On Second Thought

Felon Who Votes by Mail-in Ballot Wants to Eliminate Mail-in Ballots

By Michael Woyton

Quoted below is what was posted at 7:17 a.m ET Monday on Truth Social by the felon-in-chief.

“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election. We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections. Remember, the States are merely an “agent” for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do. With their HORRIBLE Radical Left policies, like Open Borders, Men Playing in Women’s Sports, Transgender and “WOKE” for everyone, and so much more, Democrats are virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM. ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS. I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS. THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!! REMEMBER, WITHOUT FAIR AND HONEST ELECTIONS, AND STRONG AND POWERFUL BORDERS, YOU DON’T HAVE EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF A COUNTRY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!!! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”

Are your eyes bleeding yet?

We assume the adjudicated rapist is still freaking out over his failed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday.

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“President Donald Trump pledged Monday that he will try to eliminate mail-in voting, after telling Fox News that authoritarian Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with him on the subject during their meeting last week,” Rolling Stone reported.

Really? Putin said it’s OK to get rid of mail-in voting, so that’s what we should do? Really?

The cheating elderly golfer, who has voted by mail in the past, is threatening to amend the Constitution yet again through his mighty, mighty executive order Sharpie.

Our Constitution specifies in Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 that the times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”

He again lied that the United States is the only country in the world using mail-in voting and that all others gave it up because of “massive voter fraud.”

“Data from International IDEA contradicts this claim, showing that 34 countries worldwide allow mail-in voting, with 12 allowing it for all voters and 22 for some voters,” the Guardian said.

Courts in the U.S. “rejected numerous fraud allegations after the 2020 presidential election, finding no evidence of widespread irregularities,” the news organization reported.

So it’s not up to President TACO how states run their elections, and suggesting the elimination of voting machines in favor of all in-person paper ballots is not going to produce, as he has said, a nationwide result at the end of the voting day.

All it would do — and I’m sure the liar-in-chief would be OK with it — is make it harder for people to vote.

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Lead art: Screen grab from CNN-News18 via YouTube.

US Govt Social Media: ‘Cruel, Gross, Weird,’ Says Mother Jones

By Michael Woyton

I’ve long said that in this administration cruelty is a feature not a bug.

Nothing makes that point more than a glance at the social media the convicted felon/adjudicated rapist’s evil minions are creating.

“This is, at the moment, the official voice of the U.S. government: a rancid mixture of trolling, cruelty, propaganda, and crass jokes about the human suffering they’re creating, as Wired’s Tess Owen recently put it, to turn actions like mass deportation into ‘one big joke’,” Mother Jones writer Anna Merlan said in an article published Friday.

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Her examples included turning a photograph of a crying woman arrested by ICE into a cartoon illustration in the style of Japanese animation.

“The tweet got 155,000 likes, a mix of outraged and delighted responses, and, as it was designed to, a lot of attention,” with 76 million views so far, Merlan wrote.

Quoted in the article is Jason Stanley, a former Yale University professor now in Toronto, who studies fascism.

He said the memes about brutal detention and deportation are designed to show audiences power over liberals “by having as much fun as possible.”

“What they’re offering people is not health insurance or economic security,” Stanley said in Mother Jones, “They’re offering them delight in the torture of others.”

It goes along with the bedrock principals of the GOPmagas: as long as it is policy that hurts the people they don’t like, then it doesn’t matter how much supporters of the felon-in-chief get hurt as well.

These are the same people who consistently vote against their own best interests.

There is much more in the article, which is not behind a payroll, including comparisons to tactics used by neo-nazis.

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Let’s see how much longer we are actually going to get data upon which we can rely from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In any event, Forbes published some bullet points Thursday, one of which said wholesale prices went up an unexpected 0.9 percent in July.

Also increased were the prices for services and goods — 1.1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Forbes notes that the price increases for services was the largest since March 2022.

Didn’t some recent candidate for the highest office in the land promise he would bring all these prices down?

Oh right.

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Pew Research Center said the grifter-in-chief’s current job approval rating is now 38 percent, which is down from 41 percent two months ago.

His rating slipped more among his younger voters than among the older ones who votes for him.

Dig into the numbers here.

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Lead art by Michael Woyton.

Bipartisan Reps to Hold Presser with Epstein Victims

By Michael Woyton

No, they are not living together because the neat-freak’s wife kicked him out, but a odd-couple of congressman have joined forces on the Epstein front.

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican, and California Rep. Ro Khanna will be co-hosting a news conference Sept. 3 to which multiple victims of Jeffrey Epstein, best friend for more than a decade to the felon-in-chief, have been invited, the Daily Beast reported.

“The event will feature survivors of abuse by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, several of whom ‘will be speaking out for the first time,’ according to the two lawmakers.”

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At the news conference, Khanna and Massie will also give an update on their discharge petition which would force a vote in the House on releasing the Epstein files.

They will also discuss legislation called the Epstein Files Transparency Act which would require Attorney General Pam Blondi to release all documents about the Epstein in a format that is searchable and can be downloaded.

Massie, as the Daily Beast said, “has made a name for himself for dissenting on GOP-backed legislation,” including voting two times against the president’s budget bill.

He also has been critical of the United States backing of Israel over the Gaza war and of the cheating golfer’s decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with airstrikes.

Unsurprisingly, the adjudicated rapist has called for Massie to be primaried and voted out of office, calling him the “worst Republican Congressman.” (Seriously, get in line.)

Khanna wrote an op-ed for The Nation which is online now and in the September issue.

Called “Why We Must Release the Epstein Files,” the congressman said that justice is needed for the survivors of sexual abuse by Epstein and Maxwell and “we need to restore public trust in our institutions.”

Khanna said the administration’s “refusal to release them is just the latest example of how a lack of transparency fuels distrust.”

He said that 79 percent of the public want to have the files released and a majority believe the government is covering up evidence.

Ya think?

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Charlotte Clymer wrote a piece on what would happen if SCOTUS overturned same-sex marriage. The votes are there but it may not be high on the court’s ~~hit list~~ priorities.

Fun fact: Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who went to jail for refusing to certify same-sex marriages in 2015 and is asking the high court to strike down Obergefell, so heartily believes in the sanctity of marriage that she’s been married four times.

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Missed this one a few days back from the great Mike Luckovich.

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Lead art: Screen grab from Face the Nation via YouTube.

Felon Takes Over DC Police, Brings in National Guard — For No Good Reason

By Michael Woyton

The felon’s plan to take over the District of Columbia’s law enforcement isn’t just a distraction — #EpsteinFiles — though it comes at a pretty damn convenient time.

Think of the amount of irony there was Monday during a news conference led by a president who himself is a walking crime statistic and was joined by an alcoholic who was been accused of sexual assault, another person who caught driving 119 mph and yet another who took a $25,000 illegal political contribution from the president’s family foundation.

With that scene set, President Donald J. Felon announced the federal government was taking over the Washington, D.C., police department and would deploy National Guard troops in the nation’s capital, ABC News said.

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Why you ask?

He said it was “to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”

To put all this in motion, the adjudicated rapist declared a public safety emergency.

Despite year-to-date crime comparisons showing that overall crime in Washington was down 7 percent, with violent crime down 26 percent and property crime down by 5 percent, the cheating golfer said the capital “has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people.”

For all his bluster about “violent gangs” and “roving mobs of wild youth,” the decision to federalize the police force of the nation’s capital is more than likely because President TACO was upset that one of Elon Musk’s early DOGE hires — Edward “Big Balls” Coristine — was beaten up by a 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl in, what police said, was an unarmed carjacking Aug. 4, NBC Washington reported.

The two teens are being held in juvenile detention and another person seen on surveillance is being sought as a person of interest.

Trump’s chest-thumping is only a temporary effort, unless he finds an excuse to up the ante.

According to Politico, D.C.’s Home Rule Act allows a president to use D.C. police for up to 48 hours or up to 30 days if a special message is sent to certain congressional committees.

Any longer that 30 days will require authorization from Congress.

The president does have authority over the National Guard in the District of Columbia.

That he chose to deploy the guard in August 2025 instead of Jan. 6, 2021, when there was an actual riot and attempted takeover of Capitol Hill is the real puzzler.

Oh right. He was more than OK with what the now-pardoned rioters were doing back in 2021. And the District of Columbia is more than 40 percent Black and overwhelmingly Democratic.

There is no doubt in my mind that this latest stunt is strictly an authoritarian move — something he’s lusted for since his first administration.

And if it works in Washington, D.C., he may try out in other parts of the country.

Coupled with the executive order that allows people who are unhoused or have mental health or substance abuse problems to be swept off the streets and institutionalized against their will, this nation could be going further away from having a free democratic society.

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Lead art: Screen grab from MSNBC via @MattGertz

Felon’s Air Force Decides to Up Cruelty Level for Trans Service Members

By Michael Woyton

What kind of message does it send to anyone who might be considering a military career when they see that they can be allowed to serve their country one day and be kicked out the next?

When the felon-in-chief came back into office, he re-instituted his first administration’s ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, an article on MSNBC said.

The adjudicated rapist reversed President Barack Obama’s end to the existing ban in 2016, and President Joe Biden reversed the reversal.

Now the United States Air Force is upping the ante by not allowing long-serving transgender service members to take early retirement.

We are talking about transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service.

The brain trust in Pete Kegseth’s Defense Department — put in office by the cheating golfer who never served in the military and calls veterans suckers and losers — are now forcing trans Air Force personnel out of service with no retirement benefits.

According to Reuters, “These longer-serving transgender service members will have the same choice as more junior ones: quit or be forced out, with corresponding lump-sum payments as they walk out the door, the August 4 memo says.”

Adding insult to injury, Reuters reported that many of the service members had been approved for early retirement already, but those were rescinded, calling them “prematurely approved.”

I can’t help but think that when word gets out about yet another betrayal of those who feel compelled to put their lives on the line by joining the armed forces it will have a chilling effect on those willing to serve.

Coupled with the blatant firing or demotions of high-ranking women in the military, just what kind of fighting force will we have left?

A fish rots from the head.

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Not only is this administration anti-veteran, but also anti-union.

On Wednesday, leaders at Veterans Affairs announced that nearly all its collective bargaining agreements with federal unions will be terminated, Military Times reported.

About 80 percent of Department of Veterans Affairs staff members are union members.

A statement issued by VA Secretary Doug Collins called the move “good news” for veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors.

Collins’ warped rationale was that “[t]oo often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of Veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers.”

Union leaders are not happy with the move, saying that they have protested for months against proposed cuts at the VA. They say smaller staffs will hurt benefits and health care.

They also accused Collings of working to privatize the agency by “sending more money for medical appointments into civilian hospitals and medical offices, rather than VA clinics,” Military Times reported.

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With apologies to Tor Johnson …

I couldn’t embed the post, but here is the link.

The ALT text is “RFK Jr and Tor Johnson from Plan 9, both with the same expression”

Be sure and read the comments.

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Lead art: Screen grab from “South Park” via Paramount +.

Former Heroin Addict Believes mRNA Vaccine That Saved Lives Didn’t

By Michael Woyton

Because President Donald J. Felon and his ilk in the White House and Congress want Americans to become debilitated, what would be the appropriate course of action for non-doctor, former heroin addict Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to take?

How about cutting half a billion dollars worth of mRNA vaccine contracts which will decimate research into the medical technology?

Kennedy made the announcement Tuesday that 22 contracts that focused on developing mRNA vaccines will be terminated and additional federal investments in mRNA technology will end, NBC News reported.

“Many scientists and infectious disease experts swiftly denounced the move as a broadside on an area of research seen as particularly promising after its use in rapidly developing Covid vaccines,” the news organization reported.

Kennedy, who is not a medical expert but is an anti-vaxxer, said that the Health and Human Services Department determined that mRNA technology “poses more risks than benefits” and have failed to “protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”

While Kennedy in the past has stated that COVID shots are the “deadliest vaccine ever made,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 200,000 lives in the United States alone were saved by the mRNA COVID vaccines.

The CDC also said that, in the first 10 months they were available, the vaccines prevented more than 1.5 million hospitalizations.

Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health, called Kennedy’s views of the mRNA vaccine “wildly incorrect,” the New York Times reported.

She said Kennedy is “demonstrating his commitment to his long-held goal of sowing doubts about all vaccines.”

It seems that the administration is also demonstrating its lack of knowledge and complete stupidity when it comes to the well-being of Americans.

The golf-cheater-in-chief wants to keep us stupid and unhealthy, all while giving billionaires more tax breaks and allowing people who are by no means experts make life and death decisions.

— — — — —

Vice President Shady Vance is having a meeting at his residence Wednesday evening with top administration officials on whether or not to release the Department of Justice’s transcript of its interview with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, ABC News reported.

Sources told ABC that Maxwell said nothing about Trump that would be harmful and said “Trump had never done anything in her presence that would have caused concern.”

Well that must be a relief. But considering she is serving a 20-year sentence for some pretty heinous things, just what does one have to do to make someone like Maxwell “concerned”?

In any event, the guest list for the evening meeting doesn’t seem to include anyone such as Jeffrey Epstein accuser Haley Robson.

I wonder why.

— — — — —

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Lead art: Screen grab from MSNBC via YouTube.

NY Governor Says ‘Gloves Are Off’ over TX Redistricting

By Michael Woyton

Are Democrats going to respond to GOPmagas gerrymandering congressional districts in order to assure a Republican majority in the House by saying, “Oh no, we mustn’t break the rules even if they do”?

There is as yet no firm answer to the question, but if you’d asked me a day or so ago, I would have said the Dems were absolutely going to sit by and let Republicans steal the midterms through mid-decade redistricting.

However, on Monday, I’m a little more encouraged — but not completely convinced — that Democrats are finally aware that the GOPmagas will never ever play fair and it’s time to fight back.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul met Monday in Albany with six Democrats from the Texas State Legislature who left the Lone Star State to deny Republicans a quorum so the mid-decade redistricting measure couldn’t be brought to a vote.

Hochul, who was also joined by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, called the redistricting effort “a blatant power grab,” Spectrum News reported.

“Congressional districts are never re-drawn mid-decade,” Hochul was quoted as saying. “But here they are, flagrantly breaking the rules so they can hold onto power. And with that power, they’re gonna inflict even more pain.”

The governor said that both Heastie and Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, are on board with looking into redistricting the Empire State.

Hochul said they are already reviewing legal strategies and working on a legislative process.

“[W]e’ll do everything in our power to stop this brazen assault,” she said. “The gloves are off, and I say bring it on.”

When asked if the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission should be changed or even eliminated to allow redistricting, Hochul said it should.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom met with Dem members of the Texas Legislature July 25 and said that California’s moral high ground “means nothing if we’re powerless because of it,” according to a news release.

He said there was only one reason the current president called Texas’s governor and asked him to gerrymander five districts to favor Republicans: to rig the 2026 elections.

“This moment requires us to be prepared to fight fire with fire,” Newsom said. “Whether that’s a special election, a ballot initiative, a bill, a fight in court. If they proceed in Texas, we will be ready.”

We’ll see if the Democrats have the stomach to wage a battle with the GOPmagas.

Certainly, we’ve had enough of Chuck Schumer’s “strongly worded letter” tactics and enough of this “if they go low, we go high” bullshit.

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Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was on fire this morning on CNBC. Where are the Republicans indeed?

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Final thought for the day.

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Lead art: Screen grab from NBC News.

Yes, He’s in the Epstein Files, and No, You’re Never Going to See It

By Michael Woyton

Even though he campaigned on a promise to release the Epstein files, President Donald J. Felon will likely do anything to prevent them from ever seeing the light of day.

To that end, it should be no surprise that the FBI chose to redact the president’s name from the Epstein documents citing the fact that Trump was “a private citizen when the Epstein investigation took place and therefore is entitled to privacy protections.”

That is the conclusion of an article published Friday on the Bloomberg news website by Jason Leopold.

The article is not behind a paywall, so dig in.

Leopold provides the history of the Epstein investigation and the precedent for the use of two exemptions government agencies consider when asked to turn over what could be thought of as sensitive documents.

He notes that FBI Director Kash Patel directed about 1,000 special agents in New York and the District of Columbia to “search for and review every single Epstein-related document and determine what could be released.”

There were more than 100,000 documents, Leopold said, which contained not only Trump’s name but the names of dozens of other prominent public figures.

Attorney General Pam Bondi informed the grifter-in-chief in May that his name appears in the Epstein files, a meeting which Trump denies having happened.

Then on July 8, Leopold said, the FBI and Department of Justice issued a joint statement that there were more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence related to Epstein, but “it is the determination of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

So there. So much for transparency and so much for the promises that came from the cheating golfer’s mouth.

Even loyalist podcaster Joe Rogan accused the mayor of Mar-a-Lago of “trying to gaslight” supporters about Epstein.

It is going to be difficult for the president and his sycophants to keep saying that there’s no there there, while blaming Democrats for making up the Epstein scandal and trying to shift attention to ridiculous allegations about former President Barack Obama and his top aides tampering with intelligence to hurt Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

It’s wise to remember that when the man in the orange makeup makes an allegation — or really anyone in his entourage — it is usually projection.

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Billionaires are getting more money and millions of people are being kicked off of health care, but the dictator-in-chief is getting a new gilded ballroom in which to hold court.

Well, he’s already paved over Jackie Kennedy’s legacy.

And then … there’s his “free” plane that will cost the American public close to $1 billion and nuclear security — plus he gets to keep the plane when (and if) he leaves office.

Seriously, all you magas out there, is this really what you voted for and do you believe it will ever benefit you?

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Lead art: Screen grab from NBC News via YouTube

Convicted Felon Raises Prices on European Imports; More Epstein

By Michael Woyton

The convicted felon took a break this weekend from cheating at golf to announce a trade deal with the European Union.

Trump had threatened the EU with a 30 percent tariff rate which was going to begin August 1, ABC News said.

Now the “deal” is that products from one of the largest trade partners with the United States will be slapped with a 15 percent tariff.

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No matter what the liar-in-chief says, that means anything that comes from EU countries will cost 15 percent more.

Those items include pharmaceuticals, cars, machinery, wine and perfume, according to ABC News.

“Tariffs typically raise prices as importers pass along a share of the tax burden to consumers,” the new organization said, “though prices have largely averted major tariff-related hikes so far.”

“So far” is key here.

It’s hard to imagine that as the reality of the tariff deal become clearer that consumers won’t be paying most if not all of the price hike.

Included in the announced tariff deal was a promise that the EU would invest $600 billion in the U.S. economy over the coming years.

However, EU officials are beginning to walk that back.

“The European Union has admitted it doesn’t have the power to deliver on a promise to invest $600 billion in the United States economy, only hours after making the pledge at landmark trade talks in Scotland, Politico Europe said.

Two EU officials said the reason is that the cash would have to come entirely from private sector investment over which it has no authority.

That pie in the EU sky promise brings to mind the adjudicated rapist’s 2017 announcement that Foxconn would invest $10 billion in a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin.

Those plans, along with the promise of 13,000 new jobs, were abandoned by Foxconn in 2021.

It took President Joe Biden to resurrect a deal for the same site by Microsoft, which is building a $3.3 billion data center, with 2,300 unionized construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs in the area.

While a higher tariff was avoided, Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, said the deal doesn’t enhance trade, it simply puts a tax on European goods coming to the U.S., CNN said.

“You’re going to pay more for your European imports,” he said. “That’s what this means.”

There are a few carveouts that eliminate tariffs on some goods, including plane parts, semiconductors, generic drugs, certain chemicals and certain agricultural products.

CNN also explained that the “deal” is another blow to Detroit automakers, in that the 15 percent auto tariff on EU cars undercuts the 25 percent tariff U.S. auto manufacturers pay if they build their cars in Mexico.

Art of the deal much?

The bottom line is that we the American consumers are caught in the middle because the grifter-in-chief’s absolute lack of ability to make deals that help the American consumers.

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“Ghislaine Maxwell played an instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls.”

That is the first sentence in the preliminary statement of the government’s June 2022 sentencing memorandum for Maxwell.

Just glancing at the table of contents tells you of what she has been credibly accused and convicted. Under the category of “Summary of Proof at Trial,” there are six different cases of sexual abuse.

The preliminary statement continues: “If anything stands out from the defendant’s sentencing submission, it is her complete failure to address her offense conduct and her utter lack of remorse.”

Maxwell is being considered for and — if we know Trump — will likely receive a pardon.

The January 6 hoodlums being pardoned were bad enough.

But this …

Trump will continue to lash out and say and do things that are meant to take the Epstein files heat off of him.

So far it’s not working too well.

Arrest Oprah and Beyonce?

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Lead art: Screen grab from CBS News via YouTube

Felon Order Targets Most Vulnerable Among Us

By Michael Woyton

In the wake of the budget bill that gives billionaires more money and takes away health care from millions of citizens, the administration of President Donald J. Felon is now going after people who are unhoused or who have mental health or substance abuse problems.

An executive order was signed Thursday by the golfer-in-chief “to expand indefinite forced treatment for people with mental health disabilities or substance use disorder, and those living on the street who ‘cannot care for themselves’.”

The American Civil Liberties Union in a statement said the order “purports to eliminate federal funding for evidence-based programs, like harm reduction and housing first, that save lives, and directs federal funds toward cities and states that criminalize substance use disorder, punish people for sleeping outdoors, or enforce other laws targeting unhoused people.”

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Included in the order, the ACLU said, is a call for “sweeping federal data collection on unhoused people and those with mental health disabilities.”

This raises serious concerns about privacy and surveillance and how the collected data could be used to justify further criminalization.

“Instead of funding services or support, the administration is prioritizing profiling and control,” the ACLU said.

Scout Katovich, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said that “[p]ushing people into locked institutions and forcing treatment won’t solve homelessness or support people with disabilities. The exact opposite is true – institutions are dangerous and deadly, and forced treatment doesn’t work. We need safe, decent, and affordable housing as well as equal access to medical care and voluntary, community-based mental health and evidence-based substance use treatment from trusted providers.”

She said, instead of investing in proven solutions, the president is blaming people for systemic failures and “doubling down on policies that punish people with nowhere else to go.”

The National Homelessness Law Center said the order will deprive people of their basic rights and make it harder to solve homelessness.

In a news release, the organization said the order has three main points. It:

1. Expands the use of police and institutionalization to respond to homelessness.

2. Prioritizes funding for states that treat homelessness as a crime and end housing-based solutions.

3. Cuts off funding for life-saving programs like harm-reduction.

The end result, combined with the new budget’s drastic cuts for housing and health care, will increase the number of people forced to live in tents, in their cars and on the streets, the center said.

The center said it will use every tool at its disposal to fight against making it a crime to be homeless and poor in America.

An article in a newsletter from Affordable Housing Finance points out that the EO directs the attorney general “to reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees that limit state and local governments’ ability to commit individuals on the streets who are a risk to themselves or others.”

Hmm.

AG Pam Bondi, who is more than willing to allow people to be picked up off the streets and sent a world away to another country without any court procedures involved, is going to allow someone who this government thinks might be a risk to themselves to be “institutionalized” indefinitely seemingly without any due process.

What could possibly go wrong?

Do you have a medical card that allows you to purchase prescription cannabis for a chronic illness? Does that make you an addict in the eyes of this government?

Were you laid off from a job that barely kept your bills paid and now you’ve been kicked out of your apartment and you haven’t found a new place to live yet that you can afford? Does that make you homeless and therefore someone who cannot care for themselves?

Hell, this government picked up a Pennsylvania grandfather who lost his green card and was trying to get it replaced, secretly deporting him to Guatemala and telling his family he was dead.

The convicted felon/adjudicated rapist/good friend of Jeffrey Epstein and the evil Stephen Miller want to get rid of people who don’t meet their standards for being an American.

This executive order seems to be another nail in the coffin of democracy in the United States.

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Lead art: Screen grab from whitehouse.gov