Patricia, two days after her arrest outside ICE headquarters in Portland: “Like many criminals, I felt compelled to return to the scene of the crime.”
One of the great joys of publishing TBR is the time I spend each day in the comments section reading what you have to say.
Last week, this comment from a subscriber named Patricia got my attention:
“Exciting day for old ladies, I was arrested in front of the ICE building in Portland Oregon. The charge was obstructing access to a federal facility. Great optics a 75 year old white woman, 5’2”, 120 lbs., being dragged off by armed DHS officers. I was handcuffed and held for almost an hour. Being a nasty woman, instead of cringing and crying, I made fun of them and bragged about my history as a serial murderer and how being arrested and handcuffed ticked off another bucket list item for me. We have it all on video, can’t wait to show it to the judge.”
If this is the first you’re hearing of this incident, there’s a good reason: the corporate media refused to cover it.
It’s opposite day at the Trump White House.Again. If they say everything is great, you know enshittification is rising. In this case, they tell us that everything is going great at the national parks.
Nan has a post in which a letter writer reflects about who they are, which is an important component of what’s happening in the United States. It’s an important reminder. We are not terrorists; we are citizens exercising our freedom of speech and our freedom to assemble.
Donald Trump is against freedom of speech. He’s against us exercising our rights. He has explicitly said this.
As more “No Kings” protests are planned in the United States for October 18, 2025, to answer back to our servant, the POTUS known as Donald Trump, he and his people are busy slandering who we are, as noted in Annie’s post.
Donald Trump’s House surrogate, Speaker Mike Johnson, said:
“The Antifa crowd and the pro-Hamas crowd and the Marxists, they’re all going to gather on the [Washington] Mall [in a] Hate America rally.”
He’s deliberately and falsely conflating threats and groups in order to stir fear in others. That is not who I am. I am not a Marxist. I am not ‘pro-Hamas’. I am a registered Democrat, a United States citizen, and a United States military veteran who served my country, the United States, for more than twenty years.
I detest the lies and slander Speaker keeps making about who I am.
As United States citizens, we know that the President of the United States is not a king or ruler. We know the freedom of speech is one of the fundamental rights established by the United States Constitution. Donald Trump, no matter what office he holds, does not have the power to take freedom of speech away.
Speaking at the same meeting, Donald Trump said members of the group “have been very threatening to people, but we’re going to be very threatening to them, far more threatening to them than they ever were with us.”
“We’re going to be very threatening to them, far more threatening to them than they ever were with us.”
Trumps displays his ignorance about our rights and his role as in our republic. He makes it clear that he has no interest in any peaceful resolutions. He’s going to use strongarm tactics and escalate the violence against anyone who opposes him.
That is why he must be opposed. This is why it’s important that we protest. And the best way to protest is to stand up together and raise our voices as part and exercise our rights and freedoms as United States citizens. Find a protest on October 18, 2025 and join us.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday found that Americans largely disapprove of troops being deployed to U.S. cities when there isn’t an external threat. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans, 58 percent, said the president should only deploy troops to areas of the country facing an external threat, while fewer than 3 in 10 Americans, 25 percent, disagreed with that sentiment.
A plurality of respondents, 48 percent, said they were opposed to a president sending troops to a state if the governor of that state disapproves of such an action. Only 37 percent said a president should be allowed to send troops to a state without the governor’s consent.
The Epstein Shutdown of 2025 continues. Speaker Johnson (R-Hell) continues his very Christian lying. He continues to lie and blame Democrats but he’s been exposed.
The Louisiana Republican looked visibly tense as caller after caller unloaded on him during the rare televised segment on the Washington Journal, the first time a House speaker had taken live questions from voters on the network in 24 years.
The most searing exchange came from “Samantha,” a self-described Republican military mother calling from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Fighting back tears, she accused Johnson of failing troops and their families as a missed paycheck deadline loomed.
“I’m begging you to pass this legislation,” she said. “My kids could die.”
Samantha said her husband, a veteran with PTSD after two tours in Afghanistan, was struggling to keep their family afloat. “As a Republican, I’m very disappointed in my party, and I’m very disappointed in you,” she continued. “You could stop this. You could be the one to say, ‘Military is getting paid.’ The audacity of someone who makes six figures a year to do this to military families is insane.”
Johnson, maintaining a measured tone, told her he was “so sorry” and “so angry” about her situation—before blaming Senate Democrats for blocking troop funding. “Democrats are the ones preventing you from getting a check,” he said, calling any House vote on a standalone pay bill a “show vote.”
Guess the Trump Bible says nothing about lying.
I’m not surprised by Johnson’s lying. His hero and inspiration consistently lies. CNN has a fact check about the number of lies Trump told in a recent cabinet meeting.
President Donald Trump made numerous false claims during a Cabinet meeting Thursday at the White House – many of them about vaccines.
He wrongly asserted that babies are given 82 vaccines in a single shot (not even close to true). He wrongly asserted that babies are given vaccine doses the size of two glasses of water (a standard dose is a small fraction of a teaspoon). He wrongly asserted that Amish people don’t take vaccines or pills (many do) and don’t have any autism (they do). And he wrongly asserted that the measles vaccine is already given separately from other vaccines (no separate measles shot is available in the US).
Trump was also wildly inaccurate on other subjects.
He again claimed each alleged Venezuelan drug boat kills 25,000 Americans, a number that is plainly absurd. He again used mathematically impossible figures in promising that drug prices will fall by hundreds of percent. He again declared that he had settled seven wars even before the new ceasefire he brokered in Gaza, though his figure includes a war that hasn’t ended and two situations that were not wars during his presidency.
He revived his usual lie that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election he legitimately lost to Joe Biden. And he declared once more that the big domestic policy bill he signed earlier this year includes “no tax on Social Security,” though that’s not what the bill says.
As far as the Epstein Shutdown, we know that’s it first about protecting TACO from the Epstein files contents. Second, Project 2025 needs Trump chaos to distract and give TACO cover to further his ambition to be the first Dictator of the United States, DOTUS. We know stuff is probably in the Epstein file about Trump because TACO is working so hard to deny that he ever really knew his BFF, Jeffrey Epstein, and convince everyone that the Epstein files is a hoax, blaming Democrats, of course.
Trump and Epstein of the Smirketeers.
Meanwhile, the Trump Misery Machine continues to work destruction and misery on the population. Beef prices are at a record high. Trump is pretty mum on the subject. MAGAts will try to pin it on Democrats. But dwindling herds are a problem. Herds have been cut because drought is drying up pastures. Basic supply and demand. But wait, there’s more: Trump’s 76% tariffs on Brazilian beef have contributed to beef shortages and rising prices. NPR reports.
In July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture continued to record a shrinking number of U.S. cattle and calves, forecasting that beef production would decline 4% over this year and another 2% in 2026.
Meanwhile, foreign imports are also down. Brazilian beef faces a 76% tariff. Fears about the screwworm parasite have led the USDA to block livestock from crossing from Mexico to the U.S. to safeguard the nation’s food supply.
It is time to change the channel on Trump and his enablers from Faux and Project 2025. Step out and make your voice heard.
DC has organized and is battling against the Trump Regime’s moves to occupy and control the nation’s capitol with national guard troops. Here’s the story from NBC 4 in D.C.
A sea of signs and a chorus of chants filled 16th Street Northwest for the ‘We Are All D.C.” march Saturday.
There was a large showing to denounce the actions of the Trump administration, especially the recent federal surge of law enforcement in the District.
“It’s been almost a month now of just pure chaos,” said D.C. resident Nick Shereikis.
“I would’ve never imagined having the National Guard in place in this town terrorizing people,” said Natasha Sakolsky, a Silver Spring resident.
Thousands of people marched about two miles through the city starting at Meridian Hill Park and ending at Freedom Plaza.
“We want unification, and that’s what you’ll see here today, I think already, just the diversity of the different groups coming out,” Sakolsky said.
Many local and national organizations were represented at the march, as well as several labor unions, including UNITE HERE Local 24 from Detroit, Michigan.
Listen to this. This video presents us with the results of a beautiful, beautiful mind at work, probably one of the greatest minds ever, communicating as only it can, delivering such beautiful words. It’s probably, and I don’t offer this lightly, no, I do not, but this is probably one of the greatest Offal Office demonstrations of thinking and speaking ever made in the history of the entire world, in the history of the entire universe.
PINO TACO is speaking on the matter of burning the U.S. flag. His grasp of history and rhetoric is so beautiful, it’s amazing. If I was there, I would tell him, “Mister President, that is one of the greatest and most beautiful speeches I’ve ever heard.”
Well, except, of course, in a pre-school class. I have heard pre-school children make more sense and do it more beautifully. Many children just learning to speak make more beautiful speeches asking for a glass of water. They make more sense and enunciate more clearly than this blithering dolt in the Offal Office.
When it comes to speaking, Donald Trump is not John F. Kennedy. Nor is he Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, or Abraham Lincoln. He will never be known as a great thinker. Nor will he ever be known as a great orator. He will, as this speech demonstrates, be perpetually derided and ridiculed as a bumbling bloviator except for the legions who pucker up and bend over to kiss his ass.
Oh, BTW, shortly after Trump fumbled through his wilted thought salad, someone burned a U.S. flag. The person was arrested for starting a fire, but not for burning the flag.
We have violence escalating in the Middle East and the United States as the Ukraine-Russia War burns on. This is the forefront. In the momentary background are tariffs and trade wars, climate change and natural disasters like wildfires. Always thinking ahead *cough cough, yes, that’s very thick snark*, a Florida right wing sheriff is threatening to kill protestors, Gov. DeSantis in Florida beams and tells drivers that it’s okay to hit protestors with their cars (anyone remember Charlottesville, VA?), Gov. Abott in Texas is calling out the National Guard, and so is Gov. Kehoe in Missouri. That First Amendment and its right to assemble really terrifies the right wing. Which, I guess we can infer means that We the People terrify them.
The current situation isn’t triggering joy and optimism in me. I could play whatif games about Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu being more restrained and diplomatic. These games are as pointless as wishes Kamela Harris won the election in 2024. Or Hillary won in 2016. Or Gore in 2000. Or that spineless Republicans like Mitch McConnell stood up, did his job, and impeached Trump in the latter’s first term. Or the Roberts Supreme Court didn’t behave like an overindulgent absent father and ruled to appease the right wing. We’re beyond those things mattering, except the ripples are still going.
That’s the thing. I, we, gotta ride the ripples. Do what I can, what we can, to mitigate their impact. Survive and help others do the same. And seize the opportunity to help change the world — again — when the chance comes.
Stand up this weekend. Stay calm. De-escalate violence but stand for your principles. Be reasonable in the face of absurdity. It can be painful. It will take courage and strength. It can be done.
No kings. No fascism. Not in the United States of America. Not now. Not ever.
PINO TACO is moving into full bully mode. The mango chump who would be king has become a royal pain in the ass with his attitude.
This ‘servant of the people’ is screaming about disrespect. “If you spit, we hit.” Or some shit like that.
It’s true playground diplomacy bullshit, a threat worthy of an individual with little mental acumen.
Of course, he lies to embellish his reasoning and thinking for using the military in Los Angeles. Says the whole place is burning down, just like it did before, or some shit like that.
That was a surprise to people living and working in Los Angeles. They’re far more worried about unwanted military troops entering their city. But here is Trump, acting like he’s King George III and this is 1775.
Not to be outdone, Gov. Abbott, the Republican Reactionary running Texas, has ordered his state’s national guard to quell unrest this weekend. Just in case, you know. They’ve learned nothing on the right. Escalating tensions and violence only leads to greater escalation. We saw it the colonies in the 1770s. Saw it again in the 1960s. Witnessed it at Kent State. Saw it again at Ruby Ridge and Waco.
And it’s really a problem when a strong-arm government views protestors as insurrectionists and employ their own military to put them down. For Trump to do this after Jan 6 of 2020, when insurrectionists destroyed things, and injured and killed people in his name to overturn the election results, is as hypocritical as anything Trump has ever done.
It’s like saying masks aren’t healthy and then ordering ICE agents to be masked.
Or claiming to be the most unfairly persecuted person ever and then arresting people and deporting them without paperwork, trial, or due process.
But that’s Trump, seeing everything upside down and backwards, leading a group of people who are the same.
Was anyone surprised that the United States Air Force accepted the gift aircraft from Qatar? The question answers itself.
What is interesting is what red news sites such as OANN and RedState said about it: nothing.
Yes, nothing. Surprised? No. They know accepting this gift will further enshittify the United States. They are aiding and abetting Trump’s support but saying nothing at all about it. We can deduce this because multiple celebrated MAGAts don’t like it.
In an interview with Fox News, Republican Sen. John Kennedy said, “I trust Qatar like I trust a rest stop bathroom. If they want to be friendly, I want to be friendly back. But with those guys, you know, trust in God, but tie up your camel.”
Ben Shapiro, a conservative political commentator, criticized Trump’s $400-million gift on his podcast, saying, “Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera, all the rest, that’s not America First.” He continued, “If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, an avid supporter of Trump, even expressed hesitancy about Trump’s $400 million gift. Graham said, “Air Force One is the symbol of America. When it lands or flies, it is America flying and landing. And I want to make sure that this whole thing is kosher. Time will tell.”
At this point, I’m actually forthe Trump Regime accepting this aircraft. It’ll require years and chunks of money to refurbish it to use as Air Force One. As the economy crashes, inflation rises, the government misfires because of reduced personnel and mismanagement, unemployment rises, the wealthy enjoy more Republican tax breaks, the poor grow poorer, and the debt doesn’t doesn’t go down, this spending, along with spending on parades, golf, and poorly-thought out attacks on Trump critics, will help highlight how out of touch Trump and his GOTP are. How terrible they are at running the government. How misguided they are regarding freedom of the press, religion, and speech. The MAGA might wake up, although they’ll never sway their support until it’s all over but the crying. But independents and Democrats who thought they’d vote for Trump — i.e., the “Fuck Around and Find Out” horde — will awaken and may be pissed enough to actually act against Trump.
Michael Seidel, writer 