Thursday, June 11, 2026

Cover And Meme Of The Week

 

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

From British satirical magazine "Private Eye":


 From an unknown artist:




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)

 

Reminder: "No Kings" Concert And Watch Parties June 14

 



As the Malignant Fascist's UFC cage match and other events fizzle, "No Kings" has some great counter-programming events for you on Sunday, June 14:

This weekend, as President Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday with a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn—as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations—protesters are throwing a star-studded political concert in New York City, with streaming watch parties nationwide.

On Sunday, June 14, the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA) will host Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment,” a 90-minute event featuring speeches and performances from Jane Fonda, Bette Midler, Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright, and Sasha Allen. The benefit celebrates the right of all Americans to exercise their freedom of speech and religion, as well as to assemble and protest.

The concert is scheduled to take place at The Town Hall in New York City at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday evening. From churches to breweries, there are close to 500 watch parties planned all across the country in red states and blue, with several thousand people signed up to watch from home, according to concert organizers.  [snip]

Event partners Indivisible and No Kings are co-hosting neighborhood events, where community members will gather, watch the “Rise Up, Sing Out” concert, and discuss how to continue building the pro-democracy protest movement.

The concert and hyper-local gatherings differ from previous “No Kings” protests and rallies, which have drawn millions of Americans into the streets since the beginning of Trump’s second term.

“We’ve shown our power in the streets time and time again, and we’re now bringing that power even more deeply into our neighborhoods,” the No Kings Coalition tells Fast Company. “While politicians from the White House to state houses all across this country act like unaccountable kings, we’ll be doing the real work of bringing communities together in living rooms, community centers, and businesses across America.” ... (our emphasis)

Go to the "No Kings" website and click on "Events" to find a local gathering nearest you.


Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)

(Michael de Adder, caglecartoons.com, Canada)

(Steve Sack, stevesack.substack.com)

(Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Canada)

(Bart van Leeuwen, Oedipoes, Netherlands)

(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)

(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal)

(Jeff Koterba, caglecartoons.com)

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

(Peter Brookes, The Times, UK)


(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)

(Nick Anderson, Raw Story)

(Adam Douglas Thompson, adamdouglasthompson.com)


Inflation Continues To Rise (UPDATED)

 

The Consumer Price Index rose 4.2% in May, the highest in three years, indicating inflation is on the rise, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  From CNBC:

"The consumer price index, a broad gauge of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Both numbers were in line with the Dow Jones consensus though the monthly number was 0.1 percentage point below the April reading.

Inflation climbed above 4% for the first time in three years, though the increase met expectations amid concerns over how much the surge in energy prices would impact the economy. The level was the highest since April 2023 and above the 3.8% reading from April. [snip]

'Americans are getting squeezed financially by inflation that’s back at a 3-year high,' said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. 'The frustration for many Americans is that so many of the basics are up in price right now -- gas, food, electricity, and medical care are all clear pain points that are above 3% inflation. Ending the war in Iran will help to moderate inflation, but the worst is likely still to come for rising food prices.' [snip]

With the U.S. caught in ongoing hostilities with Iran, concerns are rising that the surge in oil prices could spread to other energy-sensitive parts of the economy. Markets were rattled again Wednesday when President Donald Trump warned that Iran will “pay the price” for not taking a peace deal." (our emphasis)

The demented and ignorant Malignant Fascist's reckless war on Iran, coupled with his lawless and punitive tariffs, have caused consumers to pay more for less and less.  However, the out of touch MF has indicated on numerous occasions that the rise in product costs (gas prices are "peanuts") are nothing to be concerned about, since he doesn't think about American's financial situation as he plows ahead with his regime change war on Iran.  His cult may eventually see things differently.

UPDATE:  And the demented Malignant Fascist?  He LOVES inflation:

President Donald Trump insisted he loves inflation caused by his war in Iran and claimed he tanked the stock market on purpose.

The 79-year-old president spoke to reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office, where he was asked about year-over-year inflation hitting a three-year high of 4.2 percent last month as his war pushed energy prices higher, and he claimed that was part of his broader strategy for launching the attack in the first place.

"No, I love it – the numbers were great," Trump said. "You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over, you know, I can say it now, something you didn't know. You know, we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil, nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran, until right now we took out the other night 22 ships late at night with no lights because they don't have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it. We took out, that's why oil is $85 a barrel."  (our emphasis)

A soundbite for every Democratic candidate's ads from now until November.


Skeets Of The Day

 

The Epstein-Trump Files coverup --

 

Inside the White House Freakout Over the Epstein Files The president’s top advisers gathered in a series of Situation Room meetings as they struggled to contain a scandal engulfing Donald Trump himself. FREE NYT GIFT ARTICLE 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/m...

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— Lauren Ashley Davis (@laurenmeidasa.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 9:05 AM

 

If you think California is taking a while to count votes, wait until you hear how long the Trump Administration is taking to release the Epstein files…

— Rep. Robert Garcia (@robertgarcia.house.gov) June 9, 2026 at 3:44 PM

 

Watching Patel and Bingo-Bongo blow up the WH over the Epstein files and then, obviously blow up themselves might be the most delicious part of this whole experience. Don is an incompetent moron and always hires the worst people (eg Michael Cohen).

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— Flying Mezerkis (@bananapantz.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 9:47 AM

 

Rep. Ansari on Epstein assistant: "She said she set up calls with Donald Trump before their alleged fallout about once a quarter"

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 9, 2026 at 4:05 PM

 

Operation Epic Epstein Fury / catching on to the con --

 

Even Fox is catching on to Trump’s forever war, with no benefit to Americans. And it’s painfully obvious that Obama’s Iran deal was far better than anything Trump has on the table. Iran is in a stronger position than it was before the war.

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— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) June 10, 2026 at 8:54 AM

 

Humiliation for Trump. As expected, Netanyahu ignored his pleas not to attack Iran. Israel struck Iran several times overnight. Iranian missiles are now en route to Israel.

— Natalia A. Kerr (@oddconstant.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 9:18 AM

I think it’s a safe bet Benjamin Netanyahu has a complete unredacted copy of the Epstein files.

— Tea Pain (@teapainusa.bsky.social) June 8, 2026 at 7:10 PM

 

Dems leading in most Senate races--


Dem Senate candidate margin in most recent independent poll of every potential pickup opportunity NC: D+9 OH: D+8 AK: D+6 ME: D+2 IA: D+1 TX: 0

— Bill Scher (@billscher.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 8:48 AM

 

Musk's racist pogrom in Northern Ireland --

 

Fascists in Belfast set fire to buildings with people inside them. People of colour left work early to stay indoors. This is being actively encouraged by the world’s richest man whose openly pro-white nationalist platform X is still used by the UK government www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

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— elia ayoub (@ayoub.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 3:32 AM

 

THERE IS AN ACTIVE POGROM IN NORTHERN IRELAND. FASCISTS IN SKULL MASKS ARE GOING DOOR TO DOOR PULLING MIGRANTS OUT OF THEIR HOMES AND SETTING THEM ON FIRE.

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— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) June 9, 2026 at 10:27 PM

 

I've been a broken record on this for three years and I'll be a broken record for as long as that fucking website exists: X is a viciously racist far-right organising platform that ONLY WORKS because a huge number of centrists, lefties and progressivs cannot stop propping it up

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— Ketan Joshi (@ketanjoshi.co) June 10, 2026 at 5:46 AM

 

Thanks, Trump! --

 

Breaking: WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. inflation rises to highest level in three years, highlighting affordability challenge as elections nears.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 8:40 AM

 

 

Mid-Week Song

 

The venerable alternative rock band The Afghan Whigs have gone through several lineup changes and breakups in their four decade history.  Throughout, guitarist and vocalist Greg Dulli and bassist John Curley, have been through every iteration. Their latest album and their tenth studio album, "Soft Control," is being released on August 21.  Here is the video for the lead track, "Jungle Roux." 

QOTD -- On Platner And Maine

 

"... Maybe I am a bad feminist for wanting Platner to succeed today, but I don’t think so. I think I am a realistic feminist, one who would like to see transgender people not used as punching bags, women dying in hospital parking lots because they are losing a baby and some idiot hears a heartbeat, poor people getting their SNAP benefits back, medical research restarted, not having new evidence every day that Trump and his cronies are looting the government, or knowing that hard-working immigrants leave for work every day wondering if they will see their children that night.

"These are my current feminist goals. All of them mean winning the Senate back: Susan Collins is vulnerable as hell, and the polling suggests that Graham Platner can beat her. If that means supporting a man with a difficult past, one that allegedly includes saying gross things about women and engaging in a peculiarly 21st century form of online marital infidelity?

I can handle it." -- Claire Potter, in her "Political Junkie" Substack, on "Who's Afraid of Graham Platner?"  Platner won the Maine Democratic primary for Senate yesterday with 72 percent of the Democratic vote.  He's the choice of Maine Democrats, so we're with Platner (and Potter and Ro Khanna, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, AOC, etc.).  As Platner said on winning last night,

“I’m still far from perfect, but every day I wake up and try to be a little better, a little kinder, than I was the day before... If you give me a chance, I will be a senator for the people who cannot afford to buy a senator... The national pundits, the political establishment, they keep looking for that one story, that one headline, that one moment in my life that they can define this campaign by... But in trying so hard to understand me, they failed to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us.”

We can handle it.


Trump's Election Rigging Claims A Precursor For Election Interference

 

The increasingly desperate and disconnected Malignant Fascist and his rotted out party/ cult are trying to set the stage for (at best) de-legitimatizing or (at worst) overturning the 2026 mid-terms in the likely event Democrats win the House and possibly the Senate.  The recent mayoral election in heavily Democratic Los Angeles (LA typically votes 70% for the Democratic candidate for President) is where they're beginning to try out their well worn tactic of crying "rigged!" when a Republican loses a free and fair election.  Here's Christopher Bates at Electoral-vote.com's take:

"...The national news here, meanwhile, is that Donald Trump has been once again using the results in California as basis for claims that Democrats cook the books. He went on a conspiratorial jag this weekend, starting with this message, and continuing for at least four or five more such messages:
The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS
"Is he just a sore loser who cannot handle defeat, even when that defeat is entirely predictable? Or is this part of a nefarious plot to undermine faith in the midterm elections? Or is this part of an even more nefarious plot to undermine faith in democracy and to argue that the nation would be better off with King Donald I? Truth be told, it's probably all of the above.

"There is absolutely nothing going on in California that is suspicious. Because of the state's large population and liberal voting rules, it always takes this long to have something close to final results. And there is always a "blue shift," because young voters, and Democratic voters, who are often one and the same, are more comfortable voting by mail than older voters/Republican voters. Trump is partly responsible for this, due to his constant badmouthing of voting by mail (despite the fact that he regularly avails himself of that option)..."

Bates goes on to to debunk the phony arguments being used by the anti-democracy MAGAt Republicans to cast doubt on the results of the mayoral election.  Here's the most recent count with 92% of the votes counted:


By now, hearing the MF lie about rigged elections (whenever Republicans lose or are expected to lose) is par for the course.  CNN committed some journalism and put together a mercifully short short with just a fraction of the times the MF has falsely claimed election "rigging":

 

It's become de rigeur for his cultists to repeat the lies:

With Trump setting the tone, the social media warriors will continue beating the baseless election fraud drum. House Speaker Mike Johnson took a swipe on Monday, saying that “everybody knows instinctively something is wrong.” On Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X that federal prosecutors were working with the FBI on “multiple election fraud investigations,” but provided no specifics.

There.  Are.  No.  Specifics.  Squeaker Johnson, Essayli, Acting AG Blanche, and beardo JD Vance are just trying to curry favor with their deluded cult leader, but they'll mostly be causing attention to be paid by the media and MAGAt base to yet another dangerous distraction.

But, now we can have no doubt what the game plan is -- or at least a significant part of it.  Electoral-vote.com's Christopher Bates offers the view that the game plan might not be effective this time around:

So, the efficacy here may be fading quickly, at about the same pace that Trump's approval ratings are fading. And the net effect of his bellyaching might primarily be to warn anyone and everyone that he's hoping to pull off some shenanigans, and that state and local election officials will need to be very, very well prepared to counter them.

Forewarned is forewarned.

 

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Jonathan Brown, caglecartoons.com)

(R.J. Matson, CQ/ Roll Call)

(Jeff Koterba, caglecartoons.com)

(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)

(Robert Ariail, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, SC)

(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com, Canada)

(Scott Rogo, Facebook)

(Jeff Stahler, gocomics.com)

(Paul Duginski, caglecartoons.com)

(David Horsey, The Seattle Times)

(Ivan Ehlers, @ivan_ehlers)



Skeets Of The Day

 

Operation Epic Epstein Fury:  2 or 3 days, 37 times, winning! --


Trump claims he's "2 or 3 days" from a deal with Iran (he's said this approximately 20 times since March)

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 9, 2026 at 8:25 AM

 

Trump has been saying we've won the war with Iran for the past 100 days. Are you tired of winning yet?

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— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) June 8, 2026 at 10:50 PM


“.. at least 37 times. That’s the number of times he’s said directly — in social media posts, public appearances and phone calls with the media — that a deal was nigh or claimed Iran was desperate ..” @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/06/09/p...

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 8:26 AM

 

The Malignant Fascist previews lies for the mid-term elections --


NEW EPISODE: As California counts its votes, Trump and his allies are calling it rigged, weaponizing the DOJ and laying the groundwork to reject results they don't like in 2026. I explain what they are up to and why we need to fight back. youtu.be/2LQeLY3Ltpg?...

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— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) June 8, 2026 at 4:57 PM

 

“.. an unusually clear preview of how he could greet any disappointing results for his party in November, when control of Congress is at stake.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/u...

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 8:45 AM

 

Most.  Corrupt.  Presidency.  Ever. -- 


'For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.'

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— Brian Wasik (@brianrwasik.bsky.social) June 8, 2026 at 6:22 PM


NEW: Donald Trump Jr. invests in a co. trying to build an oil refinery in the U.S. Then the richest man in Asia invests... in the same company. Then... his co. gets policy concessions from the Trump Admin. @josh-kaplan.bsky.social & @justinelliott.bsky.social: www.propublica.org/article/trum...

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— Jesse Eisinger (@jeisinger.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 7:42 AM

 

"In scale and audacity, what Kushner has attempted—and achieved—is on another level...He asked foreign regimes to trust him with billions...Trump placed Kushner—who had zero diplomatic/foreign affairs expertise until [Trump] rose to power—at the center of every international crisis..." Informative:

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— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 7:05 AM


"The Nodfather" is at it again, after getting bigly booed at Knicks game -- 


Don Snoreleone can't even stay awake during an NBA Finals game.

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— Bob Geiger (@bobgeiger.bsky.social) June 8, 2026 at 10:40 PM


NYC understood the assignment

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— Rachel Bitecofer (@rachelbitecofer.bsky.social) June 8, 2026 at 8:45 PM

 

The MF is trying to ruin the World Cup -- 


Happy FIFA Wolrdcup www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

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— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.onestnetwork.com) June 9, 2026 at 9:25 AM


Ass kissing "Cancun Ted" Cruz has thoughts on manhood. Where's his? -- 


Trump insulted Ted Cruz‘s wife over her looks. Cruz sucked up to Trump anyway. We don’t need any lectures in masculinity from Ted Cruz.

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— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) June 8, 2026 at 9:52 PM


Know your evils -- 


Know your evils. TRUMP: CHAOTIC EVIL (evil intent and a joy in corruption, malice and destruction). MUSK: NEUTRAL EVIL (evil effect but all actions taken in service of self-interest, with the suffering of others immaterial). BEZOS: LAWFUL EVIL (mastery at using the levers of power for evil ends).

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— Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 12:56 AM


Making America Sick Again: raw milk edition -- 


NEW: In February, I visited Raw Farm. You may have heard of it. RFK Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are customers. It supplies raw dairy products to 500 stores nationwide. And regulators have linked it to over a dozen recalls and outbreaks that have made hundreds sick. 🧵👇

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— Annie Waldman (@anniewaldman.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 8:01 AM


This is how a real President is greeted at a game -- 


In case you forgot what it looks like when a real president gets the love at a game. You know, when the crowd actually wants the president there.

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— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) June 8, 2026 at 9:49 PM

 

 

 

QOTD -- Welcoming Their Hatred

 

"... FORTUNATELY FOR DEMOCRATS, the very rich have been hard at work convincing the public to hate their guts. Where Steve Jobs was once hailed as an innovator providing smartphones to the world, with a personal profile that tended more toward asceticism than conspicuous consumption, the current crop of Silicon Valley billionaires are not only ostentatious in their spending but overtly hostile to employee rights, consumer interests, democratic forms of government, racial egalitarianism, and, at least in the case of Elon Musk, normal life. Through their indifference to the effects of social media on children (and the rest of us), and their huge investments in AI and the data centers required to power it, they’ve become the promoters of the most widely feared 21st-century phenomena. Not since John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Henry Clay Frick have we had such a crop of oligarchs. That the Musks and the Bezoses, the Zuckerbergs and the Brins, the Thiels and the Andreessens have turned themselves into the financial base of Trumpism—both the man and his madness—has likely created a reciprocal downward pull on the approval rating of both Trump and themselves.

"Democrats should be climbing over each other to welcome their hatred." -- Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect, on "Encircling the Royalists," following his review of nearly 100 years of Democratic politics and policies.  As Meyerson notes, at the 1936 Democratic convention, FDR famously said of the "economic royalists" that "They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred!"  The economic royalists -- or Epstein class in today' terms -- like Musk, Bezos, Zuck, Thiel, et al., are deserving of that hate for what, in service to their own greed and lust for power, have done to our country. There's no downside for Democrats in expressing that, and acting upon it.


Today's Primaries

 

There are primaries today in four States:  Maine, South Carolina, Nevada, and North Dakota. Those in Maine and South Carolina will be the most watched by observers:

Four states in all four corners of the country are set to hold elections on Tuesday, June 9, for U.S. House, Senate and governor races, among other local contests. The winners will head into a busy campaign season leading up to the November midterm elections, when Republicans will aim to hold onto to a narrow majority on Capitol Hill.

"These early June primaries can be used as tea-leaves to help predict what will happen in the November midterm election," says Chase Meyer, senior lecturer of political science at the University of South Carolina.  

South Carolina

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is seeking a fifth term. While some senior senators have seen rebuke from the president this election cycle, Graham has received President Donald Trump's endorsement.

But he faces a crowded roster of GOP competitors: Greenville businessman Mark Lynch, Horry County businessman Pat Herrmann, author Thomas Dismukes, Duncan Town Councilmember Calvin Cowen and Columbia content creator Darius Mitchell, reports the Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Late May polling from The Citadel shows between Graham or Lynch, 46% of Republicans supported Graham and 36% supported Lynch.

If he wins the nomination, Graham is likely to face Democratic frontrunner, Annie Andrews, a pediatrician looking to flip the reliably red seat.

In the Republican primary for South Carolina governor, Trump has endorsed state Lt. Gov. Sam Evette, the first woman to hold the position in the state's history. Evette faces top Republican challenger Rep. Nancy Mace, who pointed to her push to release files pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein as a reason why the president did not back her campaign.

The field to succeed Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who is term limited, attracted a notable group that includes Mace and Evette, but also state Attorney General Alan Wilson, Rep. Ralph Norman and business executive Ron Reddy. For much of the campaign's final two-month stretch, polls have shown the contenders within striking distance of each other...

Maine 

A Senate race to watch will be Graham Platner's bid for the Democratic nomination in Maine.

Platner, an oyster farmer who will almost assuredly win the bid to face GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November, rallied the support of fellow Northeast Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders before his top competitor, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her Senate campaign on April 30. The move came as a surprise after some political watchers previously pointed to the Platner vs. Mills race as a possible proxy for the direction of the Democratic Party.

However, Platner's performance in the primary will still be followed as he battles multiple controversies. He faced criticism last year for a tattoo he had of a skull and crossbones that resembled a Nazi symbol, as well as old Reddit posts in which he made controversial comments on topics including sexual assault and race. On May 30, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, notified his campaign of sexual messages he had exchanged with several women before his campaign launched.

The June primary is expected to set up another closely-watched race between Platner and Collins this November. A general election poll released May 27 by the University of New Hampshire showed Platner with a 9-point lead over Collins.

Voting needs to be a habit, so we want to see sustained Democratic turnout in primaries and, of course, general elections.


Kimmel Previews NBA Finals Game in MSG


Last night, before the third game of the NBA finals was played in Madison Square Garden, Jimmy Kimmel previewed the event that disrupted the watch party plans of Knicks fans, confused the Malignant Fascist with an orangutan, and covered the demented fascist's furious, red-faced outburst in Wisconsin over Kristin Welker calling out his lies on the California primary vote. 



The MF was thunderously booed as he appeared on the Jumbotron at the Garden, before he sat down to take a nap / extended blink beside the yawning, loathed Knicks owner James Dolan as the Knicks lost to the Spurs 115 - 111.  #ETTD.


(photo:  Dozing Trump with Dolan / Call To Activism, X)

Monday, June 8, 2026

QOTD: Virtueless Paragons Of False Masculinity

 

John Beske, writing for DailyKos, looks at the traditional definition of masculinity and compares it with the perverted MAGAt version, using the Boy Scout's code from his youth and its 12 positive attributes as guide:

"A boy scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

These were, it seemed to be, the twelve attributes that a good boy should aspire to in order to become a good man and an upstanding citizen. [snip]

But when I see Trump and pretty much all Republican lawmakers as well as major right wing icons like Steve Bannon, Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes, I see people who claim to be the paragons of masculinity, yet possess absolutely none of these virtues.

Let’s use Trump as an example: he cannot possibly be trusted to do anything he says he will do, he is loyal to no one, he only helps people who reward him with massive cash or power, no one would ever mistake him as friendly, he is probably the most discourteous person on the planet and likewise the most unkind, he’s only cheerful when he is in the act of hurting somebody, he wastes vast piles of other people’s money to support a ridiculously opulent lifestyle while depriving others enough money to live, he is an absolute coward, he is unkempt, slovenly and by many reports smelly, and he demands reverence to himself while offering it to no one else.

Likewise his Republican and rightwing sycophants and trolls all strive for personal power and wealth above all else, all view other people who don’t look like them as inferior and undeserving. They feel that they are superior to and therefore allowed to steal from and hurt anyone who is not a member of their privileged little clique. Meanwhile, they attach themselves like barnacles to anyone they deem superior and they endure any indignity and humiliation as long as it helps them advance their status in this dark and devious hierarchy."  (our emphasis)

As the Malignant Fascist's birthday approaches with his vulgar, UFC mixed martial arts event on the south lawn of the White House, it's worth noting that he aligns himself with that part of the culture, while being weak and cowardly and hoping that this view of "masculinity" rubs off on him.