Some Don’t Deserve. Some Do.

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Attribution: Pay For Congressmen by Harley Schwadron, CagleCartoons.com

Trump says some furloughed federal workers ‘don’t deserve’ back pay

“It depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said Oct. 7 in the Oval Office in response to a question from a reporter. … “There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

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80 thoughts on “Some Don’t Deserve. Some Do.”

  1. Costco is now offering Ozempic and Wegovy for half price, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are working without pay including air traffic controllers, the tower at Burbank Airport went unstaffed for six hours yesterday, Mike Johnson said Republicans are praying it’ll be a “very short shutdown,” Trump was asked whether furloughed employees would get retro-active compensation, Marjorie Taylor Greene gave a shocking statement about health insurance, Trump met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House and gave him his vision of what America would have been like under President Harris, the Senate Judiciary Committee was at work today hearing testimony from Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi, she refused to deny that border Czar Tom Homan was seen accepting $50k in cash, she dodged a question regarding whether the FBI found photos of Trump and Epstein with topless women, and since Donald Trump claims to have nothing to do with the now infamous Epstein birthday letter, we decided to do a bit of research to see if everything adds up.

  2. an interesting question starting at 8:40 after an even more interesting law lesson for the little lady who looked like having flashbacks of her most hated prof at law school.

    Senator John Kennedy goes head-to-head with Attorney General Pam Bondi in a heated Senate hearing. Kennedy grills Bondi over the DOJ’s reported seizure of phone records from eight sitting U.S. senators and raises questions about potential civil liability for telecom companies. The exchange intensifies as he presses her on transparency, accountability, and even Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged blackmail network. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, DRM News.

  3. speaking of others who’ve purportedly lied to congress
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/08/james-comey-court-indictment

    The former FBI director James Comey is set to make his first appearance in court on Wednesday in connection with federal charges that he lied to Congress in 2020.

    Comey will be booked and fingerprinted, which is normal practice for defendants, at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, before being arraigned and formally read the charges against him by US district judge Michael Nachmanoff. Nachmanoff was appointed to the federal bench by Joe Biden in 2021.

    The FBI has reportedly been weighing whether to submit Comey to a “perp walk” in which they would parade him in front of media cameras. An FBI agent was reportedly relieved of duty for refusing to participate in such an effort.

    The brief indictment handed down by a federal grand jury on 25 September accused Comey of making a false statement and obstructing a congressional investigation in connection with his September 2020 testimony to Congress. While the details of the charge remain unclear, they appear to be related to his claim that he never authorized anyone in the FBI to be an anonymous source in news stories. “I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial. And keep the faith,” Comey said in a video statement the night the charges were filed.
    [continues]

  4. Had to spend a couple hours in the car yesterday morning so I listened to the Blondi testimony. Ted Cruz sounded like he was trying to butter her up to ask her out. Josh Hawley (Yale law? He didn’t get his money’s worth ) doesn’t know the difference between wiretapping and acquiring phone records by subpoena. Democrats somehow went through hours of being confronted with oppo research from Blondi’s notebook without demanding to see them (at least in court the opposing attorney is entitled to see and copy any notes a witness refers to) and missed the opportunity to confront her with her lies in her confirmation hearing. I was surprised Schiff didn’t do that.

  5. The FBI has reportedly been weighing whether to submit Comey to a “perp walk” in which they would parade him

    When and where can they start exhibiting heads on pikes❓

  6. we’ll take care of them in a different way

    We need a new celebratory day on the calendar in honor of our President: National Talk Like a Thug Day.

  7. Pogo, great point that Dems should ask to see her notes. Dems were tough but still let her get away with too much. Wish you were on Mystery Testimony Theater with us yesterday…

  9. “we’ll take care of them in a different way”
    Ivy, very thug-gy insinuation when hissed by Dodo but can hopefully be prophetic if same words come from those intending to vote in 2026

  10. House republicans AREN’T working but ARE getting paid.
    Essential gov’t employees ARE working but AREN’T getting paid.

    yep, “There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

  11. Dolly update from wapo
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dolly-parton-s-sister-didn-t-mean-to-scare-anyone-with-prayer-request/

    In a new post on Tuesday evening, Freida Parton wrote: “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.”
    “She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister.”
    Representatives for Parton did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.
    Fans of the legendary cultural icon, who was behind hits including “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene,” and was the first female country singer to sell 1 million copies of an album, have been on edge since the star announced last week she had postponed Las Vegas performances scheduled for December until September 2026, as a result of unspecified “health challenges” that required “a few procedures.”
    And last month, Parton withdrew from an attraction announcement at Dollywood, her amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, because of an infection related to a kidney stone.
    However, Parton has sought to reassure her fans. In her statement last week over her concert postponement, she wrote: “Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet.”

  13. from wiki:

    Though unable to read sheet music, Parton can play many instruments, including: the dulcimer, autoharp, banjo, guitar, electric guitar, fiddle, piano, recorder and the saxophone.[109] Reflecting on her multi-instrumental abilities, Parton said, “I play some of everything. I ain’t that good at none of it, but I try to sell it. I really try to lay into it.”

    in this song in particular, one can certainly hear in her voice a seeming replication of the music produced by a dulcimer, autoharp and recorder. amazing too how the musical beat as well as the poetic meter replicate the nature of a butterfly.

    “Love Is Like A Butterfly” is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dolly Parton and released in August 1974. It was her overall fourth number one on the country chart as a solo artist (and her third consecutive number one). The song stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of twelve weeks on the country chart.

  14. I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer.

    That’s what I suspected. It seemed too “People Magazine-y” to me. I let that subscription go decades ago (when I stopped recognizing most of the people.)

  18. Dodo is a dishonest man. He has broken every oath, vow, and promise he has ever made. What makes you think he’ll be true to you, little sparrow Maggers-in-need-of-health-care?

  24. Under Title 32 USC, The Adjutant General (TAG) in each state is the military commander for both the Army and Air National Guard for that state and usually coordinates directly with the governor for domestic operations including emergency response.

    Oregon National Guard Adjutant General, General Gronewold says if they are federalized, that he will advise the Title 10
    commander to utilize National Guard Troops to PROTECT protesters at ICE facilities.

    *This is what needs to happen. If the NG gets pulled into this, they should protect civilians.

  27. these ancient Democrats need to cultivate new talent and get out, talk about impotent

    once again, they won’t because it would require humility

  28. it really isn’t “democracy” when less than 10% of eligible voters participate in primaries

    We don’t even know what we’re fighting for

    unicorn farts and fairytales

  29. from today’s Live Chat…
    COMEY ARRAIGNED: Not Guilty, Lawsuit To Follow ⚖️
    If this case turns out to be vindictive, guess who pays? 💸

    Watch the Targeting Comey playlist →

  30. https://www.kptv.com/2025/10/07/oregon-republican-party-shares-misleading-images-south-america-post-about-portland-protest/

    The Oregon Republican Party on Sunday published posts on its social media accounts welcoming the planned deployment of California’s National Guard to Portland. The posts included an image that appeared to show a chaotic protest scene, but the photo was not from Portland.

    According to a report by The Guardian, the image was a composite of two unrelated photos taken in South America. One showed riot police with shields labeled “Policia,” the Spanish and Portuguese word for police, and originated from a 2008 Getty Images photo believed to be from Ecuador. The other image, showing red smoke and a crowd, was taken by a Brazilian photographer in 2017 and published on the free image site Pexels.

    When a reporter from The Guardian contacted the Oregon Republican Party about the image, the party’s account on X responded: “We’re not reporters, just bad memers.” As of Tuesday, the posts containing the image had been removed from the party’s social media pages.

    A spokesperson for the Oregon GOP issued the following statement to FOX 12:

    “The graphic in question was created by one of our volunteers working quickly to post breaking news about President Trump’s deployment of California National Guard troops to Portland. The background to the announcement was created using stock photos from Canva, which—unbeknownst to us—included foreign imagery. No assertion that the images were taken in Portland was made nor intended. The post was promptly removed once the misperception was identified.”

    *Translation: Republicans are too stupid to understand reverse image searches are a thing. When caught in a lie, Republicans said it was just a meme and not meant to represent Portland (which is another lie) and then removed it (but nothing is gone forever on the internet).

  32. posot that the more USA flag thank the troops branding in a local businesses messaging is directly proportional to the likelihood they use illegal labor

  33. Humans Have Crossed 7 of 9 ‘Planetary Boundaries’
    Earth has breached a critical boundary for ocean acidification, with potentially grim effects for ocean ecosystems and human livelihoods

    Cropped image of a bar chart shows that Earth currently exceeds several planetary boundaries.
    Climate change isn’t the only planetary environmental threat facing humanity, and it intersects with many others. To better track how people are pushing Earth outside of the comfort zone we and other species have adapted to, a group of researchers created a list of nine planetary boundaries, ranging from climate change to chemical pollution to water use. When the scientists first quantified the boundaries two years ago, we had already breached six. Now we’ve crossed seven.

    The seventh boundary: The latest boundary to be surpassed is ocean acidification, which is closely linked to climate change. The ocean absorbs some of the excess CO 2 in Earth’s atmosphere, which in turn lowers the water’s pH and depletes seawater of certain carbon compounds that corals and other shell-building animals need to construct their protective homes. If the pH gets low enough, those shells and skeletons can dissolve.

    What the experts say: “The movement we’re seeing is absolutely headed in the wrong direction. The ocean is becoming more acidic, oxygen levels are dropping, and marine heatwaves are increasing. This is ramping up pressure on a system vital to stabilize conditions on planet Earth,” says Levke Caesar, co-lead of the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

    Find me on Bluesky @andreatweather.bsky.social!

    —Andrea Thompson, Senior Editor, Earth & Environment

  36. Renee
    Things that may not happen in your world.
    You know what she would say.
    “just as long as those lazy n*****s don’t get any of my tax dollars”
    As if she ever paid income taxes.
    Some folks are not worth reaching out to but we always need to remember that woman has neighbors who are.

    Jack

  37. As to Ms Parton, social media , gotta love it. I hope what ever her problem is she deals with it in the best way possible.
    I used to hang out on a usenet site where among all the arguments we had people occasionally ask for prayers and good thoughts. My favorite response to life and death requests was by a woman who would reply “I pray for the best possible outcome”.
    I liked it at the time and have (from personal experience) agreed with her explanation that sometimes death was the best possible outcome. Even though we, the living, often wish it weren’t so.
    Jack

  39. that’s a keeper Jack — “I pray for the best possible outcome” — Passing along to David, who now works for an organization advocating laws that permit medical aid in dying.

  44. Just finished 20 minutes watching Trump and his thugs “consolidating dictatorship” (as Maddow calls it). Today they’re conjuring up ANTIFA, whatever that is, as the excuse to go after political foes.

    For the record here is AI Same straight-shooting definition:

    Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” is a loose movement of activists and small groups who oppose far-right extremism, white nationalism, and authoritarianism. It has no central leadership, membership list, or national organization. U.S. law enforcement generally describes Antifa as an ideology or decentralized network rather than a formal group, with activity most visible at demonstrations against far-right or racist movements.

  45. He does not look good. The GOP made up “Antifa” and have been chasing willow-the-wisps ever since. They can’t even give you a name of any leader or member.

  46. who is saying we’re not in a dictatorship

    It’s becoming more ominous, we’re on the brink of a brutal form of totalitarianism.

  48. The Von Trapp family was Antifa.

    Anyone who is sane is Antifa.

    ps – When it’s my time, I will not be going toward the light. I will stick around and haunt some folks. I have a list.

  49. i just paid a 6% tariff on Dutch flower bulbs (selling out quickly btw if you wanted any) that were passed on from the American company from whom i purchased them

    …pretty sure that’s going straight into a certain someone’s “I want to be richer than people say Putin is” fund

    😡

    Garden looks good though 😎

    haha just got thanked for making it by a passerby

    the price is my knees

  50. It is easy to see how powerful the Dem leadership is. I saw a tweet from Schumer about going to the floor for something. Nothing after that. He really did a fire and brimstone speech nothing that is going to change history.

    At least Jefferies made some noise. A freaking magat rep verbally attacked Jefferies, almost to physical contact, and he said some things that might or might not be repeated at least once before midnight.

    sigh

  51. Yeah. Where was that fire from Jeffries the last nine months?

    Schumer is toast. Jeffries is probably toast, too. AIPAC money now smells like you’ve rolled around in poop.

    For now, they need to fight like they’ve never fought before.

  53. I saw they gaveled-in and gaveled-out before dems had a chance to get their newly-elected member sworn in.

    repubs will abuse anything that breathes and sometimes what doesn’t.

  54. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/08/trump-flag-burning-first-amendment-portland-free-speech/86589856007/

    “We took the freedom of speech away, because that’s been through the courts, and the courts said you have freedom of speech but what has happened is when they burn the flag it agitates and irritates crowds,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion on antifa. “I’ve never seen anything like it, on both sides, and you end up with riots.”

    ~Both sides~ We can burn Confederate flags, though, right?

  55. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-07/rand-paul-backs-effort-to-block-military-strikes-on-drug-boats

    Senator Rand Paul said he plans to cosponsor a measure that would prevent the Trump administration from conducting military strikes against suspected drug boats, adding to his condemnation of recent deadly attacks on alleged narco-traffickers in the Caribbean.

    “We can’t have a policy where we just blow up ships where we don’t even know the people’s names,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s Balance of Power on Tuesday. “It can’t be the policy for drug interdiction, either in the country or outside the country.”

    *So far, four boats have been attacked/folks murdered by the tRUMP administration.

  56. https://newrepublic.com/post/201445/donald-trump-venezuela-boats-water-drugs

    Seated beside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a White House press conference Tuesday, the president blamed his administration’s dubious airstrikes on several Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying what he described as “water drugs.”

    “We call them the water drugs,” Trump said. “The drugs that come in through water. They’re not coming.”

    “There are no boats anymore. Frankly, there are no fishing boats. There are no boats out there, period, if you want to know the truth. We’re saying, ‘Does anybody go fishing anymore?’ The fact is we knocked out, probably saved at least 100,000 American lives—Canadian lives, by taking out all those boats coming in,” Trump said.

    *Mush-for-brains is collapsing almost as quickly as our country.

  58. Until he’s slumping over* in a wheel chair, drooling,** he’s still too “healthy looking” for me.

    * leaning sideways

    ** I read he was drooping today, that’s a good start.

  59. Looks a lot like just another cease fire agreement.

    “first phase of a peace plan”
    hostage release “very soon”
    “first steps toward”

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!

    DONALD J. TRUMP
    PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  63. ‘Suspending Who?’ Trump Caught Flat-Footed by Question About ‘Suspending Habeas Corpus’ 

    President Donald Trump appeared not to hear or not understand a reporter’s question about possibly “suspending habeas corpus.” In any event, he attempted to foist the inquiry onto Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

    Trump took questions from reporters on Wednesday in the State Dining Room of the White House, where he hosted an “Antifa roundtable.” The president has claimed in recent weeks that Antifa, a catchall term for far-left activists, has been responsible for civil unrest in U.S. cities such as Portland, Oregon. Regarding a phone call Trump had last month with Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, the president said he was taken aback by her insistence that Portland is not the hellscape he has been saying it is.

    “I spoke to the governor, she was very nice,” Trump said last month. “But I said, ‘Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening? My people tell me different.’”

    On Wednesday, a seemingly MAGA reporter asked Trump, “Have you given any more thought to possibly suspending habeas corpus to not only deal with these insurrectionists across the nation, but also to continue rapidly deporting illegal aliens?”

    “Suspending who?” Trump responded.

    “Habeas corpus,” came the reply.

    “I don’t know,” the president said. “I’d rather leave that to Kristi. What do you think?”

    “Sir, I haven’t been part of any discussions on that,” Noem said.

    Trump then moved on to a CNN reporter, whom he promptly scolded.

    *FFS, his brain is a bowl of creamy grits.

  64. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pete-hegseth-signal-scandal-texts-portland-rcna235885

    Roughly six months later, the Signal chat scandal appears to have a burgeoning sequel. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported:

    Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth considered sending an elite U.S. Army strike force to Portland, Ore., to quell protests that President Donald Trump has characterized as ‘lawless mayhem,’ according to images of messages provided to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The messages, casually exchanged last weekend in a crowded, public space, show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne, an infantry division that has been deployed to combat zones in both world wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

    The texts were sent by Anthony Salisbury, a deputy to White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, who communicated over Signal “while traveling in Minnesota and in clear view of others”; and were received by Patrick Weaver, a senior advisor to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to the Star Tribune’s report (which has not been independently verified by MSNBC).

    A source, the newspaper continued, was “troubled by seeing sensitive military planning discussed so openly,” and so this person contacted the Star Tribune.

    If this reporting is correct, it’s a story with multiple dimensions. It’s notable, for example, that The Guardian reported last week that Miller, the president’s deputy chief of staff, has played “a leading role” in making decisions related to use of military resources, and the Star Tribune’s article lends additional credence to those concerns.

    What’s more, despite the severity of the “Signalgate” controversy from the spring, it appears the White House learned very little from the fiasco, as members continue to have casual online conversations about sensitive security matters.

    But most important of all is that top administration officials appear to be discussing the deployment of an elite infantry division for use on American soil in a city in which there is no actual crisis. (A judge issued a temporary restraining order Sunday night to prevent the Trump administration from sending even federalized National Guard to Oregon.)

    Evidently, Hegseth expressed some reluctance about this, and according to texts from his aide, the Pentagon chief wanted Trump to expressly tell him to send troops into the American city. From the Star Tribune report:

    ‘Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there,’ Weaver wrote. He acknowledged the potential political ramification of deploying Army troops to a U.S. city. Hegseth preferred to send the National Guard, he wrote.
    “82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines,” he added. “Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.”

    *Signalgate, Part Duuuh

  65. Strike. Everyone stay home if you can, even if it’s just a sick day. Buy nothing except locally & use cash if you can. This needs to happen ASAP.

    George Floyd’s Birthday (dad N&zi Kirk Day) is in the 14th.

    Big protests on Saturday, 10/18, but the fascists are itching for a fight. Hope it’s peaceful with a lot of singing and dancing.

    National Guard should, as Gronewald said, protect protesters from ICE.

    Blackouts the system with boycotts from Black Friday – Cyber Monday (and beyond), but this is going to take sustained action.

  66. right after i order these fritillaria meleagris 😑

    you won’t have the economic impact to unseat the regime, his policies might though

    direct your money towards peoples you support when there is that option (black, women, immigrant, ally owned)

    go try that halal or tamale cart you’ve been wondering about 🫡

  67. it’s a messaging problem when you say “everything is getting precipitously worse by the day and I also suggest that you voluntarily make everything a little bit worse for yourself personally for possibly no gain”

    i appreciate your intent though 🫡

    you call for strikes when there’s a groundswell

  68. Ivy, two answers when you raise your hand in jury voir dire:
    1. (Criminal) They wouldn’t have indicted him/her/them if they weren’t guilty.
    2. (Civil) why would anyone hire a lawyer if they didn’t have evidence that he/she/they weren’t liable?

    You’re welcome.

  69. I always call the number with dread the night before and the automated service tells me I don’t need to come in

    🫳🪵

    I honestly think they use jury duty as a voter suppression technique

  70. as posted before, per the American Legion US Flag Code, burning the US flag is the only way to reaper dispose of it

  72. Then there are people like m who want to be on a jury and really wish I would get called. I’ve only served on three in 50 years. Always wanted to get a Grand Jury summons but that has never happened.

  75. Then there are people like m who want to be on a jury and really wish I would get called.

    lol that is a good thing to say to be excused also

  77. Orange Adolf is having another “annual” physical on Friday.

    He also had an “annual” physical in April.

  79. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-walter-reed-yearly-checkup-health-speculation-b2842171.html

    Trump to visit Walter Reed for ‘routine yearly checkup’ for second time in six months

    https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/115125

    VITAL STATISTICS:

    Age: 78 years, 10 months
    Height: 75 inches
    Weight: 224 pounds
    Resting Heart Rate: 62 beats per minute
    Blood Pressure: 128/74 mmHg
    Pulse Oximetry: 99% on room air
    Temperature: 98.6 °F

    *Hmmm, he has veinous insufficiency (cankles), but the oxometer on his finger is 99% ? Also, he’s not 6’2.5” because JD is 6’3” and looks to be several inches taller. And, 224? I don’t think so based on what he looks like in golfing attire.

    Ooooo, maybe it’s a trap. They’re gonna Amendment 25 him with a report showing his mind is mush.

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