Gotch!

If that's how Congress is supposed to work... putting a zinger over on a colleague?

This morning I wrote about the congressional hearing with Jack Smith... I want to talk about the drama surrounding the hearing.

They were gleeful... “We got him now!”

Why are they so set on getting Jack Smith?

Why... because Trump wills it!

 Viral slow zoom on Katie Britt says it all as she realizes Jack Smith gotcha moment is going up in flames
The exchange unravelled after Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt mistook a Caitlin Clark college basketball game in Maryland for an NBA game in Atlanta Jasmine 

Independent 

Fernández
30 September 2026

 

 

 A video of Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt looking visibly stunned during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing circulated on social media after her colleague, Senator Eric Schmitt, stumbled in his questioning of former special counsel Jack Smith.

Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, attempted to corner Smith over an alleged 2024 trip to an Atlanta Hawks basketball game, suggesting the trip pointed to coordination with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the prosecution of Donald Trump. During the exchange, Schmitt accused Smith of committing perjury.

“You will go down as a total dirtbag,” Schmitt said.

Smith corrected him, pointing out that Schmitt had mistaken the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks for the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team.

They were gleeful... we got him now!

 

Why are they so set in getting Jack Smith?

 

 

Why... because Trump wills it!

 

Reuters reported that,

 Former US special counsel Jack Smith told senators on Tuesday that he will not be silenced by threats of prosecution, as ​he faced Republican accusations of abuse of power in his investigations of President Donald Trump.

Smith brought two since-dismissed criminal cases against Trump over his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 ‌election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents after his first term.

That is what started this witch-hunt... his nerve in investigating their cult leader.

 Republican lawmakers, who have repeatedly blasted Smith for what they see ​as vindictive, politically driven prosecutions of Trump and his allies, alleged Smith abused his authority and used his investigations to obtain information from a variety of Republican officials and groups.

And now they had him! Perjury! So once again, they drag him before a hearing! Since they do it, they think everyone does it!

 “This wasn't a normal prosecution,” Grassley said. "Mr. Smith's operation was a partisan weapon that broke the rules."

That would be quite natural for the Republicans to think that. This is the evidence! We got the goods on him...

 Based on text messages Schmitt said his office had viewed, he accused Smith of attending an Atlanta ​Hawks basketball game, suggesting that would have placed him in the city where local prosecutor Fani Willis was also trying to prosecute Trump.

So if Mr. Smith was there in the same city where Willis was, in their mind, that was enough evidence... in the same city with over a quarter of a million people... collusion! We got him!

 Republican efforts to hold Smith responsible for his alleged abuse of power have picked up in the past year, though no charges against him have been filed. Smith gave closed-door testimony to a Republican-led House committee in December, saying the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot “does not happen” without Trump. Smith then gave public testimony before the same committee in January.

They dug through not just his call list but also all the texts that he sent. They smelled blood, and that was enough for them.

 Much of the Republican criticism of Smith has focused on records his investigators obtained involving members of Congress. Smith obtained phone call logs from several ​Republican senators around the time of the Capitol ​riot. In July, Republican senators revealed that ⁠Smith also reviewed texts from 44 US lawmakers as part of a review of material from White House aides.

They thought they had a "GOTCHA." They were not looking for the truth but rather something to get him on. In other words, they were looking for something to justify their searches of his life, to prove Trump was right, that this was an attack on him.

This was personal to Trump. It certainly looked less like a search for the truth than a search for something, anything, that could be used against Smith.

 

 

---

Update: 4:15PM

Smoke & Mirrors

This guy was a strong anti-LGBTQ Republican... hard core.

He introduced the law banned Pride flags and non-official flags from being displayed in public schools and government buildings! He sponsored legislation targeting transgender individuals, including bills attempting to restrict transgender people from working as teachers, proposals to eliminate gender identity provisions from state documents, and efforts regarding birth certificates and public bathrooms!

But you have to wonder... was a it a all to hide his crimes?

Breaking: State Rep. Trevor Lee charged with four felonies related to alleged mortgage fraud

The firebrand representative immediately resigned his legislative seat after being charged by the Utah Attorney General’s Office.

Salt Lake Tribune

By Robert Gehrke, Emily Anderson Stern, and Addy Baird

Sep. 28, 2026

The Utah Attorney General’s Office has charged state Rep. Trevor Lee with two counts of fraud and two forgery-related counts stemming from allegedly falsified documents related to the mortgage on his Layton home.

Lee, a 35-year-old Republican who lost his reelection bid in the June primary, promptly resigned his House seat after the charges were filed in 3rd District Court. The Salt Lake Tribune confirmed in July that the attorney general’s office was investigating Lee.

[...]

The charges accuse Lee of having falsified a contract with a company named Enevive — including forging the signature of its CEO — purporting to show that he made $168,000 annually from the business in order to get a $1 million home loan from Kind Lending last year.

It seems like our worst critics are crocks crooks.

One Land, One Justice.

One set of laws governing the land.

That is the basis of our Constitution... but the Supreme Court is thinking that maybe two sets of laws or more might govern the country.

Supreme Court Emergency Docket Asked to Protect Right to Use Religious Courts

A state court has ordered an Orthodox Jew to demand that a rabbinical court reverse a religious ruling. That goes too far.

National Review

By Dan McLaughlin

September 23, 2026

The use of religious tribunals to settle disputes that might otherwise be heard in civil courts has long been a fault line in systems of civil law. The very structure of Anglo-American law presumes a sometimes-abstruse division between the spheres of law and equity that has roots in medieval England, where the chancery courts (while ruling in the king’s name) were often de facto religious tribunals. In more modern times, when the government’s courts are civil, we see instead controversies arise when litigants want to use the religious courts — or feel compelled by their religious communities to do so.

[...]

he use of religious tribunals to settle disputes that might otherwise be heard in civil courts has long been a fault line in systems of civil law. The very structure of Anglo-American law presumes a sometimes-abstruse division between the spheres of law and equity that has roots in medieval England, where the chancery courts (while ruling in the king’s name) were often de facto religious tribunals. In more modern times, when the government’s courts are civil, we see instead controversies arise when litigants want to use the religious courts — or feel compelled by their religious communities to do so.

Now, this hot potato has landed on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. Justice Sonia Sotomayor ordered Wednesday that a response be filed by Monday, September 28, in Strulovitch v. Bain, a case arising from a collision between the courts of New York State and an Orthodox Jew’s resort to a rabbinical court known as a beis (or beth) din. The dispute is a real one, although whether it belongs on the emergency docket is a closer question, especially because it is embedded in a commercial dispute whose twists and turns are characteristically intricate.

My problem is... "feel compelled by their religious communities to do so," and also what happens if someone is not a member of that religious sect? The way I see it, it is like a clause to use binding arbitration (which I am against). As long as both parties agree, I don't see a problem, but if it is forced on a person... no. And that a person can back out at any time.

The order by Jamieson goes further than necessary in trying to “rectify the potential damage” to a litigant’s “reputation in the religious community.” Whether the Supreme Court will find that this is a sufficiently urgent First Amendment violation to warrant emergency relief is another matter. And it’s always hazardous to judge the whole case just on one side’s argument. But the narrow relief of striking that portion of the order seems warranted if one wishes to avoid a collision between the secular and religious courts.

A can of worms is about to be opened when you have two or more sets of laws...

One nation under one law!

Hmm... I wonder if they would change their tune if the religious court ruled that trans women are women. I bet you would hear the Supreme Court change their tune.

I have to wonder if a religious court or body issues a ruling that affirms trans people, I think the the conservative courts or lawmakers will suddenly become very interested in asserting state supremacy and invalidating religious autonomy. However, when religious rules are used to restrict rights or enforce traditional hierarchies, I see the same institutions will be eager to carve out broad "religious freedom" exemptions.

Hate Comes To Connecticut

Another Pride flag is torn down from a church in Windsor.

 Pride Flag Torn Down From Historic Windsor Church
The church's senior minister called it an act of intimidation and said the flag would be replaced.
Jay Kenney,
Patch

Sep 9, 2026

 

 

 A Pride flag was torn down from the front of First Church in Windsor last week, prompting the church’s senior minister to condemn the act and promise that the flag will be replaced.

The Rev. Dr. Ned Allyn Parker discussed the incident in an open letter posted Tuesday. Parker said he believes the flag was removed to intimidate the church or silence its message of support for LGBTQ+ people.

“When a symbol of welcome is torn down, the message sent to LGBTQIA+ people is that their dignity is negotiable,” Parker wrote.

No other news source in Connecticut has carrying this, I guess bias crimes are becoming common here.

 

 

Sorry Charlie!

Well, a school district in Virginia has seen the light! That is, after a lawsuit.

King George School Board votes to permit non-curricular organizations at middle school level

Fredericksburg Free Press

By Adele Uphaus | Sep 11, 2026

The King George County School Board approved updates to its policy governing student organizations and a regulation governing non-curriculum-related student organizations following a closed session that began at 8 a.m. Friday.

The updated policy allows secondary school students to organize and conduct meetings of non-curriculum-related groups — a change to language the board adopted last November that restricted such groups to high school students only.

The updated regulation lays out the procedure for establishing a non-curriculum-related student organization. It requires “proof of written parental permission to form and/or join” the organization. If the organization wants to renew for a subsequent year, the renewal request form must include “a list of students who are currently members” and “proof of written parental permission from each member to renew such membership.”

So lets step back in time to...

A Virginia school board bent over backward to block an LGBTQ+ club. One mom explains why she’s suing

Susan Park says she filed a federal lawsuit after the King George County School Board repeatedly rewrote its rules to keep a gay-straight alliance from forming.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Aug 06, 2026

Susan Park’s child has already advanced from King George Middle School, about an hour and 20 minutes southeast of Washington, D.C. The eighth-grade year in which he hoped to join a gay-straight alliance, make friends and find some relief from bullying is over. That time cannot be returned to him. When school starts, he will enter King George High School.

Park could have allowed the dispute over the club to become another family’s problem. Instead, on Tuesday, she, along with the family of another student, filed a federal lawsuit so that the next LGBTQ+ student in this rural Virginia county might receive what her child was denied.

The school was happy with providing the club... but then parents and outsider got involved!

Some parents circulated the materials in a community Facebook group, generating hundreds of comments. The proposed faculty sponsor was allegedly doxxed, accused of “grooming” children and targeted with demands that she be fired.

The Fredericksburg Free Press went on to write;

“I’d [Board member Ed Frank] also like to state that every student in King George County Schools deserves to be safe, treated with dignity, and protected from bullying,” he said. “My concern is not about denying protection to any child. My concern is age appropriateness, parental transparency, and rules governing extracurricular discussions.”

[...]

Board member Colleen Hoover said “a lot of blood, sweat, and tears” went into conversations about the policy and regulation.

“The community as a whole needs to come out and be more supportive,” she said. “We were voted into this position to be here and do what you want us to do, and sometimes when things get difficult, it would be nice to have more community support.”

Gee how the Board changed its tune once the lawsuit was filed!

In another Advocate article they report;

“Having been advised that the parties have reached a settlement,” Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne wrote in a September 4 order obtained by The Advocate, “any further discovery deadlines are stayed until further order of this Court.”

[...]

The lawsuit accused the school board, Superintendent Jesse Boyd, and King George Middle School Principal Casey Nice of violating the First Amendment and the federal Equal Access Act by blocking the GSA while finding ways for other student organizations to continue operating.

The legal principle is well established. In Board of Education v. Mergens, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Equal Access Act, which requires federally funded public secondary schools that permit noncurricular clubs to provide other student groups equal access regardless of their message. Federal courts have repeatedly applied that protection to GSAs, including rulings for students in California and Kentucky. In 2016, a federal appeals court also ruled that the act covered a Florida middle school. Schools can close their forums to all noncurricular clubs, but once they allow even one, courts have said they cannot exclude an LGBTQ+ student group because officials or community members object to what it represents.

They added more hoops for the after school organizations to jump through...

Under a regulation adopted Friday, students must provide proof of written parental permission to form or join such an organization. Groups seeking to return in subsequent years must submit a membership list and proof that every student has parental permission to renew their participation.

So, because of their hatred of all things LGBTQ+, they added extra burdens for all the other clubs... which I imagine will not make them popular with the other clubs and students, and the LGBTQ+ students will be blamed for it.

Off The Deep End

Well the Republicans finally went off the deep end of there hate for us... DNA testing! This is sick!

Idaho’s transgender bathroom ban is now the law. How will police enforce it? That’s still unclear.

To prove someone’s biological sex, law enforcement official sees DNA tests as unpractical, and inspecting people’s naked bodies as unlikely

Idaho Capital Sun

By Kyle Pfannenstiel

July 13, 2026

As parts of Idaho’s criminal transgender bathroom ban are now in effect, how far will law enforcement officers have to go to enforce the new law?

What if officers don’t believe a person’s gender markers on IDs?

Will they inspect people’s naked bodies to prove their biological sex? Do they need a warrant for that? 

Will they use DNA testing to prove someone’s sex? At what point in an investigation under the law will that testing take place? 

These questions echo concerns that high-ranking law enforcement officials shared with state lawmakers on the bill, which some said would be difficult to enforce and might require invasive methods. Now, more than a week into the law taking effect, some are confronting the realities of how they’d handle reports of the law being broken.

So this Pink News popped up on Facebook yesterday...

Idaho officials tell judge they can use DNA testing to enforce trans bathroom laws

Jun 11

by Poppy-Jay St. Palmer

Idaho officials have told a federal judge that they can use DNA testing to enforce strict trans bathroom laws in the state.

In Idaho, transgender people are required by law to use public bathrooms and changing facilities of the sex they were assigned at birth.

[...]

According to the Idaho Capital Sun, US District Judge Amanda Brailsford asked officials how they could expect to enforce the bathroom law when many trans people now carry ID that corresponds with their correct gender.

Idaho Solicitor General Michael Zarian then told the judge that it shouldn’t be too difficult “because there is DNA testing.”

Okay, let that sink in... do they mean that each and every person going to the bathroom will be tested? Or just the women who do not look feminine enough for the gender police?

Olson [Lambda Legal attorney] expanded on the pitfalls of the new law while speaking to reporters after the hearing. “If I just go to a restaurant with my family and want to wash my hands before dinner, this law comes into play. Now I have to stop and decide, do I – if this law is in effect – do I go into the restroom that is illegal now, the men’s room?” he asked.

“Or do I walk into the women’s room and take all of the risk that that now comes with, whether that’s assault or harassment, or someone calling the police, because now it looks like I’m violating the law?”

These Republicans have their anger focus so tightly on trans that they don't even think of trans men! Back in August in Kansas a bunch of trans men show how absurd these laws are.

Transgender men in Kansas 'compliance crew' use women's bathrooms to protest state law

The group of trans men use women’s bathrooms in publicly owned facilities, which is required by Kansas law, to highlight what they say are flaws in the bathroom bill.

Kansas Public Radio

By Zach Boblitt

August 20, 2026

A group of transgender men are highlighting the confusion caused by a new Kansas law that requires them to use the women’s restroom in publicly owned facilities.

The transgender men have gathered at locations across Kansas to do a sort of protest by complying with the law. They use the women's bathroom — the restroom of their assigned biological sex at birth.

The SB244 Compliance Crew — named after the bathroom ban bill that became law earlier this year — went to a library in Emporia, a swimming pool in Garden City and water parks in Dodge City and Great Bend.

The gender police is out there enforcing the "Gender Norms" beware!

Snopes

I think one of the standards on the internet is "Snopes," I trust them. So when I saw that they looked at the report from the White House, my ears perked up.

HHS report cites inaccurate data to claim more than 5,500 trans minors received 'sex change surgeries'

Research from Harvard found that gender-affirming surgeries for minors are rare — and usually involve chest reduction for cisgender boys.

Rae Deng

Sept. 4, 2026

As cited by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a database from anti-trans group Do No Harm proves that from 2019 to 2023, more than 5,500 minors in the United States had sex change surgeries.

An August 2026 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report claimed that "watchdog analyses tracking" had determined more than 5,500 minors had undergone "sex change surgeries" from 2019 to 2023. 

The "watchdog analyses tracking" references an anti-LGBTQ+ group that inflated the data by counting a vast number of procedures entirely unrelated to "sex change surgeries," including hair removal, surgical removal of excess eyelid skin and bladder drainage. These procedures were counted in the "sex change surgery" statistic as long as the patient had a gender dysphoria diagnosis or a psychiatric condition related to crossdressing (which is different from being trans). As with any other person's healthcare, there are many reasons why a trans person may need these procedures that have nothing to do with being trans. 

Credible data indicates that gender-affirming surgeries are rarely performed on minors, and most minors who receive them are not actually trans, but cisgender boys getting chest reductions. A peer-reviewed study from Harvard University researchers in 2024 determined that in 2019, only 85 trans minors received gender-affirming surgery and most of them were age 15 to 17. The Harvard study found no gender-affirming surgeries conducted on children under 12. 

Surprise, surprise... they lied!  

And this is what they say about the doctors...

A child who undergoes a sex rejecting procedure can become a patient for life.

A disturbing new Trump administration report details the financial incentives that HHS says pushed clinics to take advantage of some of the country’s most vulnerable children.

“There was a tremendous financial incentive for these clinics and these practitioners to produce what we call captive patients.”

And their conclusion:

The bottom line 

The data HHS cited in its report comes from an anti-LGBTQ+ group that used faulty analysis to inflate data on gender-affirming surgeries among trans minors. 

It's more accurate to say that from 2019 to 2023, more than 5,500 minors, many of whom had a gender dysphoria diagnosis at one point in time, received various procedures for any number of medical reasons, the vast majority of which were unrelated to being trans. 

Peer-reviewed research suggests that gender-affirming surgeries among minors are incredibly rare and usually involve cisgender boys undergoing chest reductions.

The report is a good example of the saying "If you can t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull."

KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) reports on the harm Trump vendetta on the trans community...

HHS Report: “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of “Gender Medicine,” August 12, 2026.

Purpose: Much of the report focuses on what HHS calls “fraudulent billing practices” relating to gender-affirming care.. Through various tables HHS identifies over 100 providers it believes have questionable billing claims related to gender-affirming care. Beyond the concerns it raises about billing the report content is wide ranging. It states gender-affirming care providers may offer this care as a way to generate revenue, that they do so to create a “captive patient” audience, describes Biden administration civil rights actions as efforts “to impose, unilaterally, gender ideology,” criticizes medical associations supportive of and/or providing guidance around gender affirming care, and promotes the stories of people who have detransitioned and parents who opposed access to gender-affirming care.

Implications: The billing and coding data provided in the report has already been used to support other administration actions. It is the basis of a letter HHS Sec. Kennedy sent to the OIG seeking investigations of providers (see separate entry).

The report fosters misinformation in several domains. It is unlikely that providers are offering gender affirming care for the purposes of generating revenue given the small share of transgender people in the U.S. and relatively low cost of interventions (as described in the report). The report also appears to conflate the cost of medications with revenue generated by prescribers. It suggests the Biden administration’s efforts to improve civil rights protections for LGBTQ people promoted gender affirming care. It uses select sketches of individuals who have detransitioned to promote the notion that “activists and providers have tried to force children to undergo potentially life-altering interventions” when in fact detransitioning is quite rare.

The report could be used to build a basis for further administration actions aimed at limiting gender affirming care and may also serve to intimidate named providers.

HHS Report: “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?”, August 2026.

Purpose: HHS issued this commissioned report with the stated aim of “examining the psychology behind strong support for radical gender ideology and left-wing authoritarianism.” It finds “gender ideology may function as an ideological accelerant” and leads to legitimizing violence.

Implications: This HHS commissioned report seeks to align support for transgender people generally, that is beyond support for access to medical care, with “left-wing authoritarianism” and potentially violence. Despite this aim, the report states that “violence connected to gender ideology remains largely undocumented in the academic literature.”

The survey includes use of a new tool to measure support for transgender people asking questions drawn from guidance from major medical associations. There is no mention in the report of this scale being validated. The questions sought to measure the endorsement of consensus positions not related to gender-affirming medical care. Questions generally focused on beliefs around support for transgender people’s gender identities and gender exploration. The study found that people who scored higher on this measure (i.e., those who are more likely to agree with the guidance) were also more likely to hold “racialized” “authoritarian” left-wing views, and more likely to say political violence could be justified in certain cases.

Efforts to challenge major medical association guidance may represent an aim to erode public support for these organizations and align with other actions (see above) seeking to harm the credibility of these organizations. Further, the report could be used as a basis for the administration’s continued efforts to target these organizations and/or erode support for transgender people and their access to care. The report may also align with other efforts by the administration to suggesting there is a relationship between supporting transgender people and violence.

The instrument developed does not appear to be a probability survey raising questions about representativeness of the report’s findings. The report suggests that correlated findings are casual, which is not supported by the analysis, and it does not appear to have been peer reviewed.

This is all part of an effort by the Trump administration to deny proper medical treatment to a minority for political gain.

The Trump Administration Launches a New Angle of Attack Against Trans Healthcare

Federal officials referred around 150 healthcare organizations for investigation into allegations of fraud.

Mother Jones

Madison Pauly

August 18, 2026

Just two days after finalizing a regulation to make sure trans kids from low-income families can’t afford puberty blockers or hormone therapy, the Trump administration has loosed another salvo in its bitter war against transgender people’s healthcare. On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services published a report—authored largely by employees of right-wing advocacy groups—alleging that some hospitals are using incorrect codes to bill insurance for pediatric gender-affirming care. The report paints transgender healthcare as motivated by profit rather than medical necessity, calling the billing codes “potentially fraudulent.”

In a social media video, Vice President JD Vance announced he was referring roughly 150 healthcare organizations listed in the report to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation. The list includes over a dozen major children’s hospitals, pharmacies including Walgreens, and small doctors offices and clinics. Standing at Vance’s side, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. added that he, too, was referring the providers for investigation by his department’s inspector general.

They also call the report a hatch job!

Yet advocates of transgender healthcare describe the HHS report released Thursday as part of a larger effort to shut down care. “This report is part of a broader pattern from this administration: Using the power of government to attack science and target health care providers instead of helping families get the care they need,” says Kellan Baker, senior advisor for health policy at the Movement Advancement Project. “It’s an intimidation campaign,” adds Jennifer Levi, the director of transgender and queer rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, pointing to ways the report might show up in future legal cases.

This all is to justify Trump's pogrom on the trans community!

Extortion!

That is what it is... extortions.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines extortion as:

1

: the act or practice of extorting especially money or other property

especially : the offense committed by an official engaging in such practice

That is exactly what the federal government did. It extorted an agreement to halt something that is perfectly legal by threatening to withhold federal funding already authorized by Congress.

Connecticut Children’s agrees to end trans youth care for 10 years under deal with Trump, DOJ

By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni,

Stamford Advocate

Sep 12, 2026

Over a year after winding down its care program for transgender youth, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has agreed to end the program for the next decade as part of the formal agreement with the Trump administration announced in August.

​The settlement also states that Connecticut Children’s will pay the federal government $60,000 and allocate $500,000 for patients under 19 to get medical reversal or “detransition” care.

That is extortion!

Co-chair state Sen. Matt Lesser said he and state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest met with CCMC administrators earlier this week and received the requested documents. A spokesperson for CCMC said administrators have answered the lawmakers question and declined additional comment.

Yes, they threw us under the bus and agreed to a witch hunt... for the elusive phantom “detransitioner.”

When the government tells a hospital, "Do this or we will withhold your Medicaid and Medicare funding," that is illegal! They want to stop legal medical procedures that are approved by every major medical association. That is extortion, and the courts have backed that up with rulings stating the federal government has overstepped its legal authority by trying to block this funding.

Instead of fighting for us, CCMC threw us under the bus. They took the easy way out.

Catch 22

That is what the Twenty-fifth Amendment is. A Catch 22.

Section 4: says that only the Vice President or the Cabinet can initiate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment and there in lies the rub.

Following Trump’s Iran social media post, could the 25th Amendment be invoked against him?

PolitiFact

By Amy Sherman & Louis Jacobson

April 6, 2026

President Donald Trump’s profanity-laced Easter Sunday social media post threatening to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran led some Democratic lawmakers to call for his removal via the 25th Amendment.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, spelling out the f-word: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—–’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Reacting to Trump’s post, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on X, “If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”

Other Democrats including U.S. Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico also called for using the amendment to remove Trump.

But you know what? Congress can jaw about this all they want! It is JD Vance and the Cabinet who can only initiate a “25”! However, there might be another way around the roadblock, and that is Congress cannot initiate Section 4 itself, but the text does allow Congress to create another body by law that could participate in the Section 4 process. Something like a special impeachment commission, but it needs backbone to do it.

Section four authorizes the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, or the vice president and a majority of an “other body” created by Congress, to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Doing so would elevate the vice president to acting president.

Notice it doesn’t say “Congress.”

So how likely is the Cabinet and the VP to start the ball rolling? 

Well the amendment says "unable to discharge the powers and duties" that is a high bar to meet! It doesn’t mean if the president making bad decisions, it doesn’t mean if the president if the president is unpopular, or breaking the law.

But on the other hand, impeachment can be for corruption! Abuse of power, obstruction, political retaliation, and election interference nad I think they could find something on Trump that fits those categories. However, it takes one more thing, Congress with a backbone.

Trump Is So Readable

One of the things about Trump is that he is so predictable! The state of New Mexico voted Democratic last election, so on Trump's radar, it became a fair target. One of the things that could be getting under Trump's collar is...

New Mexico Epstein commission releases report on investigation so far

Commission announces 4 new subpoenas to state agencies, Santa Fe-area spa

Source NM

By Julia Goldberg

August 5, 2026

The chair of a New Mexico House investigatory subcommittee created to probe the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s activities in the state acknowledged Wednesday its first report does not contain major revelations or final findings.

[...]

“In the seven years since Jeffrey Epstein died, in the two decades since his crimes first drew attention of law enforcement, no government, federal, state, or local, has ever compiled an account of what he did in New Mexico,” Romero said. “There are some court records that tell pieces of the story in other states’ cases for other states’ victims, but there has never been an official narrative for New Mexico. This report is the first.”

This is what got Trump worried. So what does Trump do?

New Mexico Democrats push back over Trump posts about renaming the state ‘New America’

The president posted repeatedly on social media over the weekend, and New Mexico Democrats leaped to respond to the ones about their state.

NBC News

By Scott Wong and Megan Shannon

Sept. 7, 2026

New Mexico Democratic leaders are aggressively pushing back on President Donald Trump’s social media posts about renaming the state of New Mexico as “New America.”

“New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a post on X featuring an image of the state labeled with “New Mexico.” “While the President tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, the price of gas —and everything else — keeps rising.

So why is he doing this? 

Well, from what I can figure out, it is for a few reasons:

• The most obvious reason is that it is a blue state. 
• It is also Trump's classic strategy: if you can't win, baffle them with BS by creating a manufactured crisis and a political smokescreen."
• Lastly, it is to rally his base. His MAGA base is cheering him on!

P.S. The state's  criminal investigation into child sex trafficking, the state accuses the federal government of stonewalling and blocking the state’s active criminal investigation! 

Trump is worried about what will come out in the investigations, so this is a distraction.

Spillage

Their hatred for us is so great that it is spilling out into other areas.

Medicaid transgender care rule sets precedent that could restrict coverage of other drugs

Medicaid generally pays for drugs approved by the FDA. Trump’s rule could upend that

Stat

By John Wilkerson

Aug. 24, 2026

The Trump administration plans to use a new approach to deny Medicaid coverage of drugs for gender-affirming care. The precedent it sets could be used to avoid paying for other drugs, too, upending an expectation that Medicaid covers the vast majority of prescription medication.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule this month barring the use of federal Medicaid and CHIP funding to pay for pediatric gender-affirming medications and surgery. The rule, set to go into effect Oct. 13, attracted attention because it’s the latest development in the administration’s campaign to halt transgender health care for young people.

While KFF shoots it down...

Despite gender-affirming care being a best medical practice, recommended by major medical groups, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association, the new rule builds on a range of administration actions aimed at restricting this care, including within the Medicaid program. States have also increasingly sought to limit access, with the number restricting access rising from just 4 in 2023 to 27 states today. Additionally, dozens of providers have ceased to offer services, citing pressure from or fear of the administration. The final Medicaid rule represents the latest barrier to this care, this time focused on limiting access at the payer source.

[...]

As noted, the rule does not prevent states from covering these services using state-only funds, and some states may seek to do so. States have faced similar choices in the context of abortion. The federal Hyde Amendment prohibits use of federal Medicaid dollars to pay for abortions outside of specific contexts, but states can use their own funds to cover abortion services more comprehensively, which 21 states do. It would likely be a relatively small expenditure increase for states to absorb gender-affirming care costs given how relatively uncommon and inexpensive these services are. CMS estimates that Medicaid spent about $31 million on the prohibited services for enrollees under 19 years old in 2023, representing 0.003% of all Medicaid spending that year. Theoretically, families could also pay cash for these services, but given the income limits in the Medicaid program, it is not likely many would have the resources to do so. There could also be charitable funds set up at national or local levels.

Connecticut is one of the states that is suing (See my 1 o'clock post)

This is the Republicans who promised to get the government off of your back is now stepping between your doctor and you! 

"Sanctuary State"

When Washington state refused Texas's subpoena for the records of trans children and the records of women from Texas... it was to protect the identities of medical patients.

When Texas refused an extradition order, it was for a criminal assault where a person beat shot [updated] another person and then lied about it. That person was an ICE agent.

PBS News reported that;

Castro is accused of firing gun through door of home

Castro is accused of firing a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg. Prosecutors say Castro also falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

But while this back-and-forth in the legal system plays out...

 ICE officer’s release from Texas jail opens a new front in the escalating fight over extradition

AP News

By  MICHAEL GONZALEZ, VALERIE GONZALEZ and SUDHIN THANAWALA

August 27, 2026

The release of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer from a Texas jail on Thursday despite Minnesota’s request for his return could set a dangerous precedent, increasing friction between states and helping criminal defendants avoid justice, legal experts said.

Christian Castro was released from a detention center in Brownsville after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declined to immediately sign his extradition warrant. A federal judge also declined to block Castro’s release or order Abbott to sign the warrant.

Minnesota officials say they believe Castro could flee to Mexico to avoid prosecution on charges he shot a man and lied about it during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis in January. Extradition from Mexico would require action by the Trump administration, which opened an investigation into Castro’s actions but also has argued ICE agents have “absolute immunity” for their actions on duty.

But now it has escalated to another level:

Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections

A prosecutor planned to file civil rights charges — similar to those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd — against an ICE agent. In an email we exclusively obtained, he reveals that Trump officials quashed those plans.

Propublica

by Megan Rose and Andy Mannix

September 2, 2026

Over the “strongest possible” objections from the federal prosecutor handling the case, leaders at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., quashed plans to bring civil rights charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and then lying about it. 

The agent, 52-year-old Christian Castro, allegedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg in Minneapolis this January during Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s immigration blitz that sent thousands of federal agents into the state. The incident was one of three shootings by immigration agents in the city, the other two of which were fatal. 

Federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law for the shooting of Sosa-Celis, according to several people familiar with the case. Those charges are similar to the ones leveled against Minneapolis police officers accused in George Floyd’s killing and can carry hefty prison sentences. 

Late on Tuesday, Matthew Evans, the assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota in charge of the case, told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and other victims to prepare for Castro to be charged “only with False Statements,” according to an email that was reviewed by ProPublica. 

You know what that behavior and being above the law reminds me of? The KGB, NKVD, Stasi, Cheka... the whole alphabet soup of Cold War secret police.

The Hill reports that;

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., an appointee of President Trump who oversees the case, will consider Minnesota’s bid at a Tuesday afternoon hearing in his Brownsville, Texas, courtroom.

It has become a major legal clash between Abbott and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who requested Castro’s extradition as state authorities charged the ICE officer with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

The officer stands accused of injuring a Venezuelan man in the leg by firing a gun at the front door of an occupied Minneapolis home on Jan. 14 amid an immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities. Castro had allegedly told investigators he opened fire in self-defense after being hit with a shovel and a broom, only for video footage to undercut the officer’s claim. 

Abbott has refused to sign a rendition warrant that would pave the way for the officer to return to Minnesota for trial.

This is a whole new level of political interference in our legal systems. Think about this for a moment: The governor and the judge are saying that for the shooting, Castro can't be charged, only for the misdemeanor.

This doesn't make sense... for the serious crimes of shooting an individual, they say he can't be charged because it was justified. While he used a lie to justify it! Duh! What circular logic. Has Texas become a "sanctuary state" for all the ICE agents who cross the line?

A Tail Of Two States

A Synopsis:

In the first state, an ICE agent shot a man and lied about it. ICE argues that agents have “absolute immunity” for their actions on duty and then spirits the agent away to another state.

The first state indicts the agent for assault and falsely reporting a crime and sends an extradition order to the state where ICE shipped him. That state says, “We will think about it,” and releases the agent from custody.

So that is where we are now: The ICE agent is somewhere, maybe even in Mexico.

ICE officer’s release from Texas jail opens a new front in the escalating fight over extradition

AP News

By MICHAEL GONZALEZ, VALERIE GONZALEZ and SUDHIN THANAWALA

August 27, 2026

The release of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer from a Texas jail on Thursday despite Minnesota’s request for his return could set a dangerous precedent, increasing friction between states and helping criminal defendants avoid justice, legal experts said.

Christian Castro was released from a detention center in Brownsville after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declined to immediately sign his extradition warrant. A federal judge also declined to block Castro’s release or order Abbott to sign the warrant.

Minnesota officials say they believe Castro could flee to Mexico to avoid prosecution on charges he shot a man and lied about it during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis in January. Extradition from Mexico would require action by the Trump administration, which opened an investigation into Castro’s actions but also has argued ICE agents have “absolute immunity” for their actions on duty.

And no way in hell will Trump extradite him!

But this goes way beyond this case. Texas and other Republican states have been trying to get health care records on women having abortions and children going to trans clinics in other states. Some see this as tit for tat.

The decision is alarming because it injects politics into the extradition process, said Marsh Halberg, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor in Minnesota.

“Something that’s been a routine process may now turn into a political card,” he said in a phone interview.

In recent months, California and New York have rejected extradition requests from Louisiana for doctors accused of mailing abortion pills.

But legal scholars say those cases are different because the doctors weren’t in Louisiana and never fled the state and became fugitives.

Is Texas looking the other way in a case of perjury and attempted murder because of the denial of a witch-hunt for medical records?

But it gets even more convoluted… the feds jump in!

Judge denies Minnesota's request to halt release of ICE officer charged in Minneapolis shooting

CBS News

By Aki Nace, Stephen Swanson

August 26, 2026

A federal judge on Wednesday denied Minnesota's request for a temporary restraining order to halt the release of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent sought for extradition in a shooting earlier this year in north Minneapolis amid Operation Metro Surge, and then lying about the circumstances under oath.

[…]

In U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr.'s 13-page ruling, he denied Minnesota's request because the "matter does not present an issue ripe for adjudication," saying Minnesota's case is based on claims that Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has violated the Extradition Act by refusing to sign Castro's rendition warrant.

"The record reflects only that Governor Abbott has neither agreed nor refused to sign the rendition warrant as to Castro. Instead, Governor Abbott has requested that the Texas Secretary of State 'investigate [Minnesota's] demand and report to [the Governor] concerning Mr. Castro's situation and circumstances and whether he ought to be surrendered,'" Rodriguez wrote in his ruling.

So that’s where we are now… in limbo.

Duh... They Don't Think Of Trans Men

In their animosity toward trans women, the conservatives didn't even think about trans men... in their fear: "Oh God... men will dress as women and rape our girls in the bathrooms!" But look what they created! This is from back in 2017.

Transgender teen wrestler who's used to winning on mat now has a bigger, though partial, victory

Mack Beggs won Texas state girls' title but wants to compete against boys.

ABC News

ByMORGAN WINSOR

March 27, 2017

Already accustomed to winning on the mat, transgender teen wrestler Mack Beggs can now enjoy another victory -- a change in policy that will allow him to compete in some matches against boys, the gender with which he identifes.

The organization that governs amateur wrestling in the United States recently changed its policy to allow transgender wrestlers to compete against the gender which they declare as their own.

[...]

The student won the Texas state girls' title in wrestling last month, capping off a season in which he was undefeated -- but one that drew controversy.

And now we have...

Kansas Trans Guys Are Using Women’s Bathrooms, as Legally Required, as a Form of Protest

A group of transgender men who call themselves the "SB244 compliance crew” have been using women’s bathrooms in protest of a Kansas law that mandates that they do so.

them

By Quispe López

August 20, 2026

Not all heroes wear capes. Some just use the bathroom. A group of transgender men who call themselves the “compliance crew” have been using women’s bathrooms in protest of a Kansas law that mandates that they do so.

The new law, Senate Bill 244, went into effect in February of this year, after the state legislature successfully overrode Democratic governor Laura Kelly’s veto on February 13, and requires all people to use sex-separated facilities in government-owned properties that correspond with their assigned sex at birth, effectively banning trans people from the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The law also incentivizes everyday people to call the police and sue for damages up to $1,000 if they believe they’ve shared the bathroom with a trans person violating it.

According to the ACLU of Kansas, this extends to restrooms and locker rooms, with an additional provision that prohibits trans people from updating their driver’s licenses and state IDs to reflect their gender. The wide-ranging law caused panic when it went into effect earlier this year, as it also invalidated licenses that had gender markers that do not correspond with someone’s assigned sex at birth.

Naturally, as with other anti-trans laws across the country, it is already causing confusion around enforcement, as a trans woman was charged in June for presenting a police officer with a driver’s license that contained a male sex marker, which the new law mandates, though the charges have since been dropped. But if it’s confusion they want, it’s confusion the “compliance crew” seems ready to create.

The group was created by a transgender man named Charles Osman immediately after the law went into effect. Per KCUR, the local NPR affiliate for Kansas City, the compliance crew began going into public women’s restrooms, in a form of protest known as malicious compliance, which involves following a law to its exact phrasing rather than the way it might have been intended, which in this case is likely discouraging trans people from using public restrooms altogether. So far, they have done so in a public library, swimming pool, and water parks across the state, making the point that the law causes discomfort for everyone involved.

I think that it is terrific. It shows how stupid the conservatives are in their hatred of us.

The excuse the Republicans give is to protect women from monsters, but they have actually made it much worse! Now, thanks to the Republicans, they can just walk right in!

And the Supreme Court just put in its two cents, the Constitutional Center writes:

On Tuesday, a divided Supreme Court held that state lawmakers can regulate gender identity in scholastic sports competitions, and in particular, block transgender students born as biological men from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.

On January 13, 2026, the justices heard oral arguments for three hours in both West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, a case from Idaho. Tuesday’s decision applied to both cases.

In his majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in West Virginia v. B.P.J. that “Title IX allows schools to provide separate women’s and men’s sports teams defined by biological sex, and West Virginia has permissibly maintained female sports for biological females consistent with Title IX.”

Title IX bans discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial funds. However, the Education Amendments Act of 1974, known as the Javits Amendment, allows schools receiving funds under Title IX to establish “reasonable provisions considering the nature of particular sports.”

[...]

In his majority opinion, Kavanaugh pointed to actions taken by the former Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in1975. “HEW promulgated comprehensive regulations requiring that schools provide ‘equal athletic opportunity for members of both sexes’ and authorizing ‘separate teams for members of each sex where selection for such teams is based upon competitive skill or the activity involved is a contact sport,’” he said.

Kavanaugh also held that “the term ‘sex’ in Title IX, the Javits Amendment, and the Title IX regulations cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex.” He also rejected claims that the restrictions on trans athletes competing on women’s and men’s sports teams violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

Of course, you all know that "cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex" flies in the face of many other Supreme Court rulings!

Beginning with Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989), the Court didn't simply hold that “sex = gender.” It held that discrimination based on sex stereotypes is sex discrimination under Title VII. And then there was Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), where the Court took that logic considerably further. It held that firing someone for being transgender necessarily involves treating that individual differently because of sex. The Court explicitly connected its reasoning to Price Waterhouse: if an employer would have made a different decision had the employee's sex been different, that is discrimination “because of sex.”

But now that all went out the door! And the Court just created a nightmare! And now, in the context of Title IX, the Court has said that the term “sex” cannot plausibly be interpreted to mean anything other than biological sex. But wait a minute... the language in Title IX and Title VII is remarkably similar. Both prohibit discrimination “because of sex.” So how did “sex” become broad enough in Bostock to encompass discrimination against transgender people, yet suddenly become so narrowly defined in Title IX that it means only biological sex?

I mean, it is so stupid! How stupid? Well, think of this: State A allows trans women to play on women's teams. Now suppose a team from a state whose rules permit a trans woman to compete qualifies for a regional competition held in a state whose rules prohibit her from competing. What happens? Is one team handicapped because it has to lose some of its players?

What a can of worms!

Now Wasn’t That Nice

[Editorial]

Connecting the dots. How many times have you heard this?

Well a little history, the trial is in the discovery phase where both sides can dig into the other files. Something Trump didn’t want… but did happen anyway. You see BBC wanted the extensive financial records from Trump's business trust. His lawyers clearly did not want to provide that financial information.

Okay now we jump a head to now… there is a new judge to oversee the case. The case is now being transferred to Jeffrey Kuntz, a federal judge whom Trump himself nominated. Hmmm…

The judges nomination has been in the works for a while now, but all the paperwork just got completed, just in time to sit on Trump v. BBC. Wasn’t the timing nice?

Now consider this… Kuntz previously ruled in Trump's favor in the Pulitzer Prize Board litigation while he was a Florida appellate judge.

Connecting the dots…

Trump files a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC. → The case enters discovery. → The BBC seeks extensive financial information about Trump's business interests. → Trump's lawyers fight that disclosure. → Altman temporarily halts the financial disclosure while Trump's effort to narrow his claims is considered. → Then a new federal judge arrives. → That judge was nominated by Trump. → And that same judge had previously ruled in Trump's favor in another Trump defamation case.

Nothing was illegal, but sure as hell rasies a lot of red flags

Connecting the dots. How many times have you heard this?

Well, a little history. The case is in the discovery phase, where both sides can dig into the other side’s files and records. Something Trump didn’t want, but it happened anyway. You see, the BBC wanted extensive financial records from Trump’s business trust. His lawyers clearly did not want to provide that financial information.

Okay, now let’s jump ahead to today…

There is a new judge overseeing the case and it hss is now being transferred to Jeffrey Kuntz, a federal judge whom Trump himself nominated.

Hmmm…

The judge’s nomination had been in the works for a while, but all the paperwork was finally completed, just in time for Kuntz to sit on Trump v. BBC.

Wasn’t the timing nice?

Now consider this…

Kuntz previously ruled in Trump’s favor in the Pulitzer Prize Board litigation while he was a Florida appellate judge.

Connecting the dots…

Trump files a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC. → The case enters discovery. → The BBC seeks extensive financial information about Trump's business interests. → Trump's lawyers fight that disclosure. → Altman temporarily halts the financial disclosure while Trump's effort to narrow his claims is considered. → Then a new federal judge arrives. → That judge was nominated by Trump. → And that same judge had previously ruled in Trump's favor in another Trump defamation case.

Nothing about the transfer was necessarily illegal. But nothing about this sequence makes the questions go away, either.

However, it sure as hell raises a lot of red flags.

[/Editorial]

Terrorist or Political Prisoner?

An edict came on down from high… make them examples!

A federal narrative took hold, and as a result, a trans woman got 50 years in a men’s prison.

So what happened… there was an ICE protest outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. One protester pulled out a gun and shot a police officer. The other protesters did not know him and had no knowledge of what he was going to do… but they are sitting in prison for decades, and the trans woman, Autumn Hill, got 50 years! The person who fired the shot got 100 years.

As reported by outlets like the Texas Standard, Autumn Hill was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being convicted on charges including rioting, conspiracy, and providing material support—with prosecutors classifying fireworks used at the demonstration as explosives under terrorism enhancements, even though many types of fireworks are legal in Texas.

Word went out that there was going to be a demonstration at ICE, and people showed up that day for a peaceful protest. Yes, there were fireworks, but they were legal fireworks, a staple part of many protests in Texas.

Little did these strangers know that for the rest of their lives they would be tied together from this peaceful protest. Then a stranger shot a police officer and Trump got his wish, he got his terrorist!

The British Guardian reported about that night…

The sentences handed down on Tuesday were unusually long, said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor who served as the US attorney for the eastern district of Michigan during the Obama administration.

“Most often, judges will sentence defendants for separate counts concurrently. Here, it appears that the judge stacked the sentences for each count consecutively. I would have expected lengthy sentences here, more in the ballpark at 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years,” she wrote in an email.

The Trump administration praised the sentences.

“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said in a statement. “Their violent extremism has no place in our country, and the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and prosecute those who threaten law enforcement officers or undermine the rule of law.”

In the past, the government had arrested only the violent protesters, but this time they arrested everyone there that fateful night! And it gets worse… the Guardian goes on to report,

The sentences were “absurd”, said Amber Lowrey, Batten’s sister.

“This case has relied on lies and misinformation from the start,” she said. “It is heartbreaking nonetheless. But we will keep fighting to overturn these unjust convictions and to free Savanna and all the Prairieland defendants. We will not rest until they are free!”

The punishment for the protesters exceeds the lengthiest prison sentences given out for the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right group the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The sentencing didn’t exceed federal guidelines; it shattered them! For her charges normally it would be a few years to ten years. In the past, she probably wouldn’t even have been arrested.

Then we move on to the courts and the forum where the deck was stacked from the start! CBS News reported that…

Nine men and women are on trial, facing a variety of federal charges, accused of being part of a "North Texas Antifa cell."

Now remember… Antifa is a made-up word… there are no organizations that bear that name, it is a figment of the far-right. DOJ described the Prairieland prosecution as involving an "Amtifa Cell."

The Texas Standard goes on to report,

Federal officials have called this the first domestic terrorism case targeting antifa since President Trump declared the ideology a domestic terrorist threat last year. Experts told KERA News the outcome could determine the playbook for how the Trump administration targets alleged left-wing violence, even though the charge of providing material support to terrorism was not necessarily related to antifa or any set of beliefs.

Similar cases are being tried across the country. Most recently, Minnesota prosecutors alleged 15 people charged in a conspiracy to injure federal officers earlier this month are tied to antifa groups.

“The Trump Administration has made it clear: Antifa terrorists and their networks will be investigated, disrupted, prosecuted, and neutralized with the full force of federal law,” the White House wrote in a press release earlier this month about what it said were arrests of antifa “militants” and “thugs.”

And Trump got his wish! This was nothing more than a political trial!

What Does This Tell You?

Minnesota wants an ICE agent... who shot a woman and lied it! But Governor Abbott is protecting him.

Minnesota attorney general sues Texas governor to compel extradition of ICE agent for trial

AP News

By  MARK VANCLEAVE and RUSS BYNUM

August 18, 2026

Minnesota’s attorney general sued the governor of Texas on Tuesday, seeking to compel the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged with wounding a man and then lying to justify the shooting during the agency’s crackdown in Minneapolis.

Attorney General Keith Ellison is asking a federal judge to bar the sheriff in Cameron County, Texas, from releasing ICE agent Christian Castro, and to order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant so that Minnesota officers can take custody.

Castro was arrested in Texas in May on Minnesota charges of assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 wounding of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Castro, 52, is accused of firing a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg with a bullet that lodged in a child’s bedroom wall. Prosecutors say Castro then falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

What does it say about Texas and ICE that they are protecting a possible criminal? 

The lawsuit Ellison filed in U.S. District Court in Texas cites a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that compliance with the Constitution’s extradition clause is mandatory, affording no discretion to the governor or courts of a state where a defendant is being held.

Is the governor stooping low that he will shied a person just to spite the governor?

The Trickle Down Theory

In this case, the trickle-down theory is that hate is passed down from our leaders. When schools go after after-school programs, the courts in the past have had their say, or, in this case, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

This is from a right-wing legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom...

Good News Club v. Milford Central School District

The school district had a policy governing the use of its facilities that stated “School premises shall not be used by any individual or organization for religious purposes.” Based on this policy, the school district denied the Good News Club, an after-school Bible club for students, from using space in the school after hours for weekly meetings, claiming that granting access would unconstitutionally permit religious worship and instruction in a public facility. Good News Club filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the policy.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that allowing the Good News Club to meet in the school after hours on the same basis as other community groups does not violate the Establishment Clause and a refusal to allow the group to meet on the basis of the religious content was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. The school’s policy was struck down.

Okay now consider this...

Emails reveal Virginia school officials approved an LGBTQ+ club — until conservative backlash hit

A King George Middle School eighth-grader is asking a federal judge to intervene immediately after records show the district rewrote its policy to deny the GSA's existence.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Aug 18, 2026

The new school year in King George County, Virginia, was one day old when a 13-year-old student asked a federal judge to order their middle school to allow an LGBTQ+ student organization to meet immediately.

The student, identified in court records as Z.J.W., is beginning eighth grade — their final year at King George Middle School. They spent much of the previous school year trying to form a Gay-Straight Alliance, only to watch administrators halt it after public opposition and the school board rewrite its policy governing student organizations.

Now keep the Good News Club's ruling in mind,

They call the district’s actions “textbook viewpoint discrimination” that violates the First Amendment and the federal Equal Access Act, which requires covered public schools that allow at least one noncurricular student organization to provide other groups with equal access, regardless of the content of their speech.

You see, when the conservatives found out about it, all hell broke loose.

In an August 26, 2025, exchange with the school’s Robotics sponsor, Boe wrote that the proposed organization was “an LGBTQ GSA Club,” requested by a student, and that “Casey [Nice] has already approved it.”

You have to wonder, did the school district seek legal advice before they closed the GSA?

Go Magazine reported,

“I’m not interested in the culture wars fueling the King George County School Board’s decision – I’m interested in what’s best for my child,” said plaintiff and parent of A.A.P., Susan Park. “And what’s best for my child is to feel valued and supported at school by participating in a club that follows every rule set out for it. I would expect the school board to be just as interested in that as I am.”

Let's see how far this case goes up the court ladder: will it make it to the Supreme Court, and will they overturn their previous ruling?

Soft On Crime!

That is the conservative mantra… the left is too soft on crime! How many times have you heard that? That states like Connecticut are pansies, that we are too soft on crime.

First, I looked at the recidivism rates for the states. Which states have prisoners returning to the justice system? It turns out you can’t figure out that simple question. Some states record something as minor as getting a speeding ticket as a return to the justice system, while other states look at additional felonies. So, it wasn’t comparing apples to apples. That doesn't mean recidivism numbers are useless. It means we need to understand exactly what each state is measuring before declaring a winner.

Next, I looked at the crime rate, and there the differences stood out!

State	Regional/Political Grouping	Violent Crime Rate (per 100k)	Homicide Rate Profile
Connecticut	Northern / Liberal	~181.6	One of the lowest in the nation.
Massachusetts	Northern / Liberal	~322.0	Regularly ranks in the top 10 safest states.
Vermont	Northern / Progressive	~222.0	Frequently named the #1 safest overall state.
Florida	Southern / Conservative	~380.0	Sits right around the national average.
Texas	Southern / Conservative	~430.0	Higher than the national average.
Mississippi	Southern / Conservative	~245.0	Features one of the country's highest murder rates.
Louisiana	Southern / Conservative	~620.0	Consistently holds the highest state murder rate.

Whoa. That is an amazing difference.

This morning’s CBS Sunday Morning had a segment that showed the harm that “lock ’em up and throw away the key” can do to people.

One woman accidentally ate an edible at a party where pot is legal. She went home to Idaho, where they test every baby for illegal drug use. BINGO!

How THC tests have landed more than a thousand new mothers onto child abuse registries

CBS News

By Erin Moriarty

August 9, 2026

Giving birth to her fourth child in January of 2021 was life-changing, says Nicole Hamann, but not in the way she ever imagined. While still at the hospital, Hamann was informed that both she and her newborn tested positive for a trace amount of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. [A urine test is given to mothers, which is followed up by testing the umbilical cord.] "I felt like, all of the sudden, I was a criminal," Hamann said.

Hamann lives in Idaho, where marijuana is illegal. But a month before giving birth, Hamann, who has no criminal record, says she accidentally ate a pot-laced brownie at a relative's home in Oregon, where marijuana is legal. She says no one was interested in hearing her explanation of why she had THC in her system.

Child and Family Services began an investigation immediately, because in Idaho (and a number of other states), a single positive test result of THC in a newborn is considered presumptive evidence of child abuse.

[…]

Although social workers found no evidence of drug use, Hamann's name was still placed on the agency's child protection central registry – a list of child abusers. That means she can't work in hospitals or daycare centers. Even volunteering at her children's school is not allowed.

And Hamann's name remains on that list for a period of ten years. "It hurts … it hurts," she said. "It's heavy. It feels like somebody placed a big boulder on my shoulder and I have to carry it around for 10 years."

Hamann is not alone. At least a thousand new mothers in Idaho have been placed on that same registry, many for using marijuana products to relieve pain and severe nausea.

The harm that their get-tough policy is causing people is excessive! Yeah, pregnant women shouldn’t… But should they be sentenced to 10 years? Period. No courts, no hearings to explain. Just pot in your baby’s blood… guilty.

We are tough on drugs! But what does it do to the people?

Like Nicole Hamann, McGrath and her fiancé were investigated, and then cleared, by social workers. But McGrath says having her name on the child abuse registry has had devastating consequences. "My career as a healthcare worker is not just at risk; it's completely thrown away," she said.

What would happen here in Connecticut for a situation like this? Well, for one thing, you wouldn’t be reading about it here. Why? Because this type of drug use would never have automatically elevated the situation to the level of law enforcement. Yes, they do refer cases to the police, but not at this level! So, no criminal records!

Yeah, you can look at the numbers from above… but the numbers do not reflect the human costs!

---

I have one word for you... strawberries!

You know what is back in the news... the Reflecting Pool! Yes, Donny had a hissy fit over the case being dropped. So little Donny dragged the Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney to the carpet... how dare she let that evil criminal get off!

Jeanine Pirro calls secretive grand jury in unusual move after Reflecting Pool debacle put her in Trump’s crosshairs: report

After repeatedly losing Trump-priority cases in DC, the DOJ may have discovered a workaround through Pirro’s office

The Independent

Alex Woodward

13 August 2026

Under-fire acting U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has taken a highly unusual next step after being sternly and publicly rebuked by President Donald Trump for dropping the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool case against a former Olympic rower, citing a lack of evidence.

The former district attorney, judge and Fox News personality — who now answers to Trump’s ex-criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche after his confirmation as U.S. Attorney General this week — is leading a special grand jury that could be used to investigate the president’s political enemies, according to The Washington Post.

Such a secretive special grand jury could be used to draft damaging reports about Trump’s critics, including current and former Democratic officials. The subject and scope of the special grand jury’s inquiry is unclear. The Independent has requested comment from Pirro’s office and the Justice Department.

Do you remember Captain Queeg in the movie "The Caine Mutiny" and Captain Queeg's obsession over strawberries... do you remember?

Do it remind you of anyone now?

Pirro brought box of evidence to show Trump what caused Reflecting Pool damage

By Sarah N. Lynch, Jennifer Jacobs

August 4, 2026 /

CBS News

The top federal prosecutor in the nation's capital carted a box full of evidence to the White House on Monday, in a bid to prove to President Trump that the damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by shoddy construction and not by vandals, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, a staunch ally of the president, made the case in a sometimes heated private meeting in the Oval Office Monday, hours after Mr. Trump had publicly rebuked her for dropping criminal charges against Olympic canoeist David Hearn. 

She was later photographed leaving the White House carting a large white box and other bags, which sources said contained all of the evidence collected from the Interior Department that exculpated Hearn and several others from criminal vandalism.

Think of a can of strawberries!

Mr. Trump earlier in the day had accused Pirro of folding "like an umbrella," after her office on Friday filed a motion dismissing the felony case against Hearn. 

Even with all this drama... remember in court the U.S. Attorney said it was poor workmanship, not vandals, that caused the damage, and that cannot be unsaid.