Our liberty depends on the rule of law
Which is why Trump tries so hard to subvert it
Attribution: David Horsey’s Substack 6/25/26
The Rule or the Ruler
77 thoughts on “The Rule or the Ruler”
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Attribution: David Horsey’s Substack 6/25/26
Comments are closed.
“The War Prayer “. Mark Twain, 1904
Our liberty depends on the rule of law by David Horsey
The American judicial system is not perfect and the current Supreme Court leans heavily against protecting voting rights while enhancing the power of a sociopathic president, but, in our current era of political peril, it is the courts that have done the most to protect the liberty achieved by the revolutionaries 250 years ago.
Separation of powers was the brilliant concept infused in the nation’s founding documents by the 18th century men who designed what was then a very novel kind of government. Many of them had a dark view of human nature and were intent on checking the ambitions of powerful leaders by setting up multiple centers of influence — the executive, the legislative and the judicial — that would balance and check each other.
As we have learned over the past 10 years, even the Founders clever design is no guarantee that people with anti-democratic intent will not find ways to subvert the Constitution. For a decade — even when he was out of office for four years — Donald Trump has flouted the law and all-too-successfully made the political system bend to his impulses, his vengefulness, his autocratic demands and his clownish ignorance.
Currently, Congress is controlled by partisans too weak or too stupid to resist Trump’s power grabs, his imbecilic policies and his flagrant attacks on civil liberties. Only the judiciary has been willing and able to counter Trump’s illegal assaults. Whether appointed by Democratic or Republicans presidents, judges have ruled against the president’s autocratic schemes over and over again. Sometimes the Trump administration has ignored the rulings, and sometimes the conservative majority on the Supreme Court has overruled them, but judges have, nevertheless, provided the most consistent check on Trump’s madness.
At this moment when the celebration of America’s 250 years of independence has been tarnished so badly by Donald Trump’s egomaniacal shenanigans, we can, at least, celebrate our federal judiciary. We need to remember that our republic depends not only on voting and elections, but on the rule of law.
Without it, we are left with nothing but a pseudo-patriotic charade.
Judge Smacks Down Trump’s IRS Settlement And Orders Sanctions
Topline
President Donald Trump’s controversial settlement with the IRS was an unlawful effort to use the court system for his and his administration’s own benefit, a federal judge ruled Monday, nullifying the agreement while ordering sanctions in the case and referring the president’s attorneys for possible disciplinary action.
Key Facts
Judge Kathleen M. Williams voided Trump’s agreement with the IRS, which included a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” for the president’s allies and a sweeping immunity agreement shielding him, his sons and other “related parties” from some prosecution or civil action from the federal government.
The IRS settlement was borne out of Trump’s lawsuit against the agency and came as Williams was in the process of determining whether the litigation could even move forward, as it was unclear whether Trump and the IRS he controls as president were actually “adverse” parties with opposing interests.
Williams ruled Monday the parties weren’t actually in opposition to each other and the litigation and settlement aren’t lawful as a result, writing Trump “improperly” used the lawsuit “as a means of conferring legitimacy upon a course of action that they were unwilling to subject to judicial review.”
The judge said the parties in the case are barred from referring to the “settlement agreement” or trying to use its provisions in any official proceedings, essentially voiding it, and ordered both monetary sanctions—paid to former federal judges who asked Williams to reopen the lawsuit—and non-monetary sanctions in the case.
Williams referred Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar for potential disciplinary action, and directed a copy of her order to be included as part of disciplinary proceedings that are already ongoing against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.
Trump’s personal legal team did not comment directly on the ruling Monday, but criticized the IRS for failing to conceal the president’s tax returns and said the president “continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
Crucial Quote
By bringing his IRS lawsuit and settling the case, Trump was using the court “to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” Williams wrote Monday, concluding the plaintiffs in the case—Trump, his eldest sons and the Trump Organization, “acted in bad faith.”
What to Watch for
Trump could still appeal Williams’ order and try to get the agreement approved again. It’s also unclear how much the parties could have to pay in sanctions, but the amount will be based on reimbursing the former judges who intervened in the case for their attorneys fees.
Bastille Day! Storm the gates!
Why a GOP-appointed judge just rejected Trump’s massive voter roll demand
The Trump administration suffered another courtroom defeat Monday amid its efforts to obtain sensitive state voter registration records, after a Republican-appointed federal judge ruled that the government’s legal arguments suffered from “factual deficiencies.”
In a 16-page opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston of the Northern District of West Virginia dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit against West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, finding that the government’s request for the state’s unredacted statewide voter registration list lacked the statutory “basis” required under the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
Johnston, who was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2006, also denied the Justice Department’s motion to compel production of the records.
The ruling represents another setback for the administration’s nationwide campaign to obtain voter registration databases from states as part of its election integrity initiative. The effort has sparked resistance from election officials and privacy advocates, who argue that the federal government lacks authority to compel disclosure of sensitive voter information in many circumstances.
Johnston noted that his decision aligns with a growing body of federal court decisions rejecting similar lawsuits.
“Thus far, eleven federal district courts and one court of appeals have now dismissed Plaintiff’s lawsuits on motions similar to the ones pending before this Court,” Johnston wrote in the footnotes of his opinion. “No court has ruled in favor of the United States to date.”
Newsweek has reached out to the DOJ via email for comment.
Why the Judge Rejected the Request
At the center of the dispute was a September 2025 letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding that West Virginia provide an unredacted copy of its statewide voter registration list, including voters’ names, dates of birth, addresses and identifying information.
The Justice Department argued it needed the records to determine whether West Virginia was complying with the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.
But Johnston concluded the request failed to satisfy the Civil Rights Act itself.
“The central question,” Johnston wrote, was whether the Attorney General’s written demand contained both a statement of the “basis” and the “purpose” for requesting the records, as required by statute. Johnston found it did not, writing that the “Plaintiff’s demand fails to include a factual basis, as required by Title III.”
Johnston said the government’s letter merely explained its legal authority and stated that it wanted to evaluate West Virginia’s compliance with federal election laws.
“Clearly, this demand is devoid of any factual basis,” he wrote.
The opinion noted that the Justice Department never identified any evidence suggesting West Virginia had violated federal law.
“The demand includes no indication that West Virginia is suspected to be noncompliant with the list maintenance requirements of HAVA or the NVRA, nor does it point to any anomalies in West Virginia’s voter registration data.”
Johnston further observed that the demand letter repeatedly discussed its “purpose” but never articulated its “basis.”
“The letter contains the term ‘purpose’ but does not use the word ‘basis,’ or provide any equivalent explanation supporting the necessity of the records request,” the judge wrote.
Government’s Arguments Had ‘Factual Deficiencies’
The opinion also rejected the Justice Department’s argument that courts should play only a limited role when reviewing requests under the Civil Rights Act. Instead, Johnston held that ordinary federal pleading standards apply, requiring the government to allege sufficient facts to support its claim.
Quoting Supreme Court precedent, Johnston wrote that complaints must contain enough factual allegations to make claims “plausible on [their] face,” rather than relying on conclusory assertions.
Throughout the opinion, Johnston repeatedly emphasized what he described as the factual deficiencies in the government’s position, concluding that the Attorney General had failed to satisfy Congress’s requirement that written demands explain not only their purpose but also the factual basis supporting them.
Because the government failed to satisfy that threshold requirement, Johnston said the court did not need to address West Virginia’s additional arguments that producing the records could violate federal privacy laws and state law protections.
A Growing String of Losses
Johnston noted that his ruling is far from an outlier.
According to the opinion, federal courts across the country—including district courts in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Maine, Arizona, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, California and Michigan, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit—have all rejected similar lawsuits brought by the Justice Department seeking statewide voter registration records.
“No court has ruled in favor of the United States to date,” Johnston wrote.
Who is Thomas E. Johnston?
Thomas E. Johnston has served as a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of West Virginia since 2006, after being nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate.
Before joining the federal bench, Johnston worked as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2001 to 2006. He previously spent years in private practice and has presided over a wide range of civil and criminal cases during his tenure on the federal bench.
Although Johnston is regarded as a conservative jurist, his latest opinion underscores that federal judges—including those appointed by Republican presidents—continue to independently scrutinize the factual and legal merits of cases brought by the executive branch.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Gray R. Thomas
thanking and reposting WinterLinde for the
July 14, 2026 at 5:01 am contribution
Frances national holiday
Attribution: by Bill Bramhall
Bill Bramhall was born in 1950, graduated from Northwestern University in 1973, and had been the staff editorial cartoonist for the New York Daily News since 2005. Previously he was the staff cartoonist at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. His cartoons and illustrations have appeared in wide variety of publications.
Jun 15, 2025 AUBURN
As thousands protested in Auburn, CA, the rural town of 14,000 people, community members stood on the steps of the historic courthouse and sang “Do you hear the people sing?” one of the most recognizable songs from Les Miserables. This song has been used as a protest song throughout the years and is a call to overcome adversity and fight against oppression.
Protesters peacefully lined the streets surrounding the historic Auburn courthouse. Everyone, and we mean everyone, who is watching what’s happening in our country and has a conscience, is on the streets or showing solidarity. Thank you, Auburn. Thank you, everyone. Placer County’s community has never been stronger.
.
Don’t worry. Susan’s got this.
Maine News
Jordan Wood ‘paid a price’ for condemning Platner. Now he hopes it pays off.
LEWISTON, MAINE — Jordan Wood wants Maine Democrats to remember that he called for Graham Platner to end his Senate run last year, when early scandals about the rising star emerged.
But Wood also doesn’t want Platner’s former fervent supporters to forget that, after Wood ended his own Senate campaign to run for Congress in the 2nd District, he ultimately endorsed Platner as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Wood, a 36-year-old Lewiston native and former Capitol Hill staffer, is back in the pivotal Senate race he first entered in April 2025. His rollercoaster election cycle, and his subtle pitch for picking up the Democratic nomination from a candidate who galvanized progressives before withdrawing in disgrace, typify the field of contenders in the truncated process underway to replace Platner.
His singular year in the Maine political spotlight also sets him apart, Wood argued at a small press conference on Monday.
“How is our candidate going to have the moral clarity and earn the trust of voters that they are independent of the campaign of Graham Platner?” Wood said Democrats should ask, speaking to reporters in an art gallery in downtown Lewiston. “This is something that I uniquely have the ability to do.”
Last October, Wood said in a statement that Platner’s inflammatory Reddit comments and chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol were “disqualifying.” The following month, after U.S. Rep. Jared Golden announced his retirement from Congress, Wood switched to the Democratic primary to succeed him.
In an interview after the news conference Monday, Wood said he “paid a price” politically for his statement against Platner at the time, while other Democrats tolerated the charismatic Marine veteran’s checkered history.
Now, he said, he expects that Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican seeking her sixth term, and her allies will try to tie her eventual Democratic opponent to Platner’s controversies.
“I’m the one that can say truthfully, like, ‘I saw the red flags,’” Wood said.
Even while touting his distance from Platner’s Senate campaign, Wood also stressed his agreement with Platner’s progressive platform, and said he counted Platner and his wife as friends.
After Wood lost the 2nd District Democratic primary to State Auditor Matt Dunlap, who had just rallied with Platner, Platner was among the first people to call, Wood said. Yet he suggested that his poor primary performance in Platner’s own Hancock County, which is also Dunlap’s home, resulted in part from some voters’ “lingering resentment” about his October call for Platner to bow out.
During his remarks to the media, Wood cast blame on out-of-state political strategists who recruited Platner to run for Senate. Wood said they failed to warn him adequately about the relentless attacks he could face for any episode from his past.
Every candidate seeking to replace Platner as the Democratic Senate nominee has had to contend with the political toxicity of his fall. Platner left the race following a rape allegation that he denies. But those seeking to succeed him also hope to harness the power of the movement that culminated in Platner’s overwhelming primary victory over Gov. Janet Mills.
The contenders must collect hundreds of signatures from Maine Democrats to qualify for the nominating process. County meetings this weekend will produce delegates for a convention in Bangor the following weekend, according to the Maine Democratic Party’s plans.
The Best Thing in the Window
For several years Rosemary and I have wanted to try the widely acclaimed Norimoto Bakery in Portland, Maine. Winner of a James Beard Award, it is one of Portland’s hidden gems. But when we tried to find it last week, we walked right past it. Twice. That’s because it is tiny, sandwiched between two buildings, unmarked, and nondescript. The building does not even have the bakery’s name on it. Nor signage about menu or prices or the numerous awards they’ve won.
When we did find it, I focused on the pastries, a minor obsession of mine. As usual, Rosemary was attentive to something more important – the one sign taped to the window:
I love everything about that sign: that it speaks directly to kids (from three nearby schools); that it prioritizes their comfort and dignity, that it strikes a bargain to be kind, and that it is so important it is the only thing in the window.
The chef/owner is Atsuko Fujimoto who came to the U.S. from Japan 25 years ago, learned her trade, and opened the bakery in 2021. Nominated for a James Beard Award three times, she won in 2024 and is one of the most original and innovative chefs in the country. A taste of her yuzu almond melon pan, kouign amann, miso caramel millionaire’s bars, or Matcha Adzuki roll will be all it takes to convince you. Her offerings also include a moral compass.
Share Our Strength works with many of the largest restaurant brands in the United States, from Union Square Café and Fogo de Choa to Arby’s and Tropical Smoothie Café. (We have on our board another great chef and baker, Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery. See her upcoming benefit for No Kid Hungry, “Cookies On The Common” at https://ma.to/event/cookies-on-the-common-18-oct-2026) Culinary generosity has raised tens of millions of dollars to fight childhood hunger. But the one small gesture on the part of Atsuko Fujimoto reminded me that philanthropy is not measured only in dollars, but also in the values we choose to display.
At a time when too much of our culture is about looking out for oneself, and getting as much as you can, her sign in the window sends a very different message:
It says you don’t have to be wealthy or start a foundation to be a philanthropist.
It says you don’t need to amass political power to make a difference.
It says immigrants to America don’t take from our community but enrich it.
It says everyone has a strength to share.
As diligently as I seek delicious pastry treats, I have an even greater appetite for the sometimes hard-to-find leaders in our communities who embody the values we hold dear. When we do find them we need to share and amplify their words, vision, teachings, and even the signs in their windows.
Atsuko Fujimoto’s bakery represents more than a recipe for great pastry. It’s a recipe for a better country.
What will he say when the grand juries reject all these bogus charges against “vandals”.
Maine News
From the Bangor Daily News
They’re relentlessly posting on social media. Some are holding town halls and news conferences. All of them are working the phones.
The handful of Democratic U.S. Senate candidates fighting to replace Graham Platner on the ballot have quickly re-assembled staff and volunteers from previous bids for office. They are recruiting allies, including potential delegates for a 600-member nominating convention on July 25 and voters poised to elect those same delegates in county caucuses this weekend.
Also making the rounds over the phones and online are hundreds of progressives who backed the scandal-plagued oyster farmer, several of them now pressing to become delegates to pick the nominee facing five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.
It’s a frantic effort. Many are engaged in heavily guarded chats on Signal and Discord, rapidly sharing updates and some frustration on the unprecedented nominating process, according to two sources familiar with the moves of Platner’s former organizers and volunteers after he lost institutional support and withdrew following allegations of sexual misconduct.
“It’s going to be a s—-show,” one of the sources said.
The candidates face the challenge of quickly organizing, raising money, recruiting and finally persuading as many of the eventual 600 delegates as possible. The process, sparked by Platner’s exit Friday after a series of escalating high-profile scandals since the fall, has kept the nation’s eyes on Maine as Democrats’ hopes to take the Senate likely rest on the new nominee.
Local and county party leaders on the Democratic State Committee are playing catch up and readying for the quick-start convention while they field countless calls and emails from candidates, staffers, volunteers, and media from across the country.
“That poor woman,” said someone who picked up a phone number for a Democratic county chair on Monday afternoon and said the person had been “inundated” with calls.
At a Bangor movie theater Sunday, dozens of voters poised to hear public health chief Nirav Shah signed forms and scanned QR codes for information on how to become a delegate or get engaged in the county’s meetings. He was the first of the candidates to hold a town hall Saturday and has held news conferences.His volunteers, many of them carried over from his gubernatorial race, are also on the phones with Democrats across the state.
Former political aide Jordan Wood, who ran in the 2nd Congressional District primary, also held a news conference Monday and announced plans for town halls. But behind-the-scenes organizing is also key for candidates and staff more accustomed to broad strategies.
Like Shah and Wood, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has been posting updates about her run on social media, but she hasn’t held public events yet. She’s quickly reassembled her volunteer network and reached out to all 16 county chairs and other party officials to gear up for the convention.
Jackson’s team is directly reaching out to potential delegates across the state, building on strong institutional support among party leaders, activists and labor groups. His campaign says 10,000 individual donors contributed in the 24 hours after he launched a bid. On Monday night, he’s poised to join a livestreamed organizing call with other battleground progressives hosted by Our Revolution.
“Usually, you can’t have any hopes of reaching even a fraction of the number of people who will be deciding a nomination,” said a source familiar with Maine Beer Co. co-founder Dan Kleban’s reignited Senate campaign. “In this case, the mass communication strategy is not super efficient. He’s really just trying to talk to as many people as possible, burning up the phones.”
Social worker Paige Loud, former government official David Costello and former state Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson have also declared runs ahead of a Wednesday deadline. The candidates must collect 500 signatures from registered voters, including at least 50 from no fewer than eight counties, to stand for election at a state convention.
Franklin County Democratic Chair Wayne Kinney, who leads the subcommittee working on the county caucuses, said in a statement Monday that the party had created “one of the most open, transparent and inclusive nominating process I’ve ever seen.”
A source who said the next two weeks would be chaotic said the process could make for “another Bernie moment,” referring to independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an early Platner endorser who roused progressives in the 2016 and 2020 presidential races.
“It might get a whole lot of progressives interested in becoming county chairs,” the person said.
Has anyone looked into/questioned the work done by the workers who vacuumed the algae? Couldn’t careless or over overzealous poking with long poles at the pond bottom have weakened/loosened/damaged the liner/paint enough for pieces to ultimately break away?
taken during the vacuum of the algae
Nash, you could get press credentials for the convention as TrailMix.cc Maine Bureau Chief.
From the Maine Dem Party site convention announcement:
Maine News (not really)
I take full responsibility for the veracity of following text…
The Boston Office of the FBI today issued a statement that they had already concluded that the ICE agents who shot the man in Biddeford, Maine were acting in self-defense.
An FBI spokesperson said, “We just need to conduct an investigation that supports our conclusion. And we need to arrest a bunch of Democratic Socialists and charge them with domestic terrorism.”
President Trump posted his support of this legal strategy on social media saying, “Prison sentences first, verdict second, trial third, arrests fourth, and investigation fifth.”
Trump also noted that he planned to spend the rest of today in Wonderland, with Alice.
“They’ve got the best mushrooms here. No one has ever tasted mushrooms like these before.”
Hey everyone. My brother-in-law’s sister and her husband live in Maine. But, I believe they actually LIKE Trump. I just realized yesterday that a former meteorologist in Grand Rapids is running for Congress in this year’s election. As a Republican, of course. Her name is Terri DeBoer. I’m still grappling with the Dodgers decision to visit the White House on July 23rd. They say it’s “not political”, but somehow they don’t realize that decisions like this are wins for Trump. Because he will surely take this as a win. I recently bought a ticket to see the Dodgers play the Cubs in Chicago in early August. The decision to visit the White House made me somewhat regret that decision, but I guess the money I spend is going to the Cubs, not the Dodgers.
Lewis Carroll, “Alice through he looking Glass.”
From chapter XII: the Trial Scene…
“Let the jury consider their verdict,” the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
“No, no!” said the Queen. “Sentence first—verdict afterwards.”
“Stuff and nonsense!” said Alice loudly. “The idea of having the sentence first!”
“Hold your tongue!” said the Queen, turning purple.
“I won’t!” said Alice.
“Off with her head!” the Queen shouted at the top of her voice.
From the trial scene in Woody Allen’s movie “Bananas.”
Call the first witness. (A New York City Police Officer.)
And you remember Fielding Mellish?
He’s got a record.
He was always being picked up at one demonstration or another.
He’s a bad apple, a commie.
A New York Jewish intellectual communist crackpot.
l mean, l don’t wanna cast no aspersions.
Joe Pesci’s opening statement as the defense lawyer in the movie “My Cousin Vinnie.”
“Everything that guy just said is bullshit. Thank you.”
one more cowbell…
On the menu at 11am ET…
Blanche’s AG hearing starts TOMORROW, and the Epstein cover-up just got a new hot button: Watch ZORRO HORROR RANCH 👇
When does the Bastille get stormed, how, and by whom since there is no organization called “Antifa”?
The J6ers do have originations (Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, etc.) and have storm experience, but they like where we’re headed.
🛟
Blue: The Happy Birthday Waltz
today’s meme…
There’s a lot of things I miss about having cows for neighbors in my youth, but most of all I miss the moo although a close second would be the poo.
it obviously sucks
That’s why you never see painted pool bottoms
if you noticed the paint floats, so all it needed was water underneath it and…
I challenge anyone to go outside with a box cutter or a pencil or anything like that and try to cut or draw a 350’ line on the ground with it, without stopping
then imagine trying underwater, absurd
lol now he’s saying 300 YARDS?? lololol he’s so dumb
It’s not even humanly possible for someone to cut a fucking thousand foot line with a razor blade. Get the fuck out of here.
Blue
The lyrics I learned when my mother sang:
Happy birthday, Happy birthday
Just for you
Happy birthday, Happy birthday
May all your dreams come true.
When you blow out the candles
One light stays aglow
That’s the sunshine of your smile
Where e’er you go.
trump is the vandal
misdemeanor at least
constitution outlines a legal process
I don’t care whether they build that arch or not but Trump only does shit work, thing will fall on somebody’s head
Today in the Diner…
Todd Blanche, Zorro Ranch & Epstein Secrets
New Mexico AG Raul Torres exposes Todd Blanche over the Epstein Zorro Ranch cover-up. Plus: Gary Peters shakes up Michigan and Bastille Day madness.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres is demanding the unredacted Epstein files, blowing the lid off the Zorro Ranch secrets right before Todd Blanche faces his confirmation hearing. If Sheldon Whitehouse and the Senate Democrats have any backbone, they will press Blanche on why the Department of Justice is burying the evidence involving Peter Thiel, Leslie Groff, and dozens of other enablers tied to the Santa Fe property.
Meanwhile, Gary Peters dropped a bomb on the Michigan Senate race by endorsing Haley Stevens, leaving the presumed frontrunner out in the cold. We also dive into the Bastille Day pageantry with Emmanuel Macron in Paris, review Tim Walz pulling his National Guard troops out of Washington DC, and look back at Alexander Hamilton’s eerily accurate warnings about demagogues before taking your calls.
Live Chat: https://trailmix.cc/chat
Website: https://trailmix.cc
Alerts: https://trailmix.cc/alerts
00:00 Intro
00:03 Raul Torres and Zorro Ranch
02:40 Katie Phang targets Todd Blanche
12:20 Susan Collins and Boston DHS
16:45 Gary Peters backs Haley Stevens
26:40 Trump, Iran and Congress
37:05 Macron and Bastille Day Parade
46:30 Alexander Hamilton on Demagogues
58:00 Jamie Raskin and Calling Congress
From Facebook: Mariana Hernandez
Delayed flight. Gate C14. And God himself decided to entertain me by placing two men directly behind me solving America’s $39 trillion debt problem between bites of a $22 airport sandwich.
Guy #1 turns to his friend:
“If capitalism is so great, why are we $39 TRILLION in debt?”
Guy #2, without missing a beat:
“Because of socialist programs, obviously.”
I closed my laptop. I needed a moment.
Because let’s actually look at where the $39 trillion came from. Not feelings. Not talking points. Numbers.
💣 THE IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN WARS: $8 TRILLION
No WMDs found. No democracy built. Two countries left in chaos. That’s not socialism. That’s bipartisan warmongering with a Lockheed Martin logo on it.
💣 THE 2008 BANK BAILOUT: $700 BILLION (+ $12 TRILLION in Fed support)
Wall Street gambled with your mortgage, crashed the global economy, then got handed a check with YOUR name on it. The banks kept their bonuses. You kept your debt. That’s not socialism for the poor — that’s socialism for the rich.
💣 THE 2017 TAX CUTS: $1.9 TRILLION added to the debt
Sold as a gift to the middle class. Apple alone saved $47 billion. Your check? Maybe $40 a month. The debt? $1.9 trillion heavier.
💣 THE US HEALTHCARE SYSTEM: $4.5 TRILLION per year
America spends MORE per person than any country on Earth — and gets LESS. A hip replacement in Spain? €6,000. In the US? $40,000. Medical bills are the #1 cause of personal bankruptcy in America. That’s not too much socialism. That’s the cost of having none.
💣 PENTAGON BUDGET: $886 BILLION in 2024 alone
Larger than the next 10 countries COMBINED. Meanwhile your bridge is crumbling and your kid’s school has a GoFundMe for pencils.
Now. Let’s talk about socialism “failing.”
🇲🇽 MEXICO — right next door. Nobody’s paying attention.
Claudia Sheinbaum became president in 2024. She has a PhD in climate science. An actual scientist running a country. Not a TV personality. Not a failed businessman. A scientist.
She expanded universal pensions, free internet nationwide, and scholarships for millions of young Mexicans. Foreign investment is flooding in. Nearshoring is making Mexico one of the hottest manufacturing destinations on Earth.
And she’s navigating Trump’s tariffs and border provocations with more dignity than any US politician has managed in years. She doesn’t tweet at 3am.
Must be infuriating for some people. 😊
🇧🇷 BRAZIL — and this story needs to be told.
Lula was a factory worker. A union leader. A man who lost a finger in a machine press and turned his pain into a political movement. He was imprisoned on charges later thrown out by Brazil’s Supreme Court — many believe to keep him from power.
He came back. Won the election. Returned to the presidency at 77.
Under Lula:
• Bolsa Família restored — lifting millions out of extreme poverty
• Minimum wage raised above inflation for the first time in years
• Amazon deforestation dropped 50% in his first year back
A man who came from nothing, survived prison, and came back to feed the poor and protect the rainforest.
That’s not a communist villain. That’s a story Hollywood would make a movie about — if he were American and right-wing.
🇨🇳 CHINA — and this one will really hurt.
Nominally communist. And yet:
• 45,000 km of high-speed rail. The US has zero.
• 5 million engineers graduated per year. The US graduates 200,000.
• BYD just outsold Tesla worldwide.
• 800 million people lifted out of poverty in 40 years — the greatest anti-poverty achievement in human history.
Someone forgot to tell the second largest economy on Earth that socialism always fails.
While America spent $8 trillion blowing up the Middle East, China was building infrastructure, educating engineers, and buying up the debt America kept creating.
Who’s actually winning here?
And yes — Venezuela. We know.
A corrupt petro-dictatorship that printed money, destroyed private institutions, and was strangled by US sanctions. Not a social democracy. Not what any serious economist proposes. Comparing Venezuela to these countries is like comparing a gas station hot dog to a Michelin star restaurant and concluding that food is dangerous.
Here’s what those two guys at Gate C14 — and half of Facebook — can’t grasp:
America doesn’t have too much socialism.
America has socialism for the wrong people.
Subsidies for oil companies that made $200 billion in profit? Socialism.
Bailouts for banks that gambled and lost? Socialism.
Tax breaks for private jets and yachts? Socialism.
Free school lunch for a hungry 7-year-old? Suddenly that’s communism.
The $39 trillion wasn’t built by teachers, nurses, food stamps, or public libraries.
It was built by wars nobody wanted, tax cuts nobody needed, bailouts for people who needed them least, and a healthcare racket that would make the mafia blush.
But sure. Blame the socialism.
Flight’s still delayed. They’re still talking.
I ordered another coffee.
I just completed an online application to attend the Cumberland County (Maine) meeting of registered Democratic voters to select the next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate to oppose Susan Collins.
I immediately received the following reply message…
You are receiving this message because you applied to be a voting participant for the upcoming Cumberland County Nomination Meeting.
We are writing to inform you that it has been determined, based on the information that you provided to the Maine Democratic Party, that you are approved to participate as a voter at your upcoming County Delegate Nomination Meetings.
More details about the meeting will be shared as they are set!
Additionally, if you have any accessibility needs, please complete the Accessibility Needs Form.
We appreciate your interest in participating in this important process.
-Maine Democratic Party
*****
Next: I will try to get “Press” credentials as a Trailmix.cc correspondent. I don’t know if I can get those but now I will definitely be at the meeting and will be able to report on it, whether I get the press credentials or not.
Thanks Craig, for suggesting this! 🇺🇸
ICE agents halt most vehicle stops following deadly shootings in Maine, Texas, sources say
Yeah Nash!!
You might want consider that being identified as Press after you have been selected as a voter might get you cancelled as a voter. Good to know you will be there!!!
Iran War Distraction
🍽️From today’s Digital Diner menu
GO NASH!
Corey
Don’t let politics keep you from a game at Wrigley Field. The best place to watch a ball game, imo.
Jack
Corey, we have an opening for Michigan Bureau Chief in chatroom. Come talk to us. Your Senate race is HUGE!
“Some” of the agents told to “pause”, “largely suspend” traffic stops??? Who decides what those weasel words actually mean?
Craig: I have an ethical dilemma. You have experience with being “press” at political events, so you can help me.
Can I act as “press” at an event where I will be voting? It seems like a conflict of interest. I’m thinking that, ethically, I should not seek official “press” status. Press are not supposed to be participants, just observers. Correct?
The best path may be go to the county meeting as a voter and report to Trail mix, informally, as it is unquestionably my right to. I’ll try to video the meeting, if they allow that. If not, I’ll just report on how it went.
What do you think? Is this a good plan?
Nash, that line from Pesci in My Cousin Vinnie (among my top 2 favorite movies) is my favorite line from the movie. and the judge struck everything in his opening statement except “Thank you.”
So I see the judge released the $5.6 M awarded to E. Jean yesterday. Good for her – we now have a sexual abuser sitting in the oval office with no avenue of appeal left – as they say on TV, case closed.
And in other news – cyclosporiasis (stay away from Taco Hell).
And an Iran War participation trophy for Dumbass has been erected on the National Mall. I hope he enjoys it. (Gas is back up to $3.97.9 here after dropping to $3.20.9 last Wednesday.)
They’re building the arch out of plywood.
Half-inch plywood.
B/C.
Poobah, let me translate…
This means that ICE officers who have shot and killed people who are from this country
are being told not to do that again.
meme #2…
Stur, that will make it easier to tear down in 2029 – if the snow doesn’t collapse it before then.
There don’t seem to be any lyrics to Himno Nacional España. Huh. Well, even though it’s Bastille Day, and France has been favored to win since before WC started, it would be OK with me if Spain were to win. How ticked off would Orange Adolf be if he had to hand out the FIFA trophy to Spain, since that government is on his naughty list?
From my morning read, NYTimes, link
I have to insert an eyeroll here, *sarcasm: Now what could possibly go wrong with that /sarcasm
You know, I know and anybody with 3 brain cells know this is a bad idea, that even Netflix would turn down as a movie proposal.
So far it has been slowed down by folks who understand the basics of spying
Right Nash, being an actual player in the game far better than spectator. Don’t jeapordize that gig.
Thank You for the birthday wishes on the chat, in the mail, and on the trail.
I piñata-ed this from a web hanging over the deck today. I didn’t have the heart to unalive it today, besides there being hundreds more somewhere. Took it off of the BBQ and tossed it some weeds.
Nash
Most of these event are casual and very relaxed after the work is done. Alsopeople doing politics love to talk and often hang around after the meetings. Make a note of some of the more interesting speakers. If they hang around, clip on your badge , hand them your card and ask them if they would mind talking to a small nationwide group of politically active people.
See what happens.
BTW, this doesn’t work if Don is in charge and every group has a Don, most don’t let him run anything beyond putting up the ballons. If he is in charge he will be busy pushing everybody out the door.
Jack
Susan does her Dance Of Precious Nuance in the halls of the Senate, while Troy Jackson stood at the crime scene yesterday saying “It’s time to stop this shit”
Blanche’s AG hearing starts tomorrow, and the Epstein cover-up just hit the hot seat. Will the Senate force the release of the unredacted Zorro Ranch files, or are they joining the complicit?
▶
Watch the breakdown:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/hungary-passes-constitutional-amendment-remove-165049363.html
Hungary passes constitutional amendment to remove Orbán-era president
Hungary’s Parliament voted Monday to pass a constitutional amendment to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office and make some political reforms aimed at dismantling the political system of autocratic former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
After winning in a landslide election in April, current Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his pro-European, center-right Tisza party hold a two-thirds majority in Parliament, allowing them to make constitutional changes and roll back many of the policies Orbán implemented during his 16 years in power.
The constitutional amendment, which had the stated purpose of “restoring rule-of-law democracy,” passed with 139 votes for and six against in the 199-member Parliament. Tisza lawmakers held a standing ovation after the vote, while lawmakers from Orbán’s far-right Fidesz party boycotted the parliamentary session.
*This is what MAGAt Repugz fear will happen if they don’t cheat (or shut down) the midterms. The Christo-fascists are deeply unpopular either way over 2/3 of this country, so they know they are toast if they don’t kick out the plug. Speaking of which, McConnell is still unalive?
DOJ Blackmail Vault:
🍽️ From today’s Digital Diner menu
Ooo, Spain win. Dumbass might have to give the trophy to them. Ha!
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/ml–iran-us-042620317.html
When U.S. President Donald Trump announced the return of the blockade Monday, he also said he would impose a 20% fee on ships passing through the strait.
But he dropped the plan to collect fees hours before resuming the blockade, citing requests from allies in the Gulf.
*Its Taco Tuesday!
*Paid influencers; influencer brief from the Hayley Stevens campaign in MI.
CSPAN WITH HECKLERS
The Diner crew goes full MST3K on Todd Blanche. 11am ET sharp.
Todd Blanche is up for the permanent Attorney General gig, and we are in Mystery Science Theater mode for tomorrow’s confirmation hearing with fresh popcorn, spitballs and zero respect for the script.
Having run the department as Acting AG since Pam Bondi’s abrupt exit, Blanche is now looking to lock down the crown. We are heckling every single dodge, deflect, and procedural handstand live as it happens.
Where do we even begin? From the unresolved web of Epstein cover-ups—including Ghislaine Maxwell’s secret deals and the infamous Zorro Horror Ranch in New Mexico—to the black hole of protected crypto scams, this is institutional decay in real time.
We are breaking down the blatant, illegal conflicts of interest designed to shield the Trump family from federal tax probes while watching the systematic, top-to-bottom dismantling of the rule of law at the DOJ and the FBI.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/07/14/world-cup-2026/france-world-cup-ice-deportation-plane-00996781
French soccer team arrives in Dallas on an ICE deportation jet
Less than an hour after dropping off Les Bleus in Dallas, the plane departed for Texas to conduct another deportation flight to Mexico.
The day before, the same jet had been used for an ICE deportation flight to Nicaragua.
The French team has traveled on GlobalX charter flights to travel during the World Cup, as The Guardian first reported Thursday.
*Everything tRUMP touches, dies.
https://www.newsweek.com/man-killed-fleeing-ice-florida-tractor-trailer-st-augustine-12196230
Florida death marks 3rd involving ICE agents in a single week
A 28-year-old man died Tuesday morning after being struck by a tractor-trailer while fleeing an encounter with federal immigration agents in St. Augustine, Florida, authorities told Newsweek.
The man was one of four occupants of a vehicle who ran from agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Investigations after stopping at a gas station before 7 a.m. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, he ran across State Road 16 and into the path of a semi-truck. The truck driver stopped and attempted to render aid, officials said.
DHS identified the man as a “Mexican national.”
The incident marks the third death in roughly a week linked to encounters involving federal immigration agents, following separate fatal shootings in Texas and Maine.
*STOP HUNTING HUMANS! This is on ICE and everyone who funded it.
Gary Peters:
“After “three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate, I believe now is time for me to write a few more paragraphs in my current chapter and then turn over the reins,” he said in the announcement video. He told the Detroit News: “I always thought there would be a time that I would step aside and pass the reins for the next generation”, and his office framed it as wanting to “pass the torch to the next generation of public servants and allow them to bring fresh energy and ideas to our nation’s capital”.
– **Congress was never meant to be a lifetime job.** “I also never saw service in Congress as something you do your whole life,” Peters said, noting that belief dates back to when he first won his House seat in 2008: “I thought it would be for a matter of a few terms that I would serve, and then I would go back to private life”.
– **A new chapter outside elected office.** He described himself as “ready to leave public service and move onto a new chapter”, echoing the founders’ idea he cited at Mackinac that public servants should return to private life after serving.
– **More family time.** The Detroit News summary noted he wants to spend more time with family — “particularly a new grandchild who lives on the West Coast”.
– **Not retiring from work, just from Congress.** Peters stressed: “I am leaving Congress, but I am not retiring. I look forward to writing many more chapters when my term ends. I do not know what those chapters will be, but I expect one of them will be me finding endless twisting back roads where I can experience the joy of total freedom riding my Harley Davidson motorcycle on a warm sunny day”. He also said he plans to help campaign for his successor.
In short, at 66 he framed the decision as a deliberate handoff — honoring a long-held view that elected service should be temporary, making room for younger Michigan leaders, and reclaiming time for family and personal pursuits after nearly two decades in Washington.
https://www.rawstory.com/police-2677222901/
On Saturday, an op-ed written by Democratic District Attorney Steven Mulroy of Memphis was published in USA Today detailing his experience attending a “weeklong use-of-force training for law enforcement by Force Science, a private company hired by many law enforcement agencies across the country.”
Mulroy didn’t mince words in the op-ed, branding the course a pipeline for “police trained to kill.”
Instead of shock, Mulroy’s op-ed was met with outrage from his fellow district attorneys in Tennessee, with six Republican district attorneys – and two registered independents – condemning him for writing it.
“With his reckless words, it is General Mulroy who has failed in his responsibility,” the district attorneys wrote in a joint statement.
‘Cop City’ Leads US Buildup in Police-Training Bases
December 23, 2024
Elizabeth Vos reports on a vast law enforcement training facility in Atlanta that defies the defund-police movement and sets the stage for Israel-linked militarized policing across the U.S.
The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, as it is officially known, is an 85-acre campus with a price tag of at least $110 million and another $1.7 million recently approved by Atlanta’s City Council for its security.
Most infamously, it includes a mock city, for which the site gained its Cop City nickname, for “real-world” training that includes a convenience store, two-story house, apartment and commercial-style building.
There is also a military vet training center, leadership institute, lab to develop and test technological innovations, training field, 12-acre emergency vehicle operations course.
It also comes with burn towers, a shooting range, horse stalls, police-dog kennels and training grounds, and 40 acres of horse pasture, according to a video published by the Atlanta Police Foundation and the Foundation’s website.
Who Is Behind Cop City?
The Atlanta Police Foundation (APF), a nonprofit organization formed in 2003 is the principal funder of the Cop City project. As an NGO, it is not accountable to public oversight.
The APF is instead legally accountable to a board of directors who include powerful corporate players — CEOs of Waffle House and the Atlanta Hawks, VPs from the Home Depot and Delta Air Lines — and members of Atlanta’s ruling class, as a 2022 report by The New Yorker details. Cox Enterprises, a media conglomerate based in Atlanta that owns the city’s largest newspaper, The Journal-Constitution, which has run editorials in favor of the project, is among Cop City’s corporate donors. Cox’s CEO, Alex Taylor, is the chair of fund-raising for the training facility, according to the same New Yorker article.
Links With Israel
The Atlanta Police Foundation is also a central point of connection between Cop City and pro-Israel interests. As Derek Seidman reported for Truthout in July, the project is expected to “deepen a policing ecosphere in Atlanta with close ties to Israeli forces that oppress Palestinians.”
Nationally, groups are organizing in multiple cities and states, there were some national meetings this summer and a national coalition has formed in hopes of creating shared processes and resources,” Johnston told Consortium News via email.
Her spreadsheet includes 83 projects of various sizes and in various stages — from proposal to completion — in every U.S. state except Wyoming at the time of writing.
Some of the projects are as seemingly innocuous as a 23,000-square-foot public safety center in Chisholm, Minnesota, that makes no mention of police training and includes a fire hall to replace one built during the days of horses and buggies as well as housing emergency services and the police department on one site.
But a few of the projects on Johnston’s radar are even bigger than Cop City Atlanta.
The most expensive is a $415 million project underway on state property near a maximum security prison in Nashville, Tennessee, which has broken ground on a 600 acre site and will reportedly house offices of the State’s Department of Correction and State Department of Safety and Homeland Security along with training facilities for state troopers and officers, including dorms, a driving track, and police-dog kennels.
Another behemoth is envisioned for Baltimore. At a projected cost of at least $330 million, it could include an Atlanta Cop-City-style “tactical village,” according to news reports.
The modernization and expansion of a Police Academy in Hershey, Pennsylvania, now under construction, is estimated at $300 million and will include a “tactical village” and other elements similar to Atlanta’s training facilities.
In New York City, a $225 million police training facility was announced this year.
RICO Charges
State prosecutors have pursued a novel legal strategy that has been criticized for criminalizing political protest. In August 2023 they indicted 61 Cop City protesters for allegedly violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, in what has been described as the largest use of so-called RICO statutes against a protest movement in U.S. history.
RICO laws were designed for prosecuting organized crime. As an example of how incongruously those laws apply to activists, prosecutors hit people organizing a “solidarity fund” for some protesters with money laundering charges.
I thought we were already a police state. It looks like “Cop City” has franchises nationwide. We ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
They are not after Latinos—Theyte after Liberals. They’re just using the Latinos for practice.
Homan tells FOX viewers not to worry. The ICE “pause” is bullshit…
Sturbo gets comment-of-the-day!
Publicly, they’ve claimed ICE isn’t supposed to be involved traffic stops, so if ICE goes after someone now, they can take it as a threat from rogue goons breaking protocol.
yep
Spain is definitely in the catbird seat up 2-0 over France with 80 minutes elapsed.
And Pogacar picked up an additional 28 seconds in the TDF today. He’s dominating at this point.
Hamilton Called It:
🍽️ From today’s Digital Diner menu
Well, I’m pulling for the GOAT in Switzerland versus Argentina.
NEW THREAD