(click on images to enlarge)
(Daniel Boris, @danboris)
(James MacLeod, MacLeodCartoons, Facebook)
(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)
(John Cole, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA)
(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)
(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)
(Dennis Goris, @DennisGoris)
(Ratt, caglecartoons.com)
(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)
(Benjamin Slyngstad, @slyngstad_cartoons)
(David Sipress, @dsipress)
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..” -- Henry David Thoreau (7/12/1817 - 5/6/1862), from his naturalist book "Walden: Life in the Woods" (1854).
Also famous for his 1849 work "Civil Disobedience and Other Essays," Thoreau was noted for his acts of civil disobedience toward the government in protesting the Mexican-American War and the abomination of slavery.
A little over a year ago, the Republican party/cult passed Public Law 119-21, which the Malignant Fascist had named "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." A year later, we can survey the damage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (for Billionaires) Act so far:
One year after President Donald Trump signed the law he dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” on the South Lawn of the White House, it has begun reshaping the country — altering who gets help from the government and who goes without.
The most consequential legislation of Trump’s second term reaches into nearly every corner of American life. It supercharges immigration enforcement, pouring billions into border security and deportations. It rewrites student loan rules. It dismantles tax incentives for electric vehicles and clean energy. It creates a national school-voucher tax credit.
And at its core is a seismic shift: extending roughly $4.5 trillion in tax cuts disproportionately benefiting corporations and the wealthy over 10 years while cutting about $1.1 trillion from healthcare and food assistance programs serving poor and working-class people.
It ultimately adds a projected $4.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
Historians say the law represents a watershed moment in a decadeslong conservative effort to shrink the social welfare system built during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and expanded through Great Society legislation of the 1960s. To Chris Howard, a professor of public policy at the College of William & Mary and an expert on America’s safety net programs, the result amounts to “Robin Hood in reverse.”
“It deliberately targets some of the most vulnerable members of society,” he said, “while providing huge windfalls to the richest individuals and to big business.”
Supporters frame the act as a long-overdue correction. They argue it’s reducing dependence on government programs, rooting out waste, encouraging work and making American businesses more competitive. They point to larger tax refunds for many households — including the middle class — and an uptick in business investment as early evidence.
But many health policy experts, economists and antipoverty advocates see it as something else: one of the largest transfers of resources from low-income Americans to the rich in U.S. history.
Once all of the law’s major provisions are fully phased in, Congressional Budget Office estimates show, the poorest households will end up with roughly $1,200 less each year on average, while the wealthiest Americans will gain about $13,600. [snip]
The law is also the legislative engine powering Trump’s mass deportation agenda, pairing an unprecedented expansion of immigration enforcement funding with cuts to healthcare and food assistance for many immigrants living in the U.S. legally.
Yes, billions to the ICE thugs, while taking health insurance and food out of the mouths of millions of Americans. A few charts from the article:
The linked article goes on to explore, in greater detail, the shredding of the healthcare safety net, the "reverse Robin Hood" effect of the regressive tax cuts, SNAP cuts and growing hunger, and the racist immigration enforcement operation spearheaded by the murderous thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol.
It couldn't be clearer that the Malignant Fascist and his Republican party/ cult have been benefiting the Epstein class oligarchy (most particularly the epically corrupt MF and his family) and making the rest of America suffer. Meanwhile, while he builds gaudy monuments to himself with taxpayer dollars, the MF says"affordability" is a "hoax." He also says "I don't think about Americans' financial situation." Except, of course, his and his oligarch supporters.
Most people would be betting on Mitch McConnell going first, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (MAGAt-SC) beat him to the punch:
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress and a longtime advocate of direct confrontation with Iran, died Saturday evening after a “brief and sudden illness,” his office said in statement posted on social media...
He was 71. It's best not to speak ill of the dead, so we'll leave it right there.
BONUS: Never gets old:
2015: “[Donald Trump] is a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.”
— George Conway ⚖️πΊπΈ (@gtconway.bsky.social) July 12, 2026 at 11:01 AM
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(Photo: all you need to know)
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(Drew Sheneman, Tribune Content Agency)
(Kevin Kallaugher, The Economist, UK)
(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)
(Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Canada)
(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)
(Ward Sutton, @wardsutton)
(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Marian Kamensky, caglecartoons.com, Austria; context here)
(Joel Pett, Tribune Content Agency)
(Michael de Adder, The Contrarian)
(Dan Misdea, @dan_misdea)
"... Last month the administration released a sneak preview of another frontal assault on American research excellence, all under the innocuous-sounding plan to 'revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance to improve government-wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of assistance.'
"Even a quick scan of the proposed regulation rewrite, however, reveals where this administration is coming from. It claims that, 'Federal awards were often used during [the Biden] years to promote a "woke" policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public' and 'far-left activists hijacked the critical work done by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was established to respond to the AIDS crisis in Africa. Due to wasteful spending, PEPFAR became a left-wing foreign aid entitlement that attempted to promote abortion and gender ideology.' The latter claim relies on a Heritage Foundation argument that the hard-working staff here at Drezner’s World called bullshit on about three years ago. [snip]
"One of the genuine difficulties with observing the second Trump term is that the assault on state capacity and impartiality has been so multipronged that it is difficult to keep track of everything going on. But these proposed rule changes are monumental and catastrophic. Unfortunately, 'monumental and catastrophic' are the perfect adjectives to describe what Trump will bequeath his successor, as well as the rest of us." -- Daniel W. Drezner, Distinguished Professor at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, in this Substsack "Drezner's World." Drezner calls this under-the-radar plan an "existential threat to scientific research," one of many existential threats we face with the Malignant Fascist. The plan is getting hammered in public comments, not that that's ever deterred the Malignant Fascist and his goon squad of America-destroyers. Congress -- especially a Democratic Congress if we elect one in November, can also stop the changes. We've got to make sure that happens.
Operation Epic Fail: the Malignant Fascist's losing it, a side-by-side --
Oh cool, he's doing the thing where he mocks Muslims by saying "PRAISE BE TO ALLAH" again.
— Parker Molloy (@parkermolloy.com) July 11, 2026 at 9:22 AM
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Donald Trump is mentally deranged. He’s a danger to the U.S. He’s a danger to the globe. He does not belong in this position of power—in control of the massive U.S. military—and he should be removed from office. This is not a joke. And his GOP enablers are responsible for abdicating their duty.
— Steven Beschloss (@stevenbeschloss.bsky.social) July 11, 2026 at 8:36 AM
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Someone needs to overlay this timeline with the stock market.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) July 11, 2026 at 4:53 AM
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The Epstein-Trump files coverup --
Why does the Trump DOJ continue to hide the unredacted Epstein Files? Todd Blanche won’t even cooperate with the New Mexico Attorney General @nmdoj.bsky.social
— Katie Phang (@katiephang.bsky.social) July 11, 2026 at 3:30 AM
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Our broken corporate media still wants their party with the Malignant Fascist --
you know what reporters should do? have an event honoring the first amendment and invite him as the guest of honor. call it the white house correspondents dinner. he’d like that.
— shauna (@goldengateblond.bsky.social) July 11, 2026 at 12:42 AM
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Maybe the press corps can ask Trump about it at the correspondents dinner.
— John Robinson (@jrobin.bsky.social) July 11, 2026 at 7:46 AM
What up with conniving human-turtle hybrid Sen. Mitch McConnell?, cont'd. --
We don't even have to speculate what the right would be doing if this were a story about a missing Democratic senator. It would've been the Paul Pelosi insanity times a thousand.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) July 11, 2026 at 7:09 AM
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Shocked, shocked! that Jared and Ivanka's Albania resort deal involved corruption --
Land sold for Kushner-backed Albania resort suspected of forged deeds https://aje.news/uai5zb
— Al Jazeera English (@aljazeera.com) July 11, 2026 at 7:00 AM
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"Brainworm" Kennedy's latest gift: explosive diarrhea --
Fuck Around Find Outhouse
— Dan Silverman (@dmsilverman.bsky.social) July 11, 2026 at 10:46 AM
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The Malignant Fascist's DOJ drops cases against his brown shirt army leaders --
NEW: A judge reluctantly erased the Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case against the Proud Boys tonight, concluding he had no power to get in DOJ's way. But Judge Kelly, a Trump appointee, made clear he disagreed — and underscored the gravity of the attack. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 10:08 PM
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From our Decorator-In-Chief --
We‘re one executive order away from a chocolate fountain.
— ππ¦ππππ πΎπ¦π£π (@sundaedivine.lol) July 11, 2026 at 8:50 AM
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Nothing like a great nap --
When you take a nap so good that you wake up thinking you're late for school but it's Sunday and you're 59.
— Paul Bronks (@slendersherbet.bsky.social) June 28, 2026 at 6:22 PM
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Under pseudo-science crank Robert F. "Brainworm" Kennedy, Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services has been degraded as junk medicine and science have been brought in from the fringes. The anti-vaxx Kennedy has another outbreak to worry about, as Newsweek's Marni Rose McFall reports:
"The Trump administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scaled back a federal-state partnership that monitors foodborne illnesses, including cyclospora, a year before several states began reporting an outbreak of cyclospora infection, a foodborne illness that can cause "explosive" diarrhea.
In July of 2025, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet, reduced a program that tracked food poisoning infections. The required monitoring was cut down to two pathogens, down from eight. The program had been in place for three decades.
As of July 2026, cases of cyclosporiasis have surged across the country, with an abnormally large outbreak of 700 cases having been reported in Michigan, and cases having been recorded across 17 states." (our emphasis)
As the article notes, the FoodNet covers roughly 16% of the U.S. population, and is a collaborative effort among the CDC, 10 state health departments, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service in the Agriculture Department. Strike another blow to America's health.
(photo: Bacteria-loving RFK, Jr. swims in Rock Creek Park in water with high levels of e coli. X )
The FBI's angry, incompetent bug-eyed zealot Director Kashyap "Ka$h" Patel was on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Friday morning, purportedly headed to Chicago for a meeting with FBI staff there. In actuality, word leaked out from within the FBI that the trip was a cover to use the FBI jet to see his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins perform in Chicago. MS Now broke the story:
"Patel cancelled his flight to Chicago just as he was preparing to leave on Friday morning, according to three people briefed on his move. But the trip to Chicago was already stirring anger and controversy inside the FBI, multiple current and former law enforcement officials told MS NOW. He was planning to attend his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins’ performance Saturday at a country music festival held in the parking lot of a major Chicago stadium, the three people said. Patel’s staff had arranged for the director to make an office visit Friday to the Chicago field office to coincide with his trip, according to two other people with knowledge of the director’s schedule.
Several FBI agents complained internally that this office visit was belatedly-added cover to justify Patel flying the director’s jet — which is estimated to cost tens of thousands of dollars for such domestic trips — to enjoy a weekend in Chicago with his girlfriend, the people said.
'Patel was coming (to Chicago) today for a fake office visit for his girlfriend’s country concert this weekend,' one of the sources briefed on the trip said. The source noted Patel 'cancelled the trip while on the tarmac at Andrews' and was 'summoned to the White House immediately,' adding that it was 'apparent panic' and 'believed to be in response to his morning tweet today.'” (our emphasis)
The tweet referred to was one sent by Patel to MS Now bashing their story about his lifestyle and demand for perks on his official travels. The report goes on to say the Malignant Fascist's regime is tired of negative stories about Patel's drinking and using Federal resources for personal use. The last straw was the optics of going off to nest with his girlfriend in Chicago while law enforcement is dealing with threats from Iran against the MF's life:
"A source familiar with efforts to help Patel repair his standing in the White House told MS NOW there have been multiple interventions by people who like Patel and have been trying to help him in his position as director.
'With everything going on in the war, how are you not outside the Oval Office ready to go into the Situation Room? the source said."
Indeed, although they might be better off not having his frantic incompetence there.
(photo: official photo. "What, me worry?")
Harmen Hoek takes us on a silent hike through the stunning Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in the High Sierras:
In late summer 2025, I spent seven days backpacking through Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks in California’s High Sierra. This film follows two separate backpacking trips rather than one continuous route.
The first part follows the iconic Rae Lakes Loop, one of the most famous backpacking routes in the Sierra Nevada. Together with my friend Robert, I hiked from Roads End through Paradise Valley before joining the John Muir Trail to Rae Lakes, crossing Glen Pass, and returning via Bubbs Creek.
The second part follows a custom High Sierra loop that combines spectacular alpine scenery with one of the few giant sequoia groves where dispersed camping is permitted. It links sections of the High Sierra Trail with quieter backcountry trails to create a varied multi-day adventure through some of my favorite landscapes in the park.
A beautiful feast for the senses (you can almost smell the fresh, pine-scented air).
(click on images to enlarge)
(Nick Anderson, The Contrarian)
(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)
(Bas van der Schot, caglecartoons.com, Netherlands)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Morten Morland, The Times, UK)
(Bob Englehart, caglecartoons.com)
(Joel Pett, Tribune Content Agency)
(Clay Jones, claytoonz.substack.com)
(Jon Adams, @citycyclops)
From former Labor Secretary and Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley Robert Reich, writing in his Substack column after the unstable Malignant Fascist's performance at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey:
"It’s important to understand the source of Trump’s power.
His power doesn’t come from his being president of the most powerful nation in the world. In fact, his arbitrary tariffs, absurd war in Iran, and outright abduction of NicolΓ‘s Maduro and his wife have reduced America’s standing in much of the world.
Nor does his power come from his MAGA base, which is now having second thoughts about supporting someone who got the U.S. involved in another Middle Eastern war, caused prices to rise, and still refuses to release the complete Epstein files.
Nor does his power flow from his strategic brilliance or cunning. Of all U.S. presidents in modern times, he easily ranks as the stupidest.
Trump’s power comes from his willingness to violate all the norms, rules, and laws about how American presidents are supposed to act — to do anything that helps him accumulate more wealth, power, and glory, and wreak vengeance on anyone who has tried to get in the way.
The NATO presidents and prime ministers treated Trump with extraordinary deference because they’re afraid of what he might do if he doesn’t get what he wants.
Whether it’s NATO, Iran. the World Cup, the 2020 election, making billions off his presidency — or anything else — he’s unconstrained by norms, rules, treaties, and laws." (our emphasis)
Reich's entire perceptive column is well worth the read. He's zeroed in on what makes the MF so dangerous and disturbing, and why we'll be cleaning up his messes for years to come.
The Epstein-Trump Files / seven years later --
NEW: The Jeffrey Epstein case seven years later: What have we learned and what remains a mystery? open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...
— Julie K. Brown (@jkbjournalist.bsky.social) July 8, 2026 at 9:45 AM
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Operation Epic Fail / Trump's pathological lying has consequences, part infinity --
Trump lies so much that many treat his Iran war lies as normal. Just the way he talks. But it’s highly abnormal, and very consequential. Can’t make real peace when one side insists on pretending the president’s fantasy is real. My latest, on the recent flare up of fighting over Hormuz, in @ms.now:
— Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 7:36 AM
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Trump's election rigging on blast --
Reminder: The FEC already lacks a quorum because of Trump.
— Zach Everson (@zacheverson.com) July 9, 2026 at 10:01 PM
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Your daily reminder that Donald is a rotting despot who is threatening to interfere with our elections. We can hold him accountable by electing Democratic majorities in the House and Senate this November.
— Tom Shafer (@tomshafshafer.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 9:38 AM
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Trump's job-destroying policies --
WSJ EDITORIAL BOARD: “.. the President is right that his tariffs are at work — in destroying U.S. jobs .. The U.S. has lost some 75,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2025 .. “His trade oscillations and border taxes are a major reason .. why Americans are so unhappy.” www.wsj.com/opinion/how-...
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 7:59 AM
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Don't look away from ICE terrorism --
so ICE did a kavanaugh stop and murdered a man www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/u...
— Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) July 9, 2026 at 9:14 PM
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Don’t look away from Memphis. Don’t look away from Houston. Don’t look away at the nationwide ICE surge. The trump administration is counting on you losing interest and falling for its tweak in tactics. zeteo.com/p/trumps-vio...
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 8:10 AM
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πΆ Don't know much about history ... --
Ever since King Henry III rolled out the Communist Manifesto at Westminster in 1226.
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) July 8, 2026 at 1:01 PM
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MAGAt Republicans nominate a loon, part infinity --
I’m sorry the number of what
— Joshua Erlich (@joshuaerlich.bsky.social) July 9, 2026 at 9:18 PM
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π¨ Travel alert: avoid Palm Beach, Florida --
one more reason to steer clear of Palm Beach
— Philip Gourevitch (@pgourevitch.bsky.social) July 9, 2026 at 8:45 PM
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Who grounded it and spoiled our good times?! --
Oh it’s probably fine www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/u...
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 8:52 AM
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Belated Happy 86th (!) Birthday (7/7/40) to still-touring Ringo Starr (Happy Friday!) --
Video: Ringo Starr says he can't quit touring: 'It's what I do' #RingoStarr #Beatles
— Beatles News (@beatlesnews.bsky.social) July 9, 2026 at 12:05 AM
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Venerable alt rock band Dinosaur Jr. is back in its original lineup (J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph) and is out with a lead single "Several Got Away," from their August- release album "There Near." It sounds like they're back to their musical origins as well, and that's good. Hope you enjoy.
Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by ICE thugs Tuesday as he drove to work, the victim of mistaken identity. Now, the official ICE account of Araujo's murder is unraveling:
"A statement from federal officials about what led to the fatal shooting of a man in Houston during an immigration operation this week doesn’t match the version of events from three men detained during the incident, an attorney who spoke with them says.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said an agent opened fire after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, rammed a law enforcement vehicle and refused to follow verbal commands during a a traffic stop that was part of a 'targeted operation' Tuesday.
But attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra said three men detained during the operation told him the version of events presented by ICE is false.
'At no point did they use the van to ram into the ICE agents and at no point were these ICE agents’ lives ever in any danger,' Balderas-Ibarra said in a video posted to his Instagram.
The men said the agent who shot Salgado Araujo opened fire almost immediately after exiting his vehicle, Balderas-Ibarra told The Washington Post. CNN has reached out to Balderas-Ibarra and ICE for comment." (our emphasis)
The ICE goons, who were not wearing body cameras of course, were "tipped" that two undocumented men that they wanted to detain were traveling in a white van, neither of whom turned out to be Araujo. Also, you can imagine how many white vans there are in the Houston area, but when dealing with brown people, the Malignant Fascist's trigger-happy StormTrumpers dispense with Constitutional niceties.
There are multiple investigations of the killing underway, including the Harris County District Attorney's office. As with the investigations into the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the MF's Federal law enforcement officials are withholding information from local authorities. "Investigations" by the Homeland Security's Inspector General and the local FBI are expected to white wash the killing, blame the victim and exonerate ICE.
BONUS: Now they're trying to deport the witnesses to the murder.
(photo: members of Araujo's family at a press conference. Antranik Tavitian/Reuters)
