Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Chump knows how to make enemies if nothing else

I believe Convicted Felon Donald Chump is at work on his next book HOW TO MAKE ENEMIES AND INFLUENCE NO ONE BUT THE CRAZIES.  I came to that conclusion after reading this report from TAG 24:

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro addressed the UN General Assembly Tuesday to call for a "criminal process" to be opened against Donald Trump over the deadly US strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
Petro said unarmed "poor young people" died in the strikes that the US said were part of an anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president the Trump administration accuses of running a cartel.

Over a dozen people have been killed in strikes on at least three boats in attacks UN experts have described as extrajudicial executions.

Poor Mr. Chump.  Turns out, he is not the War Criminal anyone was waiting for.  

Nunna Ubidness
57 minutes ago
Since when is a US president allowed to murder citizens based on a 'feeling' they might be transporting drugs? Even if he actually had facts to back up his assumptions, capturing them would be the right way to go, and letting the court system deal with it. He's appointed himself judge, jury, and executioner and that's a recipe for disaster. Good for Colombia, it's about time someone has the balls to hold this felon accountable for his crimes.



user-g7bs9gq0mg
1 hour ago
International Courts should also prosecute orange clown for war and hate crimes, not only the U.S. Supreme Court that has dealt with a series of cases involving challenges to his actions and his administration since he returned to office in January. These cases have involved the U.S. Federal Reserve, tariffs, immigration policy, birthright citizenship, transgender rights, firings of federal workers and agency officials, dismantling the Education Department, cuts to teacher training and medical research grants, foreign aid and other matters.

Angelo Clasca
1 hour ago
Angelo Clasca
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Well, Trump is not new to criminal prosecution, after all he is a convicted felon.

g p
1 hour ago
Agreed! 
Drug dealing/running isn't even a capital offense in the US, so TRAITOR Donnie is guilty of capital murder, and there is no proof they had drugs on the boats.


More problems from Mr. Chump.  THE GRIST reports:

On a dusty, warm day last October, nearly a month after Hurricane Helene tore across the southeastern United States, Donald Trump stood behind a podium in Swannanoa, North Carolina, to pledge funding and support to survivors of the disaster.

“In the wake of this horrible storm, many Americans in this region felt helpless and abandoned, and left behind by their government,” Trump, still a presidential candidate at the time, said. “And yet in North Carolina’s hour of desperation, the American people answer the call much more so than your federal government.” 
Trump was present to, among other things, deliver an update on a GoFundMe set up by his presidential campaign for those impacted by Helene. In three short weeks, the drive had raised $7.7 million from the pockets of ordinary Americans, prominent Republican political operatives, and some of the country’s most influential and wealthiest families. 

“My prayers and encouragement goes out to all the victims,” one donor commented on the fundraiser’s public wall roughly a year ago. “I hope you know that we all love you.” 

It wasn’t until a few days after money had begun to come in that the crowdfunding effort announced where the contributions were going: Mtn2Sea Ministries, Water Mission, Samaritan’s Purse, and the Clinch Foundation. On October 21, an additional recipient, Sweetwater Mission, was added. Four of the five organizations are faith-based Christian charities. Most of them have close ties to Trump or to prominent supporters of his. 
[. . .]

A year after Helene, what exactly Trump’s GoFundMe campaign paid for remains unclear. Grist reached out to the recipient organizations asking how much they received, and how it was spent. Several responded to an initial email and offered vague explanations, but none except Mtn2Sea Ministries responded to follow-ups for a more specific breakdown of related expenditures. 


Another grift from Mr. Chump?  I am sorry for those in need.  For those who donated?  You were kind and caring; however, never donate to a con artist.  Your money will go to line his pockets and not to help others.

Remember that it wasn't just Republicans that put Mr. Chump back in the White House.  It was also DSA people -- Democratic Socialists of America.  Any DSA member who worked against Vice President Kamala Harris to put Mr. Chump back in the White House will never, ever have my support unless/until they acknowledge the harm they did and their responsibility for dooming this country.  See Stan's "Rachel Maddow and Kamala Harris."  


Also be sure to check out the community group humor post:


This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for today:

Wednesday, September 24, 2025.  The Epstein Files scandal takes the duchess, a statue of Chump and Epstein goes up to celebrate the sicko bros, Donald explodes at the UN, The Tom Homan Files scandal joins The Epstein Files scandal in demonstrating just how corrupt Chump is, leave it to Chump to allow two lovers to work together in the same office and conduct their affair far from the prying eyes of their spouses, ICE continues to hide their actions because their actions are illegal, and much more.


Yesterday, Convicted Felon Donald Chump spoke to the United Nations.  Andrew Feinberg,Oliver O'Connell and Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) report:


President Donald Trump has addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at a contentious moment for international relations after France joined the U.K., Canada, Australia and Portugal in moving to recognize a Palestinian state in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, is back at the U.N. for the first time since the beginning of his second term in January.

His speech was among the most anticipated as America’s allies and adversaries wait to see what the president will say about ongoing efforts to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

And guess what he told them?  He lied and told them grocery prices were down in the US -- no, they are higher than they were this time last year.  And he told them that  "your countries are going to hell." 

Did anyone connect it with Tuesday being The Day of Trumpets and all the crazies in the US -- Chump supporters, most of them -- had taken to the internet in the last week to explain that yesterday all the goodly would be raised from the earth to heaven?

Yes, there were fools around the world convinced they were 'ascending' yesterday but, in the US, it was mainly the same fools who support Chump -- the easily conned, the marks, the fools.


You know two Fridays ago when SUBWAY couldn't fulfill orders placed at their website because it kept going down and getting things wrong and even "Sammy" (their AI bot) couldn't get things right, I thought someone might report on that, some outlet.  No one did.  Or back in August that morning where a professional golfer was golfing live on THE GOLF CHANNEL and swore "F**K!" -- without any bleeping, it was live -- I thought some legacy news outlet might have covered that.  Or how THE GOLF CHANNEL keeps promoting Chump because it's so stupid -- the hosts refer to NEWSDAY as New York city's NEWSDAY.  It's not.  There is THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE NEW YORK POST and THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.  NEWSDAY, however, is out of Long Island -- hence their motto "NEWSDAY, your eye on LI" (LI being Long Island.) 

I guess it's going to fall to Mira Fox at THE FORWARD and Theo Burman (NEWSWEEK) to be the only ones in legacy/traditional/mass  media to cover the nut jobs (well, as Kamala Harris rightly pointed out to Rachel Maddow Monday night, NYC media thinks they are the center of the world).  But those nut jobs -- many of them Chump supporters -- have been all over YOUTUBE and TIKTOK in the last two weeks explaining how they will be leaving all the sinners behind and how they know this is true because they had dreams -- prophetic dreams.

Now I believe in dreams and use them all the time.  I'll go to bed thinking of a problem or something that I can't remember and I can zoom in on that in my dreams.  However, that's not being psychic or receiving messages from the dead.  (After Michael Ratner died, he did haunt me in my dreams -- that wasn't him -- that was our conversations regarding Julian Assange and my knowing he was no longer able to advocate for Julian so my guilty conscience was telling me to do it for Michael.  Again, I wasn't seriously being messaged from the great beyond by Michael Ratner.) 

But I wouldn't have a dream that I was me, an adult, and I was in classroom with children and teenagers and the teacher told us all to go to the board and write your ages on it and the teacher stepped out and some people were laughing about what age I would write and then I wrote my age and then say that this was proof that the rapture was a week out. I wouldn't do that. But one man did and shared it online and he was joined by many, many others.  

Credit to TABITHAS SPEAKS POLITICS, Coach D and other YOUTUBE outlets (new media) that did cover the crazies.


But maybe, convinced that the end was nigh, Chump saw himself needing to tell other countries that they were going to hell?

Where's Chump going?


 

I ask that mainly to recommend that you read Elaine's "Work for Chump and he'll pay you to cheat on your spouse too" and grasp that the party of family values and the Christians and 'Christians' supporting Chump aren't at all bothered that he's letting a couple work together -- a couple rumored to be sleeping together (that's been reported since 2023) despite the fact that they are both married to other people. 

How do the Christians and 'Christians' reconcile themselves to this daily sin, this violation of the 7th Commandment?  Chump and other loons want The 10 Commandments posted in schools despite the separation between Church and State but maybe the country would be better off it we just posted them in Kristi Noem's office?

Elaine notes this affair's been reported on forever:


The rumors of Corey and Kristi's affair predates the 2024 election.  Here's Emily Crane and Steven Nelson (NEW YORK POST) reporting on it in September of 2023 -- two years ago:

Married Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has engaged in a years-long affair with longtime Donald Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, multiple sources told The Post Friday.

Though no images of the two getting frisky are known to exist, the pair have been less than discreet about their relationship, with one source recalling them making out at a hotel bar during the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla.

“I remember it was so absurdly blatant and public,” said the person, who recalled Noem and Lewandowski getting “handsy” at the bar of the Hyatt Regency Orlando with between 100 and 200 others around.

“It wasn’t like 2 a.m.,” the source said. “It isn’t like we caught them at some dive bar miles away. It’s a lobby bar where everyone is staying and so there’s a bajillion political operatives and journalists and electeds around. I remember I saw it with my own eyes and a couple other people saw it and the blatantness was absurd.”
“This has been a known, open thing and we’ve all been waiting for it to blow up at some point,” the person added.

The liaison emerged one week after Noem, a 51-year-old mom of three, formally endorsed Trump, 77, for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, raising the pitch of speculation that the 45th president would pick her as his running mate.

“He’s 100% banging her,” said a second person familiar with the relationship between Noem and Lewandowski, first reported by DailyMail.com.

The source added that they personally witnessed Noem “sitting on his [Lewandowski’s] lap” and “playing grab-ass” during an event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in December 2020.

Elaine observes, "Well Chump didn't run as a fiscal conservative.  He also didn't run as a family values Republican.  So I guess the ongoing infidelity of two workers is no big deal -- even if they're allowed to work together.  I hope all of the Christians and 'Christians' who worship Chump are okay with two married people on the government payroll being paid to cheat on their spouses with each other."


In her article, Mira Fox notes:

Most of the people expecting a rapture seem to have a clear vision of what it will look like: people rising into the sky, as though they are being beamed up into an alien ship. (It seems likely that most of these ideas are based on popular media such as The Leftovers, an HBO show about those who remained after a rapture event.) Those left behind would then endure seven years of tribulations, after which Jesus would return to establish heaven on earth.

The idea of the rapture is a relatively new one in Christianity. While various lines in the New Testament refer to some sort of second coming of Jesus, also a raising of the dead, the idea that a rapture would come to save true Christians from the seven years of tribulations was only popularized by a British minister in the 1830s, John Nelson Darby. In the early 1900s, an American edition of the Bible called the Scofield Reference Bible further spread the idea of a rapture through its margin notes.

Pastors and historians online are desperately trying to calm those who are concerned about the rapture via videos discussing the recent history of the idea.

But for those readying themselves and their homes for the rapture, the details are irrelevant. The main thing to remember is not to look down.

Again, I believe she and THE FORWARD and NEWSWEEK were the only ones in legacy media  covering it.  Talk about avoidance.  


This morning at MEIDASTOUCH NEWS, Ben's covered Chump's trip to the UN and all the threats Chump and his minions made.



Ben also noted the new statue  New statue?  Kelly Rissman (INDEPENDENT) reports:


A massive statue depicting Donald Trump and late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands has appeared on the National Mall as the months-long Epstein Files saga continues to haunt the administration.

The 12-foot statue — a combination of foam, resin, wood and wire — shows Trump and Epstein standing on pedestals, holding hands and smiling at one another as they appear about to frolic through the park toward the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.

Below the statue, there are three plaques, two of which contain excerpts from the bawdy birthday letter Trump allegedly wrote Epstein for his 50th birthday. 

The whole world's talking as Chump, yet again, cannot escape his close and personal ties to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein or, for that matter, Ghislaine Maxwell.  NDTV notes, "The artwork, titled 'Best Friends Forever,' was created by an anonymous group called The Secret Handshake and will remain on display until the evening of September 28 under a permit granted by the National Park Service."


Sarah Ferguson can't escape her ties to Epstein either.  Monday in "Sarah Ferguson is a con-artist and a fake ass snake,"  Ann covered how Andrew's ex-wife said one thing publicly -- she wasn't against pedophiles -- but e-mailed Epstein to tell him that was just talk for public, she and Jeffery were tight and would remain tight. 


The revelations have not worked out well for Sarah -- nor should they have.

 


 


 

Meanwhile there are a million questions that Chump and his administration flunkies refuse to answer but that need to be answered as MTN points out.




On Epstein, let's note this from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's office:


Latest episode of Making the Case available now on SpotifyApple, and YouTube

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, released the fourth episode of season two of his podcast, Making the Case.  In the new episode, Whitehouse is joined by Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), who leads a bipartisan discharge petition in the House of Representatives calling on the Trump administration to release the full Jeffrey Epsteinfiles, with redactions to protect survivors.  

“Trump and his MAGA underlings at the Department of Justice and FBI are brazenly breaking promises and doing everything in their power to cover up what’s hidden in the Epstein files.  If not for the bipartisan work of the determined Rep. Khanna, the American people would still be in the dark on key documents from Epstein’s estate and other closely held secrets,” said Whitehouse.  “Rep. Khanna is a champion for justice and transparency in Washington, and I’m thrilled to have him on this next episode of Makingthe Case to break down the latest developments in the Epstein Files saga.”

The fourth episode of season two of Making the Case is now available on SpotifyApple PodcastsYouTube, and other podcast platforms.

Whitehouse has long been the Senate’s leading voice for improving transparency and accountability in politics and in Washington, delivering a series of speeches on the Senate floor about the special interest scheme to capture the judicial branch.  In August, Whitehouse wrote a letter to the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons demanding more information on the transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.  Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein associate, was transferred without explanation to the cushy prison camp after an unusual visit by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Whitehouse and Khanna have previously teamed up to investigate corruption in the fossil fuel industry, and introduced legislation to crack down on profiteering by Big Oil and return the industry’s excessive gains to working people.



Of course, Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out on MSNBC last night, Chump has The Epstein Files scandal to deal with but he also now has the Tom Homan scandal to deal with.



Note the clip of Homan O'Donnell plays from Homan's chat with mannish Laura Ingraham.  How dare anyone question him!  He has sacrificed for 34 years!  


I'm so sorry, Tom, which years did you serve in the armed service?


None, right?


But he wants to maintain working for the US government has been a sacrifice -- and a sacrifice for multiple decades. 


Anyone familiar with criminal law is aware that those kind of self-aggrandizing statements are the justifications that criminals make for taking bribes or stealing money.


So file it under "How To Confess Wihtout Dirctly Saying I'm Guilty."

 
Yesterday on MSNBC's THE WEEKNIGHT, US House Rep Jasmine Crockett provided the walk through on what Homan is accused of and how to pursue it. 


Again, it is The Homan Files scandal and it's further corruption on display.

 


Joe Patrice (ABOVE THE LAW) writes:


Over the weekend, it came out that Tom Homan, one of the senior architects of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, allegedly took $50K from undercover FBI agents posing as business executives hoping to bribe their way into government contracts if Trump won. He’s said to have accepted the funds — which the FBI reportedly captured on video — in a Cava bag. If the fast food chain doesn’t immediately capitalize on this with some sort of marketing campaign, then I’ve lost all faith in them.
Homan, interestingly enough, put himself front-and-center of the move to drop the Eric Adams bribery case. Homan never came across as the proper spokesperson for the administration’s decision, highlighted when he seemed to confirm a quid pro quo for dropping the Adams case, but in retrospect, he might have had a vested interest in putting out the message that bribery isn’t anything to be ashamed of.



On the topic of ICE, Dave Levinthal (CJR) reports:

Since late December, J. Dale Shoemaker, a reporter for the Investigative Post, a nonprofit newsroom based in Buffalo, has filed seventeen Freedom of Information Act requests with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection to guide his deep dives into federal law enforcement activity, deportation actions, and ICE detention centers in upstate New York. In return, he says, he has gotten only documents that were redacted beyond comprehension, or nothing at all. “I have not received a satisfactory response to a single one of them,” Shoemaker said.

Ryanne Mena, of the Los Angeles Daily News, sent ICE a FOIA request on January 24 for all grievance forms filed by detainees at facilities in Adelanto, California, between 2016 and early 2025. Nearly eight months later, she said, she’s received nothing: ICE “has failed to provide me with an estimated date of production despite repeated requests.” 

Monica Eng, a reporter for Axios, filed a FOIA request with ICE in February, seeking data she hoped would inform stories about where and why agents were apprehending people in Illinois. At first, she said, ICE officials appeared willing to cooperate. But by March, ICE had denied Eng’s request in full, citing “ongoing law enforcement investigations.” Axios filed an administrative appeal with ICE, but hasn’t received a response. “I have filed a lot of FOIAs, and my requests to the Trump Department of Homeland Security have been some of the least successful and least transparent,” Eng said.

ICE and CBP have become centerpieces of President Donald Trump’s quest to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from US soil through aggressive law enforcement tactics and billions of dollars in new federal funding. But CJR spoke to nearly two dozen reporters, editors, and other people at news organizations and open-records watchdog groups across the country who have filed FOIA requests with the agencies, and who say that ICE and CBP officials routinely deny or ignore those requests. The agencies have never been particularly open with the press, but many reporters believe that their experience is part of an enhanced effort by the Trump administration to conceal immigration agency operations, even in possible violation of federal law. Some also described the agencies’ press offices as functionally useless, with media officials providing few, if any, answers to even their most basic of inquiries.

Chioma Chukwu, the executive director of American Oversight, a nonprofit organization that advocates for public access to government records, said ICE and Border Protection have an “abysmal” track record of transparency. Of 137 requests her group has filed with ICE and CBP over the course of 2025, there has been a “substantive response” to just one—“and that took almost seven months,” Chukwu said. “ICE and CBP remain among the slowest and least transparent agencies we deal with, routinely flouting FOIA’s requirements and denying the public timely access to information about their operations.” 

This stonewalling comes at a time when ICE—and its parent organization, the Department of Homeland Security—has repeatedly cracked down on journalism about its operations. The department has described the video recording of ICE agents as “violence,” with a department spokesperson promising to prosecute those who “illegally harass ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law.” Multiple reporters have been arrested or injured while covering protests or anti-ICE rallies, including Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevaram, who was detained while covering a rally in Georgia in June, and Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi, who was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet as she reported on an anti-ICE protest in Los Angeles. In early September, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering DHS to stop using “nonlethal” weapons against journalists. “Under the guise of protecting the public, federal agents have endangered large numbers of peaceful protesters, legal observers, and journalists—as well as the public that relies on them to hold their government accountable,” the judge wrote. “The First Amendment demands better.”

Some news outlets told CJR they believe that, in ICE’s and CBP’s handling of their FOIA requests, the agencies are themselves violating federal law by ignoring statutory deadlines or failing to respond altogether. By law, government agencies must determine within twenty business days whether to fulfill or deny a FOIA request and “immediately notify” the requester of their decision. Agencies may also extend this deadline because of “unusual circumstances.” If fulfilling a FOIA request requires significant time, agencies are required by law to offer requesters an “opportunity to arrange with the agency an alternative time frame for processing the request or a modified request.” Requesters have the right to appeal agencies’ FOIA determinations, and if all else fails, they may sue the government in federal court.

Now why would ICE have anything to hide?  Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) reports:

Federal agents caught and detained a 5-year-old girl to lure her immigrant father outside the family's home following a brief traffic pursuit, according to a report.

Video of the incident Tuesday in Leominster, Massachusetts, captures the family's anguished screams as Immigration and Customs Enforcement held the 5-year-old girl outside after chasing her father, Edward Hip, a Guatemalan man who has lived in the U.S. for 22 years, reported WBTS-CD.

"Is that your daughter? Come here so I can see those IDs," one of the agents said, according to the video.

The girl's mother tells the agents her daughter is on the autism spectrum and begs for her return, saying agents had grabbed the girl as she followed her father inside.

Wow, acting like the mafia by targeting someone's child.  File it under "Another proud moment for ICE."  In fact, John Ross Ferrara (KRON) has another proud moment to cover:


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a man inside the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland following a pre-trial hearing on Sept. 15, according to a statement issued by Alameda County public defender Brendon Woods on Monday.

Two ICE agents in plain clothes allegedly detained the man in a courthouse hallway and took him out of the building to waiting, unmarked vehicles. Agents took him to an ICE detention facility, where he remains in federal custody, according to Woods.
“ICE raids at our courthouses must stop immediately,” Woods said in a statement. “People who follow a judge’s orders to attend court should not have to fear federal agents kidnapping them and dragging them away to detention centers. Our democracy cannot function if this continues.”
The ICE arrest was the first made in an Alameda County courthouse under the authority of President Donald Trump, according to Woods. 

“Everyone -- our clients, victims, witnesses, staff, lawyers -- deserves to participate without fear,” Woods said. “Our justice system loses legitimacy when people do not feel safe entering a courthouse. We cannot allow a racist, authoritarian regime to interfere with our local courts like this. It’s time to pick a side. Either you allow this to happen to members of our community or you take action to prevent it.”


Cowards not wearing uniforms or any kind of a badge.  Cowards.  Thugs.  Kidnappers.  Andrew Stanton (NEWSWEEK) reports:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are holding a man living in New York who has lawful permanent residence status and has been caring for his wife with cancer.

The arrest of Duwayne Baugh took place last month but was only reported on Monday by The City, a New York-based news publication.

His wife, Kaiisha Baugh, wrote in a statement to Newsweek, “My husband has been a lawful permanent resident for years. A routine check-in should not lead to this kind of torture and separation. It’s becoming unbearable and I just hope the Judge sees the cruelty and unfairness here and allows him to come home.”

His attorney confirmed to Newsweek that he has lawful permanent residence status.

They're destroying lives.  And we're not going to let them forget it.  This will not be swept aside like the internments during WWII.  We, as a people and as a country will not spend the future pretending this was okay or alright.  Donald Chump's not the only one who is going to take the historical fall on this.  Crooks like Tom Homan and Kristis cheaty-cheaty bang-bang Noem and ICE agents and so many more.  We see you.  

ICE has so much to hide -- most crooks do. 
 

During the last Trump administration, California Democrats were so concerned about ICE making arrests at superior court buildings and potentially discouraging witnesses from testifying that they passed a law to forbid that kind of enforcement.

Picking people up at a courthouse can have a “potential chilling effect” on witnesses, victims and even suspects who are afraid to show up for court, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero said earlier this summer. 

“Making courthouses a focus of immigration enforcement hinders, rather than helps, the administration of justice by deterring witnesses and victims from coming forward and discouraging individuals from asserting their rights,” Guerrero said. 

But no one cares about 'state's rights' in what was once the Republican Party.  They don't care anymore.  They don't care about the law because The Crooked Court continues to break the law, to subvert the law and to reward the criminal behavior of Donald Chump.

I think we need serious Congressional oversight of the current Supreme Court.  I think they need to submit all financial records to the Congress so that we can find out exactly who's being paid off -- it's not just Thomas and Alito, it's much more than that.  For more on the failure that the Supreme Court has become, see Betty's "The Crooked Court" from last night.

But let's ponder something.  Chump's secret police?  They're getting bonuses.  Of $50,000.  How did they arrive at that figure?  Did Homan, acting director of ICE, brag in a meeting, "Hey, last fall I got a bonus of $50,000 when I took that bribe.  $50,000 all around!"? 

Now we're winding down with this from Senator Mazie Hirono's office:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and U.S. Representatives Adam Smith (D-WA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) introduced the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act, legislation that would grant U.S. citizenship to international adoptees who were legally adopted in the U.S. as children but lack citizenship status due to a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.

“Thousands of American families and their internationally-adopted children have been living in fear and uncertainty due to an oversight in the Child Citizenship Act, which is why I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing legislation that would provide a long overdue solution to address this issue,” said Senator Hirono. “The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act will help keep families together, and ensure that international adoptees are afforded the rights they deserve as U.S. citizens.”

Families who adopted children from abroad were previously required to complete a lengthy, expensive naturalization process for their adopted children, on top of the adoption process itself. In some cases, the paperwork was not completed in full, leaving adoptees unaware they were living in the U.S. without citizenship. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA) streamlined this process by granting automatic citizenship to foreign-born children under 18 adopted by U.S. citizens. However, the law only applied to adoptees under age 18 at the time the CCA took effect in February 2001. Adoptees who had already reached adulthood were excluded, leaving tens of thousands of people without citizenship despite being raised in American families.

The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act fixes this oversight by confirming U.S. citizenship for internationally adopted individuals, regardless of when they were adopted or their age. Specifically, the bill:

  • Provides automatic citizenship to foreign-born children lawfully adopted by U.S. families who turned 18 before February 27, 2001; and
  • Establishes a path to citizenship for adoptees living abroad who meet eligibility requirements but currently reside outside the U.S. This process includes background checks and the resolution of any outstanding legal matters before citizenship is granted.

This legislation will provide long-overdue certainty for adoptees who have faced barriers to higher education, employment, and financial services, and who in some cases have even faced deportation to countries where they have no family or community ties.

The bill has been endorsed by Adoptee Rights Campaign; Korean American Grassroots Conference; National Council For Adoption; Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; NAKASEC; Niskanen Center; Center for Adoption Policy; National Immigration Forum; National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; Adoptees for Justice; Family Coalition for Adoptee Citizenship; National Alliance for Adoptee Equality; and Alliance for Adoptee Citizenship.

“As a national network in five states, the NAKASEC network strongly urges the immediate passage of this legislation. Birth parents, adoptive parents, and sending countries partnered with the United States with the understanding that adoptees would be full members of their families – with all the rights, protections, and opportunities afforded to them. It’s important to note that citizenship for adoptees is an issue only in the United States. No other receiving country failed to confer citizenship for the children in their care. It’s time for the United States to fulfill their promises and secure citizenship for all intercountry adoptees,” said Becky Belcore, Co-Director of the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC).

“We recognize the challenges faced by adoptees who, though raised in American families and contributing fully to our communities, continue to live without the protections of citizenship. We applaud the leadership of Rep. Smith, Rep. Bacon, Sen. Hirono, and Sen. Collins in introducing the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act, a bipartisan measure that offers long-overdue relief and recognition to those who are American in every way except on paper. With Korean American adoptees among the most affected, KAGC is committed to working with partners to ensure this vital legislation is enacted and justice is delivered to all impacted,” said Wonseok Song, Executive Director of the Korean American Grassroots Conference, the largest nationwide network of Korean American voters.

“NCFA supports the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act. Congress intended citizenship for children being internationally adopted by American citizens, but a complicated and confusing immigration and visa system resulted in some parents failing to complete the citizenship process on behalf of their minor children. The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act provides the citizenship that was initially intended for these individuals,” said Ryan Hanlon, National Council For Adoption.

“The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act fixes a 25-year loophole that has prevented internationally adopted Americans, raised by American families and fully integrated into American society, from achieving full United States citizenship. There is no excuse. Now is the time for Congress to get this commonsense bill over the finish line and provide a long-awaited solution for these families and for the betterment of our country,” said Kristie De Pena, Director of Immigration Policy at the Niskanen Center.

“We support this effort to strengthen American families by easing the citizenship process for international adoptees. The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act supports a core aspect of our national values, and we are glad to see Republicans and Democrats come together behind it. We look forward to seeing it passed and signed,” said the National Immigration Forum.

“Fundamental fairness demands that those children who were lawfully adopted and raised in the United States enjoy the full privileges and opportunities of American life.? Yet for thousands of international adoptees, so many of whom arrived from Asian countries and through no fault of their own, that basic promise has been denied due to inadvertent missing paperwork.? The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) commends the sponsors for introducing the Protect Adoptees and American Families (PAAF) Act, a pivotal step to ensure that those impacted within the Asian Pacific American community can finally enjoy stability and pursue a livelihood without fear of removal,” said Priya Purandare, Executive Director of NAPABA.

“Adoptees and their families across the country are living in fear, shock, and with a sense of betrayal – often learning they are not citizens when they are well into adulthood and after lifetimes as Americans. More and more adoptees are reaching out when they are approaching or in their senior years. Their stories underscore the urgent need for immediate legislative repair. The introduction of this bill shows that our country’s leaders recognize this profound injustice and are committed to adoptees and American families,” said Rachel Koelzer, Co-Founder of Adoptees For Justice.

“We’re thrilled at the introduction of this bill that will give aging adoptees the rights and protections that are rightfully theirs. Reintroducing this bill is an important step toward ensuring that no one is denied their rights or opportunities because of how they came to be a part of their families. This is the tenth year the bill has been introduced – let’s get it passed this session!” said Amanda Cho, Policy Manager with the Alliance for Adoptee Citizenship.

“To be adopted into a family is to be chosen, loved, and embraced as one of their own. Adoption is a bond that transcends borders, making you not just a citizen of a country, but a citizen of a family, forever. Somehow, we as adoptees have been forgotten. We were lost in the shuffle and are being held accountable for the responsibilities of adults that were ignorant of the process. Our adoptive parents were under the impression that we were citizens through the adoption process. Many of us were born in the 60s and grew up living as citizens because we were told we were. Why would we believe any different when we grew up being told we were citizens? We were given our social security numbers and our driver’s licenses with no questions asked. Why didn’t the government inform us then? If they did, we would have been able to right the wrong. Now years later, we are in limbo, many of us deported. How is this fair or humane? How is it fair to send someone to a country where they know no one, they don’t know the language, and have no means to make a living? This bill needs to be law for those innocent adoptees who are victims of a faulty system,” said H, an adoptee without citizenship.

The full text of the legislation is available here.

###


The following sites updated:

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

What we could have had vs. what we are stuck with

First off, the president we could have had and should have had.



Vice President Kamala Harris could be leading the country to its best era ever.  Instead, we are stuck with the Convicted Felon who destroys everything he touches.  


U.S. President Donald Trump has made a number of unsympathetic statements about former president Joe Biden since Biden’s cancer diagnosis was revealed in May.

In September, Biden underwent surgery to remove skin cancer lesions after his office disclosed in May that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

While Trump initially wished Biden a “fast and successful recovery” on Truth Social, he has since reverted to criticizing his predecessor.


Joe Biden was a great president.  I hope he and former First Lady Jill Biden enjoy all the time together that they have left.  But I am noting that because Convicted Felon Donald Chump is sick and losing it daily to dementia.  Should he have the stroke his body appears to be attempting to warn him about and should he die -- or even just a stroke that puts him in the hospital -- do not give me any nonsense about how I have to feel sorry for him.  I do not and I will not.  He is a vile and disgusting person. He showed no sympathy for others -- including me myself -- and I have none to give him.  In the Hebrew Bible (I am Jewish), it is very clear repeatedly that you reap what you sow.  Refer to Job 4:8, Hosea 10:13 and Proverbs 22:8.

As Trina noted last night, "Remember Chump supposedly wanting to go to heaven?  Let me help him out.  Cutting food for those in need?  That's land you in hell and it should.  Have fun in hell, Chump, you'll finally be able to burn that fat ass off. ."

Still on the Convicted Felon, Tommy Christopher (MEDIAITE) provides a transcript of CNN's NEWS NIGHT's Abby Phillip walking viewers through what a hypocrite Mr. Chump is:


ABBY PHILLIP: Tonight, there’s no sense in hiding it.

President Trump essentially sending a D.M. to Pam Bondi, but the entire world saw it. He urged the attorney general to prosecute his enemies, literally. On a Truth Social, Trump told Bondi that he sees “people saying, what about Comey, Adam Shifty Schiff, Letitia? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done. Then he said that they can’t delay any longer. It’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice and indicted me five times over nothing. Justice must be served now!!!”

Three exclamation points on that one.

It’s the very thing that Trump and his fellow Republicans have railed against for years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The weaponization of government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to stop the weaponization.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Stop the weaponization of government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Partisan weaponization of the Justice Department will end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the weaponization of government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The weaponization of government.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: I want to end the weaponization of government.

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): This Republican majority is going to continue to go and look into the weaponization of government.

TRUMP: Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents.


This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for today:

Tuesday, September 23, 2025.  Chump continues to destroy the economy, Kamala Harris reminds how he swore he'd fix it on day one and she observes how feckless so many business leaders have become, Senator Adam Schiff calls out the bribe-taking Tom Homan, we take a part an article sent to the public e-mail account for us to highlight in order to explain what we won't highlight here (poorly written articles containing one factual error after another) and much more including how Chump is losing his power not just due to his abuses but also to the natural effect of mid-terms turning presidents in their second term into lame ducks.


Let's start with the White House and Karoline Leavitt who was asked about Donald Chump's illegal actions and abuse of office as he went after political enemies.  Propaganda Pig Leavitt swiped her head repeatedly and chomped and grunted and squealed as she lied lied lied.  Robert McCoy (THE NEW REPUBLIC) explains:


White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt crumbled Monday when pressed about President Trump’s lawfare against New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump last week forced Erik Siebert out of his post as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia for failing to find (read: concoct) evidence of James’s criminality during a five-month-long investigation.

James previously filed a civil case against Trump, in which he was ultimately found liable for business fraud in September 2023. (An appeals court last month tossed a $500 million penalty—but not the verdict.) Now, like several other Trump foes, James faces a thinly veiled retribution campaign, in which she’s accused by the administration of mortgage fraud.

ABC White House correspondent Selina Wang laid these facts before Leavitt at a Monday press conference. Considering that a monthslong investigation into James by Siebert (a Trump appointee) yielded no evidence, she asked, “Is the president saying here it doesn’t matter if there’s a crime, he just wants his political enemies to be charged?”

Leavitt launched into a tirade against James, who, she said, “completely abused her oath of office” and “was actively and openly engaged in lawfare.” The press secretary also falsely claimed that last month’s removal of Trump’s half-billion-dollar civil fraud penalty meant the president was “exonerated” of James’s “witch hunt”—when, in reality, the appeals court upheld the lower court’s verdict that Trump is indeed liable for fraud.


Most likely after that, Propaganda Pig kicked her hind legs in the air and charged at the wooden fence around her pigsty in an attempt to get out of the barn yard.


In the meantime, are you ready for Farmageddon?  Donald Chump's destroyed the economy and farmers are seeing it.  James Havers (MONEYWISE) reports:



The combines are rolling across the American Midwest, but instead of excitement, many farmers say this harvest feels more like a crisis.

Trade wars, rising costs, labor shortages and high interest rates have converged into what some growers call ‘farmageddon,’ a tidal wave of financial and emotional strain threatening one of this country’s most vital industries. And with markets closing and storage bins filling fast, they say time is running out.

“It just seems like things have stalled all summer long,” Brian Warpup told CNN recently [1], who grows corn and soybeans on 3,900 acres in northeastern Indiana. “With harvest here, patience may be running thin.”


Donald Chump was handed off a functioning economy, one that had recovered from the pandemic and was an example for the entire world.  And in 246 days, he has destroyed the US economy.  Last night on MSNBC, Kamala Harris pointed out on THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW that Chump said that he was going to lower prices -- day one -- and he did not.



That's the entire interview audio only.  They have it up on their YOUTUBE channel with video in various segments.  

Chump did not improve the economy, he has wrecked it.  Report after report makes that clear.  Mike Moen (PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE) adds:


China is still holding off on making soybean purchases from U.S. farmers, as its trade war with the Trump administration plays out. A key North Dakota ag group says without an immediate solution, it could be harder for local farmers to stay in business.

As regional farmers fan out for the fall harvest, some are scrambling to find extra storage for their soybeans, because China continues to look to other nations for this commodity.

North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne said the dilemma also weighs down prices for other major crops like corn. He said the ripple effect could be felt for a while.

"This is a mess, and time is of the essence here," said Watne. "We can't just keep throwing things into storage and not have any corrective action, someplace along the line that's going to utilize up the supply, or we'll see two, three years of lower prices because of this action."

He agreed with analysts who predict the crisis will fuel more farm bankruptcies. The Farmers Union acknowledges this summer's domestic tax law did secure some benefits for farmers, but Watne said the effects won't be noticed until next year.


During a recent trip to Washington DC, Nebraska farmers told members of Congress they’re being adversely impacted by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and they need financial assistance.

Many corn and soybean producers say they’re losing money on their products. The administration says it’s using economic levies to level the playing field.
Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen said ag producers want greater support for using farm products in biofuel production, including ethanol and aviation fuel.

"We need to be able to get serious about domestic utilization of soybeans and corn in our gasoline and our diesel fuel," said Hansen, "and we could be helping take a lot of pressure off of losing foreign markets if we had better domestic utilization."


And that's just the farmers.  Julie Zauzmer Weil (WASHINGTON POST) provides this overview of Chump's failing economy:

That’s largely because key monthly costs for most Americans - shelter, food, health care, electricity - are outpacing inflation. Rents are up 3.8 percent - the largest increase since 2011 - the Census Bureau reported last week, and roughly half of all renters spend more than the recommended 30 percent of their incomes to cover the cost. Utility prices have spiked, according to the consumer price index, with natural gas and electricity bills rising 13.8 and 6.2 percent, respectively, since last year. And though President Donald Trump promised to lower food costs during the presidential campaign, grocery prices just posted their biggest increase since 2022, due in large part to his tariffs.

Other sectors where inflation is rising faster include homeownership and medical care, while falling gasoline prices help bring down the overall average.

“It’s not that they have a choice. We’re talking about things that people must buy. They have to live somewhere. … They have to heat their homes. They need lights,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.


How are people coping?  The best that they can. While grocery prices continue to increase, Americans are spending more on discounted foods.  There's not much more that Americans can do right now.  They've had to give up so much as it is because Chump has wrecked the economy and now, studies keep finding, that discounted food consumption is the only way many are staying afloat in this economy.  

He has wrecked everything.  Matt Egan (CNN) observes:

             The nation’s top economic statistician was fired. Central bank independence is being undermined. The federal government is buying chunks of private companies and demanding cuts of revenue streams. Presidential power to lob tariffs has been wielded in unprecedented fashion. And federal regulators are threatening media companies over late-night comics.

These events all took place this year, and not in a third-world country, but in the world’s preeminent democracy under President Donald Trump.

Some political scientists see a pattern that suggests American democracy is being undermined in real time. The stakes are massive for the US economy and the business world.     

             “I have never been this concerned about democracy in the United States,” Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow of governance studies at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, told CNN in a phone interview.

CEOs are growing alarmed — even if they’re publicly staying quiet to avoid the wrath of the White House.

Business leaders are “quite alarmed” in private about the state of democracy in the United States, according to Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the Yale professor known as the “CEO Whisperer” due to his extensive rolodex in the business community.

“We’ve had a serious erosion of the foundations of democracy,” Sonnenfeld, founder and president of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, told CNN.


As Kamala noted to Rachel last night,  the capitulation to Chump has been surreal,  "bending to blackmail and outrageous demands."


Angelina Jolie speaks for many Americans in the video below.





"I love my country but I don't at this time recognize my country."

That's because Chump has destroyed it.  

Let's take his attempt to out Nixon Tricky Dick.  Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) explains:


The president posted — and then deleted — a message to Bondi complaining that "nothing is being done" about former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, a day after federal prosecutor Erik Siebert complied with Trump's demand for his resignation for failing to bring mortgage fraud charges against James.

"There's some speculation that this was meant as a private message to Pam Bondi," Lemire told "Morning Joe." "The White House has not confirmed that, but the writing of it might have been meant as a DM, as opposed to a Truth Social post because Trump then took that post down, tried to clean it up with a subsequent posting.

"But this is, we know President Trump campaigned on the idea of retribution. That was one of his campaign platforms last year, and this is what that appears to look like, and we have seen U.S. attorneys across this country find a lack of evidence, there has not been a charge yet against Letitia James, the New York State attorney general. There have not been charges yet against Sen. Schiff or others."

"We have also seen, though, an effort by this president to remove a U.S. attorney who wouldn't bring charges, and he makes mention of that in this post, too, saying he needs to be replaced with someone perhaps more compliant, and I think this is what Democrats have been warning about for months, that we'd get to this step," Lemire added.

"Will there be follow-through? We'll see in the days ahead, but this is, as one senior Democrat put to me over the weekend, this is a five-alarm fire."


Last night at THE NEW REPUBLIC,  Kate Riga and John Light wrote:


Former Trump defense attorney Lindsey Halligan was reportedly sworn in as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Monday after the president forced out her predecessor for failing to turn up wrongdoing with which to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and other public figures he considers his enemies.

Erik Siebert, the previous acting U.S. attorney, resigned Friday after Trump told reporters he wanted him gone. 

Halligan has no prosecutorial experience. Most recently, she worked in the White House staff secretary’s office, reportedly tasked with censoring the Smithsonian museums. Previously, per ABC, she handled insurance claims related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

Trump announced that he’d be appointing her Friday via social media. That post came shortly after one that was styled as (and possibly intended to be) a direct message to AG Pam Bondi, where Trump reamed her out for not pursuing his political enemies (including James) aggressively enough.


The president of the United States is not supposed to misuse the government.  He or she is not allowed to, for example, ask the IRS to audit his political enemies.  Nixon tried all of that.  Those were high crimes and misdemeanors.  People were put on enemies lists and harassed at the borders -- US citizens harassed as they came back into the country.


Because Nixon was a crook and not an idiot, he knew to keep it hidden. Chump's a fool suffering from dementia and he is putting it out there for all to see, he is making his own case publicly for why Congress should move to impeach him. 


The mid-terms are important because Democrats stand a good chance of regaining one house of Congress, maybe both.


But the mid-terms are important for another reason.  

After the mid-terms focus turns to the next presidential election.


Someone who cannot run again -- like Chump -- becomes a lame duck.


There will be less need for Republicans who remain in Congress after the mid-terms to continue their slovenly support of Chump.  They'll need to focus on the candidates on their side who want to become the next president.  


To do that, a GOP candidate wanting to win the primaries is going to have to distinguish him or her self from Chump.  Following the mid-terms, Americans are not going to want to hear JD Vance promising that he will continue Chump's failed policies that have increased prices, his failed policies that have destroyed healthcare, his failed policies that have destroyed education, his failed policies that have . . .


They will have to draw a line between themselves and the current president.  They will have to run against 'the establishment.'  


That's a reason Chump should fear the mid-terms.  Even the feckless will stand up to him after the mid-terms -- or come as close to standing up as they are physically possible.


An e-mail from [unnamed publication] wants to know how to get something noted.  Oh, I have to name them sorry.  THE NATION magazine.  I still have a few friends at the rag.  After the way they lied and worked to defeat Kamala -- including the editorial that argued you shouldn't vote for her -- they can go f**k themselves.  I've said that to friends there and I've said it here at this site.  But let's pretend that it's another outlet.  You would e-mail common_ills@yahoo.com and someone would look over it.  If they thought it was worthy of note, they'd put it in a folder for me to look at.  Sometimes they might put one in that they're unsure of.  I'd read and I'd decide.  


I was asked to highlight an article at ZNET, garbage written poorly by Bayan Saleh.  It's an embarrassment in every way of piece of writing can be and ZNET should honestly pull it.  

"Nina Bang: The Marxist Historian Who Opened the Doors of Power to Women" -- sorry Bayan but if, as you write, Nina got her masters in 1894 then there was at least one woman before opening the doors of power or she wouldn't have been able to get the degree.  (Some sources note her highest degree was a doctorate and there year the degree was awarded also differs from source to source.)  

In Bayan's badly written 3rd grade summary, she offers:

Selected Works

Karl Marx: His Life and Work (1918)


What does that say?  "Works"?  That's plural.  Change it to "Selected Work" or note the other book she was an author of (the two-volume) TABLES OF SHIPPING AND GOODS (she also translated another author's book on Karl Marx).  

Then you have this:


Although committed to women’s issues, she did not position herself within a liberal feminist discourse. Instead, she considered women’s liberation inseparable from the liberation of society as a whole from economic and political constraints. She rejected a form of feminism that isolated gender struggle from class struggle, believing that such an approach stripped the movement of its revolutionary substance.

No, she wasn't a feminist, she pretty much rejected feminism itself as ENCYCLOPEDIA.COM notes, "Although Bang was one of the first established female political activists, she was not an active feminist; she considered women's social and legal issues part of general political issues and part of the general battle for democratic progress. 

"She was among the first women historians to break men’s monopoly over academic history writing."

 Really?  


She was born in 1866.  The first known female historian is usually said to be Anna Comnena who wrote THE ALEXIAD and who was born in 1083. Others who predate Bang include Matilda Josyln Gage, Henrica van Erp, Johanna Naber, Harriet Martineiu, Anna Julia Cooper, Mary Wollstonecraft, Luise Gerbing, Mary Bonaventure Browne and, as a feminist, I'm smart enough to know that for every one woman historian I'm aware of there are probably 100 more who are either erased in history or misclassified as something else (Anna Julia Cooper's first book -- a collection of speeches and essays A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH BY A BLACK WOMAN OF THE SOUTH is not considered a history book by some but a book by a black woman forced into slavery and published 27 years after the end of The Civil War about the life she observed is history)l


I don't have much tolerance for nonsense.  A lot of stuff that gets submitted via e-mail qualifies as nonsense. 

Let's trudge through these three paragraphs from the bad ZNET column:


In 1895, she married Gustav Bang, a historian and prominent politician of the Social Democratic Party. For Nina, marriage was not a traditional framework of male authority but a partnership built on intellectual equality and a shared political project.

Together, they formed a rare Marxist-socialist duo, jointly analyzing the social and political realities of their time and contributing to the development of a radical critical vision for the future of Denmark and the world.

They had no children, but their relationship extended beyond private life into the public sphere, as their home became both an intellectual salon and a hub of political activity. Gustav’s death in 1915 was a personal shock to Nina, but it transformed into a renewed commitment, as though grief became a driving force for her continued defense of the working class and marginalized groups.


They had no children?  

That must have come as a surprise to Merete Hansen.  Who?  Gustav Ban and Nina Bang's daughter Merete Bang Hasen


I can do this with at least 21 more examples of a piece that should have never been published.  As an Iraqi woman who escaped to Denmark, is the author compelled to make up lies?  She wasn't the first feminist (she' wasn't a feminist) in Denmark, she wasn't the first to blaze a trail.  I have no idea why an Iraqi woman would be so fascinated with this woman and bend over backwards in order to make her appear to be a feminist, a first and so much more.  But that's how you can get rejected and ignored by me: Write poorly and make one factual error after another.  It's a shame that despite Iraq's rich history of feminism -- and lengthy history -- Bayen Saleh writes such an embarrassing article 


Let's wind down with Senator Adam Schiff:


Schiff on Homan: “Who takes 50,000 in cash in a bag, if they’re doing something legitimate?”

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined MSNBC’s Alex Witt Reports to discuss Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to weaponize the Department of Justice (DOJ) against his political opponents and the administration’s hypocrisy on DOJ investigations in the wake of a bombshell report detailing the closing of a bribery probe into White House Border Czar Tom Homan.

Schiff slammed Trump for pressuring the Attorney General to bring baseless cases against his critics – including himself, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James – and for filling DOJ and FBI leadership with loyalists who have undermined serious investigations while dismissing corruption among Trump’s allies. Schiff also slammed FBI Director Kash Patel for his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Epstein case and the firing of senior FBI agents who investigated Trump.


 

View the full interview here.

Key Excerpts:

On Trump pushing Attorney General Bondi to pursue baseless charges:

He made it very clear that he was firing the U.S. Attorney of Virginia for not bringing a meritless mortgage fraud case against Letitia James, and he’s basically out in the opening pressuring his Attorney General, sending a message to other U.S. attorneys out there that if they don’t do his will, they don’t do his bidding and bring meritless cases against his enemies, they could be fired. And this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Nixon had his enemies list, but it wasn’t so exhaustive and blatant as this, where he was ordering, in front of the whole country, the Justice Department to go after his enemies. In my case, for impeaching him, leading his first impeachment, for serving on the January 6 Committee. And what he wants to try to do is not just go after me and Letitia James or Lisa Cook, but rather send a message that anyone who stands up to him on anything, anyone who has the audacity to call out his corruption will be a target, and they will go after you. It’s an effort to try to silence and intimidate people, but I refuse to be silenced or intimidated.

On weaponization of the Justice Department:

I served for almost six years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. I venerated my experience in that department, all the hard-working men and women who are doing, I think really, really important work on serious cases. But this just casts a shadow over all of it. We’ve seen top leadership at the department devastated. We’ve seen three top people, Trump criminal defense lawyers, appointed to the top positions of the Justice Department. They’re running things. When you see, for example, Todd Blanche personally intervene in the Epstein case, someone Blanche who acknowledged that he has a continuing duty to his client as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, then it’s the interest of the American people that suffer. You’re seeing the same devastation at the FBI, where senior FBI agents are being fired or pushed out, so the nonpartisan leadership at the top is being pushed out. It’s gone. And instead, you have this now fully weaponized department to go after the president’s enemies. And in the case of Tom Homan, to run interference against investigations that are a serious and warrant investigation. So, you have both the dismissal of charges against the president’s allies like Eric Adams, the dismissal of investigations against Tom Homan and pressure to bring meritless investigations against the president’s enemies.

On the investigation into Tom Homan:

These people should have never been confirmed for these positions. And there’s only a limit to what Democrats can do, given that we don’t have the votes in the Senate to defeat them. We need some Republicans of good conscience to turn down the arcade juniors that are going to endanger the public health of the people exists. They’re going to endanger the national security and to call for the resignation of people like Tom Homan. I mean, how can you have a top if. Enforcement official, the border czar, like Tom Homan, who took $50,000 from undercover agents in a bag, in a bag with the apparently, reportedly the promise of helping deliver federal contracts when he was going to take a position in the Trump administration. How can you have that person in leadership? He should be gone. And I hope my Republican colleagues will join me and others in demanding that the videotape of him taking the bag, literally holding the bag, be shown to the public. We also, I think, got to hear the audio conversations of him making those promises in a change for that 50,000 in cold cash. I mean, who does that? Who takes 50,000 in cash in a bag, if they’re doing something legitimate?

### 


And also from Senator Schiff's office, let's note this on the same topic:


Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement in response to reports that the Trump administration intervened to close an investigation into former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and current White House Border Czar, Tom Homan, despite evidence of Homan collecting bribes in exchange for facilitating future government contracts.

The investigation reportedly included video of Homan accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents last fall.

“Nothing demonstrates the Trump administration’s culture of corruption like closing an ongoing investigation into one of the President’s close associates despite clear evidence of a conspiracy to commit bribery captured on camera.

“The Justice Department, FBI, and White House must be held to account. Congress must demand that the administration immediately preserve all evidence related to this investigation and immediately release the video of Homan. The public should be able to watch the conduct of a high-ranking law enforcement official for itself.

“From this report, it appears that the investigation into Homan was known to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other key administration officials, including then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove. It is critical that we understand who knew about this probe, who specifically ordered its end and under what circumstances, and whether it influenced the Trump Administration’s decision to place Homan in a position that avoided Senate confirmation and accountability to Congress.

“The American people also deserve a clear accounting of Homan’s influence on federal contracting decisions. Homan has repeatedly touted this administration’s aggressive plans for expanding immigrant detention centers, including for families with young children. If he was willing to accept at least $50,000 from an undercover FBI agent, any contracts that Homan approved or advocated for must be scrutinized by independent watchdogs and Congress.”

###


The following sites updated: