Ruth's Report: 3 rulings

Donald Chump is a Convicted Felon. He will always be a convicted felon. And he just cannot escape the legal system. Sean O'Driscoll (NEWSWEEK) reports:

President Donald Trump had three major setbacks in the federal courts on Wednesday and Thursday.

Newsweek sought email comment from the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday.

Trump's rapid round of executive orders since he became president are being challenged and delayed in federal courts across the U.S.

Two of his latest rulings concern his layoff of thousands of federal workers. That, in turn, could have a major effect on the shape of the federal government.

The third ruling could have major implications for January 6 defendants who face charges unrelated to the riot at the Capitol.

CNN's Tierney Sneed focuses on one of the rulings:

A second federal judge ruled Thursday that thousands of probationary employees laid off en masse by the Trump administration must be temporarily reinstated to their jobs.

The new temporary restraining order from Senior Judge James Bredar, an Obama-appointee, covers 18 agencies and will last two weeks, as a challenge to the terminations from Democratic state attorneys general moves forward.

A second federal judge ruled Thursday that thousands of probationary employees laid off en masse by the Trump administration must be temporarily reinstated to their jobs.

In addition to requiring the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Interior and Treasury to rehire the employees, as Alsup earlier ordered, Bredar’s ruling applied to several other agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Agency for International Development.

The Convicted Felon always comes with court news. Most crooks, in fact, do.

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

Friday, March 14, 2025. We're putting MSNBC on pause, Chump continues his war on education, propaganda is not news coverage, and much more.

We're starting with that CNN video for a number of reasons. First the reaction -- negative reaction -- to US House Rep Chuck Edwards is news.

This is happening around the country and it is news.

Second, it's CNN.

Not MSNBC.

Lawrence O'Donnell was off last night and won't be back until two Mondays from now. Had he been on last night, we would have highlighted him if he'd covered the above but we would have most likely highlighted him on something.

You're not going to find MSNBC in today's snapshot. You won't find it later in the day up here.

Maybe back on Monday.

The community shapes this site and always has.

Too many of you are furious with MSNBC right now. I get it. I really do and we'll go into that in a moment.

11:30 pm EST is the last time we noted them. If I'd known the objection when I was queuing up videos before the roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin, that video would not have gone up here.

Let's go back to the CNN video.

A veteran is loudly calling out a US House Rep who is failing We The People.

If you've missed it, House Conversion Queen Mike Johnson has insisted that the people -- all these people -- showing up at rallies to demand that their Congressional reps do their jobs and stop serving Musk and Chump and start serving the people -- he's insisted these are paid agitators and George Soros or someone else has paid them.

If tomorrow we find out that the veteran in the video above was paid off or was not who he presented as, we'd have every reason in the world to be upset. Every reason.

That's not going to be the case with the veteran above. But if it had been, we'd have every right to be outraged.

A number of you are outraged about a similar issue around protests and you're sick of MSNBC trying to shove it down your throat while lying.

Yes, I agree with the community, it is lying.

When the genocide in Gaza began (or this wave), we covered the protests and supported the protesters on campuses across the country. Good for American students for using their voices. We covered it here. We bought in some of the activists that Ava and I met with on campuses for roundtables.

And when the corporate media, not just FOX "NEWS," would lie, we'd call them out. We're the only ones that called out some of that garbage. We'd point out that this average student, 'voice of the people' that was denouncing other students for protesting was, in fact, a paid member of the right-wing media. FAIR didn't do it. We did. It was a story of lies, a story of media bias and a story of media conglomeration (the country's largest owner of stations across the country broadcast the same lie filled 'report on every station they owned for example).

Those liars that we called out? They're still liars. They received money from right-wing media and that wasn't disclosed in the 'reports' they were featured in.

But one thing that they said often was that these student protests were being led by non-students and/or foreigners.

The charge is often made. And it's made because no one wants someone sticking their nose in our country's business. So if it's a foreigner leading this, then it is a lot different.

I've denounced this here for the whole week -- we're talking about the Syrian-born Palestinian activist who, turns out, pretty much led, organized and spoke for the Columbia University-based protests.

In the CNN video above, we hear what the veterans is saying. And, sure, we applaud him partly because we agree with him. But we also applaud him because of the integrity he's bringing to his remarks.

If FOX "NEWS" does an expose Sunday morning revealing that the veteran isn't who we've been led to believe he was, we're going to feel ripped off.

(Again, that's not going to happen. The man's a veteran and he wasn't paid by anyone.)

So a lot of you are angry about the Syrian-born activist and, again, I get it.

It helps out FOX "NEWS" and that's bad enough. But we also got lied to and that's equally bad.

The problem you're having with MSNBC is that they won't shut up about it.

Excuse me, they don't cover what we're talking about.

They cover the Syrian-born activist as a martyr and a noble person and they're not doing coverage -- as Keesha pointed out in last night's roundtable, "They are putting their thumbs on the scales and misinforming to shape our opinions." She's exactly right.

MSNBC has yet to grapple with the fact that the US-led campus protests were not all US-led and that the activist in question makes us all look like fools because we defended against the charges that this was a foreign influenced movement.

MSNBC doesn't want to inform you of that.

They do want to try to tell you what to think.

And, here's the thing, they're not succeeding.

Syrian-born is a liar. And a lot of us feel betrayed.

They are trying to create a news story -- there has been no news there since he was arrested, it's now a matter for the courts. But MSNBC has decided to stake their brand on this bulls**t.

You're doing the right thing when they start doing that and you turn off the TV or change the channel. I spoke with a friend in management and they're also getting a lot of complaints about this coverage -- as they should be. But turning off the TV or changing the channel will send a much stronger message.

Again, there's no story there. There was no reason, for example, for Chris Hayes to cover it last night -- I didn't watch, I only became aware during last night's round table.

There are no new developments and MSNBC isn't being honest.

We defended those students, we defended the movement and now Syrian-born is making FOX "NEWS" look like the truth teller.

So, yes, I get the anger. And when Lawrence comes back, we'll highlight him. Other than that, I'm going to have wait on the community's decisions.

I also heard -- and agree -- during the roundtable that the attack on school breakfasts and lunches is 100% more important than any one person -- certainly more than the Syrian-born activist. This is going to take place in over forty states if the administration gets away with it. Over forty states. And, as we've noted this week, this is going to mean that farmers are going to be struggling even more because the cuts are going to harm them. But they're also going to harm our country's children.

A growling stomach? You can't learn on that. If a child is going hungry, their basic needs aren't being met and, yes, it does effect education.

Now you may be the biggest sack of s**t MAGA idiot. But I would think even that person who hates the world and thinks all adults are welfare cheats would have the brains not to blame a child. We're supposed to protect the children. We're adults. That's our job. And cutting the food program is not protecting them. Again, you may hate their parents for example if you're MAGA but I think you'd have to agree that the children themselves haven't done anything wrong. The gutting that's going on right now is appalling and inhumane and destroying the economy. That's across the board.

But the attacks on children's meals -- like the attacks on science -- are much worse because they will do long lasting damage and, again, we're the adults, we're supposed to protect the children.

In the roundtable, a number of you made clear that MSNBC isn't interested in this story.

They're flooding the zone on the Syrian-born activist but America's children apparently don't have enough disposable income to interest MSNBC so they'll instead bore us all with another story about the Syrian-Born activist.

We need to take back at least one house of Congress in the mid-terms -- I want both. And MSNBC's coverage isn't helping with that.

The protests were divisive. Actions can be. Didn't bother me. Didn't bother me that we lost some readers (and about 40 community members) by covering the protests.

It was news and I still applaud the American students on campuses who spoke out -- the Americans.

But the b.s. that soon overtook everything cost us the election. And now we live in horror each day.

So, I hear you, you're not in the mood for MSNBC and their ignoring of real stories that impact the American people and could impact the mid-terms to instead do another whine about Syrian-born.

We got enough propaganda on him before he was arrested. We don't need anymore.

Repeating from last night, a permanent resident? That's a status and it doesn't mean it can't be revoked. You're getting liars telling you all sorts of things there. My favorite is: It has to be proven in court!

Where the f**k have you lived since 9/11?

That's why community members are so angry at MSNBC, they're doing propaganda.

The courts have bent over backwards to take the government's word on terrorism. Over and over since 9/11 -- and they weren't all that reluctant prior to that.

There's also the reality that he may in fact be part of terrorism. I don't know. I don't know him. I thought Columbia's protests were being led by American students at Columbia. He's duped the public once already so, no, I'm not staking my word on his claims.

They also don't seem to understand immigration. You can't lie on paperwork. If you do, you can lose a visa or a green card. That's reality. Reality is also that most of us will lie on a form. Especially if it's a lengthy form. And it might be a lie of omission, it might be you short handing something, but it happens all the time. And that's their out -- the government's out -- when they want to revoke whatever they granted to a foreigner.

We have serious issues to address in this country. We all have to figure out what they are and cover what we need to cover -- what we feel we need to cover.

MSNBC could argue that this is the story that they feel that they need to cover. Fine. But they need to accept the fact that viewers are already tuning out on them and that will only increase as more air time is wasted on this non-story.

Non-story!!! He could be deported!!!

He could be. Hasn't happened yet. The only news was that he was taken into custody over the weekend and the plan is to deport him. That headline has been more than conveyed. You're no longer doing news, you're doing propaganda for his defense attorney.

And you're doing that while you're ignoring American children.

In the mid-terms, other than a few freaks, no one's going to basing their vote on what happened to the Syrian-born activist. What Chump's doing to America's children? That's going to be an issue. The measles outbreak that continues to spread because we have anti-science fools in Chump's administration? That's going to be an issue.

I said this last night in the roundtable but let me repeat it here:

I do not live in front of the TV. I do not know every thing that is said or done on MSNBC. I do leave the TV on these days because I'm a Nielsen viewer but I really am not a TV person. So I was not aware that this non-story -- it's a headline at this point -- about one person was taking up so much TV real estate on MSNBC. I understand the anger I'm hearing [in the roundtable] and this matter's addressed. We'll put a halt on including MSNBC for the time being except for Lawrence O'Donnell. We'll continue to asses this as a community.

So, again, my apologies. It was my ignorance completely. And I am sorry.

This is an important topic so the time above was not wasted but let's wrap up with a few other things. Aimee Picchi (CBS NEWS) reports:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is cutting two federal programs that provided about $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers, part of what the agency said was a decision to "return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives."

The move cancels about $660 million in funding this year for the Local Food for Schools program, which is active in 40 U.S. states, as well as about $420 million for a second program called the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, which helps food banks and other local groups provide food to their communities.

The decision comes as the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, say they are slashing federal spending to reduce government waste. The USDA programs were funded through the agency's Commodity Credit Corporation, a Depression-era fund created to buy products directly from farmers.

I have no idea why this isn't getting more coverage. We noted it this week. This an attack on America's children. This will impact so many and it's bread-and-butter issue so you'd think politicians and news outlets would be running with this story. It's also impacting farmers:

One farmer in Massachusetts told CBS News Boston that she was concerned the funding cut could hurt her business. Katie Carlson, president of Carlson Orchards in Harvard, Massachusetts, said the Worcester Regional Food Hub, which connects school districts with food from local farmers through the USDA program, had been a reliable customer.

"We know that this time of year we can count on the Worcester Food Hub," Carlson said. "They may not be huge orders every week, but we know that they're coming to take something every week, so if that were to all of a sudden drop off [...] It's just not, not good."

So children and farmers will suffer in order for Convicted Felon Donald Chump to deliver tax breaks to his wealthy and crooked friends. That's our nation priority when trash occupies the White House: Tax breaks for the wealthy and attack the working class and America's future. In news of Chump's other attacks on education, ABC NEWS reports:

The Department of Education's far-reaching layoffs have decimated a small statistical agency considered to be the "authoritative and trusted source" of information on the education system in the United States, four former employees familiar with the situation told ABC News.

Since the 1860s, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has collected and analyzed data on education across the country, which has been used by policymakers and the public to measure academic success, teacher productivity and crime and safety in schools, among other topics.

It issues a congressionally mandated test called the National Assessment of Education Progress -- better known as the "Nation's Report Card" -- which, since 1969, has been considered the gold standard of testing to compare the academic performance and progress of students across all 50 states in math and reading across several grades.

Since 1860 . . . But, of course, idiot Chump knows better.

Chump declares war on education because, as a deeply stupid person, he's always railed against the notion that people could improve their lives via education. So he attacks and attacks and attacks. Another example, Erin Hudson and Sophie Alexander (BLOOMBERG NEWS) reports:

The US Department of Education’s sweeping cuts Tuesday included staff that oversee schools’ efforts to help millions of students learn English.

Employees from the Office of English Language Acquisition, or OELA, are being eliminated as part of the Education Department’s reduction in force this week, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, the union representing the agency’s employees. The wider Education Department cuts aim to eliminate half of its more than 4,000 employees. A spokesperson for the department said OELA’s work will continue in another division.

[. . .]

At least a dozen OELA staff were cut including those who worked on the Title III program, which provides federal funding for states to improve education for students learning English, as well as the National Professional Development Program and the Native American and Alaska Native Children in School program, which train teachers to support those students, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named and a document seen by Bloomberg.

On the Native American issue, CRONKITE NEWS adds:

The National Council of Urban Indian Health issued a press release deeming “federal layoffs targeting essential tribal programs … catastrophic for Indian Country.”

“DEI requires context,” said Tempe Chief Diversity Officer Velicia McMillan Humes. “You have to understand that this is addressing a greater, longer, pervasive issue.”

Diversity training began with affirmative action after President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order in 1961 that required federal contractors to create equal employment for all.

“You have to learn how to create strategies to engage individuals who don’t feel safe or comfortable or don’t feel like they’ll be heard,” Humes said. “But the first thing we need to do is recognize that we have played a role in that inequity.”

Everyone is under assault in Chump Land. Thomas Kika (CNET) observes:

President Donald Trump and his administration appear to be ramping up plans to abolish the Department of Education, a long-promised move that has prompted as much alarm as it has uncertainty.

The Department of Education has been around in some form since the mid-19th century, with its current cabinet-level form being created when a law passed by Congress and signed by President Jimmy Carter spun it off from the broader Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1979. Over the decades, it's frequently come under fire from conservative lawmakers, including from President Ronald Reagan, Carter's successor, but the calls have usually been for it to be stripped back, not shut down outright.

This pushback was supercharged, however, when Trump pledged during his 2024 campaign to do just that: shutter the department completely. That threat took another step forward in early March, when Trump's former Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon (yes, that Linda McMahon) was sworn in as the new secretary of education and quickly sent a memo to department workers claiming that they would be carrying out its "final mission." Recent reports also indicate the Trump administration was working on an executive order directing the secretary to prepare for the end of the department, and on March 11 it was announced that half of its staff was being cut as part the planned shutdown.

Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following regarding Chump's attacks on education:

Murray: “Families want help to get students’ math and reading scores up and ensure their kids can thrive—instead, Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to the Department of Education and robbing our students and teachers of the resources and support they need.”

ICYMI: Ahead of Confirmation Vote, Senator Murray Blasts Linda McMahon’s Nomination: “We Cannot Have a Secretary of Education Who Doesn’t Believe in Having a Secretary of Education”

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump’s mass firings at the Department of Education.

“Families want help to get students’ math and reading scores up and ensure their kids can thrive—instead, Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to the Department of Education and robbing our students and teachers of the resources and support they need, so that Republicans can pay for more massive tax cuts for billionaires.

“Donald Trump and Linda McMahon know they can’t abolish the Department of Education on their own but they understand that if you gut it to its very core and fire all the people who run programs that help students, families, and teachers, you might end up with a similar, ruinous result.

“Ultimately, what they want to do is clear: fire the people who help our kids and gut funding for our students, teachers, and schools. This is about breaking government for working families—and enriching billionaires like themselves in the process.

“Students, families, and teachers in every part of the country will pay the price for Trump’s slash and burn campaign to destroy public education in America. When you rip tax dollars from public schools, it is working and middle class families who suffer. When you fire the people who hold predatory for-profit colleges accountable and who help students get financial aid, it is students who pay the price for years to come.

“Fewer teachers, less accountability, less resources for students, and more chaos—it’s the last thing students and schools need, but it’s exactly what Trump is delivering.”

Senator Murray has been calling out the Trump administration’s devastating plans to worsen public education in America. She’s pressed the Trump administration on its plans to shutter the Department, blasted its dismantling of its research arm, and forcefully opposed Linda McMahon’s nomination and plans to execute Trump’s disastrous agenda.

Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career—fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation’s K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.

In March 2020, Senator Murray introduced the Supporting Students in Response to Coronavirus Act to support students as COVID-19 spread, and she proceeded to work across the aisle to deliver resources to schools to support students in the CARES Act in March 2020 and in December 2020 through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA). In March 2021, Senator Murray helped secure critical resources for K-12 schools in the American Rescue Plan, which was passed without any Republican votes. She also worked to require a portion of the resources are specifically used to address learning loss—and has pushed to ensure the resources are being used effectively to help students get back on track. In the years since, Senator Murray has fought to renew federal investments in our schools, ensure resources are used effectively and consistent with federal laws, and successfully defeated House Republicans’ efforts to gut federal educational funding as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the 118^th Congress.

###

Let's wind down with some good news, Lloyd Lee (BUSINESS INSIDER) notes:

Tesla has lost so much value in such a short period of time that JPMorgan analysts said they couldn't think of another comparable moment in automotive history.

"We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly," they wrote, adding that the closest example was when Japanese and Korean car brands lost sales amid "diplomatic disputes" with China in 2012 and 2017, respectively.

The JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note on Wednesday that those historical cases were "confined to a single market, whereas the decline in Tesla sales in 2025 is not specific to any one nation or geography."

JPMorgan analysts cut their price target on Tesla by about 41% from $230.58 to $135, lowering guidance on vehicle deliveries for the first quarter of 2025 to about 355,000 — an 8% year-over-year decrease from the first quarter of 2024.

From December to Wednesday after trading hours, Tesla lost nearly 49% of its market cap, seeing its peak value of $1.54 trillion from the end of last year fall to about $777 billion.

ADDED 20 minutes after post published:

The Black Commentator Issue #1032 is now Online

March 13, 2025