9/10/2025

andy beshear

 andy beshear is the governor of kentucky.  i've noted him here several times.  especially before joe biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.  i think andy would be a great president.  the dnc sent out this e-mail from him today:


Here’s what I’ve been telling people in Kentucky, where I’m grateful to serve as governor: If you feel like the current president is against you, I want you to know you have a governor who is with you.

And that’s what I’ll say to you, too: Wherever you live, you may have a mayor, a member of Congress, or a city council member who’s with you. And you certainly have a Democratic state party and the Democratic National Committee with you, too.

You’ve got people fighting to move us all forward. Here in Kentucky, I’ve worked for progress on health care, public education, and creating good jobs for our people. But under this administration, all of those priorities are under attack, and I’ve learned two important lessons I’d like to share with you:

First, that for all of us trying to serve our states, towns, or districts, our work is connected. What the Republican majority in the U.S. House and Senate do — like passing the largest cut to health care and food assistance in American history with Trump’s budget — directly impacts families in my state.

And second, I’ve learned that Democratic governors stand as our last line of defense against this administration. That’s why it’s so important that we elect a Democratic governor in Virginia and New Jersey this November. It’s also critical we take back Congress.

These fights matter, Rebecca. I’m doing all I can to protect our people, and I know my fellow Democrats are with me.

I’m writing to you now because these lessons make clear the importance of a strong Democratic National Committee. Only the DNC works to support and elect Democrats at all levels of government, nationwide, every single year. That work is more important than it’s ever been.

Rebecca, the DNC is the place to chip in if you want to both support public servants fighting for our shared values now and strengthen Democratic power in the years to come. Please make a donation today:

If you've stored your info with ActBlue, we'll process your contribution instantly.

Thank you,

Andy

Andy Beshear
Governor of Kentucky  

you can give if you want to and have the money to do so.  my reason for reposting was the message and to make sure that you know of andy beshear. 


i also strongly suggest you read ava and c.i.'s 'Media Failures' because it really is a must read.


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


 Tuesday, September 9, 2025.  Chump is exposed as a liar yet again, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL is vindicated, Mike Johnson insists Chump was a snitch to the feds and then walks it back, Senator Patty Murray calls for the HELP Committee to hold a hearing and call the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appear for questioning, and much more.

 Starting with the litigious.  Bad news for the Convicted Felon in the Oval Office, he now needs to sue the House of Representatives for defamation.  Remember two months ago when THE WALL ST. JOURNAL reported on his birthday letter to pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein?  Chump shrieked it was defamation and it was "false, malicious and defamatory."  Also it was "FAKE" -- all caps.  


The House Oversight Committee now has the book -- given to the Committee by the Epstein estate -- and Kevin Breuninger (CNBC) reported yesterday afternoon:

House Democrats on Monday released a screenshot of what appears to be a letter signed by President Donald Trump that was included in a collection of notes sent to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.

The letter features a conversation between Trump and Epstein inside of an apparently hand-drawn outline of a woman's torso.
Trump's signature is located just below the thighs of the drawing.

"HERE IT IS: We got Trump's birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that the President said doesn't exist," the X account for the House Oversight Committee's Democratic minority wrote in a post revealing the letter.

In other words, Chump is a liar.  He lied when he said it wasn't him.  He lied when accused THE WALL STREET JOURNAL of defamation.  Repeating, Chump exposed yet again as a liar.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL's reporting was 100% accurate.  Chump wasted the court's time with a fake lawsuit.  He lied to the American people.  He is a cheap liar and this needs to register.  

If THE WALL STREET JOURNAL was as litigious as Chump, they would sue him for lying and insulting their integrity publicly.  



Michelle L. Price (AP) reminds, "Trump has said he did not write the letter or create the drawing of a curvaceous woman that surrounds the letter. He filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for a report on the alleged letter."

But he did.  


Last night on THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, Lawrence walked the country though what happened and what it meant while providing a document of his own that showed Chump's two signatures -- his formal one for the bank and his Donald with the last d extended out -- the way he signed Epstein's card -- for friendly correspondence.  


After the segment above, US House Rep Ro Khanna came on the program to thank Lawrence and his staff.  It was the work of Lawrence and his staff that led the Oversight Committee to the estate of Jeffrey Epstein and to the book with Donald's b-day wishes to his old pal Epstein.  


At CNN this morning, Aaron Blake notes:

             

We got more Jeffrey Epstein documents from the House Oversight Committee late Monday. And unlike last week, these actually contained some real news.

The big news is that we finally are able to see the letter signed in now-President Donald Trump’s name for Epstein’s 50th birthday back in 2003, which the Wall Street Journal first reported back in July.

Despite Trump’s claim that the lewd letter is a fake – he’s suing the Journal over the matter – two new factors appear to lend legitimacy to it. For one, it was turned over by Epstein’s estate, meaning it had apparently been in Epstein’s possession. For another, it features a “Donald” signature that seems to match contemporaneous documents circulating online from that period.

But that’s not the only thing we learned from the documents themselves and the reactions.     

[. . .]

         2. The other intriguing document

Another document in the “birthday book” section caught more than a few people’s attention and was highlighted by Democrats.

             It’s a letter with a photo of Epstein holding an oversized, novelty $22,500 check made to look like a payment from Trump to Epstein.

“Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women!” the text reads. “Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [REDACTED] to Donald Trump for $22,500. … Even though I handled the deal I didn’t bet any of the money on the girl!”

The redacted portion appears to be a woman’s name.

We don’t know the full context of the photo – CNN has reached out to the White House and those identified related to the photo. It could just be a crude joke, and one Trump didn’t have anything to do with aside from being mentioned. But the letter reinforces how Trump’s name could appear in the documents in ways the White House would prefer not to have to address.     


Andrew Beaujon  (THE WASHINGTONIAN) provides this walk through:


The doodle abides: Here’s how the Wall Street Journal described a 2003 letter from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein in a bombshell report this past July:

It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly “Donald” below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.

The letter concludes: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

The White House vehemently denied such a letter existed. Trump sued the Wall Street Journal. Vice President JD Vance said the article was “complete and utter bulls**t.” On Monday, the House Oversight Committee released an image of the letter provided by lawyers for Epstein’s estate, and it looks…exactly as described. (WSJ) The signature, typeface, lines, and word choices strongly resemble other content Trump has produced. (WSJ) Trump usually signs letters with his whole name, but has signed many notes, often personal ones, with only his first name. Have a look and compare them with the Epstein letter. (NYT)   The White House nonetheless claimed the letter was fake. “No one is falling for this BS,” Vance posted. (NOTUS) The book, compiled by Epstein’s associate and now convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, contains tributes from famous people and others in Epstein’s circle, and there are “numerous references to Mr. Epstein’s sexual conquests and female genitalia.” (NYT) Have a look at more pages, including letters from Bill Clinton, Peter Mandelson, and Leon Black. (WSJ) Not completely unrelated: Trump claimed in a speech yesterday that crime had vanished in DC since his takeover of the city’s police force, but that “Things that take place in the home they call crime,” adding, “If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime scene.” (NYT)


In other news about the liar in the Oval Office, Colby Hall (MEDIAITE) reports:

Andrew Bates isn’t exactly a household name, at least outside the households of DC and NYC area political media obsessives. But an interaction he had with reporters has gone viral in a manner that could lead to him becoming more widely known, if not celebrated in some progressive circles.
The former deputy communications officer in the Biden White House was called before the House Oversight Committee this week to testify about what he knew of former President Joe Biden’s health and mental acuity. And to be clear, there are legitimate questions there. The president’s age, verbal slips, and visible stumbles have fueled growing concern. Republicans are eager to exploit any opportunity to keep that conversation alive, and perhaps distract from narratives less kind to President Donald Trump. 

When Bates left the hearing, however, he declined to address any of it. Surrounded by reporters pressing him on Biden’s health, he ignored the questions and instead tossed out one of his own: Why was convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell quietly moved to a minimum-security prison?

“Do you have any updates about President Biden’s health? Did you know he had cancer when he was still in the White House? Were you aware of that?” a reporter shouted as he entered an elevator.
“I want to know why Ghislaine Maxwell is in a minimum security prison,” he calmly replied as the elevator doors closed for dramatic effect.


We all want to know that.  We all want to know why the Convicted Felon gave Maxwell a sweetheart deal and moved her to Club Fed in Bryan, Texas when she belongs in a real prison. It's an issue Rachel Maddow raised last night on her program.


Rachel notes how Deputy AG Todd Blanche does everything but his job while chatting up Ghislaine Maxwell.  Ghislaine tells him multiple members of Chump's cabinet were involved with Epstein.  Rachel plays the tape.  A real investigation requires Blanche to immediately ask for those names.

Does he?

No. 

Rachel plays the tape.  Maxwell says that multiple members of Chump's administration were close to the convicted pedophile and Blanche is silent before responding. 



That's Todd Blanche's "Doh!" (Homer Simpson), his "How you doin'?" (Joey on FRIENDS), etc.  It's his catch phrase.  



We all need to remember it and we all need to share it.

Told that multiple members of Chump's administration were involved with Jeffrey Epstein, Blanche doesn't ask for names, he changes the subject with "Uhm . . .  so . . . when's the last time you think you were with Mr. Epstein when he got a massage."

It's right up there with Martha Stewart's "I'm just going concentrate on my salad."


 Chump does not protect children, he protects pedophiles.  That's all he does and all he will ever do. Use your eyes if this confuses you.  If you use your eyes and you're still confused, you're deluding yourself and no one can help someone who doesn't want to be helped.  

Chump was attacking Tom Hanks yesterday and that was to feed his QAnon idiot base.  They had spread ahead of during Chump's first term the lie that Tom was part of a global cabal of people preying on children.  That's why Chump attacked Tom Hanks.  To try to rally QAnon to his side because even they are starting to grasp that Chump's words and actions don't meet up.

He is not a protector of children.  He never has been and he never will be.  Let's drop back to July 30th when Senator Ron Wyden's office issued this:

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called for an immediate investigation of reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has drastically diverted resources away from investigations into serious crimes against children, including child sexual abuse and human trafficking, in order to devote more resources to rounding up immigrants.

“Instead of locking up rapists, child predators and other violent criminals, Trump appears to be diverting investigators to target cooks, farm workers and students. Congress and the American people will not tolerate the Trump administration ignoring the ongoing sexual abuse of vulnerable children,” wrote Wyden in the letter to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at DHS is responsible for investigating serious crimes, and is one of the leading agencies charged with investigating child sexual abuse materials online. The 7,000 HSI agents are supposed to focus on investigating drug smuggling, human trafficking, and child sex trafficking, among other crossborder criminal activities. According to DHS, HSI arrested over 3,000 individuals for crimes against children and rescued over 1,000 victims of child exploitation in 2020 alone.

Wyden’s letter cites a recent report published by the Atlantic, which stated that HSI “supervisors have waved agents off new cases so they have more time to make immigration-enforcement arrests,” and quoted one agent describing the impact: “No drug cases, no human trafficking, no child exploitation.” 

Wyden has been a staunch advocate in the Senate for increasing resources for investigating sex trafficking and prosecuting predators to protect vulnerable children. In January 2024, Wyden introduced bipartisan legislation to protect children from online exploitation. In June 2024, he released information from his investigation into child abuse and neglect in youth residential treatment facilities across the United States. In September 2024, he urged existing authorities to protect and strengthen services for children susceptible to abuse enrolled in Medicaid in the child welfare program.

The full text of the letter is here.

###



People who want to protect children do not divert resources away from needed investigations.  Chump's a liar and is exposed as a liar. 


A lot of news is coming out on Chump's now-deceased roll dog Jeffrey Epstein.  Renuka Bangale (RETECHTIMES) reports:

JPMorgan Chase, one of America’s biggest banks, had a long and complicated relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious financier who was also a convicted sex offender. While most people remember Epstein for his crimes against young women, his financial dealings reveal another troubling story. Reports show that the bank not only handled Epstein’s money but also benefited financially from him.
During the years when Epstein was abusing teenage girls and young women, JPMorgan processed more than 4,700 transactions for him. These transactions totaled over $1.1 billion. Some payments went directly to his victims. The bank also sent money to Russian and Eastern European accounts that were connected to Epstein’s operations.

JPMorgan allowed Epstein to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars each month. These large withdrawals should have been a warning sign for suspicious activity. In some cases, the bank opened accounts for Epstein’s assistants and victims without proper checks. Experts say this could have helped Epstein move money easily and continue his crimes.

Bank employees noticed red flags early on. Some staff members raised concerns in 2006, after Epstein was arrested for soliciting a teenage girl. They highlighted unusual cash withdrawals and the risk to the bank’s reputation. Yet, despite these warnings, the bank continued to serve Epstein.


The banking records contain a lot of evidence.  That's why Senator Ron Wyden has been calling for them to be turned over.  We noted this press release last week but let's note it again:

Washington, D.C. – Expanding his three-year investigation into the financing of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday renewing his demand for the department to produce its extensive Epstein files to the Finance Committee. He also named several dozen individuals and entities with documented Epstein ties, seeking all files related to transactions with Epstein and any co-conspirators. Bessent twice this year has refused to provide these records to the Finance Committee, making him a willing participant in the Trump administration’s Epstein cover-up.

“Given the scale of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, which victimized thousands of women and girls and reached around the globe, it is preposterous and unacceptable that only Epstein himself and Ghislaine Maxwell have faced prosecution. There is no doubt that the Trump administration’s ongoing coverup of the Epstein files is giving comfort to the pedophiles and accomplices who were a part of his sex trafficking ring,” Senator Wyden wrote. “The Treasury records shine a light on how high-profile individuals paid Epstein staggering sums of money, which was then used to move women around the world or engage in dubious transactions indicative of money laundering. They also show how U.S. financial institutions turned a blind eye to the financing of Epstein’s criminal network, simply waiving the payments through without properly reporting them to U.S. authorities in a timely fashion, as required by law. Financial institutions, attorneys and agents actively participated in Epstein’s illegal operations or were grossly negligent. They must all be held accountable.”

Senator Wyden’s letter, available in full here, sought “all Treasury Department documents, including suspicious activity reports, concerning transactions with Jeffrey Epstein and any of his co-conspirators (whether indicted or unindicted), including, but not limited to transactions between Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and any of the following individuals and entities:”

  1. Jeffrey Epstein

  2. Ghislaine Maxwell

  3. Darren K. Indyke

  4. Richard D. Kahn

  5. Harry Beller

  6. Erika Kellerhals

  7. Southern Trust Company, Inc.

  8. Southern Financial LLC

  9. Haze Trust

  10. Environmental Solutions Worldwide, Inc.

  11. The 1953 Trust

  12. Plan D, LLC

  13. Great St. Jim, LLC

  14. Nautilus, Inc.

  15. Hyperion Air, LLC

  16. Poplar, Inc.

  17. J Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc.

  18. Gratitude America Ltd. (501c3 entity)

  19. Butterfly Trust

  20. La Hougue (trust in island of Jersey)

  21. Scott Borgerson

  22. Malcolm Grumbridge

  23. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (and subsidiaries)

  24. Deutsche Bank (and subsidiaries)

  25. Bank of America (and subsidiaries)

  26. Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (and subsidiaries)

  27. UBS Financial Services

  28. Wells Fargo

  29. Alfa Bank

  30. Sberbank

  31. Jes Staley

  32. Leon D. Black

  33. Debra R. Black

  34. Black Family Partners, LP

  35. Elysium Trust

  36. Elysium Management, LLC

  37. J Black Trust

  38. Melanie Spinella

  39. BV70, LLC

  40. Les Wexner

  41. Bella Wexner

  42. Abigail Wexner

  43. The Wexner Foundation

  44. Arts Interests

  45. Health and Science Interests

  46. The Wexner Children’s Trust II

  47. International Charitable Interests

  48. L Brands (formerly Limited Brands)

  49. Alan Dershowitz

  50. Glenn Dubin

  51. Christie’s

  52. Sotheby’s

  53. HB Multi-Strategy Holdings, Ltd

  54. Highbridge Capital Corporation

  55. AP Narrows Holding AP

  56. LDB 2011 LLC

  57. Elizabeth Johnson

  58. Johnson & Johnson

 

###




Let's also note Air's MSNBC segment on the topic of JPMorgan and the financials from yesterday.  






The weirdest Epstein news of late?  Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson insisting that Chump was an informant for law enforcement and then taking it back.  




House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on Sunday backed off his claim that President Donald Trump was an FBI informant in the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

While Trump has said that he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago, his members-only club in Florida, he has also recently called the latest demands for the release of more information on the Epstein case a “Democrat hoax that never ends.”
Last week, Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill that Trump cares deeply about the crimes Epstein committed and said that Trump “was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.”

On Sunday, his office released a statement modifying that claim.

“The Speaker is reiterating what the victims’ attorney said, which is that Donald Trump — who kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago — was the only one more than a decade ago willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein for being a disgusting child predator,” the statement from Johnson’s office read.

Trump and Epstein were onetime friends who had a falling out, particularly after a fight between the two in 2004 over buying an oceanfront property in Palm Beach, Florida, which Trump went on to win.


Did Johnson not grasp that he was calling Chump a snitch?  Or that a snitch is someone who's been caught in illegal activities and, to protect themselves, rolls over and snitches on someone else to save their own ass?  


Ben covered this a day ago for MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.





Trump administration officials are perplexed, as many people are, by House Speaker Mike Johnson's claims that Donald Trump was an FBI informant in the case against Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges he sexually abused and trafficked scores of underage girls. The president and Epstein had a well-documented friendship.
On Friday, Johnson made the confusing remarks about the president when a reporter asked him about Trump repeatedly referring to the Epstein scandal as "the Democrat Epstein Hoax."

"What Trump is referring to is the hoax that the Democrats are using to try to attack him," Johnson said, claiming the president's feelings on the topic had been "misrepresented." "He is not saying what Epstein did is a hoax. It's a terrible, unspeakable evil, and he believes that himself. When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago."

Johnson then added the head-scratching claim that Trump "was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down."



 
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) wondered why President Donald Trump had called the Jeffrey Epstein case a "hoax" even though House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) seemed to claim that the commander-in-chief had once been an FBI "informant" against the sex offender.

"Congressman Massie, let me begin with you and get your response to Speaker Johnson," ABC host George Stephanopoulos told the Republican in a Sunday interview. "He says you've been misled. He also suggested at one point this week seemed to suggest that Donald Trump, President Trump, was an informant to the FBI about Jeffrey Epstein."
"Now, I don't know if the speaker misspoke when he said that Donald Trump was an informant," Massie replied. "The lawyers for the victim said that Donald Trump had been helpful in 2009 in their case by giving them information."


So was Mike Johnson talking out of his ass as usual or does he actually know something?  If Chump was dropping a dime on Epstein, that needs to be public knowledge.  If he was dropping a dime on Epstein that manes the feds probably had something on Chump.  It also means that Chump knew what Epstein was doing -- trafficking females.  Johnson's claim raises a ton of questions.


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

ICYMI: On Senate Floor, Senator Murray Demands Immediate Firing of RFK Jr.: “This Man is Burning Down Our Public Health System from the Inside”

ICYMI: Senator Murray Calls for Immediate Firing of RFK Jr., Commends CDC Director Monarez’s Stand for Science and Public Health

Murray: “If Republicans refuse to allow our committee to exercise its oversight responsibilities, and instead just insist that we stand by and watch a conspiracy theorist burn our public health agencies to the ground, what are they even here for?”

Washington, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement calling for HELP Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to hold an oversight hearing with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. calling on him to answer for his increasingly dangerous attacks on lifesaving vaccines and America’s public health infrastructure, and his recent forcing out of newly-confirmed Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez and other top experts who dared to stand up for basic science. The CDC Director is a Senate-confirmed position for the first time this year thanks to the bipartisan PREVENT Pandemics Act Senator Murray negotiated and passed into law as HELP Chair in 2022. Director Monarez was in the role for less than a month before being forced out by Secretary Kennedy.

“In light of RFK Jr.’s recent, unprecedented moves to fire the CDC Director and push out public health experts, and the bipartisan concern about whether science or politics is driving vaccine policy decisions at HHS—the time has come for the ‘radical transparency’ we were once promised. For the good of the American people, RFK Jr. must immediately be called in to testify publicly before the HELP Committee.

“The American people deserve answers about why the conspiracy theorist atop HHS is blocking them from getting the vaccines they need to stay safe, and how exactly decisions affecting their health are being made. They deserve answers about the exact sequence of events that led to RFK Jr. attempting to fire Susan Monarez—the first Senate-confirmed CDC Director—from her position, and whether he lied about it in front of Congress last week. They need to know why RFK Jr. threw promising vaccine research and potential cancer breakthroughs into the shredder by canceling research into the very technology that powered Operation Warp Speed.

“The HELP Committee must have the opportunity to not only question RFK Jr., but to also hear from Susan Monarez and other former CDC officials in a public setting as well—Americans deserve the truth. If Republicans refuse to allow our committee to exercise its oversight responsibilities, and instead just insist that we stand by and watch a conspiracy theorist burn our public health agencies to the ground, what are they even here for?”      

Senator Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care who has led hearings on addressing vaccine hesitancy, has been a leader in raising the alarm over RFK Jr.’s nomination since the beginning—speaking out on the Senate floor, holding numerous events, raising the alarm after meeting with him, and hammering the threat he poses to Americans’ health nonstop. She led the opposition to the Trump administration’s disastrous plan to dismantle HHS and fire tens of thousands of staff in critical positions across CDC, NIH, FDA, and other agencies, and spoke out forcefully against RFK Jr.’s ousting of the entire CDC vaccine advisory board, including one ACIP member from Washington state. Senator Murray has held countless events across Washington state and in Washington, D.C. with doctors, patients, and former HHS officials to lift up how Trump and Republicans’ attacks on health care will be devastating for families. Last week, Senator Murray took to the Senate floor again to reiterate her call for RFK Jr. to be fired immediately.

###


The following sites updated:



Posted by at

9/08/2025

'justice' amy comey buttkiss and other vile creatures

amy comey buttkiss is on a book tour to promote her musings because, you know, it's all about the greed.  she needs to be spending time studying the constitution.  but that would be too much work for her.  betty's covering her and other crooks sitting on the supreme court so be sure and check betty out tonight.  carter sherman ('guardian') reports:




Letitia James, New York’s Democratic attorney general, has formally announced her intention to intervene in a Texas attempt to penalize a New York doctor accused of mailing abortion pills across state lines, escalating one of the most consequential fights in the US abortion wars.

The move on Monday tees up a showdown between states that ban abortion and those that protect it – one that, legal experts say, challenges fundamental constitutional issues and will probably end up in front of the US supreme court.

The Republican Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, first sued the doctor, Margaret Carpenter, late last year, accusing her of violating Texas’s near-total abortion ban by shipping pills to a Texas woman. After Carpenter failed to turn up for a court appearance, a Texas judge ordered her to pay more than $100,000 in fines.

However, an acting New York clerk in Ulster county refused to enforce the fine against Carpenter, as New York has a “shield law” that forbids state officials from extraditing abortion providers to other states or complying with out-of-state court orders such as the one issued in Texas. Paxton then sued that clerk, Taylor Bruck.



good for leticia james.  we need more fighters like her.


now let's note some gossip from 'ok' magazine:

Patrick Schwarzenegger's wedding to Abby Champion was not a full family affair — as his second cousin Jack Schlossberg was allegedly snubbed from the invite list.

The White Lotus star tied the knot with his supermodel fiancée over the weekend during an elegant lakeside ceremony alongside several famous family members, including his father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, mom Maria Shriver, sister Katherine Schwarzenegger and her husband, Chris Pratt.

Jack's absence may have come across as a snub of Patrick's Kennedy relatives, as the political writer is the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy — who was assassinated at age 46 in 1963.
"This wasn’t about space," a guest in attendance at the wedding told Rob Shuter's #ShuterScoop. "The ceremony had family everywhere — Arnold, Maria, Katherine, Chris Pratt — but no Jack."

"The guest list was curated, and he was left out," the insider claimed of Jack, who is related to Patrick through his mom, Caroline Kennedy.

if i were jack, i wouldn't sweat it.

patrick's a jerk and an asshole and maybe he'll grow up before his next wedding and invite jack to that.

patrick's a nothing.

1st of all patrick can't act his way out of a paper bag.  if he hadn't played a man in 'white lotus' who kissed his brother and gets jerked off by him, no 1 would have noticed patrick.  everything about him is forgettable and generic.   and that's a big problem because he's 32 this month and he's accomplished nothing as an actor. in fairness to him, that's partly his father's fault.  he's the son of maria.  most people can't keep the boys straight.  and there's a lot of ill will in the public against the son who ahnuld had with the housekeeper while married to maria.

he hasn't made a feature film since 2021.  and it bombed. 'warning' did not sell even $200,000 worth of tickets around the world.  'love of your life' will be released next year by 'amazon' and probably straight to streaming.  it sounds like a generic 'lifetime' movie.  and he's not the star. daisy edgar-jones, florence pugh and sydney sweeney are among the many actresses who turned the lead down. andie mcdowell's daughter sarah margaret qualley accepted the role.  this may be her 1st lead in a feature film.  she's talented and has many nominations for t.v. and supporting roles.  she's been nominated 2 times for emmys for her t.v. work and she was nominated once for the golden globe for her t.v. work and once for her film work (she was great in a supporting role in demi moore's 'the substance'). 

that's what's known as advancement.

some 1 might try explaining that to patrick because all that's happening with his career is time passing him by.  at this rate, he should aspire to be the next randall matthew batinkoff.  he can't.  and randall really went no where but he can dream big - or big for him.  (randall's mostly know for playing opposite molly ringwald in 'for keeps').


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


Monday, September 8, 2025.  Chump threatens war on Chicago as he launches an attack on Boston, his efforts to hide the crimes of his friends Ghislaine Maxwell and the late Jeffrey Epstein expose him as the criminal he is, the economy in tatters, he's booed at the US Open with the whole world watching,  and much, much more. 


Nancy Armour (USA TODAY) reports on a spectacle that's become much more common in the last months:


Resistance takes many forms.

Sometimes it’s people taking to the streets in protest, as they did this weekend in Chicago and its suburbs. Sometimes it’s governors banding together to ensure their citizens have access to vaccines that have been thoroughly vetted, as the governors of California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii have.

And sometimes it’s ABC and ESPN not muting the full-throated chorus of boos that occurred when the president of the United States was shown at the U.S. Open on Sunday.

The U.S. Tennis Association’s request that broadcasters “refrain from showcasing any disruptions to the President's attendance in any capacity" was an embarrassment. This is not North Korea or Russia, and it is not ABC’s, ESPN’s or any other broadcaster’s job to stroke President Donald Trump’s ego. His vice president, Cabinet secretaries and Republican House leadership have that covered.


As we noted Saturday: "We are onto you, Donald, and we are done with you"   There's always a point of no return.  We've reached it with Donald.  The Iraq War?  We got to a tipping point in public opinion and the needed support was over for the Iraq War.  Sadly, it didn't end then but serious players in Congress knew that they had to start planning and heed public will.  We've reached that point with Donald Chump.  He needs to get used to that booing. 


Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) covers that, Epstein and Chump's war on Chicago this morning.


One more time on Chump's latest booing, Peter Wade (ROLLING STONE) notes:

A chorus of boos and sparse clapping greeted Donald Trump when the president arrived at the U.S. Open men's final at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City on Sunday. Later, the boos continued and could be heard on the national telecast during the national anthem. The crowd booed again when the president was shown on an arena screen during a set break.


Whenever we reach one of these tipping points, I'm always reminded of a Carole King song that she wrote and recorded for her TOUCH THE SKY album.


The rebel cry of desolation
To which we used to hearken
Echoes now in isolation
As the skies in fury darken
A thousand acts of desecration
Hundreds more continue
When y'know that you are all creation
You're gonna fight 'em with all that's in you

I remember a time gone by
When peace and hope and dreams were high
We followed inner visions and touched the sky
Now we who still believe won't let them die

Waters dammed to overflowing
Like tears brimming over in our eyes
Sometimes it's so hard to keep on going
When promises turn to lies
Go ahead, give in to confusion
And put aside your ideals, too
Soon you'll see only illusion
Don't care who's hurt
As long as it's not you

I remember a time gone by
When peace and hope and dreams were high
We followed inner visions and touched the sky
Now we who still believe won't let them die

Sometimes a leader emerges
And is followed for awhile
Doesn't matter what he encourages
As long as he's got style
Young ones conceived in a passion
Of directions we thought enlightened
Grown-up, they follow the mood in fashion
But beneath their bravado
You know they're frightened

I remember a time gone by
When peace and hope and dreams were high
We followed inner visions and touched the sky
Now we who still believe won't let them die


Chump is the epitome of corruption.  No shock, he is a convicted felon -- on multiple counts.  He is trash and he is vile.  And he dirties the nation with his unwashed ways.

For awhile there, he could fool the slightly crazy.  Now it's just the full on nuts who still believe in fat boy.  His friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein has made it clear who's side he's on.  He's not on the side of the American people.  Despite years and years of pretending publicly to be outraged by pedophiles, despite QAnon and others -- Roseanne Barr -- pushing the lie going back to his first term that he was going after pedophiles and what they claimed was an international pedophile ring, he did nothing.  He still does nothing to stop pedophiles.  Epstein and Maxwell?  Pedophiles.  Epstein died in prison after his convictions.  Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Chump spent the summer moving her to a camp in Bryan -- one she didn't qualify for because it doesn't take sex offenders.  He rescued her.  And that and his refusal to release the Epstein files have combined to expose the reality of Chump to everyone and, at this point, only those with a non-functioning brain still trust him.



Lilly Phillips was interviewed on MSNBC's Alex Witt today and revealed that the survivors of Epstein and Maxwell are tired of  waiting for Chump to do what he should have done and that they are compiling their own list of Epstein and Maxwell clients. 



Maybe this will put a fire under Chump's fat ass and lead him to start releasing real papers -- not the ones that already in the public record that he tries to pretend are a 'new release.'  As Lawrence O'Donnell and others have pointed out, the birthday book?  The one with Chump's greeting per THE WALL STREET JOURNAL?  Congress is getting it due to the Jeffrey Epstein estate -- not as a result of any move on the part of Donald Chump.  Kendall Wright (ABC NEWS) reports:

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said Sunday that those who might be in the Jeffrey Epstein files need to be held accountable regardless of their social status.

"We can't avoid justice just to avoid embarrassment for some very powerful men," Massie told ABC News' "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Appearing in the files is not indicative of wrongdoing or a crime.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said there are enough votes in the House to force a vote on his and Massie's discharge petition, a rare bipartisan effort they've led to compel the Justice Department to release all records related to the convicted sex offender.


Instead, the gut-busting president insists that it's all a "hoax."  Lisandra Gomez-Tate (2PARAGRAPHS) notes US House Rep Thomas Massie has denounced that lie:

Massie posed the question: “Is it a hoax that Jeffrey Epstein was involved in underage sex trafficking, and there is unreleased evidence that would likely expose rich and politically connected perpetrators to indictments or convictions?”

With the results below (94 percent replied, “No, Release Epstein file”), Massie wrote: “The people know this is not a hoax (see poll), and as the survivors said this week, calling this a hoax dehumanizes the victims.”


 

The case of Jeffrey Epstein is not just a sordid tale of sex trafficking and privilege—it is a window into a justice system rigged to protect the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable. And despite his death nearly six years ago, the true story remains buried beneath a fog of sealed files, silenced voices, and unanswered questions. Julie K. Brown, the tenacious journalist who helped reopen the Epstein case through sheer investigative will, recently outlined nine critical questions we still need answered. Every one of them demands public reckoning. 

Why did the FBI wait nearly a decade to act after Epstein’s infamous 2008 sweetheart deal? Why were his victims ignored in violation of federal law? Why did the Department of Justice allow him to be placed in a jail so riddled with “coincidences” that even seasoned correctional officers called it suspect? Why hasn’t Ghislaine Maxwell -- convicted of trafficking girls to unnamed, unindicted men—been compelled to testify about the clients she and Epstein serviced? And what happened to the troves of hard drives, videos, and surveillance footage seized from Epstein’s homes -- materials rumored to contain evidence of high-profile sexual abuse? What powerful names are being protected, and why? 

The American public doesn’t need conspiracy theories. We need transparency. The idea that Epstein died alone in his cell with broken cameras, absent guards, a removed cellmate, and no suicide watch—just as the walls were closing in—is not a theory. It's a collection of verified facts that no responsible government would allow to go unexamined. Yet that’s exactly what has happened. The Department of Justice issued a summary report calling it suicide and closed the book. The files remain sealed. The abusers remain anonymous. And justice remains undone. 

This is a case that involved minors being raped and trafficked across borders. And yet not a single man who participated in Epstein’s operations has been prosecuted. Not one. The world knows the names that floated around his private jets and mansions -- from British royalty to American tech billionaires, financiers, presidents, and prime ministers. Are we truly to believe they were just… bystanders? 

We have seen a multi-tiered justice system before. But the Epstein saga might be the most flagrant example in modern memory. He weaponized his wealth to buy silence, legitimacy, and even immunity. His connections reached into intelligence agencies, Ivy League universities, Wall Street banks, and global political offices. These institutions were not innocent enablers. Many were direct beneficiaries -- financially, socially, and politically -- of Epstein’s web of exploitation. The complicity goes beyond individuals. It is systemic. The U.S. legal system allowed this predator to walk free for over a decade. The Bureau of Prisons failed to uphold even the most basic duties of care. The Justice Department's refusal to release the full investigative report into Epstein's death is a disgrace to any democracy claiming to uphold transparency and accountability. This is not just about Epstein. It is about whether the United States still has the will to hold its most powerful citizens to the same laws that govern everyone else. It is about whether our institutions are still capable of self-correction—or whether the rot has gone too deep.


As Chump's flesh rots, so does whatever passes for his soul.  The files need to be released and released immediately.  Failure to do, as US House Rep Jasmine Crockett points out, prolongs the suffering of those who survived the criminal abuse of Epstein and Maxwell.

 
 


Instead of releasing information, Chump and his administration are protecting pedophiles.  Tom Winter (NBC NEWS) reports:


The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal judge overseeing the case of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to deny a request from NBC News to unseal the names of two associates who received large payments from him in 2018, court documents show. The Justice Department cited privacy concerns expressed by the two individuals as the reason for not making their names public.

The first associate received a payment of $100,000 from Epstein and the second associate received a payment of $250,000, both in 2018, days after the Miami Herald began publishing a series of investigative stories where victims criticized a plea deal he received in Florida in 2008.

As part of the plea agreement, Epstein secured a statement from federal prosecutors in Florida that the two individuals would not be prosecuted.

The payments became public after Epstein was indicted and arrested in New York in 2019 and asked to be released on bail. Federal prosecutors in New York filed a memorandum on July 16, 2019, that argued Epstein should remain in jail to prevent him from tampering with witnesses.

They cited the payments he made to the two individuals, which began two days after the Miami Herald began publishing its stories on Epstein’s plea deal, also known as a nonprosecution agreement, or NPA.

Prosecutors wrote that on Nov. 30, 2018, Epstein “wired $100,000 from a trust account he controlled, to an individual named as [REDACTED] a potential co-conspirator — and for whom Epstein obtained protection in — the NPA.”

Prosecutors also wrote that “this individual was also named and featured prominently in the Herald series.”

Prosecutors added that “the same records show that just three days later, on or about December 3, 2018, the defendant wired $250,000 from the same trust account to [REDACTED], who was also named as a potential co-conspirator — and for whom Epstein also obtained protection in — the NPA.”


Chump has demonstrated that MAGA really stands for Make America Groom Again.  It's a party for pedophiles.  That's why they are rallying around Chump.

Saturday, THE DAILY BEAST's Joanna Coles spoke with Cleo Glyde about when Epstein introduced her to Chump. 


  


Ravi Hari (MINT) observes, "Glyde is not the first woman to recount awkward or inappropriate interactions involving Epstein and Trump. Stacey Williams, another former model and Epstein acquaintance, said Trump groped her at Trump Tower in Epstein’s presence."

It's over for the elderly, doddering fool.  Greg Sargent (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

President Donald Trump understands better than anyone else alive that his hold on his supporters—and on plenty of swing voters, too—depends on the mere perception that he’s strong, wins everywhere, always acts boldly, and wields absolute mastery over his eternally feckless, disoriented enemies. Last month, after an anemic July jobs report, Trump fired the steward of jobs data, magically transforming the story from one about the Trump economy’s weakness into one about him decisively crushing a newly designated foe.

On Friday, however, the new jobs report found that only 22,000 jobs were created in August, far fewer than the 73,000 created in July. A downward revision of the previous month shows 13,000 jobs were lost in June. Shockingly, firing the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics could not disguise the impact of Trump’s own policies: As economists noted, most signs suggest his tariffs are an important reason for the slowdown. 

All this suggests that Democrats have a fresh opening to undermine the foundation of Trump’s political strength by portraying him as a politically weak, failing, diminished, naked-emperor figure—and some new internal polling conducted by Senate Democrats hints at why.

The polling—conducted for the Senate Majority PAC and provided to The New Republic—probes voter attitudes toward Trump, his tariffs, and the economy. It finds that 56 percent of likely 2026 midterm voters say Trump’s tariffs are hurting the economy overall, with 44 percent saying they’re hurting a lot. Only 32 percent say they’re helping. Among swing voters—defined as voters who switched in either direction from 2020 to 2024—57 percent say they’re hurting.


In desperation to distract from Epstein and Maxwell, from his destruction of all his many failures including the economy, Chump declares war on US cities.  

That's reason enough to impeach him, by the way.  True, that as his dementia worsens, Chump may no longer be sure whether he's lying or not. The people in the administration, in the press and in this country need to help him out, tell him he's lying.  Non-stop.  For example, George Chidi (GUARDIAN) reports:


As Donald Trump threatens to deploy national guard units to Chicago and Baltimore, ostensibly to quell violence, a pattern has emerged as he describes which cities he talks about.

Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Baltimore.

But not Jackson, Birmingham, St Louis or Memphis.

An analysis of crime trends over the last four years shows two things. First, violent crime rates in America’s big cities have been falling over the last two years, and at an even greater rate over the last six months. The decrease in violence in America is unprecedented.

Second, crime in large cities in the aggregate is lower in states with Democratic leadership. But the president focuses his ire almost exclusively on large blue cities in blue states, sidestepping political conflict with red Republican governors.


Last week, Illinois 


Governor JB Pritzker's office served up a few key points:


Here are the facts Donald Trump should read and the White House should include in their next press release:

  • Chicago does not even make the list for Most Dangerous Places in the U.S., according to U.S. News & World Report.
  • Illinois ranks in the top half of states with the lowest violent crime rates in the country.
  • Gov. Pritzker’s Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) invested $250 million evidence-based programs to reduce gun violence.
  • The Peacekeeper Program, which trains residents to mediate and de-escalate conflicts, has resulted in a 41% reduction in gun violence in targeted Chicago and suburban Cook County neighborhoods
  • Over 90% of communities in Chicago that received state funding experienced declines in total firearm victimizations in July 2025 as compared to July 2024.
  • Chicago is on track to have the lowest number of homicides in decades with violent crime trending downward across categories as well.
  • Murders and shooting incidents are both down by more than 30% in the past year and have been cut roughly in half since 2021.

Read more about Illinois public safety efforts and facts here.


Gramps is so senile, we may need to repeat that several times daily.  Saturday, we pointed out, "Juliana Kim (NPR) notes that Chump is floating an APOCOLYPSE NOW assault on Chicago.  I guess it's a senior moment?  He's that divorced from reality?  People's lives are at stake and he's trying to act like it's a movie. "  AP notes:

In response to the post, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, called Trump a “wannabe dictator.”

Trump on Friday signed an executive order seeking to rename the Defense Department the Department of War, after months of campaigning to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize. The renaming requires congressional approval.

The illustration in Trump’s post shows him against a backdrop of the Chicago skyline [. . .]

 

Sunday on THE TODAY SHOW, NBC filed this report. 






Chump's referencing APOCALYPSE NOW and "Chicago about to find out why they call it the Dept of War."  That last one.  Chump's calling the Defense of Defense the Dept of War.  Chump can call it whatever he likes, that's the thing about dementia.  But it's the Dept of Defense unless Congress votes to change the name.  






MARGARET BRENNAN: And we're joined now by Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth. She joins us this morning from Schaumburg, Illinois. Good morning to you, Senator.

SENATOR TAMMY DUCKWORTH: Good morning.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you attended, as I understand, a demonstration yesterday in Chicago where thousands of people were out on the street protesting President Trump's vow to send in immigration agents. I know he's also posted on social media suggesting troops will go in. Quote, "Chicago is about to find out why it is called the Department of War." Vice President Vance says there aren't plans to send in troops. Do you have concrete indication, now, that there are plans to do so? 

SEN. DUCKWORTH: Let's make it clear the president of the United States essentially just declared war on a major city in his own nation. This is not normal, Margaret. This is not acceptable behavior. No, we don't have any indications of them getting ready to send troops into Chicago. In fact, I was out at Great Lakes base yesterday, naval training base, and they were able to confirm that the only assistance they've been requested to provide is just office space for ICE, but that no barracks, no detention facilities, none of that is being requested or prepared in order to support troops into Chicago.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, so then is this just, you know, social media trash talk? When you say he's declaring war, is this tongue in cheek?

SEN. DUCKWORTH: I think he's renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War, and did he not just say that Chicago will find out what it means to be at war? I don't- I take what the President of the United States says very seriously, because that is the respect you have to give to the office. And if that's what he's declaring, then let me make it clear, it would be an illegal order to declare war on a major city, any city within the United States, by the President of the United States.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, I know you just mentioned you went out to the Great Lakes Naval training session- station, I should say, and you said the military leadership said they'll only get office space, ICE cannot bring in lethal munitions, and the resources will not be diverted from military training. So all of that together, did you breathe a sigh of relief and say this won't have a real impact on the military?

SEN. DUCKWORTH: Well, we're going to make sure that there's not an impact on the military. We need to make sure that- as, you know, Great Lakes naval training base is where every single recruit in the United States Navy goes through to get that basic training, and then later on, some advanced training. We need to make sure that not a single dollar, not a single penny of the resources that they have that should be- that should be directed towards training our nation's sailors and making them ready to dare- do their jobs, none of that money needs to be diverted in order to support ICE or any of Donald Trump's political, you know, theater efforts. We need to focus on making sure we turn out the very best sailors we possibly can out of the base.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So in terms of how Democrats are responding to this, this rhetoric, the Chicago Tribune faulted Governor Pritzker for his threats, to quote, "not stand idly by" if the guard went in. They wrote, "what does that threat actually mean? How about a conversation before the action or the response? Because it's all potentially harmful to collective health." It sounds like there's a lot of tension here. Is there an opportunity to work with the administration to avoid making this worse?

SEN. DUCKWORTH: Well, they've not- they've not responded to any of our requests. I mean, I'll give you a very concrete example. Senator Durbin, myself, Senator Schneider- Congressman Schneider, sent requests into DHS to ask them to explain what exactly are you going to be doing at Great Lakes? And can we come look at your facility so we have a better understanding of what your operations are? And they replied, no, you can't. And in fact, gave their staff the day off on the day that we went to go look at the facilities, and locked the doors and left the base. Basically, they fled the base. This is not the action of someone that's doing something legal or that they're- that they're proud of. They literally gave the people the day off, locked the doors and left. Now the Navy allowed us onto the post. They allowed us to tour the outside of the facility and also where they would be storing the non-lethal munitions. But DHS did not show up. And we certainly have sent the administration multiple inquiries about what they are planning on doing. Who are they bringing into Chicago? Are they planning to bring the National Guard in? They've- none, none of that. They've not even reached out to local law enforcement to try to coordinate. You know, if they were truly, truly interested in fighting crime, then they would work with local law enforcement and ask them, what do you need? What help do you need? And we've not gotten any- any communications or feedback from the administration, whatsoever.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you in your armed services role about what is a significant geopolitical meeting this past week. You had a lot of America's adversaries gathering together. Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, all of them in Beijing. And China and Russia seem to be deepening their work together. What do you think the signal to the United States here is?

SEN. DUCKWORTH: The signal to the United States is exactly what, you know, these authoritarian regimes want to send, which is that they are the new world power, that America is losing its ground, and that they have utter disrespect for the United States. I think it was very, very clear, and it, you know, it doesn't escape me, the fact that once this meeting happened, which was humiliating to Donald Trump, he immediately responds by saying, well, then I'm going to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War and declare war on Chicago. This is what Donald Trump does when something bad happens to him in the news cycle, or when the Epstein victims come together and have a very emotional press conference, he changes the topic and distracts us by saying things like, I'm going to send ICE into Chicago, I'm going to do this or do that. The American people cannot be fooled. We cannot be allowing him to distract us from what is truly happening, which is, this is a man who has driven our economy to a point where now there are more unemployed people than there are jobs. You know, we're not selling our agricultural products overseas. Our adversaries are united against us.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the unemployment rate is still low, but I hear you on a weaker than expected jobs number. Just very quickly, there was military action taken in America's backyard by the Trump administration. Vice President Vance says "killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military." He was talking about a strike on a drug boat- alleged drug boat, off the coast of Venezuela. What do you make of that show of force?

SEN. DUCKWORTH: It was an illegal- it was an illegal move by the Trump administration. There's a thing called due process in this country, and that needed to have happened. And the fact that it happened in international order- in international waters actually opens Americans to a similar action by our adversaries. You just- we were just talking about Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping and getting together and showing us- showing a show of force against the United States. Well, there's nothing now to stop them from doing something like that against Americans in international waters. And it could be civilians, and they could say, you know what? Those were drug boats. We're just going to go ahead and blow them out of the water. You're- he's setting a precedence here that puts Americans in danger.



Chump's cry of going to war on Chicago was so offensive -- and patently illegal -- that  Chicago's ABC 7's Eric Horng, Michelle Gallardo, Maher Kawash, and Lissette Nuñez report he attempted to walk it back Sunday.  While everyone waits to see what happens next, AP reports:

The Rev. Marshall Hatch urged congregants of a prominent Black church on Chicago’s West Side to carry identification, stay connected to family and protest as the city readied for an expected federal intervention.

“You need to start telling people about your whereabouts, so you don’t disappear,” Hatch said during Sunday services at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. “We’re not going to despair. We’re not going to feel threatened. We’re not going to give up and give in to fascism and authoritarianism.”


Saturday protests took place as Chicago and surrounding areas geared up for whatever crimes Chump plans to attempt.  Susan Sarkauskas (DAILY HERALD) reported, "At least 250 people protesting on the streets of Wheaton Saturday made one message clear --  they don’t want immigration agents arresting people in their hometown.  Standing along sidewalks in front of a Jewel-Osco store at Main Street and Geneva Road, they held signs, rang bells, drummed and chanted." Wheaton is a city to the west of Chicago in Illinois.  And that's a very big turnout for the seat of DeKalb county which, last November, saw 48.1% of the voters turn out for Chump (Kamala Harris won the county with 50.1% of the voters, she also carried the state).  Cristobal Cavazos is quoted stating that they chose the protest site as a result of ICE grabbing a man in the parking lot there on August 1st, "We saw what ICE terrorism is doing to what the Bible says re 'the least of these'."   ABC 7's Christian Piekos, Maher Kawash, Evelyn Holmes, and Rob Hughes reported:


A rally and march was held Saturday evening in downtown Chicago against the anticipated surge in ICE operations. A large crowd gathered at Michigan and Ida B. Wells before marching up Michigan Avenue.

President Donald Trump says the surge in immigration enforcement activity in the Chicago area is about getting dangerous criminals off the streets.

The White House has not released any details about what's being planned. City and state leaders oppose deploying federal agents to the city.

Protests wrapped up Saturday night in the city and suburbs as federal immigration enforcement was expected to expand. The protests stayed peaceful, but demonstrators had a strong message for the president.

Massive crowds marched through downtown Chicago. At least a few thousand people protested the Trump administration.


Joanie Lum and Will Hager (Chicao's FOX 32) added that an estimated 2000 people participated in the protest and they note:

Veronica Castro, deputy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said, "Our job is to take to the streets, defend our space and keep each other safe."

"Our communities are still experiencing state-sanctioned trauma as a result of this orchestrated fear campaign," Viviana Barajas of Palenque USA said.

They marched through the Loop, stopping at the U.S. citizenship and immigration services office, the federal courthouse and paused at the foot of Trump Tower to send loud messages.

There’s been no sign of the National Guard in Chicago but the city is braced for it.


At TALKING POINTS MEMO, Josh Marshall observes, "Everyone is rightly shocked, disgusted, outraged by Trump's Truth Social meme threatening to turn Chicago into a war zone. But where's the National Guard exactly? Trump said he was doing this a couple weeks ago. He said they were 'going in' right away a week later. Maybe he'll do it tomorrow. I'm certainly not promising he won't."  Late Saturday night, Matan H. Josephy and Laurel M. Shugart (HARVARD CRIMSON) reported  that Chump was already launching an attack on Boston:

 
The Trump administration has begun rolling out its next surge of immigration enforcement in Boston, even as the federal government sued the city over a policy limiting police collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The surge, dubbed Operation Patriot 2.0, is expected to last several weeks, according to a Saturday report by the New York Times. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the move Saturday afternoon.

[. . .]

Reports of ICE agents near Harvard’s campus spread quickly among students Friday afternoon.

Students saw three vehicles marked with ICE lettering and the slogan “Defend the Homeland” driving in Harvard Square on Friday. The vehicles were photographed parked on Mt. Auburn Street and filmed driving toward Central Square.


Launching an attack on Boston.  Gearing up to launch one on Chicago, already carrying out attacks on Los Angeles and DC.  Stop trying to normalize him.  There is nothing normal about any of this.  He is a dictator and the people are turning on him.  The press needs to learn to read the moment.

The following sites updated:




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