Hitting Us Where We Sit

It appears that one consequence of our trade war with Canada is a jump in the price of toilet paper.

Thanks Donnie. 

Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the US and Canada enter a full-fledged trade war that threatens to flush away decades of peaceful trading between the two nations.

After trade negotiations broke down between the two countries last weekend, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, vowed to match US tariffs “dollar for dollar” and unveiled a list of nearly 900 American goods that will face 25% to 50% tariffs starting on 8 September.

Paper products are among the hardest-hit sectors, with Canada threatening to put tariffs of between 25% and 50% on “toilet paper or face tissue stock” from 8 September in retaliation for a 50% hike from Washington DC.

Though American toilet paper and tissues are often made domestically, they heavily rely on lumber-rich Canada for raw materials. Procter & Gamble, the owner of Charmin toilet paper, said last year that it would have to increase prices amid tariffs that were in place at the time.

Maybe it's time to switch to 1-ply.

Because, Of Course They Are

In the latest filing with the court regarding the Kennedy Center, the Trump DoJ has stated that if they do not get to shut down the center for 2 years (In order to conceal how much attaching Trump's name to the building has cratered support), and do not get to add Trumps name to the building, that Donald Trump might have the building torn down.

You know, I'm beginning to think that Adolph might be looking up from his pit of lava and saying, "Damn, Donald Trump is such a delicate snowflake."

Lawyers for the Trump administration told a federal judge that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts desperately needs the major renovation ordered by President Trump and raised the specter that it would need to be “taken down” if those plans are blocked.

In a court filing late on Monday, Justice Department lawyers defended plans for the $250 million renovation project and described how, as recognition for the president’s role, an inscription of his name on the center’s marble facade would be appropriate.

“Without those efforts, the center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down,” the filing said, “with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years.”

………

It was unclear how seriously any thought to knock down the building has been considered, but it was the most extreme measure cited to support Mr. Trump’s contention that the Washington arts center needs a major overhaul that would force it to close for two years. Mr. Trump ordered the demolition of the White House’s East Wing last fall to make way for a luxury ballroom.

………

This month, the board approved two new inscriptions below the main Kennedy Center signage. The first would read “renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump.” The second, which would be added below the first once the endowment reaches $100 million, would say “endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

Someone please make it stop.

Another Reason to Hate Donald Trump

Because in response to his bullying tactics, he he makes Ontario Premier Doug Ford sound like a hero, rather than the right wing bowling ball in a jacket that he is.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is slamming Donald Trump as a “loser” and the “king of bankruptcies” after the U.S. president criticized him on social media on Monday afternoon.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump referred to Ford by name as “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.”

The post came hours after an interview with The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll in Ottawa, in which Ford said that Trump could “kiss my ass.”

At a news conference in Hamilton on Monday afternoon, Ford initially said that he wouldn’t respond to a “dictator” and “bully” like Trump before going on a prolonged rant about the U.S. president.

Ford also doubled down on his earlier remarks, saying “I have a lot of real estate on my ass, so he has a lot of room to kiss my ass.”

“I am not going to take any advice off a guy that is the king of bankruptcies and he is actually tariffing his own people, taxing his own people,” Ford said of Trump. “I am going to be reaching out to every single governor, every single senator, every single congressperson and when it comes to the (U.S.) midterms I have a message to the Americans: don’t vote in a person that is going to kill your jobs.”

………

Ford’s news conference in Hamilton was held to announce an expansion of an existing program to support workers and businesses impacted by the trade war.

However, it unfolded just moments after Trump’s Truth Social post.

At one point during the news conference Ford addressed the U.S. president directly: “Your own people, President Trump, don’t even like you,” he said.

He then predicted that Americans would “speak loud and clear” during the upcoming midterm elections and offered that he would be “door-knocking” himself if he could.

When asked about the personal nature of Trump’s criticism, Ford said “bring it on.”

………

Ford’s comments on Monday come after Trump threatened to impose a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian vehicles by 2027.

Speaking with reporters, Ford said he believes “everything should be on the table” amid the renewed trade war with the U.S., including a surcharge on electricity exports that Ontario introduced and then scrapped earlier in the trade war.

………

“I cannot speak for other premiers but a couple premiers have a lot of power to protect Canada, massive power,” Ford said. “Everyone needs to be on team Canada and throw everything and the kitchen sink at them (the U.S.) no matter if it is electricity, if it is fuel, potash or uranium. We need to have everything on the table. But we need a buy-in from cost to coast.”

Note that the threat to end /surcharge cheap hydro-electricity exports to the US is a big deal, and given this year's record El Niño, it's likely that this won't result in potential sales being literally flushed down river.  

I'm nodding in approval, and I don't want to be nodding in approval. 

I Don't Care About Natalie Harp

I am amused about the Republican meltdown about the Trump aide, but beyond schadenfreude, I cannot bring myself to care.

I don't care if Trump is f%$#ing here.  I care that Trump is f%$#ing the entire world.

Until now, Natalie Harp was known only to Washington insiders and people weird enough to read insidery books about the administration. But Harp has officially escaped containment.

She is about to be a full-fledged character in the dramedy of the Trump White House, discussed in the news and recognized by ordinary people. And while the White House and its allies are pretending to be outraged about that fact, it’s completely appropriate and long overdue. There is literally no single person who spends as much time at the side of the president of the United States as her; the idea that it should somehow be off-limits to discuss her role is bonkers. So let’s review what got us here.

Thank Jon Ossoff for putting a spotlight on her

At a campaign speech on Sunday, Sen. Jon Ossoff mentioned Harp in a single sentence, as part of a criticism of the president for being distracted by unimportant things. “He doesn’t want to do the job,” Ossoff said. “He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace, gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”

And then their heads exploded. Heh.

Fuck John Roberts

The modern day incarnation of Roger B. Taney decided to allow the construction of Trump's White House Ballroom to continue while the case proceeds.

This is clearly an attempt to allow facts on the ground to take precedence over the the facts and the law.

The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon allowed construction on a new 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom to continue – at least for now. Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had issued an order, slated to go into effect at the end of the day, that would have stopped above-ground work on the project. But Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary order, known as an administrative stay, that kept Leon’s order on hold to give the justices more time to consider the Trump administration’s request to pause it.

The brief, one-sentence stay did not indicate when the justices might act on the government’s request. Leon’s order has never gone into effect, permitting the Trump administration to move forward with construction while the case made its way toward the Supreme Court. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court last week that there was “a 250-person crew working 20 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep the Project ahead of schedule and under budget”; as a result, he wrote, as of last week, the project was “65% complete in its entirety, and moving quickly toward total completion.”

Another nakedly corrupt and partisan act by a naked and partisan justice.

This is not a court of law, this is the marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation.

Our Dumb Polity

It appears that Trump has another issue with the New Ford Class aircraft carriers, he thinks that the the location of the island toward the stern is ugly, and wants it changed.

This is even stupider than his order to remove the electronic catapults on the new class.  (The electronic catapults, arresting gear, and lifts have all been a bit of a cluster f%$#, but we're well past the limits of the sunk cost fallacy there)

The U.S. Navy is considering a major redesign of its new aircraft carriers to better match President Donald Trump’s preferred aesthetic for the warships, according to seven current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter. 

The service is evaluating the feasibility of moving the multistory tower that acts as the carrier’s command center farther forward, toward the middle of the ship, to resemble older vessels, the officials said. The review, which has not been previously reported, is in response to Trump’s concerns about the “look” of the new Ford-class ships, where the tower is near the rear, these people said.

The timing and extent of the Navy’s evaluation is unclear, with current and former officials cautioning that the service was concerned that such a change would require significant time and money. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation.

Moving that command center, known as the “island,” would be the second major design change prompted by the president, who on Thursday issued a national security memorandum directing the Navy to develop a plan to revert to older steam-powered catapults on future carriers. The systems help launch jets off the ships’ flight decks.

Trump’s preference, current and former officials said, is for the new aircraft carriers to look more like those that were in service during World War II.

The Navy also examined the issue during his first term as president, said a former senior U.S. official. A study found that moving the island could cost billions of dollars in redesign costs and significantly delay the program, this person said. 

 The stupid, it burns.

Pass the Popcorn

The BBC is now pursuing subpoenas to depose Trump's children and Jared Kushner.

Good.

Hopefully, the questions will involve the Trump Org's business practices as well as his statements on January 6.

The BBC is trying to subpoena Donald Trump’s children as it builds its defense against the president’s defamation lawsuit centered on a documentary on the January 6 insurrection.

In a motion filed on Friday, the BBC sought authorization to serve Trump’s two eldest children, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, with subpoenas for testimony and their records on the events of 6 January 2021.

The BBC, its lawyers wrote in court documents, is entitled to discover Trump’s “intention behind the speech and anything that bears on the impression his audience could have reasonably obtained in listening to the speech”, which includes whether Trump “gave it intentionally or otherwise; the breadth of the audience of the message and impression; and the extent of any resulting injury or harm”.

This is how a real news organization responds to bogus defamation claims.

Nope

So it looks like Donald Trump is trying to put his name back on and shut down the Kennedy Center again.

Because his feelings are hurt when the judge told him that putting his name on the facility was unlawful. 

If I were judge Cooper, I'd be throwing the entire board in jail for contempt.

The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted on Thursday to inscribe President Trump’s name on the building beneath the main signage, according to two people with direct knowledge of the proceedings, aggressively testing a federal judge’s order.

According to the resolution approved by the Trump-allied board, the inscription underneath the institution’s name would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board’s decision, which directs officials to act by “all legal means,” came shortly after it voted to move forward with Mr. Trump’s plan to shutter the building for renovations.

Restored and renovated by Trump? 

Is he swinging the hammer? Nope.

Is it his money that is being spent on this? Nope. 

F%$# this. 

………

The move appeared to attempt to find a creative workaround to a provision in the federal law governing the Kennedy Center that says “no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas.”

………

Both decisions will be subject to the scrutiny of the judge who, in response to a lawsuit from a Democratic lawmaker, found that the board had been “derelict” in considering the closure plan before approving it originally. Mr. Trump announced in February that the center would close for two years, with the objective of transforming what he called a “tired, broken and dilapidated” institution.

The board voted on Thursday to close the Kennedy Center’s main building while keeping a newer addition to the campus, known as the Reach, open for limited programming and to operate as an active memorial to John F. Kennedy. 

………

Outside arts administrators have suggested the financial realities for cultural organizations are far different from what the board is projecting, saying institutions typically do anything possible to avoid closure so they do not lose ticket revenue and donors. Ms. Beatty’s lawsuit questioned the true reasoning for the closure plans, arguing that it may be an effort to mask a financial downturn stemming from the president’s takeover.

Gee, ya think? 

I do hope that the judge goes postal on their flabby white asses.

Brave, Brave, Brave, Brave Sir Donald

And they were forced to eat Robin's minstrels, and there was much rejoicing

I'm not sure that I can add much about Donald Trump cravenly slinking away from the Presidential 747 in response to an almost certainly false report of a threat from Iran, but seeing as how it gives me the opportunity to make a Monty Python reference, I'm doing it anyway.

Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey to Britain last month when the White House said he was flying aboard ⁠Air Force One, in an extraordinary ruse – prompted by an Iranian assassination threat – that involved hiding the president in an airport catering container, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The operation took place when Trump was in Ankara for a Nato summit with world leaders, according to the Post. The president reportedly boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, and then was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, a US official told the Post.

What a f%$#ing poltroon,

Well, That Was Quick

Less than 24 hours after being sworn in as US Attorney General, Todd Blanche  is already making a mockery of the law in order to shield Donald Trump.

Gee, hoocoodanode? 

It’s been less than 24 hours, and freshly sworn-in Attorney General Todd Blanche has already issued entirely new legal protections for President Donald Trump.

In a memo published Monday evening, just hours after Blanche’s swearing-in ceremony, the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel argued that the president could claim executive privilege over communication between him and his “private advisers,” provided that the communications were confidential and related to his presidential “decisionmaking.”

The memo also seemed to expand executive privilege to apply to communications between the president’s “direct advisers” and civilians.

If the Democrats take back the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, this memo could have major implications for any investigation into the president and other top administration officials. Clearly, the Trump administration is preparing to stonewall Congress.

 This is a feature, not a bug.

A Fortunate Failure

The Trump administration has done its best to hamstring wind power.  Its primary tool for this is stopping required reviews of new wind farms by the Pentagon.

The courts are having none of it.

On Thursday, a US District Court in Oregon ordered the US government to restart the process of approving wind projects. All new wind development in the US has been on hold since August 2025, when the Department of Defense (DoD) stopped participating in a process that allows it to compel developers to alter projects in order to limit their interference with radar equipment. The court ruled, however, that the DoD’s national security claims did not allow it to opt out of a process that is legally mandated.

The Trump administration has made many attempts to block wind development, both offshore and land based. Its attempts to stop offshore wind included the same approach at issue in this case: Claim that drone developments mean that radar interference by wind turbines creates a national security risk. The courts were not sympathetic to this claim, including in cases where judges examined a classified report that the DoD was using to justify blocking offshore wind construction. As a result, the administration has turned to paying companies not to pursue wind development.

In parallel, the government was pursuing a similar approach for onshore wind. Here, a law lays out a process for the DoD to evaluate any problems posed by wind turbines and negotiate changes to planned wind farms with the developers. As laid out in the new decision, the government simply stopped participating in this process in August 2025, first by refusing to sign off on previously negotiated agreements, and later by refusing to draft agreements entirely. Eventually, it simply refused to participate in negotiations at all. This has brought a halt to all wind development in the US.

………

Nothing in that framework allows the DoD to simply stop participating in the process. “If DoD wishes to alter the statutory scheme, it can ask Congress to do so,” Immergut wrote. In the absence of congressional action, the DoD can’t simply ignore the law.

The ruling orders the DoD to resume the process of approving wind projects using the congressionally mandated schedule and to report back every 30 days on its progress.

 

Well, It's a Start

Capital One has announced that it has closed Trump Organization accounts due to patterns showing money laundering.

What?  You mean that a mobbed up real estate developer from New York City might be laundering money?

Pshaw! 

Capital One Financial hit back on Friday against a lawsuit over its ⁠decision to close the Trump ⁠Organization’s bank accounts ​years ago, stating that it did so after a review by anti-money-laundering experts.

The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money-laundering concerns to Donald Trump’s family business. Capital One is seeking to dismiss the case by casting doubt on claims of illegally debanking – or denying services on religious or political grounds – the Trump Organization.

………

Capital One has never accused the Trump Organization of money laundering. ​But Friday’s filing argues that “documents and Plaintiffs’ own ‌allegations make clear that Capital One closed ‌Plaintiffs’ accounts for anti-money laundering (‘AML’) reasons.

“The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by ‌Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance.”

Capital One gave notice of its plans to close more than 300 Trump-affiliated bank accounts in March 2021.

300 accounts?!?!!?  

Nope, no money laundering there.

………

“The transaction patterns identified by Capital One are among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance,” the filing said.

Gee, ya think?

Where Can I Rent the World's Smallest Violin?

Because it looks like Todd Blanch's nomination to be US Attorney General likely not going to make it through the Judiciary Committee.

You have two Republican Senators demanding a written promise not to use the, "Weaponization fund,"
 nor preemptively pardon Trump and his family for Tax fraud.

As one of them is John Cornyn, and he lost the primary to Ken Paxton in large part because Trump endorsed the latter, and so has nothing to lose, I rather think that the nomination is as dead as the parrot in Monty Python's sketch. 

The Senate committee weighing Todd Blanche’s bid to become the next attorney general postponed a key vote on his nomination Wednesday, amid a standoff between the Trump administration and two Republican senators who have threatened to withhold their support.

The postponement was a high-profile setback for President Donald Trump, and a further indication that congressional Republicans are becoming more willing to stand up to him on key matters. It also leaves the fate of Blanche’s nomination uncertain after Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced the vote’s deferral just hours before it was set to take place at a 9 a.m. Thursday hearing.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) had insisted that the Trump administration limit — in writing — central provisions of a controversial deal struck this spring between the Justice Department and the president to resolve a lawsuit he filed against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. DOJ was not able to provide the senators sufficient assurances to win their agreement to support Blanche.

The senators have said their votes for Blanche’s nomination hinge on their requested changes to the deal. A “no” vote from either one of them would be enough to sink Blanche’s nomination at the committee stage, given the expectation that all Judiciary Committee Democrats will oppose Blanche’s confirmation.

Hopefully, soon I will be able to say, "This nomination is no more, it has ceased to be." 

Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud ……… Under Oath

In news that is surprising only because they admitted guilt, Trump and his Evil Minions™ have admitted that they cancelled grants because they came from states that did not vote for him.

Impeach Trump, Impeach Vance, jail the lot of them. 

When the Trump administration canceled more than $7.5 billion in Biden-era federal grants for clean energy projects in October, it framed the move as an urgent corrective to protect taxpayer funds from waste.

But it wasn’t true.

In little-noticed court documents, federal officials acknowledged this month that they had terminated the funding “based solely” on political criteria, targeting projects in states that were represented by Democrats and had voted for Kamala Harris, the party’s presidential nominee, in the 2024 election.

The admission showed how President Trump has weaponized the provision of federal education, energy, health, housing and infrastructure aid in his second term. Far from rooting out the sort of misspending that Mr. Trump sees as rife in Washington, the White House has instead sought to leverage the budget as a tool to assist its allies — or as a cudgel to hurt the president’s foes.

This is f%$#ed up and sh%$.

Pass the Popcorn

The BBC has secured an order requiring that Donald Trump provide detailed information about his businesses for his defamation lawsuit.

This is a no-brainer from a legal perspective.  In addition to the requirement that the statements be false (absence of malice for public figures), but it also requires a showing of harm.

In this case, in addition demonstrating harm to the delicate feelings of snowflake Trump, this means that Trump has to demonstrate real and measurable financial harms.

Donald Trump must divulge detailed financial information from his many businesses as part of his $10bn defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation, a federal judge ruled during a discovery hearing on Tuesday, according to news reports.

The ruling by US magistrate judge Enjoliqué Lett could open a unique window into the hundreds of businesses owned by Trump’s family trust. It also highlights a potential drawback for Trump’s strategy of bludgeoning critical media with multibillion-dollar lawsuits.

Trump filed a defamation lawsuit late last year seeking $10bn in damages over a 2024 documentary called “Trump, A Second Chance,” which features a scene of the speech he made before his supporters attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. The scene splices lines together to make it appear that Trump directly urged his supporters to attack. The BBC apologized to Trump last year for the misleading edit, but has argued the president’s defamation claims have no merit.

………

Trump’s lawyers are also trying to dodge the forced release of his financial records by limiting the scope of the lawsuit. Alejandro Brito, a Trump lawyer, told Lett on Tuesday that he intends to amend the current complaint, according to Politico. The amended complaint will say the documentary only caused reputational damage, rather than undermining his businesses, making the financial disclosures unnecessary.

But for now, the BBC can move forward with requests for Trump’s financial records. The BBC aims to argue that Trump’s wealth skyrocketed since the documentary aired, contradicting the claim that the documentary undermined his businesses.

I am thinking that if the BBC gets this data and looks into it thoroughly, they should find some convincing data of self-dealing and bribery.

If they find such evidence, they should report on it. 

I Don't Give a F%$# About Soccer or the World Cup

But the news that Donald Trump was ferociously booed when he showed up at the World Cup finals makes me happy.

Spain may be the 2026 World Cup official winner, but the game actually had two losers, thanks to Donald Trump. During a brief appearance on the jumbotrons around New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, the crowd of Argentina and Spain fans booed the U.S. president, who is set to present the World Cup trophy itself to the winning team. The moment happened just after Jennifer Hudson performed the national anthem.

He was shown sitting in a box next to Melania Trump a few more times throughout the game.

This isn’t the first time Trump has been booed at a sporting event, and it certainly won’t be the last. Aside from UFC fights and stops on the PGA tour, most major sporting events have been hostile territory for Trump. 

 They hate him, they really hate him!

They Will Never See the Inside of a British Jail

Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate were arrested in Florida in response to an extradition request from the U.K. for rape and human trafficking.

I do not think that they will be extradited, at least not while Donald Trump in office.

Not only are they friends of the Trump friendly, particularly Barron Trump, but rape friendly obnoxious white dudes is Trump's base.

Andrew and Tristan Tate, prominent influencers in the so-called manosphere, were arrested by federal marshals in Miami on Saturday in connection with new criminal charges of rape and sex trafficking in England, U.S. and British law enforcement officials said.

Prosecutors in Britain said that they were seeking the brothers’ extradition.

The Tates, who have British and American citizenship, were detained “pending ongoing legal proceedings,” according to a statement from the police in Bedfordshire, a county north of London.

British prosecutors had previously charged the brothers with rape, human trafficking and sexual assault. The new charges stem from alleged offenses involving four women that took place between July 2010 and August 2017, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement on Sunday after the arrests.

British prosecutors said the new charges against Andrew Tate, 39, include seven counts of rape; three counts of sex trafficking; three counts of assault; and 19 more charges relating to sexual images of children and “extreme pornography.”

………

The brothers, who have cultivated a large following of young men by preaching brazen masculinity and have made a fortune from online pornography, have faced criminal investigations in three countries.

In Romania, where the Tates previously lived, prosecutors have been investigating allegations that they coerced dozens of women, including a 17-year-old girl, into pornography. They have also investigated Andrew Tate over allegations that he raped one of the women and had sex with a 15-year-old.

Romanian prosecutors had barred the brothers from leaving the country while investigations there continue, but last year they agreed to lift the travel restrictions. The move was the culmination of a yearslong effort by Andrew Tate to forge alliances with President Trump’s advisers and family members, a Times investigation found.

………

Since the travel restrictions against them in Romania were lifted, the brothers have resumed their jet-setting lifestyle, though they have not returned to Britain. Andrew Tate had been advertised as a co-host for a bare-knuckle boxing event on Saturday night in downtown Miami.

Their arrest on Saturday signaled active efforts by British authorities to extradite the brothers, even without a clear resolution to the cases in Romania.

The whole MAGA-sphere is made up of the worst people in the world.

Wut?

There is insane, there is toxic narcissist, there is senile, and then there is Trump's endorsing Mike Lindell for Minnesota Governor.

This is literally beyond my capability to mock.

It’s been 11 years since Donald Trump burst onto the national political scene and began his takeover of the Republican Party. But his influence in Minnesota has rarely been tested.

Trump has never weighed in on a competitive primary for statewide office in Minnesota, choosing instead to make an endorsement when the dust had settled.

No longer. Trump waded into a three-way race for Minnesota governor on Wednesday and sided with his longtime friend Mike Lindell, boosting a political ally who has spread Trump’s false theory of a rigged 2020 election just as the president gears up to deliver a primetime address this week on the topic.

Yeah.  Whatever.

BTW, I am not watching Trump speak tonight.

There is not enough alcohol for that.

I Hope That This is Trolling

NEWS: A 10 foot tall participation trophy has been placed on the National Mall in honor of Donald Trump's "enthusiastic involvement" in the Iran war.

A group called Secret Handshake is taking credit. pic.twitter.com/EtagBVTEWH

— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) July 13, 2026

Because if the group erecting an, "Iran War Participation Trophy," for Donald Trump is serious, it provides yet more evidence that Idiocracy was a documentary.

If this is a troll, it is a truly master full troll. 

Since I am an optimist, and since a number of media sites, including the Washington Post, have reported that this was a brilliant bit of mockery, I'll just leave it at, "Well played, motherf%$#ers."

Meanwhile, in Air Force One Failures

For some unspecified security reason, Donald Trump decided to switch to one of the older 747s to fly back to the United States.

I am wondering just how many listening devices were planted in the plane. 

Nobody is buying President Donald Trump’s shady excuse for leaving Air Force One behind in Europe.

While taking questions from the press at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, Trump was asked to respond to speculation that security concerns had forced him to ditch the newly renovated, Qatar-gifted plane after the president scrapped his own ceasefire deal with Iran.

You know, maybe it is a good idea to look a gift horse in the mouth.