The right terms can help you properly express your views about Alligator Alcatraz. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images Mark Schlakman, Florida State University A July 2025 CBS/YouGov poll asked Americans, “Do you approve or disapprove of the Trump administration’s program to find and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally?” The … [Read more...] about Understanding key terms swirling around Alligator Alcatraz and immigration enforcement in the US
Trump’s war on truth is designed to make us stupid and clueless
When I heard the news the authoritarian imbecile had fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics director for the crime of factual math, I dimly recalled something that George Orwell had written in a magazine essay 86 years ago. I had to look it up to confirm my memory, but there it was: “It is quite possible that we are descending into an age in which two plus two will make five … [Read more...] about Trump’s war on truth is designed to make us stupid and clueless
Another Step on the Road
The title was shortened. It should have been Another Step on the Road to Destroying Democracy. This move was highly recommended by Mr. Trump but has been happily followed by Mr. Abbott and the Republicans in the Texas legislature. They weren’t satisfied with the redistricting that occurred after the census which is when redistricting normally is done. They wanted to eliminate … [Read more...] about Another Step on the Road
Trump’s Terrible Tariffs Tantrum
Trump’s April 2025 “Liberation Day” Terrible Tariffs Tantrum spared no nation, not even Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, a remote Australian territory near Antarctica with no recorded exports and mostly penguins as permanent residents. Nevertheless, Trump slapped a baseline 10% tariff on (whatever) imports from those islands. As satirically reported at the time, one … [Read more...] about Trump’s Terrible Tariffs Tantrum
Have you ever toyed with a scammer?
Have you ever toyed with a scammer? This blogger did so recently on the website X.com or what this blogger prefers to call "Xcrement". Granted, toying with a scammer isn't for the timid, and one should be careful not to give out the wrong information. Still, toying with a scammer can be a beneficial activity if it allows one to gain incriminating evidence. For the … [Read more...] about Have you ever toyed with a scammer?
Emil Bove confirmed — his appeals court nomination echoed earlier controversies, but with a key difference
Emil Bove, Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as a federal appeals judge for the 3rd Circuit, is sworn in during a confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2025. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images Paul M. Collins Jr., UMass Amherst President Donald Trump’s nomination of his former criminal defense attorney, Emil Bove, … [Read more...] about Emil Bove confirmed — his appeals court nomination echoed earlier controversies, but with a key difference
Venezuelan Men Sent to CECOT on What They Endured and Reuniting With Their Families
Venezuelan Men Sent to CECOT on What They Endured and Reuniting With Their Families — ProPublicaby Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, Melissa Sanchez and Mica Rosenberg, ProPublica, Ronna Rísquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga, and Adrián González, Cazadores de Fake News, photography and additional reporting by Adriana Loureiro Fernández for ProPublica and The Texas … [Read more...] about Venezuelan Men Sent to CECOT on What They Endured and Reuniting With Their Families
Why is Trump so obsessed with Obama?
' Raise your hand if you’re shocked that Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein’s flop-sweating wingman, has been trying to blame his metastasizing scandal on Barack Obama. No? Me neither. When Trump opened his pie hole the other day and babbled that Obama had written the feds’ Epstein files and should be jailed for supposedly trying to “rig” the 2016 election, those of us … [Read more...] about Why is Trump so obsessed with Obama?
Can Democrats maintain a higher standard and still win?
You have to hand it to Trump and his goons. They have done a pretty good job of bullying various media outlets into tempering their criticism of the president. And of course it's not the on-air talent so much as the corporate honchos and their lawyers tasked with figuring out what sorts of ugly power the federal government could bring to bear, particularly the FCC. We have … [Read more...] about Can Democrats maintain a higher standard and still win?
Tyrants don’t like to be laughed at
See if this rings a bell: In 1994 the voters in Italy elected, as their leader, a flamboyant demagogic mogul with no governing experience. Silvio Berlusconi vowed to lurch Italy rightward, and the nation’s neo-fascists rejoiced. He was not a fan of free speech. During his multiple stints as prime minister, he routinely attacked the media, particularly when it investigated … [Read more...] about Tyrants don’t like to be laughed at
OBAMA TREASON (COLUMN AND CARTOON)
Last Friday, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence (sic), released a report she claims showed a “treasonous conspiracy in 2016” by top Obama administration officials to harm Donald Trump. (SEE UPDATE ON THIS STORY HERE) This is bizarre because over the past eight years, the entire Intelligence network agreed that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to … [Read more...] about OBAMA TREASON (COLUMN AND CARTOON)
What Safety Net?
The fact of the matter is that Trump just doesn’t care. When running for office in 2024 he emphasized there would be no cuts to Medicaid and no slashing of the safety net for middle and lower-income-Americans. But when push came to shove and tax cuts for billionaires and the wealthy were on the table, the safety net was sacrificed. Even with these, the Congressional Budget … [Read more...] about What Safety Net?
What the Epstein cover-up means to democracy
If you're like many of us, you've been asking yourself why President Donald Trump has become so fixated on the Jeffrey Epstein files. And why he's throwing things against the news media wall, looking for a diversion that sticks. One of my friends noted the coincidence of Congress acceding to Trump's demands for his budget bill to be passed in time for him to sign it on … [Read more...] about What the Epstein cover-up means to democracy
Paramount Global merger is not in consumer’s best interest
The current Paramount (CBS), National Amusements, Inc. and Skydance merger mess is marked by irony not highlighted in news reports. We've moved from movie studios being prohibited from distributing their wares via their own theatres to movie studio owners distributing their wares via their own streaming services. Sumner Redstone, the driver behind the National Amusements, … [Read more...] about Paramount Global merger is not in consumer’s best interest
Leaders in India, Hungary and the US are using appeals to nostalgia and nationalism to attack higher education
Two scholars argue that nostalgia and resentment fuel government attacks on universities. Rick Friedman/AFP Riyad A. Shahjahan, Michigan State University and Michalinos Zembylas, Open University of Cyprus Harvard University is under siege by the Trump administration – and the world is watching. But this case isn’t just an American … [Read more...] about Leaders in India, Hungary and the US are using appeals to nostalgia and nationalism to attack higher education
Trump wrapped up in his own tangled web
by Elwood Watson It was more than just another manic Monday for the Trump administration last week, when the Department of Justice announced Jeffrey Epstein’s death in jail in 2019 was a suicide and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had no “incriminating client list.” While such an ambiguous response resulted in seismic reverberations across all corners of the … [Read more...] about Trump wrapped up in his own tangled web
WILL UPROAR OVER TRUMP’S SALACIOUS EPSTEIN BIRTHDAY DRAWING ALSO FIZZLE?
Is the latest uproar over Donald Trump also destined to fizzle? It can't but bring a sense of deju vu. Once again, another story involving something Donald Trump did or is alleged to have done or said or is alleged to have said comes up. It sparks a furor. Pundits and social media predict it could negatively impact his political career or destroy it or wind up putting him … [Read more...] about WILL UPROAR OVER TRUMP’S SALACIOUS EPSTEIN BIRTHDAY DRAWING ALSO FIZZLE?
Trump doesn’t remember appointing Jerome Powell as Fed chair; he thought his uncle taught the Unabomber
Don't expect traditional news media to report his cognitive decline If you're expecting traditional news sources to keep the public abreast of the content and frequency of President Donald J. Trump's mental lapses, you're bound to be disappointed. Perhaps the most anomalous this week happened Tuesday in Pittsburgh at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation event hosted … [Read more...] about Trump doesn’t remember appointing Jerome Powell as Fed chair; he thought his uncle taught the Unabomber
Trump free to begin gutting Department of Education after Supreme Court ‘shadow’ ruling – 5 essential reads
Protesters gather during a demonstration at the headquarters of the Department of Education in Washington. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein Bryan Keogh, The Conversation The Trump administration was given the green light by the Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, to proceed with mass layoffs at the Department of Education – part of a wider plan to … [Read more...] about Trump free to begin gutting Department of Education after Supreme Court ‘shadow’ ruling – 5 essential reads
Current Scopes Controversy
Vaccine Skepticism and Global Warming Denial Is there some alignment between Americans who are vaccine skeptics and those who deny the reality of global warming? I don’t have any proof, but would bet there is. You can add to that people who deny that evolution is real. The common denominator between all of these is a refusal to acknowledge scientific data and the expertise of … [Read more...] about Current Scopes Controversy