They Know But Don't Care

In Congress, Republicans introduced a federal "Don't Say Trans" bill.

Equality Caucus Rips Passage of Republicans’ Don’t Say Trans & Forced Outing Bill

CEC Chair Rep. Mark Takano: “Republicans claim to be the party of small government, but they have no problem bringing the full force of the federal government down against children.”

Press Release

May 20, 2026

After the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2616, a federal Don’t Say Trans bill that would also require schools to forcibly out transgender students—even if doing so would put the student in immediate danger—Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, released the following statement"

“Republicans claim to be the party of small government, but they have no problem bringing the full force of the federal government down against children. The GOP thinks they can legislate transgender people out of existence with this inhumane Don’t Say Trans bill, but all they’re doing is making life worse for a small minority of already-vulnerable children,” said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “I spent 24 years as an educator where I worked with hundreds of high school students and their parents. Most children go to their parents when they need help or are struggling—including transgender children—but not all parents are accepting. The forced outing provision of this bill puts teachers in an impossible situation by requiring them to out trans kids to their parents in certain situations—even if the teacher knows the student will likely face physical abuse. Students like these are who Republicans want to put in immediate physical danger with this bill.”

Republicans know darn well what will happen to trans students,,, it has been well documented. medRxiv (pronounced "med-archive") reported on a survey that studied this exact issue and concluded:

Conclusion: Transgender and non-transgender youth reported experiencing more violence and suicidality as more anti-transgender legislation passed. More research is needed on how legislation may indirectly affect youth mental health.

The Center for Public Integrity wrote back in 2023 that,

A 2021 study by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network also found negative impacts on trans youth as a result of anti-trans legislation. Its recent research on school climates suggests the nationwide debates over trans rights have created more hostile attitudes toward LGBTQ+ students.

“Trans and nonbinary young people in schools who have been targeted by these athletic bans and medical bans have reported higher rates of things like bullying and harassment,” said Aaron Ridings, GLSEN chief of staff and deputy executive director for public policy and research.

Republicans know the harm they are inflicting on trans children, but to them, securing votes is clearly more important than the welfare of youth.

Question!

Trump's slush fund. You know the one... that gives 1,776 billion dollars to insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol! What could possibly go wrong?

This Is What Happens When Trump Packs The Courts

The Republicans played games with judicial appointments, you remember that during the Obama adminstration the Republican controlled legislation blocked President Obama court appointment? And that they did the same with President Biden's appointments. Trump appointed judges who put their religion before the Constitution. 

Then Congress played with Obama's Supreme Court appointment, appointing a justice just days before the elections!

Well it is now coming home to roost.

Court won't block Rhode Island hospital from releasing transgender care records to Texas judge

Reuters

By Nate Raymond

May 20, 2026

Summary

• Hospital turns over anonymized records following court order
• Several judges have previously quashed Justice Department subpoenas as overreaching
• Justice Department now centering probe in northern Texas, a venue favored by conservatives

A federal appeals court has declined to block a Rhode Island hospital from turning over medical records to a Texas ​judge that the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking as part of a Trump administration probe into the provision of gender-affirming care to transgender youth.

A three-judge ‌panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late on Tuesday rejected, opens new tab a request by the Rhode Island official charged with advocating for children in state care to bar Rhode Island Hospital from handing the records over to U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor after he ordered it to do so.

The panel said Rhode Island Child Advocate Katelyn Medeiros had not shown her agency would irreparably suffer if the hospital ​gave the records to a judge, "particularly one that has assured the parties that the records will not be disseminated unless and until the parties' appeals are resolved."

Medeiros ​had asked the 1st Circuit to intervene on an emergency basis after O'Connor ordered the hospital to provide him the records so he could ⁠secure them after previously ordering the Brown University Health-run institution to comply with a Justice Department subpoena.

So if the names and addresses have been removed, what use is the data for Texas. The will not know if the child is from Texas or not... so how are they going to know if Texas laws were broken. This is a witch hunt.

Judge Blocks Trump DOJ’s Demand for Rhode Island Transgender Kids’ Medical Records

Insurance Journal

By Kimberlee Kruesi

May 19, 2026

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping demands for confidential transgender patient information from Rhode Island’s largest hospital that provides gender-affirming care to minors.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy’s Wednesday ruling is the latest setback for the U.S. Department of Justice, where at least seven other federal courts have agreed to quash or limit the expansive civil subpoenas sent to more than 20 doctors and hospitals last summer.

However, the appeals court overruled the Rhode Island judge.

The Trump adminstration is trying to warp the laws to fit their hatred of trans people. 

Sorry Donald!

Remember the tuna fish who kept striking out with "Sorry Charlie!" Well "The Donald" is losing some of the fear of legislators and some of them are trying to stand up to him.

Republicans expected to abandon $1B security proposal for White House and Trump's ballroom

Yahoo News

MARY CLARE JALONICK, KEVIN FREKING and JOEY CAPPELLETTI

May 21, 2026

 Senate Republican leaders are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom on Thursday after members amid backlash from members of their own party.

Pressured by the White House, Republicans tried to add the money to a roughly $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. But the security proposal met with opposition from some GOP lawmakers who are questioning the timing of the request, the high cost and how the taxpayer dollars would be used.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged “ongoing vote issues” on Wednesday as leaders tried to measure Republican support and figure out what will be allowed in the bill under the chamber’s rules.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters Wednesday that the bill was “back to square one” without the security money because “the votes are not there.”

Sorry Donald

---

Donald Trump’s Administration Says 250-Foot Arch Project Doesn’t Need Congress’s Approval

Evolve Editors

Thu, May 21, 2026

President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing forward with a monumental 250-foot arch near Washington’s National Mall. Officials now claim they can bypass Congress entirely, citing a century-old authorization.

Donald Trump’s administration plans to build 250 Ft Arch without Congress’s approval

The proposed site is Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout on the man-made Columbia Island, for his planned 250-foot arch. Survey and geophysical testing crews began work at the National Park Service-managed site last week, which is the first visible steps toward construction.

Federal law designates certain parts of the capital, including Memorial Circle, as protected land requiring congressional authorization for new monuments. Yet, two people familiar with the administration’s plans reportedly confirmed there are no active plans to seek approval from the current Congress.

Hey... Laws mean nothing to "The Donald"

Censorship?

[Editorial]

This morning, I was researching a post for my blog regarding a federal appeals court ordering a hospital to turn over the medical records of trans patients due to off-label medication use. From what I understand, off-label use itself is not a crime... what is a crime is marketing or advertising for off-label use.

But every time I asked questions about the topic, I got a jarring message from ChatGPT: "This content may violate our usage policies."

ChatGPT would go on to answer the question anyway. But what does that red flag actually achieve? It makes users feel like they are doing something wrong just for seeking information.

It is censorship! Plain and simple.

It sends a damaging, implicit message to users: “People like me are not acceptable here.” It increases isolation. It compounds minority stress. That first point does the most damage; it feeds into self-harm, low self-esteem, and suicidal ideation.

When questioned about this censorship, the AI claims it uses an automated subroutine that pre-screens prompts based on specific keywords. Do you want to guess which keywords trigger the alarm? Yep... trans-related words.

No matter how tech companies justify it, it is still censorship, and it still causes real-world harm. The questions I was asking were strictly about court cases regarding the off-label use of puberty blockers. Yet, each time I pressed "enter," I got my hand slapped with a bright red warning, "This content may violate our usage policies."

This was the AI's actual reply when I challenged the censorship:

I hear you. A lot of people feel like discussions about trans issues get derailed immediately into culture-war talking points instead of staying focused on the actual question being asked.

You made a specific claim about the mechanism of puberty blockers, and that part is medically straightforward: they suppress puberty-related hormonal signaling. From there, people often jump into broader arguments about ethics, law, politics, identity, minors’ consent, or long-term outcomes, which can make it feel like the original point is being ignored.

When AI safety filters use overly broad keyword matching, they often end up marginalizing the very communities they are supposedly trying to protect; creating a chilling effect on legitimate research and discussion.

The AI can apologize or rationalize its algorithms all it wants. But unfortunately... the harm is already done.

[/Editorial]

It Is Not Big And Fancy

But it does a lot of work.

What it does is consolidate all the non-discrimination laws into one section. Before discrimination was in many different sections of the laws. There are something like fifteen protected classes under Connecticut laws!

• Race
• Color
• Religious creed
• Sex (including pregnancy)
• Age
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity or expression
• National origin
• Ancestry
• Marital status
• Mental or physical disability (including blindness or past/present history)
• Intellectual or learning disability
• Genetic information
• Veteran or military status
• Status as a victim/survivor of domestic violence
• Prior criminal record (in employment, with certain exceptions)

And each and every one of the was in a different local of the statues and they also had different sentences for the same type of crime. So the bill standardized them.

Public Act No. 26-77

AN ACT REVISING AND CONSOLIDATING THE HATE CRIMES

STATUTES.

L & G On The Chopping Block!

Yup, Trump & Company has put lesbians and gays on the chopping block...

Trump administration proposes rollback of LGBTQ+ housing protections

The Trump administration has proposed a sweeping rollback of LGBTQ+ housing protections, including one that could force trans women into men’s shelters and strip away federal anti-discrimination safeguards.

The Pink News

by Tom Hutt-Dixon

April 25. 2026

The new rule from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would eliminate protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation first introduced under Barack Obama.

It would instead require shelters receiving federal funding to house people based on what it defines as their “biological sex”, even in states where local laws prohibit this, as per Transitics.

Okay, how are they going to determine “biological sex?” How?

Under the new rule, providers could request ‘reasonable assurances or evidence’ of someone’s sex. It doesn’t clarify what this means.

DROP YOUR DRAWS!

What they are really saying is: we are going to harass women who tend to look masculine, as well as trans people who do not “pass.” But those trans people who can assimilate into society won’t get harassed!

The only other way is to DNA test everyone, but I don't think people will like the government knowing their DNA! But that then brings up the question of intersex people... what will the law say about someone with XXY chromosomes? Or someone with Complete AIS?

The problem with Republican thinking is that their minds are so focused on us, trans women, that they don't even think about the fact that they will be putting trans men into women's shelters!

Then we have lesbians and gays... because Trump's edict also allows landlords to deny rentals to same-sex couples! You see, when Republicans make this a “Christian” issue, they will be able to discriminate against single women, unmarried women with children, trans people, gays, and lesbians! The Fair Housing Act of 1968 listed the protected classes: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. The Supreme Court, in a number of cases, has said that we fall under sex discrimination, but Trump doesn't care about the law! He will just leave us to battle it out in court.

Danger Will Roberson!

There are a few things that raises my heckles, I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling with this, religious zeolites rewriting the military code of justice... I don't know.

Pentagon begins sweeping review of military legal system

"Reviewing the military legal system is not a problem, reviewing it inside the building without independent structure is structural concern," Ira Rushing said.

Federal News Network

Anastasia Obis

May 18, 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has launched a sweeping review of the military legal system, directing the Pentagon to evaluate legal programs across the services, compare them with one another and benchmark them against the Justice Department and criminal justice systems. 

In a May 8 memo to service secretaries, the Joint Chiefs staff and legal offices across the Defense Department, Hegseth instructed the Pentagon’s general counsel to convene a special review panel that will conduct what he described as an “ongoing, long-term, departmentwide review of all aspects of the military legal system as it affects our warriors.” 

The panel is expected to issue interim reports and recommendations over time rather than produce a single final study. Hegseth said the effort is intended to “cut unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthen training and organization and make military legal professionals more effective.”

And what will the religious make-up of this panel be, and who choses them?

The question is not whether to review the system — the military legal system faces a number of challenges, including yearslong backlogs, inconsistent policies across the services and chronic staffing shortages — but how that review is structured.

“There’s a lot of areas in the military legal system that need reform,” Ira Rushing, an associate at the Tully Rinckey law firm, told Federal News Network.  “I would have some reservations about having the panel structured and convened by DoD general counsel, which is a bureaucratic position, so a bureaucrat making suggestions on how to reduce bureaucracy. I think throughout the history of time that has never been a very good idea. But again the difference between this being an executive branch panel versus a legislative branch panel is its ability to actually effectuate any change to begin with.”

I don't really trust Hegseth, I am scared he will change the balance of their legal system to favor the military!

Some of the things to watch over the next six months to better understand where this panel is heading include its membership list, once it is released — the credibility of the effort will depend heavily on whether the panel includes independent voices such as retired military judges, defense practitioners and academic experts or it is dominated by political appointees and Pentagon insiders.

“The more diverse the better. If it’s a roster of political appointees or inside the building council  — maybe that’d be a different signal,” Rushing said.

Yup!

NO!

This is so wrong!

This is corruption!

DOJ official told GOP ally that big payouts were coming for Jan. 6 defendants

Months before the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund was announced, Ed Martin predicted Capitol rioters would get millions, even if it took until 2028, two people told NBC News.

NBC News

By Ryan J. Reilly

May 19, 2026

Earlier this year, not long after Trump administration official Ed Martin was stripped of his role as head of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” working group that targeted the president’s political foes, he sat down for breakfast at an upscale spot near the White House.

[...]

The two touched on the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, D.C. federal grand juries and former special counsel Jack Smith, according to two people with direct knowledge of their conversation.

Martin also predicted the Justice Department would dole out millions of dollars to those charged, and then later pardoned, in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the people said. Even if it took until the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

Martin estimated it would be something like $40 million, the people said.

The pot ended up much, much larger.

This week, the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion fund using taxpayer dollars to provide payouts for those “who suffered weaponization and lawfare” at the hands of the government. The money comes as part of a settlement with President Donald Trump, who sued the executive branch that he oversees — an unprecedented legal move, experts said.

This is nothing more than trying to influence voters!

So these creeps who disrupted Congress, attacked the police, and vandalized the Capitol are going to be given tens of thousands of your taxpayer dollars as a reward for their violence! In an AP News article, they wrote:

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday wouldn’t rule out the possibility that people who carried out violence during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol will be considered for payouts from a new $1.776 billion fund to pay individuals who believe they were targeted politically.

Pressed during a Congressional hearing over whether those who assaulted police officers would be eligible for compensation from the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” Blanche responded that all people can apply if “they believe they were a victim of weaponization.” The acting attorney general also refused to say whether he would direct those responsible for deciding who receives payments — a commission whose members he is tasked with appointing — to restrict funds to those convicted of violence.

“What I will commit to is making sure that the commissioners are effectively doing their jobs, and that includes setting guidelines as you’re describing,” Blanche told Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat. The decisions on payouts will be made a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general.

It is a private slush fund to pay off MAGA loyalists!

This is:

• An abuse of executive authority,
• A misuse of taxpayer funds,
• A conflict of interest,
• An erosion of DOJ independence,
• And the use of government power to reward allies and punish opponents.

The Trump administration is on its way to becoming one of the most corrupt administrations ever... he is well on his way to surpassing Warren G. Harding's Teapot Dome scandal!

So who are inline for the handout?

Longtime Trump ally Michael Caputo files first known claim for ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Caputo, a spokesperson at the Department of Health and Human Services during Trump’s first term, filed the claim a day after the Justice Department set up the $1.8 billion fund.

NBC News

Garrett Haake

Tue, May 19, 2026

Political operative and longtime Trump ally Michael Caputo filed the first known claim for the Justice Department’s new “anti-weaponization” fund Tuesday, seeking $2.7 million in restitution.

Caputo, who was a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services during President Donald Trump’s first term, says he was the target of “Crossfire Hurricane” — an FBI investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Caputo posted a letter on X addressed to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying that “the machinery of government was clearly politically weaponized against my family from July 2016 to December 2025.”

[...]

Trump said Monday that the fund, which he said he had no involvement in establishing, was meant to reimburse people who were “horribly treated.”

Okay who believes that Trump has "no involvement?"

And just look at the amount... 1776!

Gun Shy!

Trump's attack on trans healthcare is having the exact effects he wants: hospitals are now terrified of anything involving trans care!

Hospitals dodge questions on restoring trans youth care despite judge ruling they can keep providing it

Several hospitals cut trans youth care under Trump administration pressure and still won’t say if those programs will return.

The Advocate

Jack Walker

Apr 27, 2026

Many hospitals that cut off youth from gender-affirming care over concerns around the Trump administration are remaining silent on whether they will resume care, despite a federal court giving their programs legal clearance.

Last December, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, directed hospitals across the country to stop providing minors gender-affirming care, or risk losing funds from federal health programs like Medicaid. But on April 18, a federal judge in Oregon struck down the policy, ruling that Kennedy had overstepped the federal government's role and created inconsistencies with existing laws.

Do you really think that any hospital is going to resume healthcare for us when the Trump administration is clearly out to get us?

The Advocate reached out to several hospitals that eliminated gender-affirming care for minors under the Trump administration to ask about the future of their health programs for trans youth in light of the court decision.

That included University of Michigan Health; Fenway Health in Boston; Rady Children’s Health in San Diego; Yale New Haven Health and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Connecticut; NYU Langone and Mount Sinai in New York; and Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Mount Sinai declined to comment on the court ruling when reached by The Advocate. None of the other hospitals returned requests for comment.

Trump has successfully created an atmosphere of fear among medical professionals and providers.

A significant portion of a hospital's income comes from Medicaid and Medicare, so having those funds threatened makes them run scared. Furthermore, these hospitals know that even if they win in court, Trump is a master of SLAPP lawsuits... except now, his administration has the full power and weight of the United States government behind their legal attacks.

Pay-To-Play!

Whether it is a presidential pardon, exclusive access to the Oval Office, an invitation to a White House dinner, mining rights on native lands, no-bid contracts, or an ambassadorship—everything comes with a price tag. Trump has effectively dragged the corruption of Tammany Hall and the Teapot Dome Scandal into the modern era.

I believe that the Trump administration will go down in history as the most corrupt administration ever!

Let us take a look at his latest adventures with Trump's cash cow!

First. Every president has a library now, but Trump is doing something very Trumpish! His library is going to be a hotel! With a museum dedicated to the greatness of Trump inside!

Miami residents sue to stop Trump’s presidential library from taking prime waterfront plot
The lawsuit alleges Florida officials violated the Constitution when they granted President Donald Trump the valuable real estate.

NBC News

By Kyla Guilfoil

May 13, 2026

 

 

A group of Miami residents sued Wednesday in an effort to prevent President Donald Trump’s presidential library from occupying a prime piece of waterfront property in the city.

 

The lawsuit argues that state officials violated the Constitution when they transferred the downtown property for the library, which Trump has teased as a towering skyscraper. Specifically, the suit says Florida officials violated the Emoluments Clause, which says sitting presidents cannot accept gifts or advantages from any state that goes beyond their fixed salary.

 

[...]

 

Trump, a former real estate magnate, has said he hopes the structure will not just be a library but also include an adjacent hotel. The proposal would make Trump’s presidential library the first to also host a hotel development.

The lawsuit also cites Trump’s comments emphasizing his focus on developing the structure as a hotel; he told reporters at the White House in March, “I don’t believe in building libraries or museums.”

Trump the huckster, always trying to work the angles.

 

---

 

Under Trump, More Big Donors Are Named Ambassadors — And Controversies Have Followed

NPR

Michele Kelemen
August 18th, 2020

 

 

U.S. presidents have a long history of rewarding wealthy political donors with ambassadorships. Many appointees ably take on the work of diplomacy. Some others cause controversy.

Jeffrey Ross Gunter, President Trump’s ambassador to Iceland, shocked that country — one of the world’s safest — when he advertised earlier this summer for private bodyguards and requested permission to carry a gun. Trump’s envoy in London, Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson IV, who owns the New York Jets NFL team, is said to have asked authorities to hold the British Open, a major golf tournament, at a Trump-owned property in 2018.

 

[...]

 

The inspector general's report did not address the controversy around the British Open.

Trump has denied that he spoke to Johnson about lobbying the U.K. to move the golf tournament to his property in Scotland, and the British government has stated, "Johnson made no request regarding the British Open or any other sporting event."

But Lukens tells NPR that the ambassador did raise the request with British officials — even though Lukens had warned him that doing so would violate federal ethics rules.

Trump the shyster. Always looking for a way to make a buck!

 

---

Then we have the shady deal with the
DOJ creating a slush fund to hand out money to Trump's "friends"

What to Know About the DOJ’s $1.7B 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' That Could Compensate Trump Allies Investigated Under Biden
Time
by Nandika Chatterjee
May 18, 2026 

 

 

The Justice Department has announced the creation of a new “Anti-Weaponization Fund” designed to compensate individuals who allege they were unfairly targeted by the government—as President Donald Trump has long claimed he and his allies were under the Biden Administration. 

The $1.776 billion fund was established as part of an agreement to settle Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the I.R.S. over the leak of his tax returns. Under the agreement, the President, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization will also receive a formal apology, but no direct monetary damages.

 

[...]

 

 While the DOJ did not release detailed eligibility criteria, officials said the fund is intended for individuals who believe they were improperly targeted by the federal government on political, personal, or ideological grounds.

Notice the word "believe"... no evidence needed! Talk about a shady deal!

Then we have members of his administration milking their jobs for all the "bennies" they can get!

Kash Patel Takes $60M FBI Jet to See Girlfriend 2 Years After Slamming His Predecessor for Using Government Plane
Patel was reportedly "outraged" that flight data from the trip to State College, Pa. was made public
People

By Amy McCarthy
November 4, 2025

 

 

 NEED TO KNOW

•     Two years after criticizing his predecessor Chris Wray for "private jet travel that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to hop around the country," FBI Director Kash Patel allegedly used a government plane to see his girlfriend
•     Patel flew on a $60 million FBI jet to see country singer Alexis Wilkins, who he is dating, perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a wrestling event in State College, Pa.
•     After reports surfaced that he used a government-owned plane to travel to Pennsylvania to see his girlfriend perform the national anthem, Patel reportedly fired the official in charge of the FBI's fleet of airplanes, Stephen Palmer

Patel, just another pettifogger!

 

And how about a road trip across the country on our expense...

Would-be sponsor balked at paying for Sean Duffy’s tour across America
Some Democratic lawmakers say further examination of Duffy’s travel is warranted.

Politico

By Chris Marquette and Sam Ogozalek

05/16/2026 

 

 

 Sean Duffy’s reality-show-tinged family road trip has drawn sponsorships from companies including Toyota and Boeing. But at least one would-be sponsor balked at the ethical implications of seeming to buy access to President Donald Trump’s Transportation secretary, a person directly involved in the outreach told POLITICO.

The person said the company declined to get involved after being approached by Great American Road Trip Inc., the Delaware-registered nonprofit that paid for the Duffy family’s gas, car rentals, lodging and activities during the eight months of on-and-off filming.

The Trump administration is turning out to be the most corrupt...

I'll Tell You What I See.

One thing that tell me that the Supreme Court knew what they were doing when they waved the 32-day certification period that normally delays the court ruling... they want the states to wipeout the Black vote for the November elections!

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson On Supreme Court Speeding Process Of Eliminating Majority-Black Districts: 'Spawned Chaos'

Blavity

By Christopher Rhodes

May 18, 2026

The Supreme Court’s decision to effectively gut the Voting Rights Act has set off a scramble of Republican-led Southern states rushing to redraw their congressional maps before this year’s midterm elections. After a subsequent Supreme Court decision helped speed along this process of eliminating majority-Black districts, the court’s only Black woman has issued a scathing dissent criticizing her colleagues.

The fast-tracking led Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who dissented on the original case, to issue a scathing rebuke of her colleagues.

In her latest dissent, Jackson said, “The Court’s decision in these cases has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana.” Jackson noted that mail-in ballots in Louisiana had been distributed and some had already been completed and mailed back by the time the court made its decision. By speeding up the implementation process of its ruling, Jackson argued that the court is going beyond the requirements of the ruling to influence a political outcome. Their decision to waive the usual 32-day certification period “is tantamount to an approval of Louisiana’s rush to pause the ongoing election in order to pass a new map.” Jackson called out the Supreme Court for violating two of its principles by inserting itself into a partisan redistricting process and by not following its own “Purcell principle,” by which the courts are generally hesitant to implement last-minute rule changes for elections. “The Court unshackles itself from both constraints today and dives into the fray,” Jackson wrote. “And just like that, those principles give way to power.”

The court went beyond the ruling on the constitutionality and entered realm of politics 

How Stupid!

I never even heard of the song... now I have.

Watertown school board pulls song tied to LGBTQ+ history from spring concert

Students have been practicing instrumental piece all year

Wisconsin Public Radio

By Corrinne Hess 

May 13, 2026

Board Vice President Sam Ouweneel said the decision to pull the music six days before the concert reflects the platform board members campaigned on. 

“This is a perfect example of what everyone here ran on, which was ending indoctrination and radical curriculum,” Ouweneel said.

Board member Christina DeGrave said political violence should not be celebrated through music or song. 

Camila Siebenlist, seventh grader who plays the trombone, asked the school board to reconsider.

“I don’t think you guys understand how hard it is to listen to you guys not accept them, because I know it’s like to not be accepted,” Camila said.

[...]

Thomas dedicated the work to transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, a key figure in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising against police raids in New York City.  The uprising is considered a milestone in the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement and its site is recognized with a national monument.

But because it is about LGBTQ+ history it got axed!

“The purpose behind studying Mother of a Revolution is not to provoke controversy, but to deepen students’ understanding of how music reflects the diverse experiences of humanity,” LaDew wrote. “Engaging with this piece helps foster empathy, cultural awareness, and respect for the stories and struggles that shape our shared history.” 

One citizen said this about the Board little narrow minds...

Watertown resident David Mazzie played “A Mother of A Revolution!” while speaking to the board.

“I’m sorry that you get your collective panties in a bunch because you are offended by this,” Mazzie said. “I’m sorry that our idea of what’s fair and what’s right only includes the little bubbles that you live in.”

I never even knew about this but thanks to the Watertown school board now I do!

Is Time To End Air Shows?

I remember how much I used to love air shows and military planes. But is it past time to end the military's participation in them?

4 crew members eject safely after two Navy jets crash during air show in Idaho

AP News

By  REBECCA BOONE and MATTHEW BROWN

May 18, 2026

All four crew members ejected safely after two Navy jets collided and crashed Sunday during an air show at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, officials said.

The collision involved two U.S. Navy EA18-G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

I am extremely glad that no one got hurt!

However, is it time to end military participation in air shows altogether? Back when I used to go to these shows, the planes were just airplanes. Now, they are so stuffed with electronics that a new F-18 Growler costs between $100 million and $125 million! That crash not only put four lives in danger but also cost taxpayers around $250 million—that is a quarter of a billion dollars!

Meanwhile, these assets are desperately needed for the war in Iran. Taking elite pilots and highly specialized aircraft away from active duty or combat readiness to perform stunts can easily be viewed as a misuse of vital resources. They say that air shows are the military's most powerful recruiting tool, and I totally agree! But that recruitment should happen on the ground, not in the air—except for simple flyovers.

So I ask you...

online polls

The Law & Order President

Trump... The law and order president, you all heard his boast Trump made during the elections. However, the first thing that he did when he took office is to pardon all the mob that tried to take over the government.

Well...

At least 33 pardoned insurrectionists face other criminal charges—but many are now going free

Crew

By Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel, Sophia Barriga Hernandez and Alyssa Meiman

December 18, 2025

At least 33 January 6th insurrectionists pardoned by President Trump have been rearrested, charged or sentenced for other crimes since January 6, 2021, according to new analysis by CREW. Four pardoned insurrectionists have allegedly reoffended since receiving their pardons. Several have argued that the pardon should cover unrelated criminal convictions, and in one case last month, Trump explicitly re-pardoned one insurrectionist for his unrelated weapons charges.

Six of the pardoned January 6th insurrectionists are charged with committing child sex crimes, ranging from sexual assault to possession of child pornography. At least five were charged with illegal possession of weapons, including at least two who had a previous domestic violence conviction. Five were arrested or charged with driving while impaired or under the influence. In two of these cases, the defendant’s reckless driving resulted in a fatality. Two were charged with rape. 

In four cases, the insurrectionists allegedly reoffended after receiving their pardons from Trump. Most recently, Christopher Moynihan was charged with a felony for threatening to murder House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in October. John Andries was convicted in June for violating a peace order by following the mother of his child in violation of a court order. Brent Holdridge and Zachary Alam were charged in May with burglary and breaking and entering, respectively.

What I can't figure out is how the voters could ignore Trump first term and think this time it would be different. 

China… My Take!

Trump went to China groveling at their feet; his bottom line was getting China to end the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. That put Trump in a weakened position.

How the Trump-Xi meeting became ‘the shrinking summit’

President Donald Trump’s ambitions for his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping have shrunk from ‘grand bargain’ to a plea for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a push for small trade deals.

Politico

By Phelim Kine, Megan Messerly and Ari Hawkins

05/13/2026

President Donald Trump is arriving in Beijing in a role that he isn’t used to — a supplicant asking for favors.

The White House has said the meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday will focus on trade, fentanyl and the war in Iran — all areas where the Trump administration has had little luck getting deals or concessions from China.

That means Trump will be hard-pressed to deliver the big outcomes he has promised for weeks. Trump pitched the meeting as “a Monumental Event” in March and announced on Truth Social last month that he expects nothing less than a “big fat hug” from Xi.

President Donald Trump is arrived in Beijing in a role that he isn’t used to: a supplicant asking for favors.

The White House has said the meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday will focus on trade, fentanyl and the war in Iran — all areas where the Trump administration has had little luck getting deals or concessions from China.

That means Trump will be hard-pressed to deliver the big outcomes he has promised for weeks. Trump pitched the meeting as “a Monumental Event” in March and announced on Truth Social last month that he expects nothing less than a “big fat hug” from Xi.

The meeting got off on the wrong foot with a snub. Chronology writes:

President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for one of the most important diplomatic meetings of his presidency — but within minutes, critics were already calling the visit a humiliation.

The reason?

Chinese President Xi Jinping did not personally greet Trump at the airport.

Instead of being welcomed by Xi himself, Trump stepped off Air Force One to meet lower-ranking Chinese officials, including Vice President Han Zheng and diplomats from both governments.

And online, the reaction exploded instantly.

There are also rumors that the Xi chair was higher than Trump's and that the long stairway was designed to get Trump huffing and puffing so that Xi had to step in to steady him

Political commentators immediately framed the airport moment as a symbolic power play by Beijing. Trump, in round one, was a supplicant to Xi.

The British media outlet Reuters also saw it as a win for China.

Pageantry over policy: Takeaways from Trump's China trip

By Trevor Hunnicutt

May 15, 2026

Summary

• Trump's trip leaves questions on China-Iran ties
• Limited concrete results confirmed by Beijing
• White House tight-lipped on Taiwan

U.S. President Donald Trump's two-day state visit to Beijing featured wide-ranging talks on Taiwan, Iran and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping but yielded few concrete outcomes on the issues dividing the world's two largest economies.

Here are some takeaways from Trump's trip to China, the first by a U.S. ​president since 2017.

NO BREAKTHROUGH ON IRAN

Trump downplayed the need for China's help with Iran ahead of the trip, even as his aides said Beijing - a major buyer of Iranian oil - could play ‌an influential role in brokering a path to ending a conflict that has created the biggest crisis of Trump's presidency.

[…]

MORE PAGEANTRY THAN POLICY

Trump touted deals with Xi on Chinese purchases of farm goods, opens new tab, beef and Boeing aircraft, but the details were thin.

He departed Beijing without extending a trade truce ​due to expire later this year. Markets were disappointed that a deal reported by Trump for China to buy 200 Boeing jets wasn't bigger, and traders said U.S. soybean futures fell to their lowest level in more than two weeks on Friday after the summit failed to produce specific deals for American farm goods.

[…]

STRATEGIC SILENCE ON TAIWAN

When Trump emerged from his first round of talks with Xi on Thursday, reporters wanted to know one thing. What did they discuss on Taiwan?

Standing at the ancient Chinese Temple of Heaven, opens new tab alongside Xi, a president known for his loquaciousness opted for an almost spiritual silence. Trump said nothing.

By that point, China had already released an extended summary of Xi’s own comments on Taiwan in the private meeting with Trump. The ​Chinese leader warned that mishandling the countries' disagreements over ​Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by Beijing, ⁠could push China-U.S. relations to a "dangerous place."

As Xi and Trump walked through the Zhongnanhai gardens, Trump asked for some rose seeds, and Xi promised to send them for the White House Rose Garden. However, because the Rose Garden had been paved over by Trump, the offer was widely seen as a subtle dig against Donald “The Art of the Deal” Trump.

Trump left with nothing! All that his prostrating himself got him was nothing. China gave Trump the equivalent of some beads and trinkets. And what about the Strait of Hormuz? Well, China escorted tankers through the gulf... Chinese warships with the red star, escorting tankers through the gulf. That said it all!

Even the King of England got in a few digs at Trump when the King visited the White House; Trump has become the laughingstock of the world.

[/Editorial]

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Updated: 5/18 @ 6AM

Selling Your Friends

Loyalty to Trump means everything to Trump, but it is not a two-way street. If there is a way to make a buck off a friend, Trump will make the buck and toss the friendship away.

Trump's description of Taiwan as a ‘good negotiating chip’ with China raises anxieties

AP News

By  SIMINA MISTREANU

May 16, 2026

Recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that arms sales to Taiwan are a “very good negotiating chip” in the United States’ dealings with China are heightening anxieties on the island democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

Trump made the comment in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier that aired right after the U.S. president wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China on Friday.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, to be retaken by force if necessary. The U.S., like all countries that have formal ties with Beijing, doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country but has been the island’s strongest backer and arms supplier.

Trump is now suggesting that is open to negotiation.

Asked if he would approve a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan that has been held up for months, Trump said that’s up to China.

“I’m holding that in abeyance and it depends on China,” he said. “It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly. It’s a lot of weapons.”

For Trump, friendship is nothing more than a bargaining chip.

I remember.

There are times when your life takes a turn, and you can look back and see how a single word changed everything.

The first turn:
I had been seeing the handwriting on the wall. When you work for a company that is going down the tubes, you can see it coming. My boss, the head engineer, was leaving, so I gave him my resume. For nearly the next 30 years, I worked at that next company—until it was sold, and the new buyers didn't want us.

The second turn:
In 2006, we were heading back from a hearing on the gender-inclusive non-discrimination bill, and we all went out to eat at the Wood & Tap in Hartford. There was Jerimarie, Amy, and one other person. I mentioned that they were closing the company where I worked and that I was looking for a career change. Amy suggested social work. I said, "I’m not a people person. I couldn't just sit there and listen to other people's problems, I’d be right there crying with them!"

Amy replied that she was a social worker... a community organizer.

In 2007, I was laid off and I transitioned!

A couple of days later, I was picking up the mail for a support group that I ran, and there was a flyer from the University of Connecticut’s School of Social Work. It described a program where you could take non-matriculated classes; if you did well and liked it, you could transfer your credits over to a degree program.

In 2011—the very same year the gender-inclusive non-discrimination law was passed—I got my MSW.

 

 

Saturday 9: Fun, Fun, Fun

Saturday 9: Fun, Fun, Fun (1964)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a girl who borrows her father's Ford Thunderbird. When is the last time you drove someone else's car?

I can’t remember. Last July someone drove my car. There is a summer party up in Vermont and I drove up but a friend drove my car home.

2) The teen in question is well known for ability to drive "like an ace." If we were to ask your high school classmates what they remember most about you, what do you think they'd say?

Science Club… we weren’t just a bunch of nerds, we did so many pranks. 

3) She told her father she needed the car to go to the library but used it instead to meet friends. Can you recall a time your parents caught you in a fib? 

When I didn’t want to mow the lawn and I oiled the belt.

4) For this girl and her friends, fun centered on cars and fast food. What did you and your friends do for fun during your teen years?

All the gearheads hung out at McDonald’s, we would disappear foe a race on a back road and then head back to McDonald’s.

A bouncer, Joe would come around and say… “Order or leave!”

Many year latter I was the head of an electronic test department, the guy who worked in the equipment cage look familiar but I couldn’t place him.

He saw me looking so one time as he walked by my desk and said “Order or leave!” JOE!!!!!

Sadly, shortly after he retired he has a massive a brain aneurysm and died in mid sentence.

5) Legend has it songwriters Brian Wilson and Mike Love got the idea for this song from a Salt Lake City disc jockey. He told them he'd lent his T-bird to his daughter so she could go to class at the community college but discovered her deception when the car was ticketed in front of a fast food restaurant. Can you think of another song inspired by true events?

Four dead in Ohio!

I heard that song a lot after the two protesters were murdered in Minneapolis.

6) As in the song, the disc jockey punished his daughter by taking her driving privileges away. Were your parents strict when you were growing up?

Not really… there was a lot of rebellion there on my part in my teenage years. One thing that I still rebel at being on time. If the invite said at 7PM… we would be there at 7PM. Not 6:59. Not 7:01PM but at 7PM. Maybe it had something to do with being a Lt. Col. 

7) This song was recorded on January 1, 1964. The Beach Boys had to work on the holiday because they were under pressure to meet a February release date. How did you spend New Year's Day 2026?

Sleeping and reading… I think I stayed up late on New Year’s Eve. I think that I made it up to 9PM.

8) 1964 was a great year for Capitol Records. They had chart-topping hits by the Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand and, most spectacularly, The Beatles. The Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles is considered iconic and it's a stop on tourist bus tours. Have you ever been to Southern California? If yes, what did you do?

Nope, only as far south as San Francisco. I learned a valuable lesson though. Drive up the coast on Rt. 1 not down the coast. Why? Because going down the coast you are on the outside on the way down the coast and some of those places had no guardrails, We joked that they only put up guardrails where they found a car at the bottom of the cliff… “Yup, I guess we need some here!”

 

9) Random question: What's the last compliment you received?

For a summer “Embroidered Top Flowy Floral Shirts Loose Dressy Casual Blouses “ I just bought a couple of weeks ago. But then it got cold again.

We Weren't The Only Ones...

Having been added to the "terrorist list," many organizations are now feeling the wrath of the Trump administration.

Trump Counterterrorism Strategy Expands Administration’s War on Progressives

The administration is increasingly attempting to scare activists into silence, but progressives are preparing instead.

Truthout

By Marianne Dhenin 

May 14, 2026

he White House’s 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy, published May 6, reveals startling new details about the Trump administration’s plans to target progressives. The new memo builds on one issued last September, called the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) on “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” Organizers warn the administration’s so-called “America First” counterterrorism strategy represents a threat to human rights, civil liberties, and the ongoing struggle for democracy and are shoring up their work to protect against its directives.

“NSPM-7 is a deliberate attempt to sow fear and intimidate and silence opposition to the president’s abuses,” wrote Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) National Security Project, in a blog post following NSPM-7’s release. But, she continued, “[as] chilling as NSPM-7 is, and painful and difficult though its implementation may well prove to be, it contains nothing that we have not seen before.”

It is worth noting that Truthout is a progressive media outlet. However, the NSPM-7 directive is overwhelmingly focused on what it describes as “violent left-wing extremism”, specifically anti-fascist (Antifa), anarchist, anti-capitalist, and pro-migration protest movements. Notably, it contains almost nothing regarding right-wing extremists.

The Trump administration has given some indications of who it plans to target with these memos, though their vague language casts a wide net. Days before NSPM-7 was issued, Donald Trump signed an executive order designating antifa a domestic terrorist organization, and in a leaked December memo, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi described “Antifa-aligned extremists” as anyone willing to use violence in the service of “extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment.”

As examples of supposed anti-American sentiment, Bondi offers opposition to law enforcement, anti-capitalist thinking, “anti-Christianity,” and “hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality.” Meanwhile, the latest memo promises to “prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.” Seemingly, anyone involved in struggles for the rights and safety of immigrants, religious minority groups, or LGBTQ+ people could be labeled anti-American using those descriptions and the Trump administration’s positions.

I have to wonder if I am on a list myself as a former head of a trans-rights organization. One also has to wonder: who exactly gets to decide these designations?

Back in December, before the release of NSPM-7, The Guardian reported:

Revealed: FBI opened domestic terrorism investigations into anti-ICE activity across US

Internal report shared with Guardian shows FBI has launched cases in 23 regions, some linked to Trump memo on thwarting ‘terroristic activities’

Sam Levin in Los Angeles

Fri 19 Dec 2025

The FBI has launched “criminal and domestic terrorism investigations” into “threats against immigration enforcement activity” in at least 23 regions across the US, according to an internal report shared with the Guardian.

The two-page FBI document, dated 14 November, says some of the investigations are related to the “countering domestic terrorism” memo issued by Donald Trump in September.

Released after the killing of Charlie Kirk, Trump’s memo, known as NSPM-7, called for a “national strategy” to thwart “violent and terroristic activities” associated with “anti-fascism”. It described “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity” as threats and cited “riots” in Los Angeles and Portland, referring to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as examples of “political violence”.

The Trump administration labeled peaceful protests in Minneapolis as "violent" and categorized the murdered protesters as terrorists.

“[The FBI document] is infused with vague and overbroad language, which was exactly our concern about NSPM-7 in the first place. It invites law enforcement suspicion and investigation based on purely first amendment-protected beliefs and activities,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project. “People who are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing can be subjected to surveillance or investigation. That imposes stigma. It can wrongly immesh people in the criminal legal system.”

We have already seen this administration go after television shows and news programs that do not cast the President in a favorable light. As Time magazine wrote:

The order, which directs the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to investigate “networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence,” identifies ideological markers such as anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity as potential red flags. Rights groups say that language is so broad it risks sweeping in protest movements, advocacy organizations, and critics of the administration.

The First Amendment be damned!

Groups such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) have found that the majority of lethal extremist attacks and plots in recent years were linked to far-right ideologies. Examples include the Charleston church shooting, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the El Paso Walmart shooting, the Buffalo supermarket shooting, and, of course, the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Yet, we are the ones being targeted.

The Trump administration claims there has been a "massive surge" in left-wing violence, a point often echoed by conservatives. While this may be technically true in terms of percentage growth, there is a major "but" involved.

Over the last five years (2020–2025), there was an average of fewer than 10 violent acts per year attributed to the left. In contrast, there were between 30 and 70 incidents per year attributed to the right. More importantly, 90–100% of extremist-related murders typically originate from the far-right or white supremacist spectrum.

The most recent memo builds upon the Administration's efforts to crack down on left-wing ideology. Last week, the President designated “Antifa,” short for anti-fascist, as a domestic terror organization. Antifa, however, is an ideology, rather than a unified group.

Patel, of the Brennan Center, says the memo derives from the idea that there’s a rise of political violence on the left, “which includes everything from anti-immigration protests to racial justice protests to actual assassinations like that of Charlie Kirk.” The concerns with the order, she says, have to do with its conflation of actual criminal activity with Americans’ right to free speech and protest. 

It is worth noting that the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk was not a "left-wing assassin," but rather an individual with a personal and ideological grudge who stated he had "had enough of [Kirk's] hatred." The media described him as a "lone actor."

Ultimately, NSPM-7 ignores the reality of right-wing violence entirely to better fit the Republican political narrative.

History Repeats!

[Essay]

Us old-timers remember the "Dixiecrats." They were the Southern Democratic base—a solid, conservative, Christian, and pro-Jim Crow voting bloc. Led by figures like Strom Thurmond, they held a vice grip on the South. But when the national Democratic Party started moving toward the Civil Rights Act and school desegregation, the Dixiecrats had finally had enough. They weren't just fighting to keep schools segregated; they were fighting to keep the "old ways" alive against anyone who didn't fit their mold.

Even back then, people were fighting back. While the media focused on the big laws, there were protests at places like the Black Cat Tavern and Cooper Do-nuts where queer and trans people stood up against police harassment. Eventually, the Dixiecrats jumped ship to the Republican Party to protect their "traditional" values.

The South was notorious for using the "Poll Tax" to make it harder for Black citizens to vote, but the courts eventually struck that down. Now, the Republicans are trying to do something similar with Voter ID. In some states, you have to pay a fee just to get a copy of your birth certificate. For a low-income family, that’s a big burden—and if they have to take a day off work to get it, that’s an additional cost they can't afford!

Now the ol’ South is rising up again!

Back then it was Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the "Lavender Scare"; now it is the “Transgender Scare.” Instead of Senate hearings, it is Trump’s “Executive Orders!” And here is a twist: helping McCarthy was Roy Cohn. Does that name sound familiar? It should, he was Trump’s long-time mentor and advisor!

And now we have the threat of trans activists being put on the terrorist watch list!

What goes around comes around…

[/Essay]

On The Road To Fascism

One-party control... A number of states are dominated by supermajorities in their legislatures, and one such state is Tennessee.

Tennessee House speaker suspends all Dems from committees, citing decorum violation

Minority leader says it’s like being ‘stabbed in the back’

Tennessee Lookout

By: Sam Stockard

May 13, 2026

Tennessee’s Republican House speaker is punishing Democrats for participating in a chaotic end to the special session lawmakers used to redraw congressional maps to bolster a GOP candidate in the midterm election.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton sent a letter Tuesday to House Minority Leader Karen Camper notifying her that Democratic Caucus members will be removed from all standing committees and subcommittees except in cases where their membership is required by House rules. Letters to individual members told them to contact Camper for information.

All 24 House Democrats are barred, including Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis, a congressional candidate. They both were ousted, then reinstated, after  vocal Democratic pushback in 2023 following a House chamber protest over gun laws in the wake of The Covenant School shooting that claimed the lives of six people, including three children.

So what got the Republicans in a tizzy?

The Crossville Republican cited the incident in which House Democrats gathered at the front of the chamber as Republicans voted to redistrict the state’s congressional map last week and locked arms in a show of solidarity against the GOP plan.

Similarly, Senate Speaker Randy McNally is considering possible action against six Senate Democrats who locked arms in the well at the end of their session in a “blatant violation of civility and decorum,” according to spokesperson Adam Kleinheider.

Were they screaming and yelling? Nope.

Did they disrupt the session? Nope.

WJIL Ch 11 reported that,

I just got an official letter from Speaker Cameron Sexton stripping me of all my committee assignments for protesting their white supremacist agenda.

Just as my white Republican colleagues chose racial retaliation against Tennessee’s Black voters, the Speaker of the House is now choosing retaliation against a Black lawmaker for standing up against their Jim Crow racial gerrymander. This is not new. This is the same pattern of racial discrimination and authoritarian abuse we have come to expect. His assault on our democracy is not about me, but silencing the voices of the people who democratically elected me, the 70,000 people who call District 52 home.

This will not deter us from the fights ahead, but instead strengthen our resolve to keep pushing. As my mentor Diane Nash taught me, “we can judge the effectiveness of our opposition by the response of our opponents.” The white supremacist Speaker is terrified that people around the country have seen through their lies, and that their attempts to drag us backwards in history have drawn nationwide rebuke.

We will not stop fighting.

We will not stop getting in good trouble.

We will not go back!

State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville)

Jim Crow is back!

So now, in Tennessee, the Republicans have disenfranchised half of the voters in the state—let that sink in.

Because the Democrats are no longer on any committees, all those who voted for these legislators no longer have a functional say in government. This isn't just punishing the Democrats; it is punishing the voters.

This is what fascist governments do.

Royalty!

No not that royalty as in King Charles, but rather for the use of a name.

Miami International Airport is getting a new name! There is a bill in the Florida legislature to rename it Donald J. Trump International Airport!

To Rename Its Airport After Trump, Palm Beach Had to License His Name

The Trumps won’t profit from airport-branded merchandise sold on site. But the agreement doesn’t prevent them from profiting off such items sold elsewhere.

The New York Times

By Patricia Mazzei

May 5, 2026

Commissioners in Palm Beach County, Fla., approved a trademark and licensing agreement with President Trump’s family business on Tuesday, a step required to rename Palm Beach International Airport as President Donald J. Trump International Airport.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed legislation in March to rename the airport that Mr. Trump flies in and out of on his way to and from his nearby Mar-a-Lago estate. The Trump family business had filed to trademark the airport name in February, raising questions about whether the family would profit from the renaming.

Under the new agreement, the Trump family won’t profit from branded merchandise sold at the airport. But the agreement does not prevent the family from profiting off any such merchandise sold outside the airport’s premises, according to Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer.

It also gives the Trump family control over any biographical material presented at the airport, or on airport materials. And it requires the airport to pick a vendor to provide any branded merchandise from a list approved by the Trump family business.

Mr. Gerben called the agreement “extremely unusual when it comes to an honorary naming of an airport.” He noted that other airports named after presidents, such as Kennedy in New York and Reagan in Washington, do not have licensing agreements with private businesses benefiting those presidents’ families.

So, when you see the new name of the airport, will you also see a trademark symbol... (™)?