(click on images to enlarge)
(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)
(Jen Sorensen, gocomics.com)
(John Cole, NCNewsline.com, NC)
(Jeff Stahler, gocomics.com)
(Drew Sheneman, Tribune Content Agency)
(Mike Konopacki, The Capital Times, Madison, WI)
(Nick Anderson, Tribune Content Agency)
(Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Canada)
(Matt Wuerker, Politico)
(Morten Morland, The Times, London)
(Matt Davies, Newsday)
(Paul Noth, @paulnoth)
Bumblers bumbling into war? --
Hard to overstate the degree to which there appears to be literally no one in the president's current circle who has any experience, even at a low level, managing ANY kind of national security crisis or even situation. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/thoug...
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 2:15 PM
[image or embed]
this is basically the exact the inverse of where public opinion stood when we invaded iraq. it was 74-19 in favor in april 2003
— rose (@breadnrosie.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 10:55 PM
[image or embed]
— George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 8:59 AM
THE WAR POWER IS IN ARTICLE I THE WAR POWER IS IN ARTICLE I THE WAR POWER IS IN ARTICLE I
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@anthonymkreis.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 5:57 AM
[image or embed]
... as the corporate media plays guessing games --
It’s so frustrating to see the media’s breathless will-he-or-won’t-he coverage when what they ought to be doing is explaining all the reasons why he shouldn’t. presswatchers.org/2025/06/the-...
— Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News (@froomkin.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 10:26 PM
[image or embed]
Out of control thugs --
Does anything in this picture say, "federal agents making a lawful arrest?" Perhaps they identified themselves. But when did it go out of fashion for law enforcement to look like law enforcement?
— Joyce White Vance (@joycewhitevance.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
[image or embed]
🚨 Brad Lander in Handcuffs. $80 Million Gone. Kristi Noem at the Center. What started as a funding dispute over migrant shelters has spiraled into federal arrests, missing money, and explosive claims of political revenge. Inside the jaw-dropping clash between NYC's comptroller and Trump's DHS. 🧵👇
— Chronology (@allchronology.com) June 18, 2025 at 9:08 AM
[image or embed]
they’ve gone from “clearly uniformed” to “partially uniformed” to “in no way identifiable” in like three weeks
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) June 17, 2025 at 8:02 PM
[image or embed]
Helicopters. Armed troops wearing masks. All for a freaking military-grade raid at a flea market that appears to have resulted in two measly arrests. DHS and ICE are out of control. ktla.com/news/local-n...
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM
[image or embed]
He's a Reagan-appointed judge FWIW --
New in PN: Judge rules that anti-woke is just racism “'I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable,' Judge Young fumed. 'I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.' *More of this, please*"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM
[image or embed]
One last goodbye with "Love and Mercy" --
Oh man RIP Brian Wilson 🙏….thank you for all the music!
— WuTangIsForTheChildren (@wutangforchildren.bsky.social) June 11, 2025 at 1:36 PM
[image or embed]
Baltimore's latest hit band Turnstile has a new album out, "Never Enough," their fourth studio album released on June 6. Their sound has been variously described as "pop hardcore," "melodic hardcore," and "alternative rock." The title track for the album is our song today.
As the MAGAt Republican Senate mulls changes to the House- passed "One Big, Beautiful Bill" (for billionaires) that would actually make even more devastating Medicaid cuts, a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll tells us that Americans really, really don't like it at all:
(click to enlarge)
That's bad enough. But when people are informed of the draconian elements of the House- passed bill, the unfavorable numbers go up further:
Information even penetrates the thick skulls of some MAGAts:
The poll has much more evidence that the more people know about the MAGAt Republican afflict-the-afflicted and comfort-the-comfortable budget bill, the more they don't like it. Imagine that!
The challenge, as always, is to overcome this lack of public awareness and attention, while combatting the standard lying MAGAt propaganda about the bill. Passage of this bill in whatever its final form and its attendant cruelties must be an albatross hung around MAGAt Republican necks from now until election day in 2026.
All is not well with the Malignant Fascist's cult members, and it's over his increasingly belligerent language toward Iran. Yesterday, the bullying MF told residents of Teheran to evacuate the city and that Iran's leader Ayatollah Khamanei was not going to be targeted "for now." From the BBC:
"The dilemma of whether the US should join Israel in attacking Iran, or stay out of the offensive altogether, has exposed divisions among US President Donald Trump's supporters.
The Republican president reportedly is considering helping target the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, following a meeting with his national security advisers in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday.
On the campaign trail, Trump often railed against "stupid endless wars" in the Middle East, but also maintained that Iran "can't have a nuclear weapon".
The possibility that he might draw the US into another foreign entanglement has pitted the isolationist and hawkish wings of his party bitterly against one another. [snip]
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has called for the US to stay out of the conflict with Iran.
On his podcast, he lambasted Republican "warmongers", provoking a rebuke from Trump, who called Carlson "kooky".
Georgia congresswoman and Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene leapt to Carlson's defence in a highly unusual break with the president.
She said anyone who supported such an intervention was not "America First".
The tensions exploded into a shouting match on Tuesday during an interview between Carlson and hawkish Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz became defensive when asked if he knew the population and ethnic mix of Iran.
Carlson said: "You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of the government and you don't know anything about the country!"
Cruz retorted: "No, you don't know anything about the country!"
Steve Bannon, Trump's former political strategist, argued on Carlson's podcast that allowing the "deep state" to drive the US into a war with Iran would "blow up" the coalition of Trump supporters." (our emphasis)
Popcorn please! Any issue that would split this deranged, corrupt and authoritarian cult is welcome to us. The pro-intervention group, led by South Carolina rage monkey Sen. Lindsey "Huckleberry" Graham is calling for any action by the U.S. to bring the Iranian regime down. Right now, the MF seems to be leaning toward Graham's (and Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's) position, but time will tell if the tough guy MF decides to throw some late punches at Iran, now that Israel has done the most damage.
BONUS: The MF is in a spat with his incompetent, Russia-admiring intel chief Gabbard over Iran nuke status. Keep popping the popcorn!
(click on images to enlarge)
(Kevin Kallaugher, Baltimore Sun)
(Nick Anderson, Raw Story)
(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Jack Ohman, San Francisco Chronicle)
(Dave Granlund, politicalcartoons.com)
(Joe Heller, hellertoon.com)
(Tim Campbell, Counterpoint)
(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal)
(Pedro Molina, Counterpoint)
(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)
(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com, Canada)
(Pia Guerra, @pia.guerra, Canada)
“You all know the great PM of the UK, and we just signed a document. We just signed it, and so we have our trade agreement with the EU.”
No, nope. The UK is not the EU, nor is it in the European Community, Grandpa Sundowner. (Somebody should have told him about Brexit, or maybe just have tucked him in for the night.) The geo- ignorant geriatric left the G7 summit prematurely after an intelligence briefing immersing himself in Fox "News" propaganda, possibly to return home to get in a game of golf guide America into a regime- change war with Iran (or Iraq or Ireland or India or one of those other "I" countries). America, fuck yeah!
(Photo: Kevin Lamarque/ Reuters)
The Malignant Fascist must be sad his guy in Minnesota was caught --
Piece of shit.
— Greg Olear (@gregolear.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 8:19 AM
[image or embed]
The MF's bungle with Iran --
I love these opinions writers who claim that Trump “must do” or Trump “should do” something to achieve an optimal outcome. Have they not learned anything? Trump isn’t looking to solve complex problems and doesn’t take sensible advice. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/o...
— John Sipher (@johnsipher.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 8:20 AM
[image or embed]
The question Trump needs to (but won’t) answer is: Does the US want to get involved in another exercise in regime change and nation building in the Middle East? Because that is where this appears to be headed.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 8:23 AM
TACO time, immigration raids edition --
Well, that didn't last long. DHS told staff it was reversing guidance issued last week that agents were not to conduct immigration raids at farms, hotels and restaurants. Shadow President Stephen Miller wins again. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 9:58 PM
[image or embed]
The MF's big, beautiful bill is MAGA's albatross --
Harry Enten on Trump's bill: "The amount of disapproval for this bill -- holy cow, my goodness gracious! We're talking about 29 points underwater ... we're talking about a negative 41 net favorability rating among independents. You rarely ever see proposed pieces of legislation as unpopular"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 17, 2025 at 8:54 AM
[image or embed]
Musk's Swasticar running out of parking lots for storage --
Tesla on the hunt for space to park its overflowing inventory. @electrek.co $TSLA electrek.co/2025/06/17/t...
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM
[image or embed]
Making America Embarrassed (and Poor) Again --
Trump: You all know the great PM of the UK and we just signed a document *drops documents* Trump: A little windy out here. We just signed it and so we have our trade agreement with the EU
— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 5:29 PM
[image or embed]
The Golden Age
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 9:06 AM
[image or embed]
Making America Racist Again (or at least trying to), RFK Jr. edition --
In blow to RFK Jr.'s anti-diversity crusade, judge voids NIH directives A Ronald Reagan-appointed judge called the NIH directives the worst racial bias he's seen in 40 years, asking: "Have we no shame?" www.allrisenews.com/p/rfk-racial...
— Adam Klasfeld (@klasfeldreports.com) June 16, 2025 at 4:28 PM
[image or embed]
The cosplay clown gets The Onion treatment--
“Huh, that’s odd, but there must be some kind of reason for it, right?” said one of the sources, who frowned as they took in the sight of the overdressed DHS chief adjusting the quiver of arrows she wore over her back. theonion.com/no-one-...
— The Onion (@theonion.com) June 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
[image or embed]
"...Every patriotic American should be prepared to push back in their own ways, big and small. But the mayors and governors who hold jurisdiction over potential zones of occupation have a particularly important role to play. They need to have a plan for how they’re going to respond when Trump sends in the tanks to illegally occupy their downtowns.
"Luckily, they have a few important things going for them. The first is that public sentiment is on their side; as Trump has become more openly fascist and dictatorial, he has also become more unpopular. The second is that they can learn from the occupation of Los Angeles; they know the invasion playbook and they can respond accordingly. And the third is that they’re all in the same boat.
"If Trump can’t impose his will on Los Angeles, he’s going to have an even harder time pacifying several other large cities simultaneously. Big city mayors and Democratic governors can make it even harder for him by coordinating their response. What we need now is some sort of mutual defensive pact, almost a sort of NATO for large anti-MAGA cities..." -- Ned Resnikoff, in "Public Comment" on Substack, making the reasonable and timely argument that blue cities (and states) need a "mutual defense pact" against the Malignant Fascist's plan to wage war on "Democratic Power Centers" in his ongoing fascistic putsch. Resnikoff suggests several forms of mutual aid that the states and cities could provide one another. (For what it's worth, we would propose that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker lead such a the coordination.) The MF has made his intentions abundantly clear; now it's time, building on the "No Kings" momentum, for the resistance to kick it up a few notches to let the bully know we're not intimidated.
David Pierce, editor-at-large of The Verge, has some thoughts on the latest scam coming out of the Trump Crime Family (h/t Mock Paper Scissors):
Here is a roughly complete list of all the things we know for sure about the first phone made for the new Trump Mobile wireless provider: it’s called the T1 Phone 8002 (gold version). It costs $499, and you can reserve one now with a $100 down payment. It is, according to the website, coming in September.
That’s about all I feel confident saying. Beyond that, all we have is a website that was clearly put together quickly and somewhat sloppily, a promise that the phone is “designed and built in the USA” that I absolutely do not believe, a picture that appears to be nearly 100 percent Photoshopped, and a list of specs that don’t make a lot of sense together. The existence of a “gold version” of the phone implies a not-gold version, but the Trump Mobile website doesn’t say anything more about that. (our emphasis)
Pierce then discusses the incongruous (if not impossible) features of the phone, concluding:
All that aside, though, there are still a thousand things we don’t know about the T1. Starting with, what does it actually look like? Will it be waterproof or durable in any way? Why are the corners of the case so off-color? Why are the three rear cameras so weirdly spaced apart? Why does the top of the phone in the render look more like an iPhone than an Android device? Is it actually going to come with a Trump Mobile background, and will people be able to change it? What kind of heinous bloatware / spyware / crypto scams are going to come built into this thing? If this is the T1 model 8002, what happened to the first 8,001 tries? If it’s coming in September, does that mean Trump is going to try and upstage this year’s iPhone announcement in some way? Why would anyone pay for this thing, just for the privilege of spending too much money on repackaged T-Mobile service?
It seems utterly unfathomable that you could build a phone with this set of specs, at this price, to be delivered in September. Either Trump Mobile has done something truly remarkable here (and I’d bet you a T1 Phone 8002 that it hasn’t), or the phone it ends up shipping will not be the one buyers are expecting. Like we always say here at The Verge, it’s vaporware until it ships. And the Trump Mobile T1 Phone 8002 is as vapor-y as it gets. (our emphasis)
This is probably one of the more run-of-the-mill scams put together by the Trump Crime Family. Certainly, the tens of millions of dollars (that we know of) coming in from the utterly corrupt Malignant Fascist's various crypto deals, foreign government pay-to-play bribes, various corporate shakedowns, etc., dwarf the latest scam, at least in monetary value, for now. But the fact that this has now become the norm, as has incendiary political speech and violence, is what happens when you lose the guardrails, checks and balances, and institutions that are the last bulwarks of democracy.
(Image: Bad and Impossible / Trump Mobile)
Jimmy Kimmel piles on the humiliating spectacle of the Malignant Fascist / "Generalissimo Ball Park Franco"'s birthday parade, and contrasts it with the "No Kings" marches of millions of Americans resisting the MF's regime. Some of the protest signs that Jimmy curates are priceless, as is the latest grift by the Trump Crime Family ("Can you hear me now?).
"...In the space of a week, the American public has been treated to two highly unusual sights: first, federalized National Guard members and active-duty Marines dressed for combat on the streets of Los Angeles, ready to stand opposite civilians protesting ICE roundups; then an extravagant military parade in Washington on the 250th anniversary of the Army’s founding — and on Mr. Trump’s birthday — generating footage of tanks massed on the streets in numbers more often seen in countries where a coup is underway.
"Mr.
Trump appears eager to create optics that support his claim that public
dissent constitutes an existential threat to the nation. He also
apparently seeks to get the American public used to seeing our armed
forces in a new light. In the president’s version of America, the
military should be seen less as an apolitical body loyal to the
Constitution. Rather, it should be viewed as an institution that serves
at the behest of a leader and his ideological and political agendas,
regardless of how much these depart from democratic understandings of
the military’s role..." -- Ruth Ben-Ghiat, in the New York Times, discussing why the Malignant Fascist wants us to get habituated to scenes of the U.S. military being used as an extension of his authoritarian domestic power grab. In her essay, she compares our situation to that in dictator Augusto Pinochet's Chile in the 1970's as a cautionary tale for America and the U.S. military under the Malignant Fascist in 2025. It's a sobering read.
As illegal immigrant and South African fascist and ketamine enthusiast Elon "Leon" Musk prepares to roll out his problem plagued "Robotaxi" gamble, there are regular reminders that the self-driving technology in his Teslas isn't ready for prime time. For example, in Berks County, PA, a Tesla in self-driving mode stalled on a railroad crossing, and was nicked by a train. A recent demonstration of a Tesla Model Y's "self-driving" feature by The Dawn Project in Austin, TX, where the Robotaxi is scheduled to launch, resulted in the car ignoring a stopped school bus and ramming into child-sized dummies.
The launch date has been slipped a couple of time to fix the issues in the autopilot system. It's most recently been moved from June 12 to June 22, but who knows if that date will be met. Musk has long claimed that his "big idea" of a self-driving taxi would be his biggest venture yet, despite mounting resistance to his products for not only safety reasons, but due to his vile political and social positions. Would we hail a Musk Robotaxi? Hail no.
(photo: "Look out kids! It's a Musk Robotaxi!" The Dawn Project)
"No Kings" --
Compilation of massive 'NO KINGS!' protests today ✊ #NoKings
— StrictlyChristo 🦋🇺🇦🌻❌👑 (@strictlychristo.bsky.social) June 14, 2025 at 8:06 PM
[image or embed]
Fascism in America --
I'm trying to imagine a Democratic president saying openly and proudly that he would be sending federal agents to target the 'Republican Power Center' in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. We would be in the midst of a civil war before he'd finished saying those words.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan.bsky.social) June 15, 2025 at 9:00 PM
[image or embed]
Boelter seems to be a fair representation of how political violence melds with mental disturbances in lone wolves. Those, like Trump, who use public platforms to incite violence make it more likely that mentally unwell people will channel their feelings of rage toward specific political figures.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 6:52 AM
[image or embed]
John Wilkes Booth was a Christian Nationalist conservative who shot a woke liberal for challenging traditional values.
— John Fugelsang (@johnfugelsang.bsky.social) June 15, 2025 at 2:08 PM
every day i think they can’t get any worse. every day i’m wrong.
— shauna (@goldengateblond.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 8:15 AM
[image or embed]
We’ve truly lost our way in this country. An 80-year-old vet who fought for this country just got arrested protesting Trump‘s parade. He deserves respect, not handcuffs.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) June 14, 2025 at 12:43 PM
[image or embed]
Those aren't "deals," you bumbling moron --
Trump: We have our trade deals. All we have to do is send a letter and tell them how much they have to pay. (That’s not a deal)
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
[image or embed]
Republican MAGAts target rural hospitals (FAFO) ... --
Potent and true talking point against the Republican monster bill from @thefarce.org: the bill will cause massive rural hospital closures, creating more healthcare deserts. open.substack.com/pub/thecause...
— xpostfactoid (@xpostfactoid.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 7:58 AM
[image or embed]
... while Trump plays golf and axes FEMA --
NEW -- Dozens of communities have been devastated by windstorms, tornadoes, flooding and wildfires since Jan. 20, killing nearly 100 Americans. Donald Trump has not visited a single one. He has, however, managed 40 days of golf. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 9:14 AM
[image or embed]
Slava Ukraini! --
Ukraine has struck another key Russian military-industrial site used to produce and launch drones targeting Ukrainian civilians. www.kyivpost.com/post/54559
— Kyiv Post (@kyivpost.com) June 16, 2025 at 4:40 AM
[image or embed]
Sweet schadenfreude 😂 --
Watch until the very last second 🤣🤭
— Adam Parkhomenko (@adamparkhomenko.bsky.social) June 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
[image or embed]
(click to enlarge)
With his scheme to literally occupy Dem-managed cities on the pretext of eliminating violent immigrants, the Malignant Fascist was triggered by the massive "No Kings" rallies in cities and towns across America on Saturday. The evil bigot Stephen Miller appears as the pale vampire that he is, as the MF seeks more authoritarian power through force.
Please consider supporting Tom's work by going here.
