There was a serious push within DSA to sanction or even expel Representative Bowman for voting to approve US funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system, and for traveling to Israel in 2021 on a trip sponsored by the liberal Zionist (and pro-Palestinian rights) group J Street. (The effort failed, but Bowman quietly let his membership to DSA lapse in 2022—chalk one up for the “partyists.”)

That's what they do, they destroy. They destroyed Bowman and they destroyed Kamala. Bowman was one of their own and they didn't care.

I have friends who are DSA. I've worked with them on issues before. When Barbara Ehrenreich wanted to be on a national paper's op-ed page, I supplied the e-mail that got her there. The one from the female editor who'd replaced the only female columnist the paper had at that time with a man for six weeks while the woman -- oh, it was Maureen Dowd. Let's just be honest. Maureen was the only woman on the pages and she went on vacation and the idiot Gail Collins replaced her with a man. I called out Gail and Gail responded that she was under no pressure to replace Maureen with another woman. She didn't have to do that blah blah blah. Now Gail was also trying to sell herself as a feminist. I'd circulated that e-mail in real time. Almost a year later, Barbara called and asked if she could have a copy of the e-mail, I hadn't forwarded it to her, because she wanted to contact Gail with the e-mail and explain that she was going to write about it. She thought -- and she was correct -- that just doing that would force Gail into offering her the opportunity to fill in for Maureen. And it did.

But I have worked with them. We'll come back to that, let's deal with fatty fake cakes. ALJAZEERA on November 2nd:

Samraa Luqman wants Arab Americans to be blamed if Democratic candidate Kamala Harris loses to her Republican rival Donald Trump in the United States election.

For too long, Democrats have taken the Arab vote for granted, and it is time for them to pay the price for the United States-backed Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon, Luqman said.

I will show up the next day if Harris loses, I will say: It’s because of this community, it is because of Gaza and because of the genocide, that you lost,” Luqman told Al Jazeera in her office in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn.

“Take the credit for your power. I’m all for it.”

The Yemeni American activist is part of a growing electoral bloc that would have been unthinkable a few years ago: Arab Americans for Trump.

January 17th, Fatty popped up in Sam Westrop's piece for WESTERN ISLAMISM:

News of the ceasefire particularly delighted Samraa Luqman, co-chair of the Abandon Biden campaign in Michigan.

Luqman told CBC news: “I’m thrilled that the one promise that President Trump made to me has actualized before he even got inaugurated. … If there’s anything I feel, it’s anger that Biden couldn’t have done this sooner himself and [offered] relief for the children of Gaza.”

Luqman, along with radical officials at the Islamist-run city of Hamtramck and Dearborn, were key to Trump’s successful appeal to Muslim voters in Michigan.

AFP found her February 7th:

"I do not regret my vote," said Samra'a Luqman, a political activist in this Detroit suburb of 110,000, where most residents have Middle Eastern or North African heritage.

[. . .]

"We've seen the great march of return, emotions I can't even describe," said 42-year-old Luqman, describing the overwhelming joy of displaced Palestinians finally returning home despite the devastation. She credited Trump for making the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas possible.

At the start of this month, fatty Luqman was whining to THE NATIONAL:

“There is absolutely a level of contention between those who supported Trump and those that voted for Harris, and even the ones that didn’t,” says Samra Luqman, a community activist and Trump supporter.

“When Trump makes a statement, the people that supported him are getting backlash for it, as if we're responsible for everything he says and does. And at the same time, there is still an ostracisation of those who supported Harris.”

She feels ostracized by Democrats. Oh, how surprising. She's that much of an idiot as is DSA which is why I just can't deal with them as an organization most of the time. They forever destroy themselves. But it's the trickery and the lying that really gets me.

Chuck Schumer. Link goes to yesterday's snapshot. Some are offended by my saying he should step down. Two e-mails say I'm doing DSA's work for them. DSA hates Chuck and that's not a new development. My critique was based upon the need to rally Democrats and how Chuck failed. I stand by that critique.

Bernie is not DSA but so many Bernie freaks are that I often ignore him. AOC is DSA and there are tensions between the two. AOC would get more attention here if she weren't DSA.

They're running a game -- DSAers -- on the rest of us. That's especially true of YOUTUBE liars.

I don't trust them for all the reasons outlined above. But if Chuck messes up as big as he did last week, I can't stay silent out of fear that speaking out might help whatever DSA is plotting now.

They work in the shadows and they scheme and they lie. As an organization that's what they do. It's a point Maurice was making in his 2023 column. I know Maurice casually. Not enough to know of that column until yesterday when someone who knows us both visited and asked why I never cited that column? (Again, didn't know about it.)

Fatty Luqman wanted all the credit for defeating Kamala ahead of the election and immediately after. She insisted it was going to give her power. Power over the Democratic Party. If that escaped you, go read the above again. It wasn't about the Palestinian people. Fatty Luqman isn't Palestinian. It was about her power grab. And now she's shocked to discover that Kamala voters don't want anything to do with her.

That's what she's whining about this month. Not about the deaths in Gaza carried out by Chump. No, it's about how her attempted power grab didn't pay off for her. DSA comes along in 1982. But one of its feeders was around for decades and never accomplished a damn thing. Not for the left, anyway.

It did birth neocons. It did birth Reagan appointees

And as THE VANGUARD does their one millionth video on how Ana and Cenk are so repugnant, Zac and Gavin continue to stay silent on DSA.

But Cenk and Ana were DSA.

And that's why their shift and grift are not at all surprising. This is the story from the fifties forward of the extreme left in the United States. A lot of people shift with age. But the DSA and its feeder produce a lot more of these right wingers. That's because lying and tricking is so important them and when they fail on the left, they go over to the right-wing and do the exact same thing -- but for the right-wing.

Taylor Lorenz did a hideous video yesterday (see Ava and my "MEDIA: Taylor Lorenz doesn't do analytics or journalism (at least not in any meaningful manner)"). She wanted you to know about fake asses. She's part of the DSA circle jerk which is why she didn't tell you about those fake asses. JACOBIN is the DSA bible and Ana did their podcast, hosted it. She did it very poorly and gathered a ton of complaints but they kept her on. That's a whole other story but just in case this is the last snapshot what I'm really trying to get at today is that you need to start asking yourself if it's okay that outlets you trust are lying and tricking you? Is it really worth it to you? All of these things taking place in the shadows and hidden from you. That's okay?

Kyle and Cenk start Justice Democrats (Justice Socialists) and then both get a pass for years. Finally, Cenk's pass has been revoked but there's an unwritten rule in place that prevents any of this criticism of Cenk (or Ana) noting that they were DSA. Why are people in political closets?

If you can follow the above, that's great. If not, it's not you. I'm having surgery in a few hours and throughout this morning as I've dictated this snapshot, I've had to repeatedly stop to take a call from a concerned friend. So this is more disjointed than normal. My apologies for that. If all goes well, I'll have afternoon posts here. If I need a little more time to recover, nothing will go up here until 8;00 pm EST.

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

Legislation would provide permanent safeguards for pregnant and postpartum women in ICE and CBP custody; Rep. Garcia to introduce companion legislation in the House

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) led 22 senators last week in reintroducing her Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act. The legislation will protect the health and safety of pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women in immigration detention by establishing a presumption of release, prohibiting any agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from shackling pregnant women in its custody—including those in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—and setting new standards of care and transparency for the treatment of pregnant women and youth. Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (D, TX-29) will soon be reintroducing companion legislation in the House.

“Shackling pregnant women in immigration custody is not only unnecessary, it is dangerous and traumatic for women and their pregnancies—and there is simply no justifiable reason for this barbaric practice,” said Senator Murray. “At a time that we have a president whose approach to immigration appears to be cruelty for cruelty’s sake, it is more important than ever that we act to ensure all pregnant women in custody are treated humanely and with respect. I will continue to fight against the gross mistreatment of pregnant women in immigration detention and am proud to join my friend Rep. Garcia in reintroducing this important legislation.”

The mistreatment of pregnant women in ICE detention has been well-documented—and without basic protections, pregnant women in ICE detention are at higher risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and other pregnancy-related health complications. A Government Accountability Office study published in 2020 found that between 2016 and 2018, ICE detained pregnant women over 4,600 times. As Congress increased its oversight of the detention of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women that number has dropped to just 158 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women detained in the first half of Fiscal Year 2024.

The Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act is supported by: The American Civil Liberties Union, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Center for Reproductive Rights, Church World Service, Families USA, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, MomsRising, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Council of Jewish Women, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Women’s Law Center, Reproductive Freedom for All, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

In the Senate, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

A one-pager on the legislation is HERE.

The full text of the legislation is HERE.

###

The following sites updated:

3/19/2025

grab bag

hope you read ava and c.i.'s 'MEDIA: Taylor Lorenz doesn't do analytics or journalism (at least not in any meaningful manner)',

it's great. i really can't believe it. both because it's so good and because they did a piece on sunday so they wouldn't be writing at the last minute. c.i.'s having surgery tomorrow. i wouldn't have spent hours writing something new for 3rd.

she is able to do anything. i've known her forever and a day and still marvel over her ability to push on past every thing and to stay focused and get things done.

i just got off the phone with her and was wishing her well with the surgery and she said she needed to remember to mention it in the snapshot for later this morning. she gave a heads up in the community newsletters last week. but she plans to mention it in the snapshot for non-community members. otherwise i wouldn't be writing about it.

she's not worried - or say she isn't - but i am. i'm praying everything goes well.

and i'm not that focused, sorry.

'FORBES on Welfare Queen Musk, TABITHASPREAKS on FAFO' is mike covering welfare queen alien musk who's been on the dole his entire business life.

'Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross' is kat covering bruce and diana. i'm glad diana's no where near retiring. she's still delivering amazing concerts and while i loved 'thank you' back when it was released, i've grown to love it even more and think it may be her finest studio album ever. 'all is well,' 'if the world just danced,' 'i still believe' and 'count on me' are my favorites but i love all the tracks. here's 'count on me.'

'The accomplishments of Jill and Rashida' is betty noting more palestinians were killed in gaza and that rashida tlaib and jill stein need to show some accountability for their election nonsense that put chump back in the white house and ensured the deaths of so many more palestinians.

let me note the 'tabitha speaks politics' video that betty did.

'Words is hard for Chump The Chump' - please read ruth immediately. she sneaks in 1 of those 1 liners that leaves you laughing.

'Liars and hypocrites' is marcia talking about how another maga exposed themselves as a child molester. ruth covered a different mage creep in 'Donald Chump's spiritual advisor is booked for pedophilia' on monday.

'Grifter Nancy Mace needs to be kicked out of Congress by the voters' is elaine calling out the always creepy and untruthful nancy mace. also check out elaine's monday post 'Olivia Newton-John' because olivia really was an amazing singer. i loved olivia and 'grease' is my favorite musical of all time and 1 of my 10 favorite movies of any genre of all time. but even i don't give olivia her due. she could really sing and her body of work stands up to this day.

in 'Vegetarian Mexican Tortilla Casserole in the Kitchen,' trina's not just serving up a new recipe, she's also explaining how those who helped put chump back into the white house need to stop expecting us to feel sorry when a foreign born gaza freak gets deported. this is what you wanted, you wanted kamala to lose. so now chump's deporting the gaza freaks in this country who are not u.s. citizens. well i guess that's him giving you what he said would give you. but you were too stupid to listen. you were too stupid. and now you're getting deported. again, gaza freaks, you put him back in the white house. i've worked on the issue of palestinians since college. unlike you idiots who just discovered gaza in the last few years, i was smart enough to know kamala was our best chance for a peace and for a homeland. so go cry to some 1 else because i don't care that syrian-born is being deported.

'Why, Gal Gadot, why?' is stan pointing out that gal doesn't belong in this country and doesn't need a star on the hollywood walk of fame. he also corrects the stupids who are lying that a woman of color beat demi moore at the oscars. no, that bad actress is white, in fact, she's jewish.

'Musk's family was just as bigoted as he is ' is ann calling out alien musk. that's her beat - the grifters. don't know she can post every day on these crooks. it's got to leave her depressed.

so that's going to be my post. again, i'm worried about my friend so this is all i can manage at this time.

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

Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Chuck Schumer's become part of the problem, if he can't lead, he needs to step aside -- especially with Chump's plans for a Constitutional Convention.

Singer-songwriter Laura Nyro performing her song "Save The Country" from her NEW YORK TENDABERRY album.

There's so much wrong in Chump Land and that, sadly, includes an inability on the part of some to fight him. In my opinion, that includes the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, who is far too close to Donald Chump for a Democrat. She gave a good interview -- not great -- about a month ago but she wasn't able to show wisdom on the Eric Adams issue -- he should have been removed immediately and failure to do so should have come with something better than we're-reviewing it -- and she wasn't all that strong in her presentation to begin with. Now she's just looking pathetic.

My opinion and it may be a minority opinion in the Democratic Party. Another disappointment is the Senate Minority Leader and that call is probably one that those of us who are Democrats can all agree on. Last week, Robert Kuttner (TAP) explained:

For three days, Senate Democrats privately debated whether to support a House-passed continuing resolution (CR) keeping the government funded through September 30, or to block it with a filibuster, thus letting the government temporarily shut down.

At midweek, it looked as if Chuck Schumer had devised a deft plan: Propose an alternative resolution to keep the government open for 30 days and send that back to the Republican House. That way, if the House did not go along, the shutdown would be on the Republicans.

On Wednesday, Schumer emerged from two days of meetings to declare that the caucus was unified against the Republican six-month resolution and supporting the 30-day plan instead.

But it turned out that he was simply floating the idea to keep Senate progressives happy. He was confident that the more centrist Democrats would reject the idea and vote cloture to end a filibuster and send the six-month continuing resolution to President Trump. In a more sinister maneuver, he would allow Republicans to end debate on their CR in exchange for a vote on the 30-day resolution—a vote that would fail, leaving Republicans able to pass their bill by majority vote.

Sam Rosenthal (ZNET) explains:

On Friday, with another government shutdown looming, Senate Democrats, and their feckless leader, Chuck Schumer, fully folded to the Republican Party’s bullying tactics. Late Thursday, Schumer announced, first in a closed-door caucus meeting and then in a floor speech, that he would be voting to advance the GOP spending bill to the Senate. While no Senate Democrats actually voted for the spending bill once it hit the floor, all that was needed for it to pass was for Democrats to take their hands off the last point of leverage they had to disrupt Republicans’ agenda: the Senate filibuster threat.

These moves are sure to tank Senate Democrats’ already flagging popularity with their constituents. House Democrats, usually publicly united with their Senate brethren, have been openly critical of their feeble capitulation to the GOP agenda. Recent reporting even revealed that some House Democrats are privately encouraging House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to primary Schumer in his re-election bid in 2028.

There are a thousand reasons why Senate Democrats should have done everything within their power to stop this bill from passing. Voters have been clamoring for months for the party to do something, anything, to stop the onslaught of chaos induced by Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE catastrophe. Democrats have repeatedly said that they are helpless to do anything to combat Trump’s agenda; this would have been a clear sign to voters that, despite their minority status in Congress, Democrats would use any opportunity they can muster to throw sand in the gears. The GOP spending bill also includes cuts to health care and social programs while somehow incorporating an increase in the military budget, spending preferences that Democrats should oppose on principle.

Marin Scotten (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:

Democrats are turning on Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi is leading the charge.

Schumer announced Thursday he would vote to pass Trump’s disastrous budget bill to avert a government shutdown, flipping on his own party just 24 hours after he signaled he would vote against the bill. Pelosi issued a statement the next day urging Senate Democrats not to follow his lead.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across American,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable,” Pelosi continued, referencing Schumer’s betrayal. “I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill.”

The GOP bill would gut funding for health care, increase military spending, and fund mass deportation. It narrowly passed the Republican-led House, with just one Democrat voting to pass. Schumer argued that a government shutdown would give Trump and Elon Musk a “carte blanche” to gut federal services. Pelosi disagreed.

There is no excuse for caving. Not in these times. Every day, Democrats get up and fight for this country -- that's every day actions by everyday Democrats. And they need to see their officials doing the same damn thing.

Prior to her uncommitted nonsense, I liked Rashida Tlaib and I defended her here and we reposted anything her office sent. I don't care for her now, you don't stab a party in the back. She is responsible for Donald Chump getting back in the White House.

And THE DAILY SHOW made fun of her recently.

It didn't go up here. Would have loved for it to but it didn't.

They made fun of her and others for using the auction paddles during Chump's speech.

I was not a fan of the auction paddles. But that 'joke' or 'commentary' didn't go up here because it was a few Democrats trying to do something. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't.

But they tried it and I will applaud them for that -- even Rashida.

Americans need evidence that there's a point, a reason, to keep fighting.

I can sit outside all day by the pool. Someone else can lose themselves in books or watching television or just tuning out. If we're on our own, if our officials aren't going to do a damn thing, that's probably what we should do for our own sanity.

And the minute we do that right now, the republic has ended.

So we don't need Democratic officials selling us out or doing nothing.

Try something and make a mistake? Fine. We all learn that didn't work and then try something else.

But if you're actually trying something, I'm not going to throw eggs and rotten fruit at you.

Chuck did nothing, he tried nothing. He just collapsed and he does need to go.

At 74, his mind may be going.

What he did was not good for the country. But the reason I'm questioning his mental abilities is because it was awful for him. Riley Beggin (USA TODAY) reports:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is postponing several book tour events this week amid the ongoing Democratic backlash to his vote last week to approve a GOP-led government funding bill.

Schumer had events planned in New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to promote his book "Antisemitism in America: A Warning."

To avoid protests, he's cancelling events to promote the book. That makes it less likely people will buy the book. And the message of the book is lost.

At THE NEW REPUBLIC, Michael Tomasky has an essay. I don't agree with it. It's why we opened today with Chuck. I get what he's saying and he's completely correct in some ways. But Chuck doesn't get a pass on this. Tomasky lists things Donald Chump's done in the last days and then writes:

This, Democrats, is what you need to focus on. You had a bad week. Check that—a horrible week. It was mostly Chuck Schumer’s fault, and people are quite rightly furious at the Senate minority leader for caving to Republicans in the government funding fight. Now you are collectively polling below 30 percent—just about your worst approval number ever. But the country needs you to fight Trump, not each other.

I would like to have seen the Senate Democrats vote “no” to the GOP’s continuing resolution and force a shutdown. This was just one of those moments when history was grabbing them by the lapels, shaking them, and saying, “Do something dramatic!” That’s the bottom line here. They should have taken a stand.

And, if they weren’t going to take a stand, Schumer certainly should have signaled as much earlier in the week. If he hadn’t been so emphatic in saying he was voting “no,” his 180 last Thursday wouldn’t have been such a shocker (indeed, by definition, it wouldn’t have been a 180). So he really blew the politics of this, in a way he normally doesn’t.

But having said all that: There is in fact a case for wanting to avoid a shutdown. And it’s not a political case. It’s a substantive case.

Schumer’s critics, from what I can see, are focused almost wholly on the politics of the situation—public perception, and who’d be blamed. Much was made of that Quinnipiac poll last week showing that 32 percent of respondents would blame Democrats while a combined 53 percent would blame Republicans (31 percent the GOP Congress and 22 percent Trump).

Democrats could have won the politics. So why on earth should they have had any hesitation at all? Because aside from politics, there’s substance, and I became convinced over the weekend through some things I read and conversations I had that, as bad as Trump and Elon Musk are now, and as bad as this funding bill is, a shutdown could potentially give them vastly more power.

Convicted Felon Chump's the enemy, no question, he is the threat.

But Chuck Schumer isn't just any elected official. He is a US senator. In terms of prestige, that's only below the president -- and, in the past, a Supreme Court justice.

And he's not just any senator, he's the Minority Leader.

He is the face of Democratic leadership and he failed and he demoralized.

This is not a minor issue. You inspire the troops, not enrage them.

Now let's move over to Chump.

Ahmad Austin Jr. (MEDIAITE) reports:

President Donald Trump’s White House on Monday was harshly criticized for welcoming Irish UFC star Conor McGregor for Saint Patrick’s Day.

On Monday morning, the official X/Twitter account of the White House posted a short video of McGregor walking out of a door with his patented strut. When he got close to the camera, McGregor said, “Happy Patty’s Day, America.”

McGregor later joined Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in the briefing room and took question. Leavitt confirmed that McGregor would be meeting Trump in the afternoon and that “we couldn’t think of a better guest to have with us on Saint Patrick’s Day.”

In normal times, when a Convicted Felon wasn't in the White House, that would be enough for a week's worth of chatter on cable programs and to fill the op-ed pages.

With the crook in the White House, it's already a blip that's over.

Phoebe Petrovic (WISCONSIN WATCH) reports:

A behind-the-scenes legal effort to force Congress to call a convention to amend the Constitution could end up helping President Donald Trump in his push to expand presidential power.

While the convention effort is focused on the national debt, legal experts say it could open the door to other changes, such as limiting who can be a U.S. citizen, allowing the president to overrule Congress’ spending decisions or even making it legal for Trump to run for a third term.

Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica have obtained a draft version of a proposed lawsuit being floated to attorneys general in several states, revealing new details about who’s involved and their efforts to advance legal arguments that liberal and conservative legal scholars alike have criticized, calling them “wild,” “completely illegitimate” and “deeply flawed.”

The endeavor predates Trump’s second term but carries new weight as several members of Trump’s inner circle and House Speaker Mike Johnson have previously expressed support for a convention to limit federal government spending and power.

Article V of the Constitution requires Congress to call a convention to propose and pass amendments if two-thirds of states, or 34, request one. This type of convention has never happened in U.S. history, and a decadeslong effort to advance a so-called balanced budget amendment, which would prohibit the government from running a deficit, has stalled at 28.

Despite that, the lawsuit being circulated claims that Congress must hold a convention now because the states reached the two-thirds threshold in 1979. To get there, these activists count various calls for a convention dating back to the late 1700s. Wisconsin’s petition, for example, was written in 1929 and was an effort to repeal Prohibition. The oldest petition they cite, from New York, predates the Bill of Rights. Some others came on the eve of the Civil War.

“It is absurd, on the face of it, that they could count something that had to do with Prohibition as a call for a constitutional convention in 2025,” said Russ Feingold, a former Democratic senator from Wisconsin who co-wrote a book critical of convention efforts like this one. “They’re just playing games to try to pretend that the founders of this country wanted you to be able to mix and match resolutions from all different times in American history.”

That should scare us all. It should inspire us to fight.

But what's the point in fighting if our elected leaders are going to betray us?

That's the message Chuck has sent and that message must be pushed back and refused. If Chuck can't lead, he needs to get the hell out of leadership. Senators Patty Murray, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse are just four US senators that could easily step in as Minority Leader right now and demonstrate true leadership which could inspire us continue our attempts to save the country.

Now.

That's The 5th Dimension and their hit version of Laura's song.

If Chuck can't lead, he needs to step aside. Now.

The following sites updated:

3/18/2025

it just gets worse

rashida tlaib, can you step down from congress already? each day your effort to destroy kamala harris is demonstrated to be an effort to destroy the country. faith bugenhagen ('houston chronicle') reports:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday that a Houston-area midwife had been arrested on allegations she performed illegal abortions, marking the first time criminal charges have been brought forth under Texas' near-total abortion ban.

Paxton detailed the accusations against Maria Margarita Rojas, a 48-year-old midwife who operates a chain of clinics in Waller, Cypress, and Spring, in a press release. Rojas allegedly "unlawfully employed unlicensed individuals who falsely presented themselves as licensed medical professionals."

Additionally, Paxton claims she provided illegal abortion procedures at the clinics she ran. Rojas faces a second-degree felony and up to 20 years in prison.

According to the Texas Tribune, Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore invited the state to handle Rojas' prosecution. Whittmore said additional charges against Rojas will likely come in the following days, and her case will go before a grand jury to consider indictment.

there will be no pushback to that on the federal level because donald chump is in the white house.

f**k you, rashida. f**k you for destroying out country.

oh, are you getting yet that the u.s. was your country too?

because you sure as hell didn't when you let your petty bulls**t lead you to attack kamala and work towards defeating her.

yes, it was petty bulls**t because you're a petty little bitch.

you destroyed our country.

and any 1 with a brain knew that palestinians would be better off under kamala harris. if you missed it, rashida, 'your people' - as your cult loves to say - are under assault in gaza still.

you stupid bitch.

you've got that huge, ugly honker on your face but you couldn't even smell the truth with it.

you have condemned us all.

you need to announce that you're not seeking re-election.

you've done enough damagae and, we have all noticed, you have refused to apologize for what you did.

you're useless, you're an idiot and you have blood on your hands.

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

Monday, March 17, 2025. We focus on one important action that took place in DC and across the country -- and your spoon of sugar is some gossip about an actor who's got another scandal that might be about to come out.

Borrowing from The Hollywood Kids, GUESS WHO, DON'T SUE. His career imploded and, despite serious p.r. spin last summer, it has not recovered. Though many insiders are fearful over what the wife may be about to do as a result of a recent high profile exhibition, they're fretting over the wrong one. The real threat to Implosion's career right now is coming from the bi-sexual man once caught pounding Implosion. Bi was happy in the closet -- where he'd been for years -- until recently. Age and an open relationship with a woman have Bi finding more comfort and security in who he is. He also needs money. When the whispers started back up about that decades old pounding he'd given Implosion, Implosion got him a job that was supposed to last for years but didn't. After Bi was let go from that job, Implosion kept insisting that he'd get the job back for Bi or find him another. Implosion didn't or couldn't keep his word. Bi's current woman contacted a friend in publishing and this led to a big offer for an autobiography. But the offer is time sensitive as the editor with the publishing house explained, "Kelly McGillis could have gotten a ton of money writing about the romantic triangle she was in with Jodie Foster and Whitney Houston but she got too old and too ugly. If you're going to write this book, we'd need to release it in no less than three years."

When we do a blind item, we do it for two reasons -- one, to get a little more attention for the news in the snapshot and, two, someone (in this case Implosion) has harmed a friend of mine. Community members will be able to figure out exactly who Implosion is. That's hot gossip by the way that started making the industry rounds Saturday morning. Both Bi's current female partner and the editor at the publishing house are whispering about it.

Now let's get to the big news, the National Mall. The DC landmark contains many landmarks such as the Smithsonian, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of Natural History. As the official government website notes, some call it "America's Front Yard" and, "For more than 200 years, the National Mall has symbolized our nation and its democratic values, which have inspired the world. The National Mall -- the great swath of green in the middle of our capital city and stretching from the foot of the United States Capitol to the Potomac River -- is the premiere civic and symbolic space in our nation."

That was made clear on Friday, as thousands took part in Now DC's Stand With America rally. Now DC explained the action:

The United States is under siege from within -- hijacked by an illegitimate president and administration and protected by a system unwilling to uphold our constitutional safeguards.

The system refuses to act. Now, the people must.

#14thNOW, the historic movement that stood in the breach to stop this authoritarian coup before it started, extends this movement to ALL, calling for immediate action against the destruction of our democracy on March 14th with #NowDC.

If you are a veteran, this movement is for you. If you stand with Ukraine and the Free World, this movement is for you. If you are a federal worker, this movement is for you. If you don’t want to lose Social Security, this movement is for you. If you were deprived of your vote in 2024, this movement is for you. If you’ve changed your mind since the election, this movement is for you. If you don’t want to lose your rights, your safety, your freedom, and your country, this movement is for you. #NowDC is for everyone.

On March 14, 2025, We the People will change the course of history.

Linda F. Hersey (STARS AND STRIPES) reports, "

Disabled veteran Don Carter rode shotgun in his son’s Chevy pickup truck for 11 hours from Illinois to the nation’s capital to take part in a political protest for the first time in his life.
Carter, a 92-year-old Korean War veteran, and his son, Larry, joined a crowd of nearly 3,000 for a two-hour national veterans’ rally Friday on the National Mall to protest cuts by President Donald Trump to veterans’ federal jobs, services and benefits.
The pair watched as fellow veterans waved American flags and speakers rallied support for the 30,000 federal workers fired by Trump’s administration. With chants of “Lock him up,” the crowd called for Trump to be removed from office for his actions.
Similar protests were held at state capitols across the nation, according to Fourteenth Now, the event organizer.
“Two billionaires, Trump and Musk, are gutting the VA and purging veteran employees — bankrupting war heroes while cashing in on their sacrifice,” said Michael Embrich, a Navy veteran and political commentator for Rolling Stone, who rallied protesters from a small stage.

DC NEWS NOW notes that the protest "comes after Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins indicated the agency is looking to cut 80,000 jobs to slim its workforce" and that "More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans."

Lionel Donovan (WUSA 9) notes:

Rallygoers called out the harm that’s come from mass firings at federal agencies, especially on the veteran community, many of whom are now out of a job. Chris Yeazel, an Army veteran who lives in D.C., said he’s seen this harm firsthand.

“I get my healthcare from DCVA,” Yeazel said. “I was up there about a week ago, and wait times are longer, half the offices are shut down, lights out, and you can hear veterans talking about it, they’re not blaming the workers, by the way.”

Speakers and attendees also touched on the GOP’s spending bill, which keeps the government funded, but at the expense of deep cuts to D.C.’s budget and government programs many veterans rely on.

Paul Wagner (DC NEWS4) adds:

Protesters on the National Mall — many of them veterans — called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump Friday.

Homemade signs denouncing Trump and Elon Musk and demanding the president be removed from office were everywhere — “No kings! No DOGE! No cuts to VA!” “Stop the coup,” and “I serve no kings.”

For well over an hour, they listened to speakers point out what they called Trump’s abuse of the office of the presidency.

They included Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer who fought the mob Jan. 6 and ran for Congress in Maryland.

“Donald Trump has referred to Jan. 6 as a day of love,” he said. “This right here is love. I feel this; I love you all. And you all make me, you all give me whatever the hell I’ve got inside of me that makes me want to keep going and not stop.”

Rebecca Kheel (MILITARY.COM) explains:

The veterans who joined Friday's protest ranged from ones who have been frequent protesters to first-timers, from Vietnam veterans to Global War on Terrorism veterans, and from those who have personally been hit by the cuts to those who simply felt it was their duty to speak out as veterans.

"I think it's wrong that veterans such as myself, as well as everyone across the country, has to go through this autocracy, this oligarchy that we live in today," said Vincent Camacho, who added he served in the Air Force for 24 years from 2000 until last year.

Camacho, who said this was his first-ever protest, said he was fired from the Department of Agriculture recently as the Trump administration purged thousands of probationary employees from the federal government. Probationary employees are ones who were hired or promoted within the last couple of years and were targeted by the Trump administration first because they do not have as many employment protections as longtime employees.

The action took place as Convicted Felon Donald Chump's approval ratings continued to be miniscule. Joe DePaolo (MEDIAITE) notes, "According to a new poll from NBC News out Sunday, Trump’s performance on economic matters is not being well received. In all, 54 percent of voters disapprove of Trump on the economy, while 44 percent approve. And the split is similar on Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living -- 55 percent disapprove, and 42 percent approve. And a mere 18 percent of voters believe the economy is 'excellent' or 'good'." The negative views about Trump on this issue are a first in the NBC poll -- which has never previously found a majority of voters opposed to his handling of the economy."

USA TODAY offers a photo essay of the DC action here. UPI offers a Bonnie Cash photograph of the rally here and another photo here. Jimmy Alexander (WTOP NEWS) notes:

One of the veterans who made his voice heard was combat veteran, MSgt. Rig. The Northern Virginia resident served nearly 23 years in the Army.

"We paid for this with our blood, sweat and tears, and Elon Musk is out here destroying federal agencies with a stroke of a pen," he said. "It's completely illegal, and I don't know why the hell that these senators can't get off their ass and defend our democracy."

[. . .]

One person that made sure she attended the march was Rebecca Logan. She told WTOP that her husband drove her up from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Asked why she wanted to attend the massive protest, Logan said, "To help save my country."

The attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, motivated Logan to join the Air Force after she graduated from high school.

Logan needed the help of a walker as she made her way to the National Mall. As she crossed Independence Avenue, she said she had a message for her fellow veterans: "I know a lot of the veterans voted for Trump. You were lied to, and it's OK to stand up and say, 'Hey, this is not OK'."

Again, that was the DC action and actions took place Friday afternoon in other US cities.

Actions took place in Austin, Texas.

In Iowa.

They protested in Columbus, Ohio and (below) in Springfield, Illinois..

In West Springfield, MA.

They protested in Sacramento, California.

In Olympia, Washington.

In Fayetteville, North Carolina.

In New Mexico.

In Indiana.

PENN LIVE's Megan Lavey-Heaton notes that they protested in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and KTSP reports:

A large group of veterans gathered Friday afternoon on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul in solidarity with a similar march in Washington, D.C.

[. . .]

Protesters in St. Paul could be seen holding signs titled “America: Fight for Veterans,” “We Love the VA,” “Thank You Vets,” and others.

It was a major action across the country. Americans pulled together to fight back against efforts to harm veterans and federal workers. It was about people pulling together to help others. Plural. Not navel gazing. Not tunnel vision. Not 'single issue voters.' It was about the power of pulling together to fight for all. And it was a huge success in that the actions were felt and noted in every community that they took place.

The following sites updated: