NATIONAL LITTLE PAMPERED DOG DAY UPDATES
… But Really, All Our Dogs are Little Dogs No Matter Their Actual Size!
-Donald Trump’s first 100 days of his second stint in office officially hits on Wednesday, but – SPOILER ALERT - capped by two polls (Associated Press/NORC and Reuters) that show for the first time approval ratings below 40% and every major media poll having negative ratings on Trump on every issue polled including immigration, we can safely deduce that Trump will have the lowest approval rating of any President after 100 days since Harry Truman in 1945. Truman’s numbers picked up after back-to-back World War II wins over Germany and Japan, but it is reasonable to conclude that ain’t happenin’ with Trump.
-Those numbers are, I would argue, important as we dive into the events of the last few days, both as reasons for how horrible they are and, more importantly, reactions likely to take place at the wee tiny hands of Trump, his minions, and the mounting opposition …
-The numbers are likely to color reactions this week to the events of Friday morning in a courtroom in Milwaukee, where Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by ICE agents and charged with two counts of obstruction. The arrest came after the Judge allowed a defendant – an undocumented immigrant in her court for a case involving three misdemeanor battery counts – to leave through one door in her courtroom while Dugan questioned the ICE agents about the warrants they were about to serve on the immigrant. Even though ICE agents saw the man they were going to detain leave the courtroom and tracked him down and detained him on the street, agents then also decided to detain and charge Judge Dugan for her actions.
-Now, by most readings this arrest appears to have been improvised – but it was also shortly trumpeted on social media by FBI Showhorse Director Ka$h Patel for about an hour before the post was removed. Judge Dugan was booked and released later that day with a May 15 hearing set on the charges, but since then Patel and the Trump White House, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, to use it and tie it to a New Mexico case where a Judge was charged with harboring a “Venezuelan gang member” in his home, to thump their chests and open a dangerous new avenue of attack and intimidation in their efforts to Make America White As Their Imaginations Dreamt It Once Was play one of the few cards they have to hold power at all costs for Dear Leader Trump enforce immigration laws. Indeed, Patel has released a photo of Judge Dugan being perp-walked into an ICE vehicle after her arrest, leaning hard into the suppression/repression thang in the hopes other Judges won’t follow Judge Dugan and others.
-The arrests and charges come as Team Trump continues to find the judicial system becoming a somewhat surprising bulwark against their authoritarian push. Legal reporter Chris Geidner and superattorney Mark Elias both report no less than eleven cases filed in response to Trump’s would-be royal proclamations “Executive Orders” have went against Trump, calling for rehiring of workers, continued collective bargaining representation, prevention of rollbacks on rules, and all sorts of Project 2025 nightmares they call “dreams.”
-The arrests in connection with ICE and immigration are also coming into play as reports now are surfacing that children are being deported. This past week a two-year-old born in the United States was deported along with her mother and two other siblings aged 4 and 7 to Honduras despite the demands from her father – and done so with what appears to be zero due process of any kind. These are not the only children that have been deported – in fact, in at least two cases, the children that have been deported were undergoing cancer treatment and were flown out despite being told of their predicaments.
-ICE simply claims that the parents were “informed,” but this lack of due process is precisely the issue being focused on in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, and sadly we know from Trump, Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, Kristi Noem and company, that they embrace family separation as a tactic to try to terrorize immigrants into not coming, even as their promised waves of deportations are not happening because Trump’s blartspews about “TenS Of MiLLionS of EmigraHANNTS” were never true.
-There continues to be a buildup of pushback from various sectors of American society, including higher education (where a letter demanding continued financial support of research and protection of civil liberties now has signatures of over 250 college Presidents) and law firms (where several Big Law firms that signed appeasement agreements with the White House now rethinking them after the administration started ignoring their own deals) – all of which may be making Trump and company pivot to try to fix the law so it goes their way. Thus the judicial intimidation campaign.
-Protests also continue to build. Protestors have been visible near Judge Dugan’s offices since the incident began, the next major 50501 protests are set for this Thursday (May Day), and THIS JUST IN: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Cory Booker have begun a sit-in on the steps of the Capitol to discuss the return of legislators to DC to continue work on the federal budget, aiming to give $6 billion to Elon Musk and his cronies at the expense of the gutting of Medicaid and the hamstringing of most major federal programs not geared to make Musk and Trump richer.
-Much more effective than Sitcom Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, who said on CNN this morning that he and other Senate Dems have sent a sternly worded eight-question letter to the administration about their moves against Harvard University! No word on if the letter was written in those rhymes that the who listen to that rap and hop hop music seem to like these days …
-And looming over all of this may be a disruption of supply chains and massive empty store shelves as the first effects of the MAGAGOPTrump Tariffs hits Red America and other places. While some tariffs were rolled back and others were not and China remains a major target, the effect of an erratic Mad King who flips tariffs on and off like they were the button on his desk demanding Diet Coke be brought to him has been to have stores like Target and Walmart slow orders – and suppliers back off on production for said consumer items. The result, as many of their CEOs attempted to tell Trump, may be empty shelves across the country imminently.
-While the immediate effect was to have Trump “temporarily stop” said tariffs from being applied (even though in the days the higher tariffs were being applied they were not being collected because shortages of federal workers to assess and collect the tariffs meant nobody was at the ports to collect them – D’OH, DOGE!), Trump’s other “demand” that countries come to him and individually buy Trump crypto kiss and clean Trump’s be-hind cut a deal with him America are likely not happening despite the Trump inner circle insisting countries were “lining up!” to do so.
-China has been openly mocking these reports, telling the world they are not speaking to anyone in the Trump Whtie House, and Japan also reported they ended their discussions because they had no idea what the White House wants or how they could give it to them. So the bumps in the stock market may be more about market manipulation to benefit Trump cronies grabbing any apparent good news about the economy than actual good news about the economy.
-If we are talking about foreign manipulation and Trump, inevitably we get to Vladimir Putin, and that brings us to about another area of mass dislike of Trump in the American voting populace (and humanity in general): Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As Russian drone and missile strikes hit a number of population centers in Ukraine, Trump’s “negotiating team” claimed they were “pushing” for a “peace deal” between the parties.
-Unfortunately, the “peace deal” depicted as nearly take it or leave it by Secretary of State and groveling waterboy Marco Rubio was essentially the Putin Wish List he had at the start of the war, including allowing Russia to re-hold all the territory it had and lost in the initial invasion in 2022 and Crimea in exchange for allowing the U.S. to get a hold of Ukrainian natural resources and, oddly, the Zaporizhian nuclear power plant. That “offer” was also made as Trump and Rubio also continued to lie through their teeth and insist it was Ukraine (and, naturally, Joe Biden) who started the war.
-The “offer,” of course, was roundly rejected, and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy continues to work closely with European Union countries on a real peace plan, as well as to continue the fight to defend Ukraine. (Not that Trump didn’t, actually, if by ‘trying to stop Putin’ you mean Trump social media posting “VLADIMIR, STOP!” on his pathetic Truth Social network.) Indeed, yesterday at the funeral for Pope Francis, Zelenskyy was the lone world leader whose arrival was given a roar of approval by the dignitaries and mourners who went to the mass.
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-I know it was a funeral, but OMIGOD we HAVE to talk about Trump and the Pope’s funeral – an entire volume of Petty Atrocities that must be noted to further explain his polling descent.
-The pettiness started with the note last week that he was going to attend the service, accompanied by both Melania (or “Melania,” if you believe the internet rumors – and MAGA does, so why not?!) and inappropriate exclamation points in the post, like he was going for an extra-burnt steak dinner when he got there. When asked why he was going to, Trump showed the deference befitting the death of a spiritual leader by noting that “I won the Catholic vote BY A LAHT!” and, well, I guess that showed the Vatican how devout Trump is, eh?
-Jump cut to the funeral, and Trump arrived wearing his typical blue dumpy untailored suit and a blue tie – in complete and utter defiance of Vatican dress codes demanding black suits and black ties (though the ties are supposed to be “long,” so at least we know Trump did that). But there Trump went, and there Trump sat, and as the mass continued, there Trump and Melania sat without looking at or reading a Bible when literally everyone else was.
-Trump was also photographed with world leaders welcoming Zelenskyy, with French President Emanuel Macron again doing that you-won’t-do-that-stupid-dominant-handshake-with-ME-you-stink-sopped-oaf thing with the handshake with Trump – while giving the properly-dressed Zelenskyy (you’re WELCOME, JD Vance!!) a heartfelt hand clasp and hug.
-And to top it all off, Trump can clearly be seen slumped over, head tilted, mouth agape to the world, and sleeping. Noisily. So noisily Melania noticed (though as one wag noted, probably the first time Trump and Melania slept together in years). And so soundly that reportedly he told the pilots of Air Force One to fire up the jet so he could get back to the States in time for a round of golf by the end of the day yesterday (no report on if they made it). But at least he didn’t drool (“but?!”) …
-That tiredness is showing up in other places - if you look. To wrap up the 100 day marker, TIME magazine did an interview of Dear Leader because of the date, and to say Trump seemed out of touch and tired is yet another damnation of Legacy Media Inc. of its onslaught of BIDEN B OLD stories from last year (and yes, even though Biden was at the Pope’s funeral and looked good, stories still circulated describing him as “frail”) while utterly ignoring the continued degradation of Trump’s mind and body by the day if not hour.
-To wit: when asked about the assassination by car bomb of a Russian general that took place earlier this week, Trump had no idea of any of it (he would have had that at the top of his Presidential Daily Briefing). When asked about the Abrego Garcia case, he again had no clue or no details about any of it despite the massive number of stories (and comments he had made before) about the case. When asked about the tariffs, he insisted that there were “200 countries” lining up and ready to complete negotiations with him … despite not only having no evidence of any countries talking to Trump, but also the minor detail that as of last count, there are only 190 countries on Earth.
-Most damning, when asked about all the legal activities, TIME reporters Eric Cortellessa and Sam Jacobs pointed to a portrait of John Adams on the wall directly behind Trump while asking about Adams’ apocryphal quote about American being “a government ruled by laws, not by men.” Trump was utterly confused about the reference to Adams’ portrait, so the reporters turned him around had him look at Adams staring behind him. When asked again about the Adams quote, Trump chewgargled in response, “I wouldn’t agree with it 100 percent. We are a government where men are involved in the process of law, and ideally, you’re going to have honest men like me.”
-I mean, how is this man underwater with everyone except the hardest-core MAGAts?!
-Ah, well, as we gear up for the next wave of street protests and continued pressure – which does seem to be having effects in many areas – so what you may need is a good movie to get inspiration and rest. That movie may very well be SINNERS, the Ryan Coogler movie that has now become buzzworthy and possibly the first 2025 Oscar Best Picture contender.
-The movie stars Michael B. Jordan playing twin brothers who buy a juke joint in 1930s Mississippi, only to be hit by both a wave of vampires and Jim Crow – all set to music from and echoing with delta blues. The movie is on line to become the number one movie in the country this week, its second week in release, reflecting massively positive word-of-mouth that is matching stellar reviews by professionals and raters alike. It even got a blistering defense from Ben Stiller, who went after VARIETY magazine’s reports after the magazine downplayed the success by scoffing that “profitability remains a ways away” at the movie when “profitability” is rarely mentioned by other movie franchises of producer/directors – particularly Caucasian writer/directors.
-And that profitability thing is likely to give Coogler himself the last laugh. As Black Enterprise noted, the film’s $90 million budget is now likely to be recouped this weekend. And as The Independent noted, Coogler’s deal with Warner Bros. for SINNERS will give him points from box office and full ownership of all royalties and rights (including merchandise) in 25 years, the result of Warner Bros. winning the bidding war for SINNERS after Coogler made CREED and BLACK PANTHER. So Variety may simply be jealous as Coogler is getting many last words – and bravo for him!
-No, I have not yet seen SINNERS myself, but perhaps after I wrap this update I shall … so let me plan and wrap up the update for the day!
-NEWS ON THIS DATE: In approximately 4977 BC, Johannes Kepler guesstimated the universe began. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpas as part of the Civil War. In 1942, sugar began to be rationed in the United States. In 1945, a fleeing Benito Mussolini was captured. In 1994, South Africa held its first post-apartheid multiracial elections, won by Nelsan Mandela’s African National Congress party. In 2009, General Motors announced the Pontiac brand would be ended.
-DEBUTS ON THIS DATE: The London Zoo (1828), “Fur Elise” (1818), Togo (1960), Sierra Leone (1961), the computer mouse (1981), a female House of Commons Speaker (Betty Boothroyd, 1992), VAN LEAR ROSE (2004), the Airbus A380 superjumbo airliner (2005), LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER (2014).
-HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Mary Wollstonecraft, Samuel Morse, Ulysses S. Grant, Sergei Prokofiev, Rogers Hornsby, Walter Lantz, Enos Slaughter, Jack Klugman, Coretta Scott King, Pik Botha, Anouk Aimee, Casey Kasem, Chuck Knox, Sandy Dennis, Earl Anthony, Judy Carne, Jim Keltner, August Wilson, Keith Magnuson, Pete Ham. Kate Pierson, Ace Frehley, George Gervin, Sheena Easton, Cory Booker (!), Sally Hawkins, Patrick Stump, Austin Dillon, and Nick Kyrgios.
-REST IN PEACE/POWER: Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Labatt, Hart Crane, Edward R. Murrow, Carolos Castaneda, Al Hirt, Ruth Handler, Mstislav Rostropovich, Bill “Moose” Skowron, and Paul Junger Witt.
-FEED THE WORMS: Opportunistic once-Democrat now MAGAt West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and proto-MAGAt talk show host Larry Elder entered Earth on this date. Ferdinand Magellan bought it on this date.
-Jerry Springer died on this date. You decide if he Rests in Power or if he Feeds the Worms.
-CULTURE ON THIS DATE: The Number One Nonfiction Book in the United States on this date … in 2025, ABUNDANCE by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson … in 2015, THE RESIDENCE by Kate Andersen Brower … in 2005, MY LIFE SO FAR by Jane Fonda … in 1995, IN RETROSPECT by Robert S. McNamara with Brian VanDeMark … in 1985, IACOCCA: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Lee Iacocca with William Novak SO IT’S NOT AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY DAMMIT … sorry … and in 1975, THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE by Charles Berlitz.
-TODAY’S MUSICAL INTERLUDE: Happy Birthday, Lizzo!