Here we are, another Independence Day, another sinking feeling. Another year of questions, "Do I even celebrate?"
And once more, I entreat you: YES! Celebrate!
"Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong." – James Bryce
This year seems like the most dire yet. Our human rights are being stripped away. Brown people – citizens and migrants alike – are being snatched up by masked men; concentration camps are being built (you can't convince me that "Alligator Alcatraz" is not); billionaires are being exalted and enriched beyond comprehension at the expense of everyone else, but especially the needy; there is a war on women; LGBTQ lives are being upended; the "leader" of our country and the most powerful man in the world is rapidly decompensating in his dementia; the regime is filled with incompetent boot-lickers; our checks and balances are broken, with SCOTUS and Congress making a man a king. All that is emerging from the current regime is soundly un-American.
It is, in a word, disgusting.
It is hard to be patriotic.
But I submit: being disgusted and outraged is patriotic! The reason you feel outraged, disgusted, and less-than-patriotic is because you instill the very hope and the values that are at our base. We must not abandon American ideals now! We must, now more than ever, embrace the standards that have driven America since July 4, 1776.
The reason we are so dismayed is because we love the country. We love its ideals, the promise of a more perfect union. We are proud when we are the envy of the world and that everyone wants to be here. We love the idea that if we keep moving forward, it will only get better.
Those ideals are the ones to elevate this Fourth of July. Our hopes for our country have not gone away. If we let our hope disappear, then where are we? Hold the hope and put it on display tomorrow.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed....
Dig deep. Find that kind of patriotism that means supporting the country's potential, its best, its promise. We know that over the last 249 years, we've made great progress. We can't give up now; there is much work to be done.
Patriotism means hope.
Patriotism means optimism.
Patriotism means participation.
Patriotism means effort.
Patriotism means resilience.
Patriotism means dissent.
Patriotism means resistance.
What does patriotism mean to you?
Why must we be Patriotic? Because it's hard.
“Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. No kind of life is worth leading if it is always an easy life. I know that your life is hard; I know that your work is hard; and hardest of all for those of you who have the highest trained consciences, and who therefore feel always how much you ought to do. I know your work is hard, and that is why I congratulate you with all my heart. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life; I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, American Ideals: And Other Essays, Social and Political
So, please! Enjoy your hotdogs and watermelon tomorrow. Engage in meaningful celebrations. Spend time with friends and family. Let your heart swell as you watch the fireworks.
Put out your flag and wear the red, white, and blue. Fly your flag for the potential it holds. It is powerful symbolism. Do not hand it over to those who would pervert it. Really? We're going to turn our flag over to the MAGAtS who "love the country" so much that they would overthrow the government?
No. Reclaim the flag. The shame is on the other side. (David Bowie, "Heroes")
Engage in some introspection and self-care. Dig down and find your strength as individuals so that we can, together, lift America out of this pit. America is filled with great people – we can bring it back out of the abyss!
As Adlai Stevenson II said, "Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."
And so, let us be steadily patriotic today, and tomorrow, and the day after that. Let us support the country all the time, even when the government doesn't deserve it. It is our patriotism that WILL save the United States of America.
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” – John Lewis
I'm feeling pretty low, as I am sure that many of my readers are. The news just keeps hitting. It is hitting hard.
The King Salmon regime is just awful for the heart, mind, and soul.
LSR/ChatGPT collab
Our nation is reaching new lows. It seems that every day brings new atrocities to light. It is hard to absorb the news.
But because we have to face it, and we have to get outraged, and we have to fight back, I'm continuing this LSR journey. Thank you for being here with me. This is my 338th post!
I'm going to use my SICK outline because it encapsulates all that is wrong.
SICK = Stupidity, Incompetence, Corruption, Kingship. There is a lot of overlap in these categories, but we'll try our best to compartmentalize the awful stuff we are facing.
Most of my emotional lows come from the "K" – the dictatorship that is rapidly coming to fruition. Let's move backwards from there.
But first, an incident that cropped up that truly encapsulates all of the SICK. This happened at the United States Senate Office building, where wheelchair-bound citizens showed up to peacefully protest the proposed Medicaid cuts that are in the Big Bloated Batshit Bill.
The United States Capitol Police actually zip-tied the hands of wheelchair-bound protestors. What. The. Actual. Fuck.
This makes me SICK.
KINGSHIP
LSR will not be referring to an "administration" any longer. This is a regime. After all, the dick-tater himself is referring to it as such:
Every accusation is an admission: Here's Kristine Leavitt.
"When you have a totalitarian regime"
Leavitt without a trace of irony: "When you have a totalitarian regime, you have to save face. I think any common sense, open-minded person knows the truth about the precision strikes on Saturday night. They were wildly successful."
I am not sure why SCOTUS is giving away so much of their power to crown a king.
He is already acting like they are his own little board of judges, and soon perhaps King Minus will declare SCOTUS as wholly unnecessary, as he shreds the U.S. Constitution.
Yesterday SCOTUS ruled not on birthright citizenship itself, but halted federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions when the issue comes before them.
This means, in effect, there will be a patchwork of decisions across the country on individuals' rights to birthright citizenship. But wait a minute? I thought that the U.S. Constitution is the Law of the Land? Isn’t that the whole land?
The Supreme Court decision has already sown confusion and fear. Is it really up to individual judges to decide if you have citizenship?
How hard would it have been for SCOTUS affirm birthright citizenship and put the issue to rest? The 14th Amendment is absolutely crystal clear:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
There is no grey area!
The six conservative justices weaseled a decision, saying that the issue of birthright citizenship wasn't before them, but the issue of judicial overreach was. It makes no sense.
The three liberal justices wrote scathing dissents. You can read the one authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, which Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined, here. And here read the solo concurring dissent by Ketanji Brown Jackson here.
Justice Sotomayor wrote about the complicity of the Court in the "gamesmanship" of the regime. She wrote, “the court’s decision is nothing less than an open invitation for the Government to bypass the Constitution. The executive branch can now enforce policies that flout settled law and violate countless individuals’ constitutional rights, and the federal courts will be hamstrung to stop its actions fully."
Sotomayor was so impassioned by the issue that for 20 minutes she read aloud the entirety of her dissent.
What's next for the issue? The Court will reconvene on the issue when it comes back for the new session in October. In the meantime, there are class action lawsuits gearing up.
Every day, more and more stories of atrocities are coming out. I'll outline a few, but know that there are many more stories across the country.
They are grabbing United States Citizens
Andrea Velez was on her way to work last week in downtown Los Angeles. She said that just as she stepped out of her car, she was ambushed by masked men emerging from unmarked cars. They took her to the ground, and although LAPD officers responded to the scene after Velez's family called 911, the officers stood by as Velez was taken into custody.
She's been released from custody and is out on bond. What are they charging her with? Being brown?
Lives are at Risk
The cramped quarters and wonton disregard for human life at the for-profit detention centers comes with risk for life and limb. The detainees are often without food or water, crammed into small spaces with dozens of others. Though Congress has a right to make inspection visits, even unannounced ones, they have been thwarted. Members of Congress have often been refused entry.
Many other medical emergencies have been documented, not the least of which was a woman who was experiencing a still birth and was not transported to a hospital. Wired has the 911 call. They write about that and many other incidents.
Fake agents and bounty hunters: What we have feared has come to pass
The ICE agents have been making their raids without any identifiers. They cover their faces; they wear costumes that can be purchased anywhere. They do not wear badges, and many don't even have the "ICE" patch on their clothing.
And so, bad actors have been taking advantage of this.
In Philadelphia, a man impersonated an ICE officer in order to intimidate and control people at a car repair shop. He zip-tied a woman and stole $1000.
In Los Angeles, a man previously arrested for human trafficking dressed up as an ICE officer, armed up with several firearms, and outfitted his vehicle with police lights and police radios before he was found parked in a handicapped spot and arrested before he could implement whatever he had planned.
In Houston, a man impersonated an ICE officer, blocked a victim's car, and robbed the man.
In Raleigh, this scum impersonated an ICE officer and raped women.
There has been no evidence that bounty hunters are being contracted by ICE to grab brown people and collect money, but it may be happening. The fear is out there that it is happening. The fear is directly related to the officers' hiding their faces and the lack of identifiers on their uniforms.
And one more on TikTok. I wasn't successful in embedding it. Watch here.
Another bit of good trouble you an do, if you encounter ICE. Word around town is that people want to glitter-bomb ICE agents with glitter. Brilliant! It's an identifier that will last forever! Be sure to use biodegradable glitter. We don't need to be environmentally damaging.
The Florida Detention Center
ICE is grabbing up so many brown people that they need new places to put them. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a boner for building a prison deep in the Everglades to house 5,000 of them. He oh-so-cleverly has called it "Alligator Alzatraz."
FEMA, of all agencies, is helping build it. Oh, look, Kingship, Stupidity, and Corruption all in one!
The site is an existing airfield, but the planned detention center would house migrants in tents. Yes, tents, in Florida's steamy heat. But it has showers!
So did Buchenwald.
Indigenous people of the area, who consider the Everglades sacred, are not happy with it.
Environmentalists are not happy with it. The area is adjacent to the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area. How will hundreds of bodies and all their waste, traffic, and trash impact the area?
Anybody with half a brain is not happy with it. AltNPS, our leaders in the rebellion, are asking people to make some "good trouble" and do a check-in on Facebook with the airfield as the location. They say that this will disrupt surveillance tools.
CORRUPTION
The Supreme Court is corrupt.
They have handed our U.S. Constitution over King Babyhands to flush down the golden toilet. They let him take a sharpie to the 14th Amendment, on top of last year's decision on executive privilege to commit crimes.
Chief Justice Roberts has no spine. "It's not my fault!" he cries. At a judicial conference the day after his horrible corrupt decision was released, he said, "It would be good if people appreciated it’s not the judges’ fault that a correct interpretation of the law meant that, no, you don’t get to do this."
Oh yes, wouldn't that be good? So precious.
So far, though, Mr. Roberts, we all still have mouths and pens and voting ballots and we will march and write and raise hell over your ( not correct) corrupt interpretation of the law. We do not appreciate it.
And of course, we know that Alito and Thomas are deeply corrupt men. As I was contemplating their evilness, especially the worst human on Earth, Clarence Thomas, this popped up from Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge, writing on Facebook.
Confessions of a Coke Can
I’m here to talk about Clarence Thomas — the man who looked at me in 1991, in a professional workplace, during a federal confirmation process, and said:
“Who put pubic hair on my Coke?”
That’s not locker room talk. That’s not a joke. That’s not something you forget. That’s the kind of comment that makes HR departments hold emergency meetings. That’s a power move from a man who wanted to make damn sure Anita Hill knew her body, her boundaries, and her basic human dignity were all fair game in his personal little fiefdom.
And I was there. Literally. I was the can.
I didn’t laugh. I didn’t fizz. I didn’t even roll off the table. I froze.Because I knew I’d just been pulled into something grotesque — a performance of dominance disguised as “humor,” the kind that makes people laugh nervously while dying inside.
But here's the part they don't talk about:
I never left.
That comment? That hearing? That moment?
It was just the beginning. I didn’t get tossed in the trash like the ethics Clarence pretended to have. I didn’t get recycled like his respect for precedent. I stayed. I’ve been on that desk — or nearby — for over 30 years. And I’ve seen it all.
Every abuse. Every betrayal. Every ruling soaked in smug cruelty and billionaire cologne.
He wasn’t some reluctant originalist dragged into the culture wars.He was the goddamn architect of them.
He looked at the Constitution, squinted at the parts about liberty and equality, and decided they were optional — unless they applied to him, his rich friends, or his wife’s insurrectionist group chat.
I watched him cast the deciding vote to gut the Voting Rights Act — like democracy was an old couch taking up too much room in his plantation-style man cave. He didn’t just disagree with Roe v. Wade, he celebrated its downfall. And then he licked his judicial fingers and wrote a separate opinion begging the Court to come for birth control, marriage equality, and private intimacy next. Clarence Thomas is not conservative. He’s a revenge fantasy in robes.
He’s spent his entire career pretending to be a silent thinker, the quiet one, the thoughtful one — but I know the truth. I was there when he scribbled opinions that read like church pamphlets dipped in gasoline. He says nothing in court but drops concurrences like molotov cocktails into every corner of modern life. Gay? He’s coming for you. Trans? You’re on his list. Want bodily autonomy? Better hope you’re rich, white, and well-lawyered. He thinks the Fourteenth Amendment was a typo and that the First only applies to megachurches and white nationalists with podcast sponsors.
He accepted decades of unreported gifts — luxury vacations, private jet rides, real estate deals — from billionaire sugar daddies, then had the gall to say he didn’t think he had to disclose it. I’ve been carried to gas stations in Mississippi with more self-awareness. Clarence Thomas has the ethics of a dropped urinal cake. He’s the living embodiment of what happens when lifetime appointments are handed out like grand prizes to men who think shame is a liberal conspiracy.
And don’t even get me started on Ginny.
I watched him stare straight ahead as his wife texted Mark Meadows like she was LARPing a QAnon sex cult version of 1776: The Musical. She begged the White House to overturn the results of an election — and when that case came before the Court? Clarence didn’t recuse himself. Of course not. Because in his world, corruption is only a problem if it helps poor people vote.
Every time a ruling comes down that strips someone of their rights — immigrants, prisoners, students, anyone whose existence offends the white-gloved Federalist Society banquet circuit — I feel a little emptier. Not just because I’m a can of soda witnessing civil liberties disintegrate under the weight of this smug tyrant in hush puppies, but because I was there when the mask slipped. I saw the raw, vulgar, humiliating beginning. The power play disguised as a joke. The pubic hair. The Coke.
And people still act surprised.
Still call him "principled."
Still pretend this is about jurisprudence and not revenge.
Let me tell you something: Clarence Thomas isn’t interpreting the law. He’s grinding his personal grudges into national policy. He is a slow-motion coup disguised as judicial restraint. He is a small, petty man whose every ruling echoes the resentment of someone who never got over being challenged by a Black woman who told the truth.
You want to understand Clarence Thomas?
Forget the legal jargon.
Forget the robes.
Forget the Ivy League polish.
Just remember this: He looked at a can of Coke and thought that was the vehicle for a sexual power trip.
And the Court confirmed him anyway.
So no, I’m not here to talk about high fructose corn syrup.
I’m here to tell you what I saw.
And what I saw is still happening. Every goddamn term.
America, the call is coming from inside the cooler.
And it sounds like a whisper, muttering "original intent" while torching everything decent left in this country.
Don’t ever say you weren’t warned.
I was right there on the desk when it began.
And I’m still here, watching it burn.
(allegedly)Drunken Pete Hegseth is corrupt.
He had a rabid blathering press conference about the U.S. bombing of Iran. He was angry, snappy, and completely unbecoming.
Here he is, lambasting his former FAUX News colleague. File this also under "Every accusation is an admission."
Now, see Petey and Anderson Cooper side-by-side. Gawd this jerk makes my blood boil.
Attorney General Barbie Pam Bondi is Corrupt.
She recently testified to the House Appropriations Committee.
Here she is squaring off with Rep. Madeline Dean (D-Penn.). I hate to use anti-woman words, but wow she is abrasive!
And she snottily clashes with Rep. DeLauro (D-Conn.)
And here is the snot going in circles with Senator Jack Reed (D-RI):
The whole bunch surrounding the Abrego Garcia case is corrupt.
The Abrego Garcia saga is far from over. He is on U.S. soil but is now facing charges of human trafficking, which are purely made up charges.
He is in prison in Tennessee and a judge has ordered him released. His lawyers have asked that his release be delayed, because the regime is itching to deport him to a third country and will likely take him into custody the moment he is walks out the doors.
How's that, America? A man is safer from the government inside the prison walls.
Big Balls is corrupt.
Elong's buddy Big Balls apparently left DOGE, but that doesn't mean he left the regime.
No, Big Balls now has a job inside the Internal Revenue Service. Yes, this 19-year-old kid who had gotten fired from a previous job at a data security firm after an investigation into the leak of internal information, now has all of your financial information in his grubby ball-hugging hands.
Stephen Miller is corrupt.
He is the Joseph Goebbles to Hair Furor, yes, and he is driving the deportation train. And that's not all. Miller is also making money from the operation. He owns about $250,000 worth of stock in Palantir, a federal contractor. Palantir is co-founded by Peter Theil.
In April, [Palantir] won a $30 million Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract to deliver an operating system tracking and managing deportations, as well as granting “near real-time visibility” on those who “self-deport.”
Leaked chats obtained by 404 Media describe the company assisting ICE with finding the physical location of people slated for deportation.
The firm is also reportedly assisting the Trump administration as it looks to streamline and centralize government data about millions of Americans, an effort which has drawn criticism from members of Congress who fear it could usher in mass surveillance.
The whole thing stinks. Read the article to get all the stomach-churning pay-to-play details of Theil's and Palantir's corrupt dealings with the regime.
Emil Bove is corrupt.
This joker, a DOJ official in the current regime, is up for a judgeship. A whistleblower has come forward saying that Bove plainly said that the regime should simply ignore court orders regarding deportations. The whistleblower said that at one March meeting, Bove said the department should consider saying "fuck you" to the courts and "ignore any such court order."
Bove is currently undergoing confirmation hearings for a spot on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Yay.
King Donold is the most corrupt of all.
Like clockwork: the stock markets have again been climbing, with the Dow coming back to the level it was at when TACO began his tariff games and the S&P 500 reaching its all-time high.
Watch the markets dive tomorrow. I am sure he sold a bunch of stocks Friday when markets hit their highs. In a while, he'll buy some stocks on the cheap and TACO the shit out of the tariffs, taking a nice tidy sum for himself and letting the rest of the world scramble for the fallen bits of shredded cheese.
His newest corrupt grift: A smart phone and a cellular service plan. Hmmm.... where might these devices be made? The marketing materials have removed the "Made in America" designation, and it's almost 100% certain they will be manufactured in, you guessed it, China.
In case you are itching for one of your own, you'll have to wait. The phones have not yet been manufactured. The spec sheets have recently changed, too, so maybe they are even still being designed. You'll have to plop $100 down now, though, and wait until they decide to ship 'em "later this year."
INCOMPETENCE
Today, we focus on the King of Incompetence, the Prince of Prevarication, Mr. Worm Brain himself, Robert F. Kennedy Juniorrrrr!
His rhetoric is literally toxic. The measles outbreak that began in West Texas this spring has spread to 37 states. According to the CDC, there have been 1227 confirmed cases and three deaths. Three preventable deaths.
Surprise: 95% of the measles cases have been unvaccinated.
He cites "data" from fake studies. In a recent report touting his MAHA ("Make America Healthy Again") agenda, he cited studies that don't exist. The study titles were AI generated.
Not only that, but Bobbo doubled down when he was caught. Here he is talking to Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Cal).
Brain Worm: "Sir, all of the foundational assertions in that report are accurate."
Rep. Ruiz: "They did not exist! How can they be accurate if they did not exist?"
He lies about the relationship between the COVID vaccine and miscarriages.
Watch him spar with Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.)
STUPIDITY
How stupid is The Felon displaying his smallness to the world by dropping an F-bomb on live TV as he tantrummed about "his" Nobel Peace Prize-winning ceasefire not holding?
File this under Stupid, Incompetent, Corrupt, and Kingship.
Senator Turtle, in talking to colleagues about constituents' angst about cuts to Medicaid, said, "They'll get over it."
I will find joy on the day that fella toddles his way down the Capitol steps for the last time.
And if he tumbles down to the bottom? Well, he’ll get over it.
This MAGA Representative from Florida, Kat Cammack, is stooooopid.
I wouldn't wish her experience on any woman. This MAGAt woman? She reaped her own crop of steaming misogyny.
Cammack sadly experienced an ectopic pregnancy and needed an emergency abortion. Errr, or should I say needed a "procedure" to save her life because the embryo didn't have a heartbeat and could rupture, risking her life?
It was shortly after Florida's abortion ban went into effect, and doctors were hesitant to provide Cammack with life-saving treatment. They were fearful of legal ramifications, including jail, if they went ahead with the abortion. An emergency call was even put in to Gov. DeSantis about it (the call did not reach him).
Luckily for Cammack, she did not die. The doctors relented, and she received the abortion. She lived to MAGA again.
If you ask her about it, though, she will deny that it was abortion care that she received. "There will be some comments like, ‘Well, thank God we have abortion services,’ even though what I went through wasn’t an abortion,” she said.
And if you talk to her some more, she will blame the Left for the "fearmongering" that made it so difficult for her to receive the care.
Stupid.
And one more stupid from King Stupid. Here he is, asking this Italian soccer team about transgender people in sports. Gawd my skin crawls whenever I see this orange anus squirting shit.
THE POSITIVES
Believe it or not, there are positives!
Zohran Mamdani!
The Democratic Socialist handily won the New York mayoral primary, despite being opposed by big money, being 34, and being, well, being a Democratic Socialist!
He has lit a fire of excitement about the future. Finally, a young person with a big vision!
MAGA is going batshit.
There are calls for his deportation. Pitchforks for the man with the Middle Eastern sounding name!!! Who cares if he is an American citizen!
FAUX News called for "rich New Yorkers to band together" to oppose him. You cannot make this shit up. Satire and reality have officially melded.
It's a snarky amount that he is seeking, too. He is suing for $787 million, the same amount that FAUX News had to pay Dominion for its lies about their voting machines.
The lawsuit surrounds lies the "news" station told about the timing of phone calls between Newsom and Donold in around the time the National Guard was deployed. They intimated that Newsom had spoken to Doughnold before the Guard was called, making it sound like is was Newsom was lying.
Go, Gavin, go!
*
A note about the content. I have been posting more and more videos, it seems. It's the nature of this regime: there is so much spectacle. I believe it is important to witness events with our own eyes. There is no spinning the bare behaviors.
We will never evolve as a species until we can stop murdering people and blowing shit up just because we have opposable thumbs, an aptitude for language, and a thirst for blood.
Ok, so ripping families apart and sending masked bandits to terrorize whole classes of our brethren just because you don't like the color of their skin, that's pretty bad too.
But now the Orange Menace has brought us into the War Zone.
This, a week or so after Israel had started a dust-up with Iran. There was no reason for the U.S. to get involved, except that maybe Toddler Man didn't want to get called TACO anymore (which is what his niece Mary surmises).
He’ll show them who is a TACO!!
On Saturday, TACO Don ordered bombing missions on nuclear facilities in Iran. It was impulsive; it was erratic; it was not needed. Diplomacy had in large part been working. Though Iran was continuing its nuclear program, no weapons had yet been developed and all signs were that they are not close. Bombing the shit out of their facilities should have been last resort, and only when it was obvious they had a weapon and were willing to use it.
That's what we get when we elect a small man with big toys and when his most important advisor is a (allegedly) drunken weekend news talking head.
He did it without the legally required Congressional approval and without most of the Congressional leadership even being briefed. He briefed some MAGAt-heads shortly before the attack, but no Lefties.
This is how we found out:
Thank you for your attention to this matter? Who are you, the day manager at Mattress King?
The Reality of the Strikes Themselves
The mission cost much moola, many millions.
The bombs used were specialized bombs, GBU-57 bombs, nicknamed "bunker busters" for their ability to burrow deep underground.
The massive bombs, which weigh 30,000 pounds, had never been used before, but were certainly known to the world as one of the arrows in the mighty United States's quiver. Seven amazing B-2 bombers (themselves a marvel of technology and engineering and cost about $2.1 billion each) dropped 14 bombs worth tens of millions of dollars each, with a cost of $500 million to develop. Besides the cost of the bombs, the B-2 costs $150,000 per flight hour to operate. Estimated cost per plane per mission (minus the bombs themselves): $3-$4 million.
Yeah, but we don't have money for Medicaid.
DONAKD (as in The Emperor Has No Clothes) sent this message out after the attack:
There was no imminent danger.
For three decades, Benjamin Netanyahu has been talking about "the imminence" of the readiness of Iran's nuclear weapons. It has never been borne out.
DONAKD's own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, appeared before Congress in March and testified that the intelligence community "continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003."
When presented with this information, the underthinker said flatly, "She's wrong."
I'm convinced Netanyahu took advantage of a diminished baby man, days after his humiliating birthday parade and being called bad names. The Traitor Tot wanted to act like a big shot, so Netanyahu goaded him into attacking. Those words – that Iran was merely "months or weeks" away from being ready – were straight out of Bibi's mouth.
Now we are all going to pay.
Iran knew that U.S. strikes were a possibility.
There is evidence that Iran moved the nuclear material from the facilities in the days ahead of the attack. It would've been impossible for the administration to not know that there was movement.
Iran's suspicions of an imminent attack were due in large part to 🚼 not being able to keep his thumbs still and quiet. In fact, Shitler was called "the biggest threat to operational security."
In the days after Israel started aggressions, he not-tweeted on Monday, June 16 and Tuesday June 17:
"Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!"
"What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON."
"We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran."
"We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"
And of course his leaving the G7 summit meeting early and his "Nobody knows what I'm gonna do" statements in the day or two before the bombing.
Slowed down but not stopped.
Though details are still emerging, it appears that some of the sites may have damaged, but not "completely and totally obliterated" as Mr. Pants on Fire said in a statement afterwards.
Because some material was moved and because the facilities were not completely destroyed, the best case scenario was that the nuclear operation was slowed down but likely not stopped.
Retaliation? Wait –What? They can do that?
This act of war was incredibly short-sighted. True to form when a toddler is in charge, the consequences were not considered. They are potentially huge.
Retaliation could potentially take many forms:
Closing the Strait of Hormuz. This would send the price of oil up and hit the world in the pocketbook. Of course, he didn't think of that in advance. 20% of the world's oil flows through this strait. It's easy to shut down; at its narrowest, it is just 21 miles wide.
The afterthought about this possibility in the days after the U.S. attack? This "warning" from the Middle-Manager-in-Chief:
Oh no! If oil prices go up, will it be a mark on my annual performance review?!
Strikes against U.S. bases around the world. They have already started. As of this writing, Iran has targeted a U.S. base in Qatar. There were reportedly no injuries.
Calling up their buddies to wage terror. Iran is friends with Hamas, with the Houthis, with other militant groups. All of these groups specialize in terror. They have hated the U.S. forever, and now have a reason to organize some acts of terror.
Ramping up their nuclear program. The attack may spur Iran into accelerating their efforts rather than slowing them down.
In the end, hostilities may have cooled by the time I was finishing this post. SCROTUS announced a cease-fire, but it has not been confirmed. In any case, there still may be terrorist cells that are angered by The Felon's actions.
CNN's Fareed Zakaria reacts to President Donald Trump announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran which he says he hopes to become permanent. Neither Iran nor Israel has made any comments about a pending ceasefire.
Now I'm wondering if this ego trip was an attempt to show how he brought about peace in the end as part of his bid for the Nobel Peace Prize. In his warped mind, this may have been it!
The Spin
Price Smarming and others went on the Sunday news circuit to say that of course this is a limited strike and of course the United States does not intend to force a regime change.
Until Dear Leader posted this:
The MAGAt Reaction
I was wrong in my last post that 47 would not strike but would use the situation to play the stock market. But I was not wrong that MAGAts, always staunchly anti-war and "America First," have tidily and efficiently snapped their neurons in place to support their Dear Leader in whatever war crap comes.
It's 👏 a 👏 cult 👏
Ceasefire?
It is still very much a developing situation. At time of publishing, there was chatter about a ceasefire. Reports were that the Twitiot and Iran had said there is a cease-fire in place, but hadn't been confirmed by Israel. As the "Publish" button was pushed, headlines said that Iran had launched dozens of missiles into Israel overnight.
Watch The New York Times live updates here (gift article) or CNN's here.
Saturday, June 21, 2025
LSR made a meme!
(I haven't seen this one; I hope it's a LSR original!)
...Let's look at recent happenings in the Upside Down, shall we?
Are we going to war?
Israel attacked Iran last weekend, and Taco Donnie used it as an excuse to scoot out of the G7 Summit in Canada, where he was being mocked by the other smarter, more handsome, and more charismatic world leaders.
He's been all over the place on his "thought" process to join Israel's efforts and to start a-bombin'.
First, it was get back to the Situation Room to discuss. Or was it? He said his early departure was about something "much bigger."
The bigger thing?
It's always about his pole
Then he said this masterpiece of wartime rhetoric:
"You don't know that I'm going to even do it. You don't know. I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do."
But in the end, he decided to give the war "two weeks" before deciding what to do.
Yanno, I'm convinced that it's still all about the grift. His main goal for being president, other than staying out of jail, is to make money. Period. That is his mission. The dictator-y stuff? Well, that is a means to an end. And really, I believe that most of that shit is the workings of the people who surround him and got him to power: the Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, Russia, and Nostephratu Miller.
So, when Shitler saw the stock market tank on the prospect of war, he backed off. He will watch and wait and probably signal that he won't attack until the markets head up, and then he will be more hawkish in his rhetoric right after he sells.
I truly don't believe he will order an attack.
Now, (allegedly) Drunken Pete and Fivehead Stephen may take matters into their own hands – watch Signal for details.
The Commander-in-Cheat? He'll want to work the situation for his own gain.
War is not the favorite of his base. Although, if they believe he believes it is good, then they will fall in line.
Take this exchange:
And here is LSR in a bit of a brain glitch herself. What.... is .... happening...? .... am... I... ...agreeing with Whiney .....Fucker ...Carlson...???
The MAGAts must be feeling similarly. They'll just have to wait until Dear Leader tells them what to think. There may be a bit of re-wiring needed, but they always get there! And then they'll claim that's how they thought all along.
The Fascist Files
There are a lot of events that go in the Fascism Column this week.
Kristi "Puppy Killer" Noem's thugs tackled a U.S. Senator from LSR's state of California and took him to the ground, handcuffing him.
Yup. This is where we are.
Sen. Padilla was in a Los Angeles federal building to attend a briefing about the military deployment in Los Angeles when ICE Barbie was conducting a press conference about ICE's activities there.
Sen. Padilla had been screened, as everyone is when entering a federal building. He identified himself, requested permission and was escorted into the room by the FBI and National Guard. Padilla then stood in the room with the press, listening.
Padilla, himself a son of Mexican immigrants and passionate about immigrant rights, started to ask a question. Yes, he inturrupted. No, he didn't lunge, go toward her, or make any kind of threat. Yet he was surrounded and tackled by several agents, hustled out of the room, brought to the floor and handcuffed.
A. United. States. Senator.
Here is the video.
Kristi kept right on with her blathering. Didn't miss a beat.
Padilla is not unknown to Kosplay Kristi. He is the minority ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety.
Shortly after, Padilla gave an impassioned statement on the Senate floor. He got teary as he recounted his experience.
Shame on the Fascists!
ICE continues to act badly.
Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They're allowed to take only a knapsack and a little cash with them, and even then, they're robbed of these possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone. – Anne Frank, January 13, 1943
Immigration and Customs Enforcement The American Gestapo is not letting up. There are many terrible things happening outside.
ICE started targeting farm workers, even chasing them through the fields of crops that they were working.
Did you see this video?
That is, until some mope with money got the president's ear and said, hey, maybe not the people who are bringing the (old fashioned word, I know) "groceries" to America's tables. Then, Donold changed his tiny mind and ordered ICE not to target farms, hotels, and restaurants.
Then, the reversal was reversed, based on Weird Stephen's (guess who who calls him that?) objection to the pause, and ICE was ordered to resume raids in those sectors.
Come on!
The situation is so confusing, and brown people – citizens, legal immigrants, and undocumented folks, all – are terrified. It's not good.
One of them was a California fourth grader who was attending an immigration hearing with his father. The pair was separated and the youngster was held without any adult to assist.
This Bronx teenager was picked up at an immigration hearing. He has since been shuffled between detention centers all over the country.
This Detroit teen wasn't at school but was stopped when he was on his way to a field trip and was deported to Colombia immediately.
Schools are scrambling to figure out a way to keep their students coming to school at all. Absenteeism has been spiking. We are headed into very dangerous territory.
Related: there are a couple reports of fathers being detained while taking their children to school.
This man was taken by ICE while he was taking his children to school near San Diego. According to the article, "The teacher of one of his children wrote a letter saying that he always tries to volunteer, that he never misses a parent-teacher conference, and that he's very involved with his children's schooling.”
Can you imagine the trauma these children now live with? Witnessing their parent ripped away from them?
ICE is targeting legal immigrants.
Here is just one story. A 66-year-old who has carried a green card for 58 years (since he was 8 years old!) was arrested. He works as a legal assistant, and though he was charged with a couple misdemeanors more than a decade ago, has been a good citizen. Of course he is from California. California is taking the brunt of these awful ICE activities.
It is outrageous that the gestapo hide behind masks. They have no identifying badges. There is no way to know if our neighbors are being detained legally, with a warrant by sworn officers, or simply being kidnapped by vigilantes – or worse.
Please read the brilliant Alexandra Petri in The Atlantic (gift article) about ICE officers' uniforms. Hint: there are none!
Doughnold was quiet all day on this important day. His only note on Juneteenth was an evening statement on his social media site: "Too many non-working holidays in America. It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed. The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Asshole.
White Privilege Card
Yes. It is real.
It reads,"White Privilege Card Trumps Everything" on the front and on the reverse: "This card bears its bearer happiness because its (sic) the color of your skin and not the choices you make that determine your ability to be successful."
It has been used successfully! Look at this incident in Anchorage. A woman flashed her oh-so-jokey white privilege card and got out of traffic stop.
Let me go throw up.
And let me just call out the fucking vice president here.
In a press conference in California he called my Senator Alex Padilla "José Padilla." It was not an error. He very well knows the United States senator's name. He meant it pejoratively, there is no question.
When an aide was questioned about it, he answered, "he must have mixed up two people who have broken the law."
What a bunch of jerks. Really.
Speaking of Prince Smarming. He holds the record for most blocked account on Bluesky. He joined this week and immediately went to Prick Mode, making his first post a transphobic one.
Read the room, asshole.
The Shocking Murder in Minnesota
It was a dark day for the country when two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot, with Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman succumbing to her injuries.
By all accounts, Hortman was an outstanding lawmaker. It's a real loss for Minnesota, and for the country.
The scumbag shooter was disguised as a police officer and knocked on their door last Saturday morning. When they opened the door, he shot.
The bastard targeted them, and had plans to assassinate other lawmakers.
MAGAts tied themselves into knots as they tried to say he was a Democrat. No, his roommate said, "he would've been offended to be called a Democrat." The assassin listened to InfoWars and is a Drumpf supporter:
MAGAts higher up on the chain toed the line, acting, as they do, as apologists.
Repug Sen. Mike Lee (Ariz.) wrote a couple of social media posts (since deleted). The first one read, "This is what happens When Marxists don't get their way" and the second said, "Nightmare on Waltz street."
More About the No Kings Protests altNPS estimated over13 million demonstrators protested across the country. Other estimates were more conservative, about 5 million. I'm inclined to put it way above 5 million. That was the total for the Hands Off protest, and this one was much bigger.
The MAGAts still want to claim that we are all paid protestors. Seriously, if George Soros or whoever is paying 5-11 million people every few weeks, then they are going to go broke. And if it's true, I am shit out of the loop. No one has given me a dime! Not for my time, not for my materials!! What the hell!
Every Accusation is an Admission
He is accusing the Left of paying protestors. How about this Craigslist ad in advance of the June 14th parade in Washington D.C?
Snopes.com has not been able to verify if it was real or a prank, but I wouldn't put it past them.
Symptoms include "razor blade throat." Sounds fun.
There has been an uptick in cases in several states, including California. I'm sure HHS Secretary Brain Worm Kennedy is yawning at the news.
Mask up out there, folks, and good luck.
Dementia Don is at it again.
Regarding his tremendous beautiful tapered pole (I think?)...
Quoting exactly, your president of the United States:
"I put it right here. I have a—a similar pole. And these are the best poles anywhere in the country… uh, or in the world, actually. They’re tapered. Uh, they have the nice top. Uh, you know—I don’t know if you people are aesthetic, you know—they're the fake news. I don't know about—I don't know.
But it’s a very exciting project to me. And then at 11:00, we’re lifting the flag. But we're going to lift the pole now, and then they’re going to the other side, get that. And then we’re going to do—I think—two flag liftings. We’ll be, uh, putting it up at 11:00 on here, and a couple of minutes later, on the other side. We’ll start here at 11:00, so that'll be very nice, and very patriotic.
We're doing well. Well—and as a country—if the Fed would ever lower rates, you know, we buy debt for a lot. Well, that’s—it’s a shame.
This guy—I have a guy. Do you ever have a guy that’s not a smart person, and you're dealing with him? And you have to deal? He’s not a smart guy. He's worried about inflation.
I said, 'That's right. If there's inflation in six months or nine months, you lower the rates—or you raise the rates—you can do whatever you want, Brian. Right?'
So let's say there's rampant inflation—which there’s none. You know what there is? A success. I got a call from Congress last night. 'Sir, there's a problem.' I said, 'What is it?' 'Money is pouring in. We don't know how to account for it.'
I said, 'Check the tariffs. Eighty-eight billion dollars came in from tariffs. No inflation. And it's going to get even more.'
So I know what I’m doing.
So we have a—a stupid person, frankly, at the Fed. He probably won't cut today. Europe had ten cuts, and we had none. And I guess he’s a political guy. I don’t know. He’s a political guy who's not a smart person. But he's costing the country a fortune.
So what I’m going to do is—um, you know—he gets out in about nine months. He has to. He gets fortunately terminated.
Biden—I would have never reappointed him. Biden reappointed him. I don't know why that is. But I guess maybe he was a Democrat, you know?
I got great advice from Mnuchin on this one. Great advice. Uh, but he’s done a poor job.
So we have no inflation. We have only success. And I'd like to see interest rates get down."
ICE went to Dodgers Stadium hoping to park their Lastwagen on the premises. The Dodgers organization said nope. The Department of Homeland Security answered the Dodgers' statements saying that it wasn't ICE but rather Customs and Border Patrol.
Not better.
In any case, the Dodgers stood up. Yay!
These Veterans
About 60 veterans and their families planned a peaceful sit-in on the Capitol steps the evening before the planned events on June 14. They crossed the bicycle-rack barrier (what is it with the Capitol police and bicycle racks?) and were promptly arrested.
One of them, 87-year-old Air Force Veteran John Spitzberg, was arrested. He remains undaunted, saying, "I’m just beginning, my friend."
This Artist
This sculpture mysteriously appeared at the National Mall. Photos from the story from UPI.
Gotta love stealth art, especially when it's subversive!
