Unsightly Mental Blemishes

Yes, it’s very silly. And NSFW.

Secretary of State has announced Operation Epic Fury is over.

• Status of war: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Operation Epic Fury — launched in February against Iran — has ended, and the US is focused on a new operation to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump has not ruled out resuming a bombing campaign if necessary. [CNN]

Well, maybe. The Administration seems confused:

• Ceasefire ongoing: US military action during the ceasefire is a “defensive operation,” Rubio said. Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “the ceasefire is not over,” and Trump also did not specify what would constitute a ceasefire violation.

• In the Strait of Hormuz: Iran launched a new system to govern maritime traffic through the critical waterway, according to state-run media. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also issued a renewed warning to ships intending to transit the strait.

Wars typically cease when one side surrenders to the other, gets rubbed out, the attackers are driven off, or other similar resolution. That hasn’t really happened here, yet, has it? Especially in view of this:

• In the Strait of Hormuz: Iran launched a new system to govern maritime traffic through the critical waterway, according to state-run media. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also issued a renewed warning to ships intending to transit the strait.

Uh huh. Sorting out who’s controlling the Strait of Hormuz will not constitute the end of the war.

My guess is that we’ll withdraw, with Trump tootling his cracked horn about how he won the war and who needs a conditional surrender, anyways, even if he did demand it at the start? Another loss for him, in reality, but a lot of people will tootle with him, because, hey, it’s the only way for them to retain their new-found status.

Meanwhile:

I just noticed a post on UMB referencing a picture didn’t actually show the picture, but on reload it did. Not much I can do about it, but reloading is easy.

I have absolutely no intention of trying to document an appreciable fraction of the amateur hour theatrics of the arrogant twerps currently in power, but an occasional, instructive example will help me blow off steam. Here’s The New York Times reporting on one instance:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday defended his decisions to fire or sideline nearly 30 generals and admirals over the past year with little explanation by falsely comparing his record to that of President Barack Obama.

“I would also note that under Barack Obama, 197 general officers were removed,” Mr. Hegseth said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. “So this is not something specific to this administration.”

The number Mr. Hegseth gave has no basis in fact. It originated with an unsigned 2018 editorial in Investor’s Business Daily, which cites the right-wing news site “Breitbart.com’s Facebook page” as its source.

Mr. Hegseth’s actions to fire senior military leaders are without precedent in recent decades and have come with little explanation. On Wednesday, lawmakers pressed him to justify his decisions, including his move this month to remove Gen. Randy A. George, the Army chief of staff.

Seems slightly out of focus? Such is the world on some days.

Sourcing from editorials, signed or unsigned, is pure amateur hour; of course, it does provide cover for a SecDef whose actions, while his privilege, may have little defense among adults. They can be read as contemptuous of current command due to adherence to Geneva Convention rules, or sexism, or even racism.

Of course, the more institutional memory and good examples are eliminated, the less effective of a military. Any American, vet or not, should find the the erratic and undefended actions of Hegseth disturbing and worth questioning closely.

Indicia:

1. a postal marking used rather than a stamp or a regular cancellation on each item in a large shipment of prepaid mail.
2. Often
   1. a printed message or instruction, especially one stamped on a package.
      an indicium of “bulk mail.”
   2. an indication or token. [Dictionary.com]

Noted in “DOJ rushed indictment of SPLC, according to whistleblower reports,” Ken Dilanian, MS NOW:

Former federal fraud prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, an MS NOW contributor, said the case “bears none of the indicia” of normal Justice Department charging review and called the theory “exceedingly far-fetched.”

I understand it’s supposed to get warmer, nation-wide.

I wouldn’t normally continue to cover the acquisition of Paramount by SkyDance, but this is intriguing:

Paramount has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking the regulator to allow foreign investors to hold more than 25% of the company’s equity and/or voting interests following the completion of the merger and to allow certain foreign entities to hold more than 5% of equity and/or voting interests in Class B stock.

In the filing, Paramount Global said that following the completion of the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, which has been approved by the FCC and shareholders, the combined company would be 49.5% owned by foreign companies and that Middle Eastern investors would hold 38.5% of the company’s equity.

Those Middle Eastern investors include Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (15.1% equity stake), the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund (12.8% equity) and the Qatar Investment Authority (10.6% equity). [tvtech]

Here’s what catches my attention, after admitting to no expertise in this industry, Federal laws and rules applicable, nor in the games the mega-rich play among themselves.

• The presumption upon ties to the Administration to secure special treatment that may not be available to their competitors. These ties are not obvious, but this article from The Guardian suggests a confirmation they exist:
  

  Senior White House officials have discussed internally their preference for Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros Discovery in recent weeks, and one official has discussed potential programming changes at CNN with Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder of Paramount.The discussions, according to people familiar with the matter, come as Paramount portrays itself as the best bid for Warner Bros Discovery, after the company announced last month it was open to offers, because it would have an easier time getting through regulatory review.

• Why do Middle East mega-rich have an interest in a media corporation? To make more money? Could be. For amusement? Sure. But it could be something more, now couldn’t it? I’ve written, somewhere, about the free press has, in essence, an undiscussed foundational assumption that it has society’s best interests at heart; a media controlled by malicious interests is like throwing sugar into your gas tank. Fox News will be used by some as an example of the consequences of a dishonest media, and it’s worth an examination.
• Could the powers controlling SkyDance looking at a cash problem? We can point at Larry Ellison and proclaim him a multi-billionaire, but this is not a pile of cash in the bank; it’s an estimate of the value of his investments, and investments have to be liquidated if they’re needed elsewhere. Are the owners of SkyDance so financially stressed that they want to bring in other investors to spread the risk? Is the risk considered that high?
• Or is this part of a competition taking place in the mega-rich arena? What does this mean?

Yeah, I’m not mega-rich, nor am I interested in being such; consequently, I really do not know the answer to the above. Watching this should prove enlightening. Or horrifying. Whichever.

You read something like this …

THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS CLOSE TO FINALIZING a radical redesign of the U.S. passport to include a picture of President Donald Trump, The Bulwark has learned from two sources with knowledge of the redesign, including one who shared images currently under consideration.

The redesign is ostensibly part of a larger celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence. It comes as the Treasury Department prepares to produce coins featuring Trump’s image—both a controversial $1 coin in general circulation1 and an “as large as possible” commemorative gold coin—and as the National Park Service emblazons Trump’s face on its park passes. Both of those redesigns were justified as being part of the 250th anniversary celebration.

According to the images of the passport redesign provided to The Bulwark, the inside cover of the new State Department-issued document will feature a scowling Trump—taken from his second inaugural portrait—superimposed over the Declaration of Independence, as well as the president’s signature in gold. [The Bulwark]

… and I can’t help thinking it’s deeply reminiscent of Chad Bauman’s piece on then-candidate Trump’s behavior following the 2020 Election, which I’ve cited before:

The most virtuous and effective act in prosperity theology is positive confession, in which one claims and expresses gratitude to God for the health and wealth one expects to enjoy—even if it seems implausible one’s expectations will be realized. The most sinful act, accordingly, is sometimes called “negative confession”; that is, admitting failure, ill health, poverty, or disappointment. In prosperity theology, words matter; “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Those who lay claim to victory actualize it, while those who admit defeat find themselves hopelessly entrenched in it. [Religion Dispatches]

It’s very much a magical incantation, and so I read the passport story – Trump is trying to catch the divinities’ attention so he can sit at the head table.

Or maybe I’m wrong. I’ll defer to Bauman concerning the plausibility of his assertions, while noting that religious mania and pathological narcissism can be hard to distinguish based simply on analysis of outstanding symptoms.

A question that has come up in Congressional hearings on Trump nominees of late is, I swear, Are you a sock puppet of President Trump?

So odd.

But I think we know the answer for Acting AG Todd Blanche:

I knew the admin was scraping the bottom of the barrel for legal talent, but dear God. This reads like someone just transcribed Trump muttering incoherently and filed it in court.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) 2026-04-28T12:59:25.020Z

He must have cut and paste a note he received from the President. I wonder if he understands he’s ruining the balance of his career?

But I am reminded of the rumors concerning former Secretary Noem, and her ambitions to move into the Oval Office. Could Blanche be having some spectacular dreams for his future?

My favorite so far.

And a reminder of what we’re not missing.

It hasn’t been two weeks since I last remarked on Trump Media & Technology Group Corp and its stock market representative, DJT, but there’s news.

First, company CEO Devin Nunes, formerly Rep (R-CA) and infamous cow-suer, is now former CEO:

Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ:DJT) is shaking up leadership at a time when its business is under growing pressure and investors are feeling the impact.

Shares of the company have fallen around 67% (1) since their rise ahead of the November 2024 election, wiping out more than $6 billion in market value and raising new questions about the future of its core platform, Truth Social. Going back to the early 2022 performance of the shell company that brought Trump Media public, shares have plunged by around 90% (2).

Devin Nunes (3) is departing from his role as CEO after four years, with longtime digital media executive Kevin McGurn stepping in on an interim basis. The company did not give a reason for the change or say when a permanent replacement will be named. [moneywise via yahoo! finance]

The company will try to spin this as a positive, as will any company, but the important fact is the fall in capitalization. In the case of Nunes, he probably faced the impossible task of trying to satisfy the avarice and ambitions of President Trump with an inadequate service that was initially priced by the stock market unrealistically. While he’s never seemed all that bright, I could have some sympathy for him. He could just be a rat jumping off the burning ship.

Next, the Trump family’s memecoin, $TRUMP, has fallen apart. Ja’han Jones of MS NOW notes the President is taking time away from his busy schedule managing a war to … pump it up.

For the second time in a year, President Donald Trump met with cryptocurrency investors who have poured money into his beleaguered and brazenly unethical meme coin scheme.

At an event on Saturday marketed as the “most exclusive crypto and business conference in the world,” Trump addressed the 297 largest investors in his self-enriching, eponymous digital currency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. That the president squeezed in some crypto-related hype ahead of his appearance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that night shows the extent to which Trump has prioritized money-making crypto ventures in his second term.

Ahead of Saturday’s conference, Ars Technica reported on the issues swirling around Trump’s meme coin, including suspicions of insider trading and a 93% drop in value from last year that’s led to billions of dollars in investor losses.

Or, rather, try to pump it up. There is no discernible pop from the effort, much less a stable rise in value.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Compared to Bitcoin … which is over $76K/coin as of this writing. That may be well off Bitcoin’s high, but it’s also moved off its low substantially. Politico notes

“Nobody likes it,” said Morten Christensen, a crypto investor who still plans to attend the Mar-a-Lago event and was at the 2025 dinner. “People are losing on the coin, and they are vocal. They are the people on Twitter like, ‘Fuck this coin’ or ‘It’s a scam.’ And they’re right, basically.”

Launched just days before his inauguration, Trump’s memecoin is overwhelmingly held by two entities: an affiliate of the Trump Organization and a company run by Bill Zanker, a longtime Trump business partner. Both collect fees on the memecoin’s trading, according to its website.

Memecoins are a highly volatile type of crypto token that generally have no inherent value and trade based on online fervor. The tokens have struggled for much of the last year, amid a broad crypto market sell-off. But Trump’s other recent ventures haven’t fared much better.

A scam and and scammer – my apologies if my reader is a Trump supporter, but that’s how I read the President’s behavior. So how is DJT doing today?

Down from the last report of $10.26/sh, nearly 11%.

Pile on top of that the fact that he’s not achieving his Trump’s War goals, including unconditional surrender, and his domestic policies have fallen to unprecedented levels of public disapproval, and we may see DJT fall well below a billion dollar capitalization. However, depending on that to the extent of going short on DJT is not something I would do. His boasting and blustering, bombastic and ignorant as it may be, can move markets.

Make no mistake, any of these alone are hardly worthy of worry. CEOs are always leaving and joining other companies, for instance. But Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, with its weak offerings, dubious investments, and doubtful plans, seems like a high risk play.

I’ve been half-watching CNN and other media today as I worked and attended to other things, and so I’ve noted reporting on the alleged wannabe Presidential assassin’s social media writings, note to family members, etc, if in passing, but it’s all sounded very convincing as to the authenticity of the incident.

And then I see something like this:

Two hours after the shooting, Trump, still dressed in his tuxedo and standing alongside multiple members of his Cabinet in the White House press briefing room, said his plans for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which is currently tied up in litigation, must move forward.

“It’s drone-proof, it’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom,” Trump said. “That’s why [the] Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it.” …

But according to Trump, building his ballroom is the panacea for stopping those who want to do him, or any president, harm. [MS NOW]

And all my intuition, ready to be convinced by the reporting, reverts back to Hollywood script. And then notes how well this can play into Trump’s egotistical need to build a ballroom to replace the East Wing.

Yeah, yeah, I’m sure this isn’t a conspiracy.

But the circumstantial evidence is startling.

Maybe I need more startle-reflex therapy.

Remember the Administration’s gold card proposal, wherein for $5 million a wannabe immigrant could have immediate citizenship? How’s that going?

President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday — appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim.

After it launched in December, Lutnick said that the government had sold $1.3 billion “worth” in just several days, as Trump stood by holding up the gilded ticket and said, “essentially it’s the green card on steroids.”

Lutnick did not address the apparent discrepancy in an exchange with a congresswoman at Thursday’s committee hearing. [AP]

That’s what I’d call a commentary on the desirability of the United States as a permanent home under the Republicans.

Buff:

• noun, informal
  a person who knows a lot about and is very interested in a particular subject:
  a computer/opera/film buff
• adjective
  of a pale, yellowish-brown colour:
  a buff envelope
  
• adjective
  If a man is buff, he has a body that is a good shape, and looks as if he has done a lot of exercise:
  He was spotted on the beach looking extremely buff.
• verb
  To rub an object made of metal, wood, or leather in order to make it shine, using a soft, dry cloth
• [etc] [Cambridge Dictionary]

I wonder if younger readers know this meaning of buff, seeing as I hadn’t run across it myself in decades. Noted in this Stephen Colbert / Pete Buttigieg half-interview.

Pete continues to impress as a guest.

This story is not in what’s said, but what’s implied:

A new Fox News poll found Democrats have the edge over Republicans on economic issues for the first time since 2010.

The survey, released Wednesday, found that 52 percent of respondents think Democrats would do a better job on the economy, while 48 percent backed Republicans on the issue.

The last time Fox News recorded a Democratic edge on the economy, it was May 2010 — as the country was emerging from the Great Recession. Since then, the outlet had conducted 10 polls on the subject until the latest one, with the GOP holding the advantage on each and holding as high as a 15-point edge on the economy in January 2022 and February 2023. [The Hill]

What’s important here?

• Fox News polls generally rank highly in terms of accuracy.
• Fox News is best thought of as a conservative news organ, although with some important cracks in the facade, such as making moderate, gay Democrat Pete Buttigieg a frequent guest during the Biden Administration, when he was Secretary of the Department of Transportation.
• The implied trend line is towards the Democrats.

Those readers who know the economy under Democratic management has, for decades, done better than under Republican management, and are shrugging at this story are missing the real point: Most voters make decisions based on personal perceptions, not on research. Nation-wide price research? Stock market valuations?

No.

What are the prices down at the grocery store? How are my stocks or mutual funds doing?

This result suggests the independents, and even parts of the Republican base, are realizing the Republicans really are a pack of fourth-raters.

And they’re led by Mr Amateur-hour himself, President Trump.

So the implied story is that cowering in front of a bully doesn’t appease them, it simply whets their appetite for more. I’ll add that training your voters to disregard such issues as competence, honesty, and credentials in favor of a list of positions on such issues as abortion, transgender, gay marriage, and many others I’ve discussed on this blog will result in voters who’ve lost the facility to assess candidates based on the critical attributes that we want in our leaders, local and national, and this is happening in the Age of Information.

I’ll add that this is a vulnerability no matter whether you lean left or right. Confirmation bias and ego-needs, emotional manipulation and informational deception are devilish tactics, and some folks might be better served ignoring Web-based news sources in favor of a local news source that may be in danger of collapsing, or being bought out.

Are the Republicans capable of recognizing the vast damage inflicted upon them by Donald J. Trump? Or will the Republicans sink into the swamp, being replaced by moderate Republicans flying a new flag?

I’m betting on the latter. It’ll take a few years, probably. But that’s where I’d put my $5.

Amateurism strikes again, I suppose, on this thread concerning the company Anthropic’s moral principles and the lack thereof on the part of the Trump Administration:

An artificial intelligence researcher hired by the Commerce Department to run a key federal technology center lasted just four days on the job before being replaced, according to four people familiar with the situation.

Collin Burns, who previously worked at the AI firm Anthropic, started work Monday at the Center for AI Standards and Innovation but was pushed out Thursday by the White House, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Officials were concerned about Burns having worked at the AI company, which has fought bitterly with the Trump administration in recent months, according to one of the people and another person. That person said some senior figures at the White House had not been briefed on Burns’s selection in advance, and were concerned about anyone from a major lab being in a position required to work so closely with the industry. [WaPo]

While some may argue that the Administration did the right thing, it’s really nothing more than guilt through association. Like a Mafia organization, Trump didn’t get what he wanted from Anthropic, and so anyone with an association with Anthropic will be made to pay. Defiance of a bully carries a certain charm; Trump’s Administration is trying to make that charm unaffordable.

They won’t win with Anthropic, I’d guess, but the real targets are tomorrow’s vendors, who must be made to understand that they will cater to Trump’s every need, or they face commercial extinction.

Probably not, but emphasis on probably. I’m referring to an apparent attempted assassination of President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner:

Former Senator Kerry has some nasty humor that I wasn’t expecting:

It made me laugh.

While watching, I looked up the former Secretary of State, and he’s the very pinnacle of privilege.

Yet he served in the Navy, front line, took wounds, and won medals. An impressive showing.

“Could be a mummy. Could be full of beetles. The Egyptians had a grotesque sense of humor. One tomb we opened years ago was full of … Play-Doh. We lost three men that day. Why do I keep coming on these expeditions?”
“Because you throw your money away on cursed monkey paws. Now please shut up!”

The Pharaoh’s Curse (1957) is part of the never-ending cauldron of cursed life that are the royal families of Egypt; or, an addition to the legions of deathly curses. British Captain Storm,, stationed in Cairo, is sent to fetch an archaeological team home from its unsanctioned dig in the desert. Hampered by a mysterious Egyptian lady and someone’s sabotage, Captain Storm and his team fight their way through the Arizona desert, at a guess, and arrives just in time to witness the first curse of the game, as the American archaeological team is too avaricious to take the standard-issue warning, from way too long ago, seriously.

Their Egyptian assistant goes down, fights for his life, but fulfills his destiny of becoming a dried up withered husk overnight.

Despite this salutary lesson, Dr. Quentin and his team, not including his wife, who came with Captain Storm, but does little of importance in this story, continue scrabbling about the maze of tunnels, searching for the tomb of Rahateb, and have the profound bad luck of finding it. That costs a life or two, including that of the frantic Dr. Quentin, and the rest finally take the hint and leave with what little dignity is left them.

The cinematography was nice. My Arts Editor loathed what passed for the funerary Egyptian art. The actors tried, but the characters don’t become three dimensional, just dull cardboard. I liked the French artist drawing pictures of the dig site, but not much else. The plot doesn’t really take the role of motivation seriously, and it all becomes a dreary mess.

Don’t bother.

The Words Of Wise Guys

Long-time readers know I don’t much care for Senator Tuberville (R-AL). His seat in the Senate has been little more than a trophy, although he did abuse it to interfere with military promotions during the Biden Administration when the military promised to transport service members who need abortions to locations that would provide them.

But, as he prepares to leave the Senate for a gubernatorial run, he couldn’t keep toeing the Republican line.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Wednesday the Republican Party was fractured and has not accomplished “anything” despite their majority in both the House and Senate.

“Everything that goes on up here … is about, ‘Oh, we got to get reelected. We got to keep the majority.’ Well, hell, we ain’t done anything in the majority. Why would she, why would, should we keep majority?” Tuberville said during a Wednesday appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast. [The Hill]

In a Republican controlled Congress of which House Speaker Johnson (R-LA) claimed high productivity, the Senator has provided an unexpected breath of fresh air: a House not really under Johnson’s control, between the grasping Trump and the various House members who refuse to cooperate, or have resigned, makes it hard to be productive. Given the shift in the character of the Republicans in just the last few years, it’s not surprising that they find it hard to agree, to compromise; when the shift involves power-hungry politicos that really don’t seem to grasp that they’ve signed up for big responsibilities, and not big prizes, their failure should not surprise.

Can the GOP caucus in the legislature pull it together in the end?

However, Trump has said he’ll focus on campaigning for GOP Senate lawmakers facing reelection bids to secure the party’s majority amid midterm elections.

I’ll say it again: Trump is a burden on conservatives, because he’s not a conservative. He’s a grifter with acting skills. But folks are figuring that out.

Including the GOP, as this Politico article delivers.

There’s a growing anxiety gnawing at battleground Republicans: Maybe their Senate majority isn’t as safe as they once thought.

Democrats still face steep odds in their bid to flip the chamber, but interviews with nearly two dozen GOP operatives, party chairs and strategists across the country’s battlegrounds found a persistent concern that the longer the Iran war drags on and the economy sputters, the more it could complicate their path to keeping their majority in November.

This May Not End Well

This sounds like it may end in corruption charges for someone – or some well-heeled donors will come looking for someone’s head.

… the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which paid Better Mousetrap Digital more than $117,000 in “digital fundraising fees” from November through February. The NRSC did not respond to questions about why it continues doing business with Daly and if it plans to continue paying Better Mousetrap Digital for services. [NOTUS]

Better Mousetrap Digital is run by Jack Daly, who reportedly plead guilty to fraud charges, as explained at the above link. Is the Republican Senatorial Committee sinking into chaos, confusion, and corruption? And what will that mean for funding Senate candidates if emergencies arise, as may happen with an angry electorate? How will conservative voters react if this becomes a big story in conservative circles?

Back to the minutiae of life.

• In the last update, Data For Progress listed the top three Michigan Democratic primary candidates as essentially tied. The more than respectable Emerson College Polling disagrees:
  

  A new Emerson College Polling/WOOD-TV survey of Michigan likely primary voters finds 24% support Abdul El-Sayed and Mallory McMorrow in the August Democratic U.S. Senate Primary, while 13% support Haley Stevens. Thirty-six percent are undecided. Support for El-Sayed increased eight points since the January Emerson College poll, while support for McMorrow increased two points and support for Stevens decreased four points.

  An eight point jump for El-Sayed is attention-getting, of course; he lists his religion as Islam, so the Islamophobe wing of the Republicans seem likely to pick up on that and attempt to bring it to the attention of Michigan independents. Or they may wait until after the primary, which is on 4 August.

  For those voters who consider experience important, El-Sayed does not seem to have served in elective office, while McMorrow is a member of the Michigan Senate, and Rep Stevens is a member of the US House of Representatives.

  In the same Emerson College poll, former Rep Mike Rogers (R) leads the Michigan Republican primary field by 53 points. I don’t see any of his fellow Republicans catching him unless self-inflicted wounds appear on Rogers’ hide. Whether his big primary lead will translate into enough votes in the general election is another matter.

• In Texas, the Democrats are not about to be shut out in the money game:
  

  State Rep. James Talarico raised $27 million in the first three months of 2026 in his bid to flip Texas, according to his campaign.

  The Austin Democrat’s haul is the largest-ever sum for a Senate candidate — in any state — in the first quarter of an election year. He outraised other Democrats this cycle who posted impressive hauls of their own in competitive Senate races where Democrats have better odds, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, and more than doubled the totals of former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola.

  Talarico significantly outpaced Texas’ last two Democratic Senate candidates to win their primaries outright — both strong fundraisers. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, and Beto O’Rourke brought in $6.7 million in 2018 — though both ultimately lost. [The Texas Tribune]

  Notably, Talarico won the Democratic primary outright, beating Rep Crockett (D), while the Republican primary has resulted in a runoff. But, as I’ve said before, money does not buy votes. It gets a candidate’s voice out there, but mature voters will analyze positions and try to assess honesty, and not be influenced by sheer volume or entertainment value. Or so I’d like to believe.

  And, of course, money flows across borders relatively easily. So does this mean all that much?

  Talarico also continued his streak of outraising his potential Republican opponents, tripling Sen. John Cornyn’s haul and beating Attorney General Ken Paxton by twelvefold. Cornyn, who is locked in a bitter runoff battle with Paxton, raised nearly $9 million in the first quarter across his fundraising apparatus, including $3.4 million in the weeks after the primary, his campaign announced. Paxton raised $2.2 million.

  It’s tempting to say No, and tempting to say Yes. Neither applies without context, so here’s a heaping spoonful of context:

  The $27 million quarter brings Talarico’s total fundraising for the race, since he got in last September, to over $40 million. Talarico’s campaign said that over the course of the race, he has received donations from over 540,000 individual contributors, and from 246 of Texas’ 254 counties, according to his campaign.

  That’s somewhere in the $74 per contributor range, suggesting the contributors are not rich people trying to influence the race, but middle class folks contributing to someone they approve of.

• The venerable University of New Hampshire polled the New Hampshire Senate seat potential contests of Rep Pappas (D-NH) vs former Senator Sununu (R-NH) and vs former Senator Brown (R-MA during his single term in the Senate, now R-NH), finding Pappas leads Brown by 14 points, 52-38, and Sununu by 7 points, 49-42. Pappas has a large primary lead, while Sununu leads Brown by 37 points. At this snapshot of voter sentiment, it’ll be Pappas vs Sununu.The primary is on September 8, a long ways off.
• University of New Hampshire polled the Rhode Island Senate seat contests, potential and otherwise. Incumbent Senator Reed (D) leads primary challenger Burbridge (D), 65-15; Republican primary polling results were not mentioned. In the potential contest of Reed vs Raymond McKay (R), Reed holds a 52-34 lead.

  The primary is on September 9. Careful readers will note the variance with New Hampshire, above. My reference is Ballotpedia.

• University of New Hampshire polled the Massachusetts Senate seat contests, potential and otherwise. Senator Markey (D) holds comfortable leads over challenger Rep Moulton (D) and Republican likely nominee John Deaton.

  The primary is September 1.

• Alaska Survey Research has Alaska’s former Rep Peltola (D) leading incumbent Senator Sullivan (R) 49-43. That must be an unwelcome surprise in this red state.

And back to the spring gardening.

A month and a half ago I experienced a meltdown of my primary computer; a local computer repair shop could not repair it, and were a bit slow in informing me. A week or so ago I placed an order for a new computer equipped with the latest Fedora release of Linux, because at this age I want to skip the mucking about with Windows anything and the mucking about with installing Fedora. I asked them to salvage the hard drives and graphics card; on their own, they tried to access the SDD and, where the first shop failed, they succeeded. As the SDD was all over the place at the first shop, both the shop and I think they just got a bit lucky; they grasped the luck bull by both horns and pulled backups of /home.

After one false start, it appears their work has been successful. Vivaldi’s being stubborn about my home page, and I’m not near to finishing installing the backup, but at last I’m not slowed down by the work computer I’ve had to substitute.

What does this mean for you? Nothing? Not quite. I have access to my cache of pictures, which are mostly of our backyard. They’ll be inserted into random posts again. If I’m still happy in a few days, I’ll mention the name of the place. They’re new and need the business traffic, I’m sure.

And I’ll be less cranky now.

From a recent AP/ NORC poll:

Yes, the President is closing in on the hallowed negative number territory of electorate approval. Will he take responsibility for this historic failure? Well, judging from his reaction to the narrow Democratic victory in Virginia’s referendum on redistricting,

A RIGGED ELECTION TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT IN THE GREAT COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA! All day long Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive ‘Mail In Ballot Drop!’ Where have I heard that before — And the Democrats eked out another Crooked Victory! … Let’s see if the Courts will fix this travesty of ‘Justice.’ [Truth Social via Maddowblog for technical reasons]

… I’d say no.

It’s all he knows, lie and lie and lie, so when I see a frantic appeal to confirmation bias, I don’t feel any need to wait for a confirmation, or denial, from Virginia Elections, that the events happened as he claims.

I particularly like … the Spirit was unbelievable … because, for those of us who consider what’s said, it appears to be a claim that the Christian Holy Spirit can be defeated by cheaters.

That ain’t Godly. That’s blasphemy. Or there’s no Divine. Trump puts himself in a lose-lose situation with that one.

In any case, the lyin’ President appears to be swirlin’ about in a toilet flush of his lies. Prosecutors await him at one exit, angry citizens, including MAGA and former MAGA, at another – and he has to take one of them.

Arrant:

• downright; thorough; unmitigated; notorious.
  an arrant fool.
• wandering; errant. [Dictionary.com]

I don’t often reference myself. “Telling It Like It Is,” Hue White, Unsightly Mental Blemishes:

His failure to attain regime change has left [President Trump], despite copious bombast, looking like a loser, an amateur-hour loser. No glory, no victory, just a bum who should never have been elected. In his cancellation of the JCPOA, aka the Iran nuclear deal of the Obama era, his defeat really approaches ‘utter,’ doesn’t it? Only in the American Civil War have we seen such arrant incompetence.

In the famous Hollywood movie Trump vs Iran, the two sides are not struggling over the same prize. In a Joe Scarborough interview, David Ignatius demonstrates he gets it:

[President Trump’s] only real option becomes negotiating a way out. And the Iranians see that — that he needs an exit more than they do. For Iran, you don’t have to win this war, you just have to survive. And that’s what they’re doing. That’s why they have the leverage right now.

It’s an important point, perhaps the most important point to realize before Trump entered into this war. Given the perceived military advantages, he needed to have a quick, painless regime change in order to be the victorious leader; they only needed to survive, a principle laid down long ago by General Sun Tzu in The Art of War.

His failure to attain regime change has left him, despite copious bombast, looking like a loser, an amateur-hour loser. No glory, no victory, just a bum who should never have been elected. In his cancellation of the JCPOA, aka the Iran nuclear deal of the Obama era, his defeat really approaches ‘utter,’ doesn’t it? Only in the American Civil War have we seen such arrant incompetence.

In Roman times, failed generals often didn’t have to be executed, they died on the battlefield, sometimes purposefully.

In any case, I like the brevity of Mr Ignatius summary.