Dear Everybody:
On a day when Trump eviscerates the First Amendment and we find out the Pentagon lied about how many people have died in Iran, it’s really hard to know what story to put first, so instead I’ll lead with this salacious little story and get to the atrocities in a minute.
The salacious story stars none other than Colorado GOP representative Lauren Boebert:
–In case you’ve forgotten who she is, she’s the one who gave a guy a hand job in a theater during a performance of “Beetlejuice,” and then got thrown out for filming the play and disorderly behavior, screaming, “Do you know who I am? to the ushers escorting her from the venue. Oh, and her oldest son is currently up on charges of felony theft and child abuse. Again.
–She also had to change districts because she had no chance of winning in her own, as the people knew her too well, and is currently running for re-election in Colorado.
–Today a story came out that a complaint has been filed with the House Ethics Committee that she had sexual relations with her district director, Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, in her office, her car, and in campaign-paid-for hotel rooms. (Note: Ratzlaff is a former Colorado lawmaker who served as a US Department of Agriculture Official during Trump’s first term.)
–According to the complaint, Boebert fired Ratzlaff, and when she threatened to file a complaint, Boebert paid her $200,000 in hush money, as well as “bonuses.”
–Boebert is also charged with having sexual relations with two other staffers–her current female chief of staff Raven Finegan and her chief of staff from 2021 to 2015 Jeffrey Small. (Having sex with anyone who works for you is forbidden under Congressional rules, according to a 2018 law.)
–There are all sorts of gory details, including a “knock-down, drag-out, physical argument” between Ratzlaff and Boebert after Ratzlaff caught Boebert flirting with the guy she was with at “Beetlejuice,” and rumors that she and Ratzlaff had a threesome with Matt Gaetz. (Ewww.)
–A rep for Boebert told TMZ: “Congresswoman Lauren rejects these allegations as utterly false and there is no truth to them whatsoever. This is nothing more than a politically motivated stunt designed to manipulate the ethics process, create headlines, smear her and generate clickbait.”
–When I first saw this story, I thought there was a possibility it was a political dirty trick, but no, it’s an actual complaint to the Ethics Committee, filed under oath, and the entire complaint is up on line. It cited evidence such as text messages, bank records, court documents, and recorded conversations, and Ratzlaff’s husband has divorced her. And by this afternoon, Yahoo and Daily Kos and other outlets were carrying the story.
–The worst thing about this story for Republicans is not going to be the hush money or the laws that were broken–it’s going to be Boebert’s having sex with women, something that has destroyed many a Republican official’s career, and Republicans apparently believe these accusations because they are saying things like, “But I thought you Democrats were all for gays.” The good news? This could take Lauren out.
–Stay tuned…
Now on to the important news:
–Trump openly trampled on the First Amendment at a press conference yesterday afternoon and said he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, effective immediately “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
–When asked what the ban means, Trump called it, “A very simple ban. I don’t want them in my office, I don’t want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as it can.”
–Trump threatened that the New York Times and Washington Post might be banned from the White House next. “They’re disgusting.”
–And he threatened bans on more outlets.
–Trump doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. Reporter: “On the ban, what does that mean in practice? Are you taking away their badges?” Trump: “When you say ‘the ban,’ which ban? Do you know how many bans I’m involved in? I’ve got more bans going than anyone!” Reporter: “But what does it mean?” Trump: “I still don’t know–oh, the ban on the free press, right?”
–Trump has violated the First Amendment by doing this–an impeachable offense. He previously tried to ban the AP and lost in court, with the judge ruling that blocking select journalists over their reporting violated the First Amendment. He also banned Jim Acosta, who also sued and was reinstated.
–Journalist Norah O’Donnell: “Freedom of the press is enshrined in the First Amendment.” Trump: (sarcastically) “Oh, thank you for telling me.” O’Donnell: “Are you trying to intimidate the press from doing its job?” Trump: “No. I dislike dishonest press, like you. I think you’re terrible.”
–Helen Kennedy: “He literally calls it ‘the ban on the free press.’ What a goddamn maroon.”
–CNN reported that its journalists and the others remained at the White House and that there was “no indication” Trump had taken any steps to put the supposed ban in place.”
–CNN: “We have a right under the US Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government.” They said the ban would be an illegal assault on press freedom if enacted.
–Politico: “Politico will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment Rights against any attempt to restrict them.”
–Fox News’s senior White House correspondent and president of the White House Correspondents’ association condemned the president’s decision in a statement, saying that press freedom “does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.”
–During the press conference, Trump also said proudly we were just as repressive as China when it came to press freedoms, demanded kids get 5 vaccine shots instead of one, rambled incoherently about his “excursion” in Iran, and fell asleep.
Update: This morning when the MS Now White House correspondent and her photographer arrived at the White House, officials refused to allow them entrance and demanded they surrender their press badges, followed by the same thing happening to CNN and Politico reporters, so it’s a real ban and not just Trump spouting nonsense. And now that Trump has enforced the ban, these news organizations have standing and can sue.
–Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance: “Only a White House that has everything to hide would do this.”
–Judd Legum: “Trump has no plan to end the war or tame inflation, so he’s banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House.”
One of the reasons Trump probably chose to ban the news organizations right now is that they reported on a big story about the Pentagon’s fudging the numbers of dead and the amount of damage in the Iran War:
–In a Washington Post story citing 6 US officials familiar with the Department of Defense’s internal casualty accounting, the Post reported that there have been 23 fatalities in the Iran War, not the 14 the Pentagon reported. “More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran War than the Pentagon has declared publicly.” Five of the sources said the number was 22 and the sixth said it was 23. (The Pentagon said 14 killed in the war and 4 killed in “Overseas Operations.”
–Part of the cover-up is moving casualties from the “Operation Epic Fury” category to the “Overseas Operations” category so they don’t count as war dead, and this has a devastating effect on the families of the fatality, who won’t get the benefits they would have gotten from a wartime casualty. It looks like they may also not be counting casualties who were initially injured and died later. (Just like in COVID–anything to keep the numbers down.
–The Pentagon has also been covering up the amount of damage to its bases, planes and equipment. Meidas Touch and other news sources have released photos of the damage, including photos of a US base in Kuwait, which shows several structures and everything surrounding them leveled.
–On one Kuwaiti base, structures were leveled, the airfield was destroyed, and the bunker built to shelter US troops from incoming attacks took a direct hit.
–A US senior service member: “I believe the American people are unaware of the extent of the damage that American bases are taking in right now due to the conflict with Iran. These bases have been irreparably damaged. And if we choose to rebuild them, it’s going to be a decades-long undertaking.”
Trump also announced the successful takeover of Greenland. (He was a really busy boy yesterday.)
–Trump posted “BREAKING NEWS” on Truth Social in which he announced that the US had reached an agreement with Denmark that the US will take over security in Greenland.
–“We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many.”
–There is no such agreement. Denmark and Greenland said they merely “expect” to sign an agreement with the US that will strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic, and even after it’s sign, the agreement must undergo the necessary parliamentary procedures before taking effect, and Trump’s blurting this out will no doubt make getting any agreement more difficult.
–The agreement he describes has been in place for decades and decades, and all this does is reiterate the existing US rights through NATO to use the island as a security base.
–Denmark’s PM and the leader of Greenland’s government posted online late Friday that the agreement would fall far short of Trump’s stated desire for “the acquisition of Greenland by the US.” They said the agreement “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.”
— apfulton: “The US already had the right to station troops in Greenland before Trump started this whole debacle. If this is vaguely real, presumably the Danes just acted like the old deal was something new and improved and now Trump can rubber stamp it like he achieved something.”
–C Berkowitz: “Who didn’t see that coming?”
–Ron Filipkowski: “Trump did an incredible job negotiating for things we already had in Greenland.”
In Kennedy Center news:
–There was a huge “Hands Off” protest at the Kennedy Center yesterday. Protesters formed a human chain around the building to protect it from being demolished, and there were thousands of people present, including Wonder Woman Lynda Carter and George Conway.
–CLD: “He’s going to destroy it in the dark of night, just like he did with the White House East Wing. He won’t ask permission or forgiveness. He thinks he’s a King and plans to remake all of DC in his image to glorify only himself. It will take decades to restore our capitol to its original status of being a city that honors all of our history and its leaders, not just one crazed lunatic who has been given power by a cult of fascists.”
In Don, Jr.’s wedding news:
–Reporter: “Why is it appropriate for your son to accept a gift, a payment for his wedding festivities?” Trump: “It’s totally allowed and a lot of people have parties, but as I understand he paid them back.” (If he did, he did it only when this became a story and he thought he might be prosecuted for it.)
–Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion: “Oh, I’m sure that happened.”
–Middlerage: “Paid him back with military secrets.”
–Sokyle2: “Let that sink in…Don Trump, Junior, who is worth $300+ million and whose dady is worth Billion$ took $ from one of Putin’s top oligarchs to pay for his wedding. I don’t give a shit if it’s allowed or not. It’s treasonous for the family of the President of the United States to be beholden to an enemy of America, aka Russia.”
In Trump dementia/madness news:
–At Trump’s press conference yesterday, he was asked about his speech to the UN–“What is your message?” but he was only interested in complaining about his last visit to the UN. “Well, last year, they wouldn’t let my person in the teleprompter room. Remember that? My teleprompter operator was banned from the room. So I was standing there without a teleprompter. Isn’t that nice? (The UN has denied this.) You remember that? They turned off the escalator. But you remember, I was going up in the…and it came to a dead stop. And this was…I built a lot of escalators. I put in a lot of escalators. And then I got up to make my speech, and I said, ‘I don’t have a teleprompter.’ Can you imagine? And I think I spoke very well. Nice to have a president that doesn’t need a teleprompter.”
(Note: This is a jab at Biden and Obama, who he claimed used teleprompters while he doesn’t, even though he uses the teleprompter all the time and, even with it, frequently can’t read what’s written there or remember what he was supposed to say.)
–“Fortunately, my first lady was very strong and I was able to grab her back or another part of her body.” RFK, Jr. and Dr. Oz, who were standing behind him, began to snicker. Trump turned his chair toward them and said, “It was actually a little bit lower than the back, and it kept me standing tall. I was standing very tall.”
–Whirledpeas: “Sophomoric.”
–Scorpion: “He just crossed a huge line of disrespect that you should never cross when talking about your wife or any woman. Proving once again that he and the perverts around him think that women are there to please them, be grabbed and remain silent about it. That’s their mentality.”
–This is apparently not the first time he’s told this story. He told a similar story in February at a meeting of his Board of Peace, describing putting his hand on a “part” of the First Lady’s body.
–Trump to Billy Bush: “You can do anything to them, grab them by the pussy. If you’re a star they let you do it.”
In Cracks in the Dam news:
–Republican staffers are abandoning the GOP to work for Democratic candidates. In Kansas, Austin Gilpin went to work for Adam Hamilton. In Texas, Jacob Smith went to work for James Talarico.
–Trump is furious with long-time GOP operative Karl Rove, accusing him of having Trump Derangement Syndrome and calling him a “stone cold loser” because he announced he’s voting for the Democrat in Texas over GOP Rep Bo French. The reason? French’s bigotry.
–Former Trump supporter and football player Aaron Rogers said, “There is no MAGA movement…the guy you elected hasn’t done any of his campaign promises.”
–Republican campaign organizer In Michigan, Jackson Karki: “The vibes on the ground are the worst I’ve seen in my life. No one wants to promote candidates, no one wants to knock doors, no one wants to do shit. Attendance for any right wing event is at all time lows anywhere I go. And has someone that has to knock doors, the energy of the people answering the doors is terrible as well.”
–JD Vance just delivered a speech with only dozens of people in attendance.
–Far-right podcaster Benny Johnson: “The biggest political swing and miss in my lifetime has been not keeping the two-dollar gas that we had in December and January.”
–Aaron Rupar: “When you’ve lost Benny Johnson…”
In other news:
–RFK, Jr., is calling the death of an 18-year-old from complications of measles an “alleged measles death” and says “The CDC has not yet received information” about it.
–Trump’s administration paid employees nearly $10 billion dollars not to work in a deferred resignation program under DOGE, the so-called money-saving project.
–Trump is now selling his $1 Trump coins for $9.95 apiece. (They’re dollar coins. Anyone can get them for $1.00.)
In good news:
–The House overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation shielding consumers from higher energy costs when new data centers are built in their communities.
–Sweden’s center-left party won the election this week.
–A vaccine for Lyme disease is in its final clinical trials.
In sad news, the Obamas’ dog Sunny died. He was one of the two dogs they had in the White House. The other one was Bo, who died in 2021. Both were Portuguese Water Dogs.
–Obama wrote: “Yesterday we lost a cherished member of the family. We got Sunny at the start of our second term in the White House, and all of us–including our first dog, Bo–immediately fell in love. We also had trouble keeping up with her, for Sunny was a force of nature…she had her eccentricities: other than Bo, she preferred people to dogs; she was a loud and sloppy drinker; and despite being a Portuguese Water Dog, she hated getting wet…We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay.”
–This really got to me since we are still grieving Bunter and still can’t quite believe he’s gone. Thank all of you again for your kind messages and condolences. They meant a lot to us.
–My doctor said sadly when I told him we had lost Bunter: “Ah, our furry children!” Yeah, that’s what they are, which is why it hurts so much to lose them.
Best comment of the day, from Daily Kos: “This is the death rattle. Not the finish, the rattle, which is the loudest and ugliest part, and the part where the people running this regime are the most dangerous they’ve ever been. A convicted felon President is watching his last friend on earth walk out the door, his economy go over an energy cliff, his own appointees turn on him, and his own party start filing paperwork against his cabinet.
Keep calm and carry on,
Connie Willis
