QOTD: Trump's Lifelong Egomaxxing

 

The opening paragraphs to an excellent article in Salon.com by Kirk Swearingen:

"As anyone paying even the slightest attention well knows, not one iota of evidence exists that the 2020 presidential election was 'rigged,' as Donald Trump endlessly insists.

"Trump’s lifelong egomaxxing — to make up for whatever he never received in childhood, beyond millions of dollars and a father’s admonishments to 'be a killer' — means he will never accept the possibility of losing any contest of any kind.

Art Davie, a roommate of Trump’s in military school and founder of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, recently told the Daily Beast that Donald imagined himself the best at everything even at the age of 16, and felt aggrieved if he thought he was being slighted in any way.

Things never change for those who never grow up.

Trump remains that overprivileged bully who embraces (and embodies, it seems) his grievances. He surrounds himself with lackeys who will only praise him, rather than offer actual advice, and is led only by those voices in the media who are 'nice' to him. (His media enemies list names only organizations that employ actual journalists.)

He even cheats at golf, determined to 'win' the game that most depends on personal integrity.

So, how could this man with one of the most fragile egos in history ever accept that, as an incumbent, he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden by more than 7 million votes? Rather than concede, he was prepared to burn down our democracy. It would mean no more to him than having his caddy toss one of his poorly struck balls onto the green."  (our emphasis)

QOTD: Musk Becomes A Trillionaire At Your Expense

 

"IF YOU’RE READING THIS, you might be about to help make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

"If so, you’ll also be risking your retirement savings while simultaneously bailing out X and Cybertrucks.

"And to top it off: You have pretty much no say in the matter.

"That’s because Musk’s SpaceX is IPOing next week, and it’s getting special treatment that allows it to enter many of the major stock indices without meeting the usual requirements to do so. What that means is that if you hold an index fund—which you probably do, if you have a 401(k)—you may be forced to transfer some of your wealth to this money-losing rocket company and, by extension, its megalomaniacal CEO. And you won’t really be able to complain if he screws up...." -- Catherine Rampell, in "The Bulwark," starting off "Congrats. You’re About to Unwittingly Make Elon Musk a Trillionaire."  She concludes:

"So to recap: You and I are going to be forced to buy SpaceX at what appears to be an inflated price; we have no recourse if Musk fail-whales; and our federal overseers are asleep at the switch."

Everything in between is more than a little horrifying and disgusting, and well worth the read.

Scotland's Skye Trail

 

Kraig Adams takes us on a 4-day silent hike along the stunning Skye trail in Scotland.  Unusually bright weather and endless vistas seem like a good way to start any day, but especially today.

Pic Of The Day: The Cleansing

 

Today, workers erected scaffolding in front of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in order to remove the disgraced name of the Malignant Fascist from the exterior.  This is to comply with Federal District Judge Christopher Cooper's order that all references to the MF be removed from the Kennedy Center, including letterhead, posters, tickets, etc., be removed today.  Earlier today, he denied a last-minute motion by the MF-appointed Kennedy Center board to stay the ruling to remove the MF's name from the building.

Washington's NBC4 has a video of the work.

 

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Christopher Weyant, caglecartoons.com)

(David Rowe, Financial Review, Australia)

(Sean Delonas, caglecartoons.com)

(Daniel Boris, @danboriscreates.bsky.social)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)

(Chris Britt, Creators.com)

(Ben Jennings, The Guardian, UK)

(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)

(Bart van Leeuwen, Oedipoes.com)

(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)

(Dennis Goris, @dennisgoris)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell, @sonomasunnews)

QOTD: Cards To Play

 

Soon-to-be former Sen. John Cornyn (MAGAt-TX) is reflecting on his stinging loss in Texas' Republican primary to sleazy criminal adulterer Ken Paxton after the mentally unfit and vindictive Malignant Fascist endorsed him:

On the MF's next two years: “He’s going to have the most miserable two years of his life in the last two years of his term, I think, because I think November is going to be a disaster.”

On the MF's "loyalty": “If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody. There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants. But obviously that’s not what the senator’s role is supposed to be, especially in terms of checks and balances.”

On his remaining time in the Senate: “It does give some of us a little more freedom, and certainly leverage. As the president told President Zelensky when he was in his office a year or so ago — he said, ‘You don’t have any cards.’ Well, we’ve got some cards to play.”

We'll see if he actually plays those "cards" with some significant votes coming up. He and other betrayed MAGAts could help to make the next six months "miserable" for the MF, too.

 

Skeets Of The Day

 

The Epstein-Trump Files coverup / survivors' statement --

 

Epstein Survivors' Statement

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— Wajahat Ali (@wajali.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM

 

Operation Epic Epstein Fury / deal no deal /  chyron clarity / "how to price a liar" --

 

Trump unleashes fury at 'dishonorable' Iranians as leaked deal threatens 'humiliation' www.rawstory.com/trump-iran-2...

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— Lee (@5newmanl.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 10:27 AM

 

Props to CNN’s chyron writer:

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— Renée Graham 🏳️‍🌈 (@rygraham.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 7:18 PM

 

The President just said we're on the cusp of a deal with Iran. Today's post explores two fun facts: 1. It's the fiftieth time he's said this. (I counted!) 2. Even so, stocks rose on the news. newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/how-to-pri...

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— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 5:56 PM

 

Trashy, tacky, tawdry Trump --

What White House? 👀 #TrashyTackyTawdry_tRump 🤢

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— Mark Hamill (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 10:41 AM

 

Bad polls, bad reactions? --

 

The worse Trump polls, the greater the risk of massive election interference, which also could fail spectacularly. Expect much more focus on this to come.

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— Paul Rosenberg (@paulrosenberg.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 8:17 AM

 

"Is it irresponsible to speculate?  It would be irresponsible not to"  --

Reading between the lines. JD Vance and his billionaire handler, Peter Thiel, are strategically leaking damaging information about Trump to the press. Expect Vance and Thiel to make their move after the midterm Republican wipeout.. A palace coup appears to be Vance’s only chance to be President.

— Tea Pain (@teapainusa.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 8:13 AM

 

ICE thugs go after parents at school --

 

A mother and father dropping their children off at a Baltimore school were detained by immigration enforcement agents Thursday. State and city officials were quick to condemn the action, claiming ICE had broken earlier pledges to leave schools alone. buff.ly/S7QOy9o

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— Baltimore Banner (@thebaltimorebanner.com) June 12, 2026 at 7:29 AM

 

Trying to memoryhole the Trump impeachments --

FLAG WSJ: Trump and his allies have discussed pushing lawmakers to pass a resolution aimed at voiding his first-term impeachments, according to people familiar with the matter. The resolution would allow Trump to claim a symbolic victory. It would have no legal significance.

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— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 8:45 AM

 

Senator belatedly realizes he's in the "leopards ate my face" party /cult --

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says Trump threw him under the bus. “If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody,” Cornyn says. “There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants.“ www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/u...

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— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 9:07 PM

 

R.I.P. David Hockney --

 

David Hockney, art icon, has died at 88 years old. His is the most impactful passing of an artist since Warhol’s in 1987. vanityfair.visitlink.me/io-3Vj

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— Vanity Fair (@vanityfair.com) June 12, 2026 at 8:43 AM

 

Whiskey Pete Hegseth's workout fail (Happy Friday!) --

 

You can smell the gin sweat

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— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 8:44 AM

 

 

Weekend Music

 

Jangly guitars and a catchy, uptempo melody that belies the lyrics... Aussie group DMA's has a new single out that's the first summer earworm music for us, "Hurracane," the third single released from their eponymous album set for release in August.  Hope you enjoy.

"He Knows He's Been Had"

 

Michael Weiss, editor of Insider, appeared on MS Now this morning to share what he knows about Iran's version of the "Memorandum of Understanding" that the mentally ill and desperate Malignant Fascist is saying is just a day or two away:

"I just want to read you — Iran's Mehr News Agency put out their version of this deal. Now, again, underscore we ... don't know if this is going to be the memorandum of understanding. But in their version of the deal they get $300 billion in reconstruction money, $24 billion in a cash infusion, half of which will come before the negotiations begin.

Remember, this isn't a deal, this is an agreement to keep talking and an extension of a cease-fire. There's nothing new in here Again, the Iranian version that talks about the missile program or financing or arming terrorist proxies like Lebanese Hezbollah.

If this is any pale shade of what this thing is going to look like — look, I think he knows he's being had. He knows he's been abased by a regime that shouldn't exist by his lights, right? We were going in to do regime change. The Israelis certainly thought we were going to do regime change. We were going to arm the Kurds. We were going to install Ahmadinejad, a Holocaust-denying former president, as our preferred satrap.

All of these plans came to dust, and he just wants out of it. He's got buyer's remorse. He thinks he's been sold a bill of goods. He probably has been. And he just wants this thing over and done with. He's already looking at Cuba.” (our emphasis)

The original point of this disaster, at least in Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's eyes, was regime change.  Last summer's attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, and more, had degraded their enrichment capabilities and knocked out a number of their missiles and drones.  Then, massive citizen riots in Iran in late 2025 allowed Netanyahu to sell the ignorant MF, who needed to distract from his Epstein-Trump file woes, about how simple it would be for regime change in Iran.  The MF was duped, as the Tehran regime proved resilient.  The Strait of Hormuz remains essentially closed, allies have abandoned us, and prices of gas and other goods soar: winning!

Stay tuned, as the unstable MF looks to start more misadventures, this time against Cuba.

 

Knicks And Dicks

 

Jimmy Kimmel covers some sports news, then gets into TACO Trump's disastrous Operation Epic Epstein Fury Iran war, South Afrikaner white supremacist Elon Musk's obscene wealth that's about to get bigger, Trump's 80th birthday / UFC cage match on Sunday, and a chat with Lincoln.  What a country.

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Tim Campbell, Tribune Content Agency)

(Morten Morland, The Times, UK)

(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)

(Michael de Adder, caglecartoons.com)

(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com, Canada)

(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)

(Bob Englehart, caglecartoons.com)

(Joe Heller, hellertoon.com)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Gary Markstein, Creators.com)

(Drew Sheneman, Tribune Content Agency)

(Jon Adams, @citycyclops)

QOTD -- Fraudulent Fraud

 

"... Trump routinely claims to have won all 50 states, California included, 'if we had an honest count.' Proof is irrelevant to a convenient dogma masquerading as civic concern, and of course, the point of this exercise isn’t to prove anything.  [snip]

"Voter fraud is far more useful as a bogeyman running riot, allowing Republicans to propose massive disenfranchisement as a needed corrective. After Speaker Mike Johnson insisted that 'everybody knows instinctively that something is wrong here' — pointing to belief in the conspiracy theory his party trumpets as proof of its veracity — he articulated the real goal: to allow Republicans to arbitrarily cut off tabulation and declare any outstanding votes to be invalid.  [snip]

"The good news is that this time Democrats are prepared for the fight. Litigation teams will be in place to fight the effort to steal the midterms. And while Trump’s second Justice Department would almost certainly go to court to advance bogus fraud claims, the public disintegration of the DOJ under Todd Blanche guarantees that courts will treat those claims with extreme skepticism. Put simply, courts are no longer willing to take the DOJ’s word for it — no matter what it is.

"The solution is to be prepared, not panicked. Fraud theories that can't survive a Meet the Press interview will wither under cross examination. The fight will come, but we can win it..." -- Liz Dye, "Public Notice" Substack, on "MAGA's kayfabe meltdown over California primary."  As we noted earlier today, Democrats seem to be going into the mid-terms with eyes wide open and a plan to fight back against expected interference in the elections.  Should the Malignant Fascist and his fascist party/cult have any success in derailing a Democratic blue wave, a general strike, mass demonstrations, etc., will likely be part of the mix as well, ramping up the pressure as needed.

Skeets Of The Day

 

Operation Epic Epstein Fury: invasion on or TACO, lying liars, MF greed -- 

Trump announces the US is planning to invade Iran.

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— George Pearkes (@peark.es) June 11, 2026 at 8:23 AM 

 

Remember: He's not just a war criminal. He's also a pathological liar.

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— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 8:51 AM

 

Trump: "My preference has always been to take Kharg Island. I don't know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with it. You'd make a fortune."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 11, 2026 at 8:54 AM

The bottomless stupidity and cruelty of the Malignant Fascist's deportation agenda -- 

“.. creating a ‘chilling effect’ that pervaded local economies, hurt businesses and affected American-born workers ..” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 8:02 AM

They came here fleeing persecution; rather than give them refuge, Marco Rubio’s state department will send them to die in countries they’ve never been to. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/w...

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— Jameel Jaffer (@jameeljaffer.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 6:33 AM

 

He's seriously not well, part infinity -- 

Trump’s physical exam 2019: He sees 11 specialists Trump’s physical exam 2025: He sees 14 specialists Trump’s physical exam 2026: He sees 22 specialists Via @ddiamond.bsky.social / @iarnsdorf.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

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— Bill Grueskin (@bgrueskin.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 7:56 AM

The number of specialists doesn't surprise me but CT angiography, D-dimer, and proBNP together suggests his medical team believes he's at a high risk for heart failure.

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— Max Kennerly (@maxkennerly.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 9:13 PM

 

 Expanding the electoral map for Dems -- 

Important: New internal polling by Dems finds majorities of working class in some pretty red House districts blame Trump/GOP for their economic struggles. This is why Dems are contesting tough seats. Good to see they're expanding the map. Details in my new piece: newrepublic.com/article/2116...

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— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 7:30 AM

 

• In Iowa, 58% of these targeted voters see the economy worsening and blame Trump for it, and 56% blame the GOP. • In Michigan, 63% of these voters blame Trump, and 61% blame the GOP. • In North Carolina, 51% of these voters blame Trump, and 48% blame the GOP.

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— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 8:20 AM

The J6 criminals that the MF pardoned keep committing crimes -- 

This guy was arrested Tuesday night and is in prison for making terroristic threats. His name is Jake Lang. He's a pardoned January 6 insurrectionist. His bail is set at $1M newrepublic.com/post/211646/...

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— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) June 10, 2026 at 6:56 PM

James Talarico delivers the message on corrupt Ken Paxton --

 

Since taking office, Ken Paxton has become a multi-millionaire while our pay has stagnated. He owns 11 homes while most Texans can’t afford one. He trades favors with rich donors while blocking overtime pay for workers. Paxton doesn’t serve us — he serves himself.

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— James Talarico (@jamestalarico.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 9:13 PM

 

 

Cover And Memes Of The Week

 

Because why waste 1,000 words when a cover and memes say it all?!

From British satirical magazine "Private Eye":

 From an unknown artist:

From democraticunderground.com:

Preparing For Trump's Election Interference

 

There are signs that Dems are preparing contingency plans for the expected interference in the mid-term elections by the Malignant Fascist's regime, including a private conference of Senate Dems and election experts who met recently, according to Politico:

"Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and nine other Democratic senators huddled with top party election experts last week to drill responses to a range of extreme scenarios — from federal agents at polling locations, to ballot seizures in key battlegrounds, to foreign interference operations — that they fear could become reality pre- and post-Election Day.

They game-planned legal injunctions to bar armed federal agents or armed citizens from voting sites, and lawsuits to force the Trump administration to return ballots if they’re confiscated in key contests that could decide control of Congress. They also choreographed communication strategies across elected leaders, campaigns and advocacy groups to combat misinformation and disinformation designed to sow distrust in the results, according to details of the tabletop exercises shared exclusively with POLITICO."

Well, one would hope Dems have been preparing ever since the lawless and dictatorial MF regained power last year.  Gerrymandering Congressional districts on the orders of the MF in multiple states, legislation curtailing voting rights as seen in the anti-democratic so-called "Save America Act", and signals that the MF will deploy ICE and Border Patrol thugs to intimidate voters in Dem-heavy precincts.  They can be certain that the MF will do everything to corrupt the mid-term elections, with the support of his cowering party / cult in Congress, to avoid the derailing of his fascist agenda and likely impeachment.  Whatever can be done to stop their interference must be done.

(photo: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Zuma Press)