NATIONAL EAT YOUR VEGETABLES DAY UPDATES
... Yes, I Know It's Also National Apple Strudel Day - but NO DESSERT UNTIL YOU EAT YOUR VEGGIES!
-No doubt people who marched and honked and sign-created and followed the massive No Kings protests on Saturday are still on a bit of a high from it - especially as it was followed the same day by the pathetic, sad, sparsely-attended, and (and this was a word I forgot to add on Sunday but was repeated even by the handfuls of MAGAts that were in DC) BOOOR-RIIING Trump Small Penis Parade.
-Even though there is a bit of a dispute about exactly how many people were at the nearly 2,200 official protests (50501 now estimates over 13 million while Indivisible and most of Legacy Media Inc. are going with the far-smaller and estimate-as-of-midweek-last-week 5 million), what is not being disputed was the juxtaposition of the energy and if not optimism, hope of the many many many many MANY vs. the poutdoze that Dear Leader had on his face through the thick of his long-dreamt-of display of military might turning flaccid and tiny.
-Still, there are natural and important questions to ask: how do the No Kings organizers use that momentum to actually try to mitigate or stop the damage MAGA and Trump are doing? Are there going to be more protests in the future? And, because we are led by a Mad King Baby who remembers every slight against him (as you will see later), how will Trump lash out and retaliate against everyone who did not show up (while trying, as he and others in his circle, particularly White House Communications Director Stephen "OddJob McSpicer" Cheung, who insisted over 200,000 turned out to adore his boss and Trump tried to pin blame on torrential rains that came the day before but not Saturday)?
-Let's speculate, shall we?
-On the momentum ... there will come a time when specific "asks" will be necessary to maintain and build on whatever crowds came up (and perhaps Indivisible is lowballing their crowds now to be able to say they are growing for the next wave?). Two areas leap to mind: the continued use of ICE to achieve the wet dream of Trump right cloven hoof Stephen Miller; and the still-stuck-in-Senate-committees Big Bill O'Crap.
-Since it was ICE rampaging through Los Angeles two weeks ago that triggered both the peaceful street protests and attempt to federalize and militarize the National Guard by Trump, calls to get ICE to back off or more are one likely area to use the still-rising opposition to Trump (more polls today have his popularity going into the mid-30s) with this true populist leverage.
-Indeed, in a likely reaction to all the events Saturday, Trump has both doubled-back on a previous command for ICE to back off of raiding farms and hotels and restaurants to get back to doing those, and announced new ICE raids to be aimed at Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago - three major cities with massive No Kings rallies, two states with prominent anti-Trump leaders (Gavin Newsom and JD Pritzker), and all with 'promises' from President TACO to bring in the National Guard whether those Governors want them or not (and whether the troops themselves want to or believe in the mission or not). So, look for more protests around the raids, which Miller and Trump seem to really want to do, popularity be damned.
-Indeed, THIS JUST IN: Brad Lander, New York City Comptroller and Mayoral candidate, was cuffed and arrested by masked ICE agents while attending an administrative hearing in which Ladner asked the agents for their badges and warrant - and getting neither. As of the writing of this update, all New York City Democratic Mayoral nominees except Andrew Cuomo have demanded Ladner's release. (Current NYC Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent and has given Trump assurances of aid to ICE agents in exchange for not being prosecuted for a number of crimes he was indicted for.)
-That then goes to the Big Bill O'Crap, and even here there is an important ICE connection: funding for the already wildly over budget ICE runs out at the end of the fiscal year, and the only move Trump would have to raid other budget areas for more money - the declaration of a 'border invasion' - is off the table if they want to be honest. (I know. I know ...) So that means without that thing passing, ICE may need to stop until they get some cash in some way or another in the running-like-a-machine (if that machine ran like one of those tanks on Saturday, slowly and with a ton of squeaking and clanging and sputtering) Congress.
-The infighting and sniping both within the GOP Senate Caucus and the looking-over-their-shoulders MAGA majority is getting higher. One major are of contention is a rule that the Senate wants that would allow state and local taxes to be deducted for up to $10,000. The problem: the so-called "SALT" provision is loathed by MAGA, to the point where at least 10 MAGAt would reportedly refuse to vote for the Big Bill O'Crap if that were in it - but there are at least five Senators that will not vote for any form of the Big Bill O'Crap if that provision is NOT in the legislation.
-So you can see the conundrum - and that is just one such provision among many others that could make the bill useless to some faction of the GOP and MAGA and could at best kill it, at worst get the bill into a reconciliation process that would be tortuous to MAGA but fantastic to people who don't hate Americans and do not want to see them suffer. Especially as sentient Republicans see that the polling on the Big Bill O'Crap is so awful it makes Trump's Small Penis Parade look like a No Kings protest. The White House is still insisting on a vote to try to get it signed by Independence Day, but it is far from clear whether that is realistic - especially if a conference will be needed to massage the two versions and that conference would bleed through the summer while opposition builds against it.
-And THIS is where the No Kings opposition can really be helpful. Phone calls and sit-ins and perhaps town halls by folks who got their taste at No Kings and are ready to do more can begin to demand the Big Bill O'Crap not cut Medicaid (which it does, savagely), SNAP and food assistance (which it does, savagely), not to cut Medicare (which more Senators are demanding in order to earn their support), not to do all of this to give the megakazillionaires all the money (which it would do in such historical amounts that economists are calling the Big Bill O'Crap "Robin Hood in reverse"). Other news has taken the Big Bill O'Crap off the front pages, but keep it on your agenda and be ready to work on it!
-To answer "when's the next big protests?," prior to last Saturday the buzz was that Labor Day may be when the next large-scale multiple protests launch, but that could depend on other factors and news between then and now. We just saw two such events (ICE and BBOC), but there sure as heck are likely to be others ...
-Witness the other piece of the question asked: how will a butthurt Trump lash out against the country that turned out bigly to give him the middle finger and turned their back on his big party with all the bombs and the planes and the soldiers walking by like a Sunday morning stroll? The reverse to the reverse of stopping ICE raids on certain industries that Trump makes a buck off of that a few of Trump's buddies make bucks off of important to the economy could certainly be one area of trying to show the world that yes too he is TOUGH!
-We also know that Trump will lash out, because he is The King of Inappropriate Petty. He has found such a target post-parade for as grotesque a reason as you can think of - Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Walz is dealing with the assassination of the Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, the attempted assassination of MN legislator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette (who are now expected to survive) at the hands of a self-styled Christian minister and owner of a home security company, who was captured after dressing like a police officer to the two homes where he found victims (as well as two other homes where he did not shoot, incredibly), a manhunt that led to the accused assassin's arrest, and the mocking of the entire event by another piece of MAGA Shite, Utah Senator Mike Lee (who is being called upon to resign by sane and decent people - that is, no Republicans or MAGAts - but only deleted his offensive posts for a generic message of sympathy).
-Apparently still smarting by Walz calling him "weird" last summer at the start of his Vice Presidential campaign, Trump first posted on social media on Sunday that Walz was "terribly unpopular" and "incompetent" while barely mentioning the murders (which, contrary to massive disinformation on MAGA social media channels, were perpetrated by a two-time Trump voter and not a disgruntled Democrat) - and last night, while flying home early from the G7 economic summit in Canada (and we'll talk about that soon too), Trump continued to be a classless jerk by saying he would not talk to Walz since, in Trump's view, it would be "a waste of time," then displayed his mastery of psychological projection by calling Walz "a mess" and "whacked-out." All again without mentioning the assassinations. Because ... Trump.
-There is also the tried-and-true way for leaders with flagging domestic popularity to try to boost it with some kind of foreign entanglement. For that, Trump flew to Canada, where the G7 Summit is currently underway. There, Trump went through a typical embarrassment of a press conference that was mercifully stopped by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, but not before Trump spoke up for bringing back BFF Vladimir Putin - who was the only world leader to remember to call him on his Birthday, YOU BASTARDS! - while claiming Obama and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threw Putin out of the G7 in 2014 and that was why Putin invaded Ukraine, neener neener. Among the problems with this statement: Putin invaded the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, and he did so not only when Trudeau was not the Prime Minister, but Trudeau's party was not in power.
-From there, Trump pantsed himself further when he appeared with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to boast about a minor trade agreement the pair had just signed - only for Trump to display his full Benny Hill when he opened up the folder he held to show the world what a Big President he was with his signature ... promptly dropping the pages of the agreement, which flew around and past him and forcing Starmer to try to grab a few as the Canadian wind threw its elbows up at Mr. 51st State.
-That was more than enough for Trump, as shortly after that he announced to the world (and its relief, for a moment) that he was high-tailing it out of the G7 - which both prompted at least one journalist to ask whether Trump's habit of dozing off because he is an old man whose everything is old and demented (HEAR THAT, TAPPER??!) and allowed Trump to escape having to once again meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and possibly hear about the latest round of drone and missile attacks by Russia on Kyiv that killed at least 11 civilians and injured at least 110 just last night. (SLAVA UKRAINI!)
-Would that be all that Trump did, but the reason he gave for leaving early is that last item on the to-do list of Failing Autocrats, Failing Presidents, and Failing Anyone with Control of a set of Armed Forces: Start, or Threaten to Start, or Get Involved With, a War.
-With new and raging conflict between Israel and Iran now engaged, and with multiple reports showing that, contrary to statements made by the White House, the United States is likely cooperating logistically with Israel (and not batting an eye over Benjamin Netanyahu's potential goal of regime change along with snuffing out Iran's nuclear weapons program), Trump showily claimed he was returning to DC to "monitor" the situation between the bombing factions - and to convene his "defense experts" in The Situation Room (with an eye to creating his version of the photo of Obama's officials watching the Osama Bin Laden raid?).
-This of course means speaking to Defense Secretary Hegseth (who, according to a London paper, is getting Trump's wrath over the Small Penis Parad), DNI head Gabbard (fresh off a self-made video warning of the consequences of nuclear war in such a way most felt it was translated from Russian by "Putin's Girlfriend"), Secretary of State Rubio (fetching everyone water), Stephen Miller (because Functioning President?!), and other military officials, and having them go into that room to do ... something ... soon? ... and raising the temperature of some kind of direct military participation by the United States in that portion of the Midde Eastern tinderbox.
-Putting aside, if we can, the military and diplomatic ramifications - that could go on for decades - over something like bombing raids in the densely-populated city of Tehran or supporting Netanyahu's 'idea' of taking out Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and having American fingerprints - even wee tiny fistie-sized fingerprints of President Alpha - all over such an action, there is also the potentially MASSIVE problem within the Trump base of having so many of what they would consider an ultimate betrayal by Trump of one of Trump's previously bedrock, er, 'beliefs': that America NOT go to war over foreign entanglements.
-MAGA is an isolationist bloc through and through, and figures from Tucker Carlson to Alex Jones (?!) are condemning even the thought of a foreign bombing by their Dear Leader - much less actually doing it, and MAGA social media is rife about WTF is Trump doing, what with his NO MORE WARS lines he has spewed ever since he first popped into the Republican Party ten years ago on June 16 being relayed back to him.
-Yes, occasionally there are threats that look like MAGA and the GOP will finally break away from Dear Leader, and no planes have been launched yet - but "yet" is doing a lot of work as of the writing of this update, and this issue is hitting a nerve with MAGA in such a way that it might ... might ... put more pressure within the GOP along with all the other items listed just in this Update ... so let's both hope cooler heads prevail and nothing intercontinental launches while watching MAGA stab each other in the back.
-Because if they do, fear not - the Trump family is ready. Amid all the other tumult, the Trump Organization, led by failsons Donald "SchnOOOORT!" Trump Jr. and Eric "Eric" Trump, happily trumpeted the new shameless grift of their own supporters income stream for Jr's "ALLEGED" drug use and Eric's whatever he does so-criminal-it's-jaw-dropping Presidential graft business ... TRUMP TELEPHONE! That's right, if you always wanted a smart phone chock full of malware, viruses, credit-card-eating cookies and more in a hideous gold-plated two-generation-behind smart-ish phone with a big "T" emblazoned on it, well, they go on sale soon if you must.
-Blech. We need a cleanser after all that, so go back to thinking about how awesome Saturday was, get ready for more local events, and here's the trivia of the day ...
-NEWS ON THIS DATE: in 1631, the wife of a rich Shah died in India - and Shah Jahan I mourned her by building her tomb, which took 20 years and is called the Taj Mahal. In 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill began. In In 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City. In 1955, Colonel Tom Parker assumed control of the career of Elvis Presley. In 1972, five men broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate apartment complex. In 1976, the ABA merged with the NBA. In 1994, O.J. Simpson was charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and friend Ron Goldman after a slow-paced pursuit of Simpson in a Ford Bronco was broadcast live worldwide. In 2015, a white supremacist entered an African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC and opened fire, killing nine people.
-DEBUTS ON THIS DATE: The Republican National Convention (1856), the Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930), Iceland (1943), SYNCHRONICITY (1983), THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES (1985), Jason Isbell (on the Drive-By Truckers' DECORATION DAY, 2003).
-HAPPY BIRTHDAY: James Weldon Johnson, Igor Stravinsky, M.C. Escher, Ralph Bellamy, Red Foley, Stringbean, Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, Ken Loach, Barry Manilow, Eddy Merckx, Marcy Kaptur, Gregg Rollie, Dave Concepcion, Mike Milbury, Mark Linn-Baker, Bobby Farrelly, Jello Biafra, Thomas Haden Church, Greg Kinnear, Dan Jansen, Eric Stefani, Will Forte, Venus Williams, and Jodie Whitaker.
-REST IN PEACE/POWER: Maxwell Perkins, Swale, Kate Smith, Dick Howser, John Matuszak, Cyd Charisse, Rodney King, Prince Be, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Jean-Louis Tritignant.
-FEED THE WORMS: Newt Gingrich and Joe Piscopo entered Earth on this date.
-TODAY'S MUSIC INTERLUDE: Happy Birthday, Kendrick Lamar!