Oh Boy It Never Ends: December 2025

Friday, December 12, 2025

ELLA MCCAY

Thursday? WICKED: FOR GOOD passed the $300 million market in North American ticket sales. It is currently the fifth biggest film (in ticket sales) of the year. It'll be interesting to see how ELLA MCCAY does this weekend.

We saw the film tonight. James L. Brooks. It's a really strong movie that is funny and moving and dramatic. I think everyone was perfectly cast though Woody Harrelson's shtick has gotten old and it's probably time to move on to other actors in his age range. Fortunately, his role is not that large.

Great performances? I want to start with Jack Lowden because you grow to hate his character and you need to for the film to work. He doesn't try to wink to the audience, he plays the character and really brings him to life. So applause to him. Emma Mackey has the lead role and she brings the Holly Hunter energy that the role requires as well as her own special individuality.

The film also boasts strong performances from Jamie Lee Curtis, Julie Kavner, Albert Brooks, Kumail Nanjiani and even Troy Garity.

Even Troy Garity?

I don't understand his career. He gave an amazing performance in 2003s SOLDIER'S GIRL and the offers should have poured in. He's good looking, he's extremely talented. I don't know what happened. I'm sure he doesn't either. Because in any fair world, SOLDIER'S GIRL should have opened every role to him in his age range.

One thing I do know, he needs to make a movie with his mother. Jane Fonda is his mother (Tom Hayden was his father) and making ON GOLDEN POND with her father Henry gave Jane some strong memories and some understanding of her father. It also gave us two great performances. So it's time for Troy and Jane to find a project that they can work on together.

Going out with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Friday, December 12, 2025. Another day, another million or so Chump scandals. Kristi Noem refuses to recognize the sacrifices of some veterans of the US military, Chump continues to flounder in the polls, Pam da Bimbo Bondi remains ignorant of the law, Pete Hegseth remains unfit for his job, and much, much more.

Something to remember as we're on the verge of the weekend, "Sweeping taxes on imports have cost the average American household nearly $1,200 since Donald Trump returned to the White House this year, according to calculations by Democrats on Congress' Joint Economic Committee," reports Paul Wiseman (AP). Daniel Orton (NEWSWEEK) notes:

Republican voters are growing noticeably less confident in Donald Trump’s economic stewardship, a troubling shift for a president who has long cast himself as the party’s chief dealmaker and financial fixer.

A new AP-NORC poll shows GOP approval of Trump’s handling of the economy has dropped 9 points since March—from 78 percent then to 69 percent now—as overall public approval of his economic agenda sinks to a record low of 31 percent. The erosion suggests that frustration with persistent inflation, concern over Trump’s escalating tariff strategy, and pessimism about the pace of economic recovery are cutting into his base’s support.

Ben notes the polling numbers this morning on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.

And despite those and other realities, Chump's trying to renamed the Republican party to Tpublican. Is that pronounced T-P-ublican for toilet paper? Adam Lynch notes:

Former Illinois Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra (R) says he is surprised President Donald Trump is mulling naming the Republican Party after himself at a time when the party should be going out of its way to avoid him.

“Some will write off Trump’s ruminations about changing the name to ‘Tpublican’ ... as another of his egomaniacal rants to distract the media from learning about playboy Trump’s earlier years with Jeffrey Epstein,” said Kustra. “Yet, few believed Trump would tear down the entire East Wing of the White House to create a Mar-a-Lago North."

“This is the American president who has plastered the Oval Office with gold, now converted to the Trump family cash register with real estate deals and crypto scams ringing up sales for the billionaire family,” Kustra added. “Most Americans would not expect a sitting president to approve a new dollar coin with his portrait on it, but it is in the planning stages. There seems no end to Trump disgracing the office of the presidency with his monumental ego and tacky taste.”

Instead, Kustra argued Trump’s latest attempt to stamp his name on the party ought to be the spark that finally “ignites a serious reconsideration of just what the Republican Party stands for and what the future holds for” the GOP.

Turning to that wet mess Pete Hegseth

Before he was facing allegations of War Crimes but after he was a TV personality, Secretary of Defense Pete was using his blabber mouth in texts -- a non-secure text -- and blabbing all the plans of when to bomb. Those actions were supposed to result in serious reviews. Oops! Wet mess Hegseth cut a few corners yet again. Zachary Cohen and Haley Britzky (CNN) report:

The Pentagon did not conduct a routine investigation into the impact of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s disclosure of sensitive military information in a group chat on Signal earlier this year and whether it damaged national security – in part because Hegseth never authorized it, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

A classification review and damage assessment would typically be initiated following any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive defense information, in part, to examine whether sources and methods or ongoing US military and intelligence operations have been compromised in a way that would require mitigation.

Hegseth did not order an assessment, two former senior officials who were working at the Pentagon at the time and a current US official with knowledge of the situation said.

After the Signal messages came to light, Hegseth, instead turned his attention inward and focused on formally investigating suspected leakers on his own staff, even threatening to polygraph defense officials he believed were disclosing potentially embarrassing details about him, multiple current and former officials said. Those threats had a “chilling effect” among DoD officials who became increasingly wary of doing anything that could be perceived by Hegseth as an attempt to undercut him, according to those officials.

Let's stop for a moment because what Hegseth did was wrong. I know it. You know it. But Pam da Bimbo Bondi doesn't know it. She's an idiot.

And what's even sadder? That doesn't make her stand out in this administration because there are so very many idiots.

This week da Bimbo Bondi raged to the press about how 'activist judges' were hurting the country. No, Pammy, you and the other idiots are hurting the country. Don't become Attorney General of the United States when you're both an idiot and a serial liar.

Earlier this week, UPI quoted da Bimbo:

Bondi then posted on X: "Following the flawed Third Circuit decision disqualifying Alina Habba from performing her duties in the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of New Jersey, I am saddened to accept Alina's resignation. The Department of Justice will seek further review of this decision, and we are confident it will be reversed. Alina intends to return to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey if this occurs."

Farrah Tomazin (THE DAILY BEAST) quoted that and the following:

“The court ruling has made it untenable for her to effectively run her office with politicized judges, pausing trials designed to bring violent criminals to justice.

“These judges should not be able to countermand the president‘s choice of attorneys entrusted with carrying out the executive branch’s core responsibility of prosecuting crime.”

Pam is a highly stupid woman. The judges are doing their job: Judicial Review. Do we need to hire a tutor for Pam? If we did, would she just try to seduce her tutor?

Every administration requires judicial review. Most of the time, when judicial review finds something wrong you can consider it an innocent mistake. There are no innocent mistakes in the Chump administration. Which makes judicial review all the more important.

Alina Habba, by the way, is what had da Bimbo so bent out of shape. Habba did not quit this week. Habba did not have a job. The court ruled it. So all she did was comply with a court order and that should have been the headline: Someone In The Trump Administration complies with a court order finally. But instead the press offered headlines like "Habba Quits" -- no, she wasn't quitting. They, the administration, were breaking the rules. She did not get confirmation -- because of her problems as a Kurd with a family back in Iraq linked to violence -- and the Turkish government has said terrorism -- from the Senate. She's inexperienced and was put in place for a limited amount of time. Per the law you can do that.

But her days were up. And then some. And Pam Bondi, the bimbo playing at Attorney General, ignored the law and tried to keep her in place.

Activists judge, da Bimbo, try unqualified Attorney General.

And time to talk about another of your 'brilliant' employees, da Bimbo. Remember Lindsey Halligan? She was completely unqualified. "Chump wanted her!" You're the Attorney General and should have pointed out she wasn't qualified.

Having failed at that, Pammy, you failed further by letting her appear before her first grand jury alone. Did you not understand that, Pam?

We've all made jokes about Hiligan but, da Bimbo, you are the AG, having gone along with making this unqualified person an AG, you damn well should have held her hand and walked her through. You've been allowed to define your duties which just goes to how lousy a president Chump is. You are reckless and you are offensive. And when you're gone people in law schools will never stop laughing at you.

You've made clear that you are highly and overly concerned about your looks but you don't see to give a damn about the Constitution. And, I know we've already pointed this out once again, but for the Attorney General of the United States to reference hate speech laws and not grasp that's Canada in North American, not the United States? What the hell do you even know about our country's history?

You will forever be mocked for your tantrum in front of the Senate and for showing up with a notebook of pre-written insults and accusations -- accusations that weren't correct. You got on your high horse at one point to tell Adam Schiff that he couldn't understand what you do because you are a lawyer and -- And you were shocked to discover that he is an attorney. Now as I noted in the snapshot covering that hearing, I didn't know Adam had been an attorney. But here's the difference, I didn't sit in front of cameras and insult him for not being an attorney when he was in fact an attorney.

How stupid are you, Pam? Seriously, how stupid are you? You prepared that attack ahead of time, wrote it out ahead of time.

And yet you didn't even have the facts right?

And you think your actions don't require judicial review?

You aren't just an idiot, Pam, you're a f**king idiot. ATLANTA BLACK STAR NEWS explains:

Attorney General Pam Bondi barreled into controversy on Thursday when she walked straight into a reporter’s trap and tried to match President Donald Trump’s signature rage—only to unleash a tirade so over-the-top it immediately raised questions about how far she’s willing to go for him.

What should have been a routine Fox News appearance turned into a constitutional faceplant as Bondi began echoing Trump’s attacks on critics and threatening consequences for anyone who crossed them.

It happened during an interview on “Fox & Friends,” where a leading question about progressive backlash to Trump’s National Guard deployments sent Bondi into a spiraling monologue.

Instead of answering, she launched into a sweeping denunciation of unnamed “lawmakers” and “news anchors,” accusing them of endangering the country and hinting the administration was now scrutinizing “everything they have said.”

[. . .]

They should be praising our men and women in law enforcement,” she demanded.

“And we are looking at everything they have said and why they said it and if they encouraged acts of violence,” the attorney general firmly threatened.

“But it is, it’s actually sad what our country has come to with these progressive left idiots,” she added in an elevated tone and emphasized speech.

No, dear, what is sad is that a dumb and unqualified bimbo is now our Attorney General.

“I’ve never liked her, but this is just laughable and sad. Like, is she ok? It’s so unserious and lacks any sort of power. Is she high? Is she drunk? Has her soul left her body? This does not seem like a human,” this Threads user wondered.

The whole country laughs at you. And you've never understood Ka$h so let me explain him to you: One way or another, he will bury you. And it will be the most hilarious thing in the world to watch.

In the meantime we register your attacks on six members of Congress for stating the law -- it is illegal to follow unlawful orders. You have attacked them and lied about them. Yet? Let's turn it over to Adam Liptak (NEW YORK TIMES):

When six Democratic lawmakers issued a video last month telling members of the military that they must refuse unlawful orders, President Trump said they had committed “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

But Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said the same thing as the lawmakers last year in a friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court as a lawyer for the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that represented three former military leaders.

“Military officers are required not to carry out unlawful orders,” she wrote.

She elaborated: “The military would not carry out a patently unlawful order from the president to kill nonmilitary targets. Indeed, service members are required not to do so.”

The brief was filed in support of Mr. Trump, who was asking the Supreme Court to grant him immunity from prosecution on charges of trying to subvert the 2020 election. It was, more specifically, an effort to address a statement by one of Mr. Trump’s private lawyers, D. John Sauer, now the solicitor general, at an appeals court argument in January 2024.

See? You're unfit for your job, you're unfit for any job, pretty much.

When I think of the battles Janet Reno had to fight -- and win -- in order for women to be taken seriously as the Attorney General of the United States only for us to end up with you, I just shake my head in disbelief over Pam's lazy and ignorant approach to the law.

Jonah E. Bromwich, Devlin Barrett and Glenn Thrush (NEW YORK TIMES) note:

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., declined on Thursday to indict Letitia James, the New York attorney general, the second time in a week that jurors had rejected the effort — a rebuke of President Trump’s bid to order up prosecutions against his political enemies.

The jury refused to charge Ms. James, who had brought a civil case against Mr. Trump, in connection with making false claims on a mortgage application, according to people familiar with the matter, exactly one week after another set of jurors did the same.

The back-to-back failures by prosecutors to secure an indictment amounted to a striking rejection of the administration’s retribution campaign. It highlighted the Justice Department’s unusual strategy of pursuing second indictments despite earlier failures in court and suggested the department would face major hurdles in bringing charges against President Trump’s foes.

da Bimbo, your department is a joke. And if you yourself are not the biggest joke in the administration, it's due to the fact that the administration also includes Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Robert Kennedy Junior, Tom Homan and so many other idiots and fools. In fact, let's catch up on the H*A*R*L*O*T of Homeland Security. Because she was at a Congressional hearing yesterday. And at that hearing? She made news for all the wrong things.

Sarah Ewall-Wice (THE DAILY BEAST) reports:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem brought her husband Bryon to her grilling on Capitol Hill after a report that Donald Trump is considering firing the top administration official over her problematic alleged lover.

Noem showed up before the House Committee on Homeland Security with members of her family in attendance on Thursday.

One person who did not appear to be in the hearing room: Corey Lewandowski.

Lewandowski has been referred to as the secretary’s “gatekeeper,” and their alleged affair has been referred to as Washington, D.C.’s “worst-kept secret.”

“I have my husband Bryon, who’s with me, and also two of my children,” Noem shared in her opening statement. She noted that her daughters’ husbands and one grandchild had also joined her there.

Bryon Noem was also in attendance, sitting just behind Noem, as she testified on Capitol Hill in May.

Byron Noem was spotted? Well thank goodness for that, he was becoming the most noted missing person since Shelly Miscavige.

As Nicole Wallaces noted on MS NOW yesterday, Kristi ducked on the hearing but not before making clear that she intended to continue deporting veterans.

And grasp that she refused to acknowledge the service veterans of the military have contributed to this country.

Let's go back to Pete, then one more topic so we can wrap up this morning. THE DAILY BEAST notes:

The secret adviser who is guiding Pentagon Pete Hegseth’s hardline “warrior” approach to the U.S. military is a retired colonel with a controversial past, The Swamp can reveal.

Michael Steele, who led the 3rd Brigade, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, has been described by Hegseth as a “certified bad a--.” But while his men adored him, Steele, now 65, was regarded with suspicion by his superiors for his uncompromising approach.

The “Screaming Eagles” commander, who led the 1993 U.S. mission in Mogadishu immortalized in the book and movie, Black Hawk Down, is infamous in Army circles for his tough-as-nails approach and was said to have inspired the use of “kill boards” for troops to tally how many enemy soldiers they killed.

It may come as no surprise that Hegseth’s military posturing is heavily based on his fanboy admiration for his old boss. Hegseth was a platoon leader under Steele. In his 2014 book, The War on Warriors, the Pentagon chief wrote of his former boss: “He suffered no fools. If you engaged the enemy and destroyed it under his command, you got a ‘kill coin’.”

[. . .]

The idea that Steele is now playing a key role in reshaping the U.S. forces in his image will shock many—even those within the military—because he left under a cloud after four of his men were charged with murdering unarmed Iraqis. In sworn statements, members of a combat unit under Steele’s command claimed at a military hearing in 2006 that he “ordered them to kill all military-age males.” Steele denied giving the order and was never charged, but he was formally reprimanded.

A clue to Hegseth’s loyalty to his hero was revealed in a dig he made after getting all his generals to travel to Quantico so he could lecture them about warcraft in September. He specifically called out retired U.S. Army General Peter Chiarelli, Steele’s nemesis—the senior officer who reprimanded him over the “kill order” deaths. “The new compass heading is clear—out with the Chiarellis, the McKenzies, and the Milleys. And in with the Stockdales, the Schwarzkopfs, and the Pattons,” Hegseth told the generals.

Gen Peter Chiarelli had more awareness and wisdom in deep sleep than Hegseth has at anytime during the day -- even before he starts one of his drunken benders. Asleep. Chiarelli truly cared about the troops under his command and his desire to learn about PTS and his efforts to champion it as PTS were praiseworthy and we noted that in real time.

If you're late to the party, we use PTS. It is conduction, you become hyper aware as a result. I grasped it the first time I spoke with veterans -- "disorder" was the wrong term and would make some not seek treatment. So Chiarelli championed Post-Traumatic Stress and that's how I heard of him because that's the term we were using when we spoke to groups including veterans and service members. By removing the stigma, you could understand what it was -- you were in a dangerous place and your body helped keep you alive by making you hyper aware. Now that you were back home, you just needed some help on learning how to handle this g

Next topic?

Oh, how sweet. Just like his father, Barron Trump is drawn to sexual predators. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell remain in the news. Yes, Donald's close friends remains in the news -- despite Epstein being dead and Maxwell vacationing behind bars. Adam Van Eekeren (EXTRA.IE) reports:

Less than six months after being transferred to a low-security prison in Texas, sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is set to go before a judge and request that she be released. According to a letter from her high-powered attorney, Maxwell will represent herself in the matter.

Former lover and accomplice to Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell was originally transferred from Florida to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in August after she agreed to be interviewed by Attorney General Todd Blanche. Previously released letters from a prison nurse revealed that the Texas facility was treating Maxwell to a life of luxury.

It was alleged that Maxwell was being waited on ‘hand and foot’ at Camp Bryan, even receiving ‘customized and prepared’ meals that were delivered straight to her cell. The nurse's letter claimed that the convicted sex trafficker was also allowed to play with a puppy while in her cell.

Ari provided a strong overview of this Chump scandal yesterday on MS NOW.

Let's wind down with this from THE BLACK COMMENTATOR:

The Black Commentator

Issue #1067

is now Online

December 11, 2025

Read issue 1067

Our email address is BlackCommentator@gmail.com

Our voicemail number is 856.823.1739

The Black Commentator | P.O. Box 2635, A weekly publication dedicated to economic justice, social justice and peace.,
Tarpon Springs, FL 34688-2635

The following sites updated:

Thursday, December 11, 2025

Stop being stupid!

DEADLINE reports:

A decade later, Paul Feig is considering sending Melissa McCarthy undercover again for a Spy sequel.

Despite his reluctance to make sequels (with the exception of Another Simple Favor), the 4x Emmy nominee recently revealed that “I definitely have an idea” for a follow-up to the 2015 action-comedy.

“I used to say I don’t want to do sequels, and then I did Another Simple Favor, but that felt like five years, and we had an idea for a story that felt good,” he told SlashFilm.

Stop being stupid, make it already.

SPY is a hilarious film. One of my favorite Melissa McCarthy films ever. Everything about it was perfect. Including the cast brilliantly led by Melissa with great support from Allison Janney, Jason Statham, Miranda Hart, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Boabby Cannavale and Morena Baccarin.

It f**ked with the form and refused to be cookie cutter. It was a case of one surprise after another. And you've got an idea for a sequel? Stop being stupid and make it already.

Going out with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Thursday, December 11, 2025. Chump continues to be at war with everything -- including the truth -- is Kristi Noem about to be fired or will she continue to oversee terrorizing the nation?

This morning, Ben's covering a lot at MEIDASTOUCH NEWS -- including censorship at Head Start where Chump's created six pages of 'banned' words -- including such 'offensive' words as "race" and "women."

Chump is destroying the country and has focused on attempting to divide it. But Kinsey Crowley (USA TODAY) explains how Chump's unpopularity might be the only thing binding the nation together at this point:

Trump has a net positive approval rating in 22 states, according to Morning Consult, which gathers polls over the course of three months to get a look at state-level data among registered voters. The Dec. 5 update has two fewer above-water states compared to the previous month's update.

Ohio and Iowa, which were considered Republican strongholds in the 2024 election, were the two states where Trump lost his standing with voters, according to Morning Consult. The pollster also found Trump's disapproval grew to second-term highs in these 2024 swing states: Arizona (51%), Georgia (50%), Michigan and North Carolina (52% each) and Wisconsin (54%). His approval rating is negative in all the swing states.

In Pennsylvania, 47% approve of Trump's job performance and 50% disapprove. In Florida, 50% approve of Trump's job performance, compared to 46% who disapprove.

It's doubtful anyone caught Tuesay night's speech and thought, "Oh, honey, I'm in love with that grotesquely fat man!" Sophia Tesfaye (SALON) observes:

Donald Trump’s midterm reboot was supposed to be the triumphant return of a political heavyweight. After Democrats saw impressive gains in off-year elections across the country in November, White House advisers promised the president would return to the campaign trail to storm the 2026 midterms with the same “fire and dominance” he claimed to wield in 2024 — infamous weave and all. But if his Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, rally is any preview of what the GOP should expect, Trump’s promise should be read as a threat. Far from a comeback, his return rally was a flop.

Trump’s team clearly hoped the blue-collar community in one of the country’s most important swing states would give him a friendly launchpad. While I expected a crowd of a few thousand with the nostalgic sound of MAGA chants echoing off metal bleachers, I tuned into Fox News Tuesday evening to find the president in a conference center ballroom inside a local casino that appeared to hold, generously, 200 people. And even that small crowd seemed hesitant, almost resigned, as Trump ranted for nearly an hour. Fox News, of course, dutifully avoided any wide shots. But the truth was clear on screen: The MAGA magic had vanished.

Trump marched onstage insisting he was ready to make America “affordable again,” a line crafted to evoke Reagan-era economic populism that instead conjured Jimmy Carter calling for personal austerity. Trump declared he had “no higher priority” before launching into his usual misdirection by blaming the rising cost of living on his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Even a local waitress brought on stage to support Trump lamented that her paychecks no longer stretch far enough. “Pretty much everything I make goes towards paying the bills,” she said. In response, Trump offered advice in the style of Marie Antoinette.

“Americans must learn to adjust to a lower standard of living,” he told the crowd before suggesting a specific solution to prices hiked by his tariffs, which he continues to insist are a success. “You can give up certain products. You can give up pencils…You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice.”

Chump is so out of touch, he honestly believes that is an answer. He and insulated and isolated administration, think that is an answer failing to grasp that most Americans have been buying cheaper for months now. There comes a time when, for many Americans, 'tighten your belt!' no longer works because there is nothing left to tighten. Sarah K. Burris notes this trend:

Amid the president's messaging melee, Politico reported Wednesday that their recent poll conducted in November "paint(s) a grim portrait of spending constraints: More than a quarter, 27 percent, said they have skipped a medical check-up because of costs within the last two years, and 23 percent said they have skipped a prescription dose for the same reason."

The numbers show that more than one-third of people (37 percent) are starting to make cuts in their spending on recreation. Nearly half (46 percent) say that they couldn't pay for a vacation if it involved air travel.

And that is where Chump has taken the country. Our economy is in the tank and he lies to people about that reality and he lies to the country about that reality. NPR's Joe Hernandez notes:

Now it's President Trump who's trying to persuade the public that the state of the economy is sound, after prices rose 3% in the 12 months ending in September and with consumers spending less on big-ticket items.

Betsey Stevenson, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, says making that argument could be a tall order in the face of rising costs for a number of goods and services.

"My personal takeaway from the experience we had [in 2024] was that you can't tell people that prices aren't up when they're up," she said.

While the prices of some items such as gasoline have fallen on Trump's watch, the overall cost of living has continued to climb. For example, grocery costs are up 2.7% for the year ending in September and electricity costs have jumped more than 5%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Trump's claims about inflation are false," Stevenson said, "and you can go to the grocery store and see it yourself."

But, in a wide-ranging speech to supporters on Tuesday, Trump both defended his administration's track record on the economy and said that talk of affordability was overblown. Trump told the crowd in Mount Pocono, Pa., that he believed the term "affordability" was a "hoax" perpetrated by Democrats. Trump's recent assertions dismissing inflation are not backed by official government economic data.

He continues to lie but people can see with their own eyes that prices are rising. That's why he's uable to trick them the way he's tricked people on so many things over the years. Not this time. Linley Sanders and Will Weissert (AP) report::

President Donald Trump’s approval on the economy and immigration have fallen substantially since March, according to a new AP-NORC poll, the latest indication that two signature issues that got him elected barely a year ago could be turning into liabilities as his party begins to gear up for the 2026 midterms.

Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds. That is down from 40% in March and marks the lowest economic approval he’s registered in an AP-NORC poll in his first or second term. The Republican president also has struggled to recover from public blowback on other issues, such as his management of the federal government, and has not seen an approval bump even after congressional Democrats effectively capitulated to end a record-long government shutdown last month.

Instead of dealing with reality, he attacks reporters. He attacks CNN. He takes calls from people trying to see that their son gets control of CNN.

That is so unethical but he doesn't care about ethics, he never has. He's a stupid moron who only cares about himself.

His dementia makes it difficult for him to grasp how the American people see him David Edwards (RAW STORY) reports:

Democratic strategist James Carville suggested President Donald Trump was effectively "over" after he held a "politically dumb" rally-style event in Pennsylvania this week.

Carville pointed out that Trump was telling people the economy was "great" despite evidence to the contrary.

"It is not only a kind of insane message from somebody, I don't think, is honestly, I think anybody would say that Trump is particularly sane. It's a politically dumb message," he explained. "It's pretty amazing if you think about it. ... He's trying to argue that you're not feeling what you're feeling."

"He's not getting away with it," he continued. "He's done. We just got to butter this toast and slice it and eat it. ... It's over. You're a loser, dude! You're losing everywhere, and you're going to lose more because you, my friend, are a loser!"

Part of Chump's war on the United States is his war on immigrants which has expanded to targeting and torturing non-migrants as well. Senator Alex Padilla's office issued the following:

Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined a bicameral spotlight forum to denounce the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) unlawful arrests of U.S. citizens. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-Calif.-42), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, convened the forum to receive testimony from five of these American citizens, including three Californians, whom DHS agents have violently arrested and detained.

DHS continues to lie about its treatment of American citizens. In October, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem falsely claimed, “[t]here’s no American citizens that have been arrested or detained,” and the account @DHSgov posted just last week, “ICE does NOT arrest or deport U.S. citizens.” On the contrary, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in California and across the country have repeatedly arrested and detained American citizens, including veterans, at times using violent physical force.

Padilla emphasized that the Trump Administration’s militarization of American cities, starting with Los Angeles, to conduct indiscriminate immigration enforcement was the test case for President Trump’s mass deportation campaign across the country. ICE and CBP agents have repeatedly violated due process rights and profiled individuals — including U.S. citizens — who they claim “look like” noncitizen enforcement targets.

Padilla asked all five U.S. citizens at the spotlight forum what they would say if President Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, or other Trump Administration officials were in front of them. He heard emotional pleas from California witnesses to stop scapegoating immigrants and racially profiling American citizens. The witnesses included:

Javier Ramirez (California): Mr. Ramirez was violently assaulted by DHS agents and held for four days, where he was denied adequate treatment for diabetes, leading to severe complications.
George Retes (California): Mr. Retes is a U.S. Army veteran who was violently arrested and detained during a raid at his job site in Southern California and detained for three days, during which he was refused the ability to contact his family and missed his daughter’s birthday.
Andrea Velez (California): Ms. Velez was on her way to work in downtown Los Angeles when she got caught up in an immigration raid and was falsely charged with assaulting an officer, a charge that was later dropped.
Wilmer Chavarria (Vermont): Mr. Chavarria, a school superintendent, was detained after returning to the United States from visiting family overseas, interrogated for hours, and even faced demands to search his personal and school district devices, which contained sensitive information about students and faculty.
Dayanne Figueroa (Illinois): Ms. Figueroa was sideswiped while driving to work and then violently pulled from her car by DHS agents who pointed guns at her; while detained for hours, she suffered internal trauma, having recently undergone two kidney surgeries weeks before the incident, as well as injuries to her wrists from being handcuffed.

Padilla also heard from Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council, about how the Trump Administration’s diversion of resources to immigration enforcement makes all Americans less safe.

Key Excerpts:

PADILLA: If you had the Administration up here, if you had Donald Trump, if you had the Secretary of Homeland Security, if you had other officials from the Trump Administration up here, what would you tell them?

WILMER CHAVARRIA: I would say that we’ve seen this before. We see it right through you. We’ve seen leaders dehumanize entire communities, entire races, entire peoples. And we know why you dehumanize us. And I will say, we will come out of this, and we will come out of it stronger.

JAVIER RAMIREZ: They should be ashamed of themselves. I don’t want to raise my kids in an America where they have to be careful, you know, just by being their skin color.

PADILLA: Mr. Melnick, I know you come to this conversation from a different perspective given your role and expertise. Let me ask you a different question. … The argument from the Administration is that they’re going after the worst of the worst. We see in reality that that’s far from the case. The fear and intimidation they’ve stoked in so many communities across the country is clear in my mind. Has this mass deportation agenda made any community or country safer?

MELNICK: There’s no evidence that this is making us more safe. In fact, it’s the other way around. I testified in front of Congress on this issue before. By diverting resources away from child exploitation, by turning ICE Homeland Security Investigations into just one other arm of ICE’s enforcement and removal operations, they are making us less safe. They are taking counterterrorism operatives and telling them to go out on the street and arrest migrants. They’re taking people whose job it is to investigate pedophiles preying on children, and telling those officers to go round up dishwashers instead. And that doesn’t make us safer.

Video of Padilla’s remarks and questioning is available here.

Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in opposition to President Trump’s cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda. He has denounced the Trump Administration’s stops, arrests, detentions, and deportations of U.S. citizens and pressed Secretary Noem on the wrongful targeting of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. In July, Padilla joined a Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee hearing to set the record straight on President Trump and Stephen Miller’s cruel mass deportation campaign, blasting the Administration for intentionally stoking fear and scapegoating immigrants. In September, Padilla joined 60 of his Senate and House colleagues in opening a new investigation into the Trump Administration’s arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen service members, veterans, and military families.

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Senator Dick Durbin's office issued this video of an American citizen who was attacked by ICE -- starting with them intentionally crashing into her car.

Listen to her remarks and ask yourself how this is happening in the United States? Ask yourself what kind of idiots are ruining this country right now, destroying democracy, attacking rule of law.

The Chump gestapo is controlled by him and wack job Krist Noem. Laura Esposito (DAILY BEAST) notes:

White House officials are scrambling to do damage control amid growing reports that the president will soon purge some of his most problematic political appointees.

It’s widely believed that Trump, 79, is waiting until the one-year mark of his second term before reshuffling his already-embattled Cabinet—a strategy intended to avoid the revolving-door circus of his first term. Publicly, however, the White House is raging against any such suggestions.

“President Trump has assembled the most talented and capable Cabinet in American history,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast on Monday. “These so-called reports are nothing but Fake News.”

This month, three of Trump’s most problematic political appointees have emerged as prime candidates for the chopping block: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Each has been at the center of their own mini-crisis, and each time the White House has slapped down rumors of their potential firings as mere media fabrication.

Isabela Dias (MOTHER JONES) writes:

The image was grotesque.

In March, a camera-ready Kristi Noem posed in front of a group of shirtless, shaved, tattooed men crammed inside a metal holding cell in a foreign prison. The photo-op (and video message) was taken during the Homeland Security secretary’s tour of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, where the Trump administration had sent more than 230 Venezuelan migrants on flimsy evidence. Noem’s performance at CECOT was a triumphant show of ruthlessness as well as a warning: If you’re an immigrant unlawfully present in the United States, you too could end up shipped off to another country and held in one of the world’s worst prisons—perhaps indefinitely.

The administration’s apparent satisfaction in arranging the CECOT ordeal has been emblematic of the second Trump term’s ever-increasing callousness toward immigrants and willingness to treat the constraints of the law as mere suggestions. Last month, Human Rights Watch and the watchdog organization Cristosal documented evidence that the Venezuelans removed to El Salvador endured “torture” and “enforced disappearance.” (As we reported after their release, and confirmed by the report, men said that following Noem’s visit, they received more beatings and had their food taken away by the prison guards.)

That image of Noem and the saga of the Venezuelans the US government exiled to a notorious gulag—without a semblance of due process—should be seared into America’s collective memory. But in the months since it happened, and as those men are made to live with the trauma inflicted on them, I’ve wondered whether it will.

Displays of inhumanity were a normalized phenomenon in 2025. A peril of having punitive theater as a central tenet of governance is that, eventually, the shock factor and public outrage risk wearing out. The horror may never fully register. When there’s a barrage of previously-unbelievably-unconscionably-legally dubious acts and brutal policies, how does one begin to wrap their head around each uniquely reprehensible episode, let alone a year’s worth of anti-immigration cruelty?

Those images are appalling. It looks like the Abu Ghraib photos out of Iraq. But there's Noem smiling and happy and oblivious to issues such as human rights and human dignity.

Edith Olmsted (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:

The Department of Homeland Security just paid nearly $140 million to be in charge of managing its own deportation flights.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has signed a multimillion-dollar contract to purchase six Boeing 737 aircrafts from Daedalus Aviation Corporation, whose owners already have ties to massive DHS contracts, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement previously chartered planes to carry out deportations. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Post that owning its own planes would allow ICE to “operate more effectively, including by using more efficient flight patterns.”

Now the agency would be responsible for managing its own fleet of aircraft, flight crews, and all the logistics involved in transporting immigrant detainees around and out of the country. But John Sandweg, former acting ICE director, said that dealing with all of this might be more trouble than it’s worth.

“It’s so much easier to issue a contract to a company that already manages a fleet of airplanes,” Sandweg told the Post. “So this move I’m surprised by because what the administration wants to accomplish, by and large, can be accomplished through charter flights already.”

But they've got big plans at Homeland. The administration won't help Americans with regards to healthcare but they'll build up a new fleet of planes for depurations.

And when they run out of all the money they've been given, Homeland Security just robs money from other departments. This is from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Pentagon’s requested budget for 2026 indicates the Defense Department plans to spend at least $5 billion more for southern border operations alone

Warren: “It’s an insult to our service members that Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem are using the defense budget as a slush fund for political stunts. Stripping military resources to promote a wasteful political agenda doesn’t make our military stronger or Americans safer.”

Cover Letter to the Pentagon (PDF) | Text of Report (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative John Garamendi (D-Calif.) released a new report detailing the Trump administration’s diversion of funds and resources from the Department of Defense (DoD) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for immigration enforcement, and its impact on readiness and morale.

Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), along with Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) co-authored the report.

Under a second Trump administration, the U.S. military has become heavily involved in immigration enforcement. Senator Warren’s new report, the first detailed review of the Pentagon’s spending on immigration, found that DoD has committed at least $2 billion to support immigration enforcement through mobilizing and deploying troops to American cities and the Southern border, deporting and transporting immigrants on military aircrafts, detaining individuals on U.S. military installations, and more.

“It’s an insult to our service members that Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem are using the defense budget as a slush fund for political stunts. Stripping military resources to promote a wasteful political agenda doesn’t make our military stronger or Americans safer,” said Senator Warren. “Congress needs to step in and hold the Trump Administration accountable for mishandling billions of taxpayer dollars.”

“When President Trump recklessly diverts our military to support immigration enforcement, our armed forces pay the price. As this report shows, these disruptions come at a significant cost, in both dollars and readiness,” said Representative Garamendi.

Despite an unprecedented $170 billion budget allocated to DHS, it’s unclear how much DoD has received in reimbursement for any of its spending on immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, the military is funding these efforts in support of DHS with money allocated for other DoD projects including updates to barracks, maintenance hangers, and military construction projects in the Pacific. Concerningly, the Pentagon has requested an additional $5 billion for further immigration support in its budget request for 2026.

“Diverting the military from its existing missions and thrusting it into immigration enforcement does not make Americans safer. This multi-billion-dollar political stunt is an overt waste of taxpayer resources and undermines national security, military readiness, and resources for our servicemembers,” said the members.

The members’ report found that, in 2025, the Pentagon has committed:

At least $1.3 billion for the deployment of troops and resources to the border;
At least $258 million to support Trump’s orders to deploy troops to Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, and Memphis, along with plans to reassign 600 Judge Advocates (JAGs) as immigration judges;
At least $420.9 million for detaining immigrants at domestic military installations and overseas bases like Guantánamo and Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti; and
At least $40.3 million for military flights to deport and transport noncitizen detainees.

The report raised concerns that, in addition to the cost of the DoD immigration efforts, it has resulted in “servicemembers…being pulled from their homes, families, and civilian jobs for indefinite periods of time to support legally questionable political stunts,” wrote the members. The deployments also unnecessarily put our servicemembers in harm's way: in November, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, was killed while her West Virginia National Guard unit was deployed to Washington, D.C, and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was critically injured.

The deployment of troops for immigration enforcement has also weakened the military’s ability to respond to emergencies. For example, the 101st Airborne Division — the U.S. Army’s only air assault division — deployed to the border instead of standing ready for national security missions. Additionally, leading into peak fire season, the California National Guard firefighting unit was “understaffed because roughly half its members (were) deployed to Los Angeles.” These deployments may also require units to miss key training exercises necessary to ensure combat readiness, as the Government Accountability Office found occurred during the first Trump administration.

The diversion of DoD funds is having a devastating effect on the military’s ability to improve services for troops and their families. Among the projects impacted by the prioritization of border operations is a $1 billion renovation of military barracks. Secretary Hegseth also diverted funding from elementary schools at Fort Knox and a U.S. military installation in Germany, an ambulatory care center and dental clinic to service Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, a jet-training facility in Mississippi, and Marine barracks in Japan.

During the first Trump administration, the DoD stopped deploying troops to the border after determining the deployments were hurting military readiness and morale. The border mission appeared to contribute to alcohol and drug abuse among service members, and may have even contributed to a number of tragic suicides among Texas National Guardsmen. The members raised concerns about similar issues arising again, particularly given the lack of clarity around how long deployments will last.

The report also slammed the administration’s failure to adequately inform Congress and the public about the diversion of funds. “The Trump administration’s secrecy leaves many questions unanswered. The administration has failed to provide clarity on basic questions about DoD’s role in supporting DHS,” said the members.

The coalition directed follow-up questions to Secretary Hegseth about the number of troops currently supporting immigration enforcement, how long military units will be supporting DHS, and whether DHS will reimburse the military.

On Thursday, December 11, 2025, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on deployment of the National Guard across the United States.

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Time and again, this administration has been confronted with a test of decency and compassion and they have failed each and every times.

Heads need to roll over this. Maybe they soon will? Laura Esposito (DAILY BEAST) notes:

White House officials are scrambling to do damage control amid growing reports that the president will soon purge some of his most problematic political appointees.

Isabel van Brugen (THE DAILY BEAST) acknowledges the whispers that many heads are on Chump's chopping block:

Trump administration officials are quietly floating replacements for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as rumors about her alleged romance with her top adviser spiral out of control.

Publicly, the White House has brushed off speculation that Noem’s job is in jeopardy, while Noem nervously laughed off questions about whether President Donald Trump had weighed firing her over an alleged extramarital relationship with Corey Lewandowski, dubbed D.C.’s “worst-kept secret.”

With each passing hour, the possibility gets more difficult to ignore. Isabel van Brugen (DAILY BEAST) notes:

Trump administration officials are quietly floating replacements for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as rumors about her alleged romance with her top adviser spiral out of control.

Privately, however, an administration official and two people close to the administration told Politico that names have already surfaced as possible successors, including Fox News contributor and former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz and term-limited Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is set to leave office in January.

The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.

One person close to the Trump administration said they had heard “from people that she’s about to leave” but that she likely wouldn’t be fired. She could leave gracefully for “another opportunity” and be able to brag about her success helming Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda, the source said.

Noem is but one crook in an administration filled with nothing but crooks. David Shepardson (REUTERS) reports:

The top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee said on Wednesday that the head of the Federal Aviation Administration failed to divest his holdings in Republic Airways in violation of his ethics agreement.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, who previously served as CEO of Republic Airways, had agreed to divest his holdings within 90 days of confirmation. At the time of his confirmation, Bedford reported holding stock in Republic worth between $6 million and $30 million.

"It appears you continue to retain significant equity in this conflicting asset months past the deadline set to fully divest from Republic, which constitutes a clear violation of your ethics agreement. This is unacceptable and demands a full accounting,” Cantwell said. The FAA said Bedford will respond directly to Cantwell.

Cantwell made public a December 8 letter from the Office of Government Ethics that said Bedford had not complied with the ethics agreement and had sought an amendment to extend the divestiture timeframe for the remaining conflicting asset, Republic Airways. The ethics office said the request did not meet the standard for granting an amendment.

The following sites updated: