Monday, August 3, 2026

Infantino's Desperate Attempt To Save His Job



 

Corrupt FIFA President Gianni "Red Card" Infantino is seeking the help of his friend the corrupt and delusional Malignant Fascist to keep his endangered position with FIFA, after the disastrous proposal to sell off the World Cup to the likes of the Kushner family backfired spectacularly.  From The New Republic:

"After FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off a stake in the World Cup fell through due to heavy backlash, he tried to get in touch with President Trump.

The New York Post reports that Infantino attempted to call Trump over the weekend several times because he was worried about losing his job following an avalanche of negative press over his idea, which led to the European and North American soccer associations, UEFA and CONCACAF respectively, threatening to boycott all FIFA events. Unable to reach Trump, Infantino instead reportedly held a private call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday morning, hoping to enlist help in staving off pressure to resign.

'He wanted to get online with the secretary and talk about how soccer can be a form of soft power for America,; an unnamed source told the Post. 'But we all know that it is about job protection. It is not about anything else at this point.'” (our emphasis)

This sleazy dirtbag running to his erstwhile friend the Malignant Fascist is beyond pathetic, and will likely trigger even more opposition to his continuation as FIFA president, as he's already seen as a MF ass kisser extraordinaire in a very hostile world view of the MF.  The majority of soccer federations / conferences oppose Infantino's continued role in FIFA, regardless (and likely because of) the MF's closeness with the corrupt Infantino.  Sad!

(photo: two losers flashing the "up yours" sign. Getty Images)

 

Skeets Of The Day

 

The Epstein-Trump files coverup / a fig leaf for Cornyn and Tillis to confirm pedo protector Blanche --


A Blanche assurance is as valuable as a Trump assurance, obviously, and exactly the kind of lie the few Republican 'holdout' senators want. So, smart moneyt is that Blanche will be confirmed. Worst comes to worst (so to speak), he will stay in the job as acting AG. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...

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— Dominic Holland (@dominicholland.bsky.social) August 3, 2026 at 8:09 AM

 

cool now do the epstein files

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— shauna (@goldengateblond.bsky.social) August 3, 2026 at 12:40 AM

 

Operation Epic Fail / more market manipulation, less negotiation --

 

just in time for the markets to open! it's a Sunday miracle!

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 2, 2026 at 11:58 PM

 

There is no meeting between US and Iranian negotiators scheduled in Islamabad, at least in the next 24 hours - AA citing Pakistani Government Sources

— FinTwitter (@fintwitter.bsky.social) August 3, 2026 at 8:25 AM

 

Republican values, Ohio politics edition--


Sen. Bernie Moreno (paraphrased): On second thought, now that it's clear this is making me personally look awful, I say domestic abuse, lying about it, and failing basic standards of character like that has no place in the Republican Party, except at the top, and some other places too. Thank you.

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— Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) August 2, 2026 at 12:24 PM

 

Bobby Brainworm's epic crashout --

 

๐Ÿ˜ณ RFK Jr's epic CNN crashout ๐Ÿ˜ณ Dana Bash pressed RFK Jr on Trump's culpability for mishandling covid and the misinformation he pushes about vaccines, and the segment wound down with him getting mad and barking at her like a rabid dog Here's the full thing:

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 2, 2026 at 9:58 AM

 

Three months to the mid-terms/ Democratic messaging --


Exactly 3 months from today is the most important midterm election in our lifetime. Our opportunity to hold him accountable. Register to vote here: Iwillvote.com The stakes have never been higher. Show the world the majority of Americans are good, decent, honest people. #VoteBlue๐Ÿ—ณ️ #RejectMAGA ๐Ÿ‘Ž

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— Mark Hamill (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social) August 3, 2026 at 8:22 AM

 

This is a very big deal. Donald Trump is screwing with seniors on fixed incomes, causing them to pay more for drugs they need to stay alive.

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— Master Coach Hu (@mastercoachhu.bsky.social) August 3, 2026 at 9:08 AM

 

Favreau: He’s a moron. He’s gotten us into a disastrous war. He made everything more expensive. He has bumbled his way through his second term by using the government to make himself rich and punish everyone who doesn’t like him. And also, on Trump “losing a step”—Donald Trump never had a step.

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) August 2, 2026 at 3:02 PM

 

Meanwhile, from his golf victory to posting endless AI slop, laser focused! -- 


Good to know after a tough weekend on the golf course the president is back at work laser focused on improving the lives of Americans by resuming his deranged AI marathon.

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— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) August 2, 2026 at 8:31 PM

 

OTOH if Trump can convince hedge-fund managers to pay $100,000 a month for an early look at slop like this, well, what the hell. Go for it.

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— Bill Grueskin (@bgrueskin.bsky.social) August 2, 2026 at 7:37 PM

 

But, your priorities, sir?! ๐Ÿ˜Š --

 

Possibly the greatest single male athletic performance of all time Original post

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— Massimo (mirror) (@rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social) August 2, 2026 at 8:10 PM

 

 

SCOTUS Decision On Mail-In Ballots Nearing

 

A key decision is expected this week from the Republican-dominated Supreme Court on the corrupt and unhinged Malignant Fascist's attempt to suppress voting in the upcoming mid-term elections.  The MF is asking the Court to permit the Postal Service to regulate who receives mail-in ballots and who doesn't.  Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, writing in her Substack, reports:

"Last Monday, the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to let the Trump administration implement Trump’s executive order that would allow, among other things, federal control over who can and can’t receive a ballot in the mail. A district judge in Massachusetts enjoined the EO from going into effect for now. The Solicitor General is asking the Supreme Court to stay that injunction, which would permit the Trump administration to move forward with the EO while the cases challenging it move through the courts. [snip]

A response is due from the states that oppose the EO by 4 p.m. ET on Monday. They are: California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania (through its governor, Josh Shapiro). The formal issue before the Court is whether it should stay the lower court’s injunction barring federal agencies from fully implementing Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting.

One important issue when a party seeks an injunction, like the blue states did in the lower court, is showing the irreparable injury is imminent without one. Here that was challenging. The EO was in place, but the question was whether the federal government was taking sufficiently malicious steps towards implementing it to merit an injunction. Not what might happen in the future, but what was happening now. So the administration, and the red states, present everything in the most benign terms possible and the government has made careful efforts to hold off on steps that would clearly trigger court action for now. The concern is that they will act as we get closer to the midterm elections, that they are preparing now to take steps, perhaps too close to the election for state AGs and the courts to effectively counter them." (our emphasis)

The MF will do anything to rig the mid-terms in his favor, knowing that he and his party are facing an angry public eager to vote them out.  If, as Vance suggests, the MF's regime acts on the mail-in ballot issue too late for States to stop them through the courts before the mid-terms, the damage done to our elections will be lasting, and the MF will escape accountability once again.  We're not expecting the MAGAfied Supreme Court to do the right thing and uphold the injunction.  Stay tuned.

 

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon

 

(click to enlarge)


Tom provides today's headlines on the evil depredations of the Malignant Fascist's regime and their enablers, tech bro greed and racism, and more. Please consider supporting Tom's work by going here.
 

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

President Donald Trump on Sunday declared himself the winner of yet another golf tournament held at a facility he owns while also mocking the other participants.

“I won with a score of 70, and am so honored in that, unlike the rest of the field, I’m given very little time to practice, because I’m focused on many other things,” Trump boasted on his Truth Social website. “It’s called TALENT, and I have it, and they don’t!” 

Critics were quick to point out it might be more than “TALENT” at work. Trump has been dogged by allegations of cheating at golf for decades, with many of the accusations coming from those who’ve played with him. Those allegations include a viral video last year that showed what some observers said looked a lot like cheating.

Trump also has a history of winning at courses he owns, and rarely plays elsewhere. When he does, the results look more like they did at a 2006 celebrity tournament in Tahoe, where Trump finished in 62nd place out of 80 people.

Even the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a longtime ally and frequent golf partner before his death last month, seemed to admit when speaking under oath in a 2022 deposition that Trump cheats at golf.

“Some people say you may outdrive him, but you’re not going to outdrive his caddy,” Graham said. “It is what it is.”

That was likely a reference to a tactic others have accused Trump of using: he has a much faster golf cart than everyone else.

Sports writer Rick Reilly, who authored an entire book on how the president cheats, said Trump then moves his ball to better spots and kicks his opponents’ balls into the bunker.

“One time in L.A., he was playing $50 a hole with these three guys, he hits it in the pond. They see the splash,” Reilly said in 2024. “By the time they get there, it’s in the middle of the fairway, and they’re like, ‘What the F, Donald?’ And he goes, ‘It must’ve been the tide.’”

Reilly told The Associated Press in 2019 that there were “dozens and dozens of people” who could verify that Trump cheats...

Ha ha.  Good to know.... OF COURSE HE CHEATS! -- in golf, in politics, on his three wives, in business, in life.  It's always good to remind the over 70 million Americans who voted to return this rotted out piece of shit needy narcissistic sociopath to office in 2024 what they got.  Congratulations, they have a "winner"!  (Not that they care.)

The bad:

Experts sounded the alarm on Sunday after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed a dubious new scheme to protect some of the people mentioned in the Epstein files.

In a court filing last week, Blanche submitted explanations to Judge Emmet Sullivan about the Department of Justice's process for redacting the Epstein files. That court filing included a new definition of what it means to be a victim in the case, according to Allison Gill, host of "The Breakdown," who discussed the filing with Katie Phang, the journalist who sued the DOJ over its redactions, on a new episode.

The new definition of "victim" in the Epstein case now includes people who "self-identified" as victims, which led Gill to worry that abusers who hung out with Epstein may self-identify and therefore be protected from disclosure.

Phang pointed out that the new definition also carries some stark implications.

"It does two things. One, it creates a very slippery slope in terms of how we are viewing who we are now defining as victims," Phang said. "It's never easy to identify a victim, especially in a trafficking situation. My concern is the expansive nature that Blanche is taking is that he's going to use that as an excuse to not investigate, as an excuse not to prosecute."

"We know that there are people who were brought into the Epstein orbit and were, according to them, groomed and abused by Epstein and Maxwell ... and were tasked to recruit ... almost as if it's a grotesque Ponzi scheme," she added.

Phang noted that her lawsuit is not seeking to "out" anyone who was abused by Epstein, which is explicitly prohibited by the Epstein Files Transparency Act that was signed into law last year.

Even so, Phang argued that Blanche could use the definition to put the case into a "weird position."

"If Todd Blanche allows people who were co-conspirators with Epstein, Maxwell, and others ... to be able to self-identify as victims, and in doing so, protects their names from possible ... pursuit of the truth, we have a problem. We have a serious problem," Phang added.  (our emphasis)

The scurrilous pedophile protector Blanche is now likely to be confirmed as Attorney General (the Republican Party/cult is in the pedophile protection racket, after all).  There is a lot of evidence as to why Blanche should be rejected, mostly showing that he's a lying, ethics-free weasel, and this should be added to that pile.  He's continuing to violate the Epstein Files Transparency Act, trying to get his "client," who's mentioned more than 38,000 times in the files, off scot-free.

The ugly:

Detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement set a monthly record high for the second Trump administration in July, internal agency data obtained by CBS News shows, as ICE widened its crackdown, making arrests at airports, immigration check-in offices and communities across the U.S.

Last month, ICE took into custody more than 46,000 individuals facing deportation because of alleged immigration violations, like entering the U.S. illegally or overstaying their visas, according to preliminary Department of Homeland Security figures. 

The statistics, which have not yet been publicly disclosed by the federal government, show that a summer enforcement surge by ICE continued to intensify in July, as the agency faced pressure from the White House to record 2,000 arrests across the country each day. An average of 1,500 detainees entered ICE custody each day last month, the data indicates, though some of them were first arrested by Customs and Border Protection agents.

The over 46,000 book-ins in July surpassed the roughly 43,000 detentions recorded by ICE in June, at the time the highest tally during President Trump's second term. As of this weekend, ICE was holding 68,000 detainees in its sprawling detention system, approaching a record high of over 70,000 detainees set in January, according to internal agency figures.

The numbers also show the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration has rebounded this summer, following a significant drop in arrests earlier this year after federal agents killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during an enforcement blitz in Minneapolis that garnered bipartisan criticism...

This has largely gone under the radar with the firehose of insane, destructive, anti-democratic, and un-American actions taken daily by the Maglignant Fascist and his regime.  But the cruel arrest and deportation policies being implemented by the likes of Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, and their masked thugs have been proceeding apace.


Sunday, August 2, 2026

Sunday Reflection

 


“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." -- James Baldwin (8/2/1924 - 12/1/1987) author, essayist, playwright, and civil rights activist, from "No Name in the Street" (1972).  The author of "Go Tell It On The Mountain" (1953) and "Notes of a Native Son" (1955), Baldwin is considered one of the greatest moral essayists of our time.  He certainly would have had volumes to say about justice during the Trump reign of error (and bigotry, and hatred, and abuse of power, etc., etc.).


"Greatest Trump Scandal of All"?

 


It would be hard to single out one scandal as the most important of the corrupt and deranged Malignant Fascist because of their number and impact.  Certainly, the MF's criminal seditious conspiracy to overthrow the 2020 election ranks at the top, as does his sexual abuse / rape of E. Jean Carroll, and his yet to be disclosed crimes with his late friend, sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.  However, Sidney Blumenthal at the Legal AF substack argues that the Trump family and courtiers relationship to the infamous sex trafficking Tate brother has the real potential for topping them all.  Some quotes, and then Blumenthal's (lengthy) video with best-selling author and investigative journalist Nina Burleigh:

“If you think it’s just about the Tate brothers, you’re wrong because the Tate brothers’ extradition to the United Kingdom is just the tip of the iceberg of what may be the greatest international crime syndicate with the greatest political influence in history… it’s about the politics and the network at the center of the Trump world where the Trump world is an underworld.” (Blumenthal)

“They were invited to the White House, they were at the Milken conference with Paolo Zampolli, Trump’s special envoy for special projects, and they were swatting all over the world. So basically given a free pass by the United States government to our great shame, and they have lived here for the past year and a half.” (Burleigh)

“They’re the millennial version of Epstein; they have a type of network that is similar in that it relies on the trading of females and the abuse of women as the glue that connects them to each other. But it’s also a financial and political power node that they inhabit.” (Burleigh)

The full video can be found at this link.

You'll recall that budding sociopath Barron Trump was in touch with the Tate brothers, whom he apparently supported and admired as right-wing manosphere misogynists. 

(photos: The sick MF and Andrew Tate. Getty Images)

 

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Ann Telnaes, anntelnaes.substack.com;  context here)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)

(Brian McFadden, gocomics.com)

(John Branch, King Features)

(Milt Priggee, caglecartoons.com)

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

(Mike Konopacki, The Capital Times, Madison, WI)

(Ben Jennings, The Guardian, UK)

(Mort Gerberg, @mortgerberg)


QOTD -- Tanking

 

"... There is one exception to the general rule that presidents don’t have much control over gas prices: Donald Trump. He can’t bring them down, but he certainly sent them up.  [snip]

"There aren’t going to be too many voters who call themselves MAGA and will vote for Democrats because Trump made gas prices go up. But Democrats don’t need them to. It’s enough if the persuadable voters who believed Trump when he told them that he’d bring down the price of everything — including gas — are mad that he broke his promise and decide to send him and his party a message.

"In fact, if the Iran war drags on and gas prices stay high, this could wind up being as decisive a campaign issue as Trump’s misbegotten tariffs, his parade of idiotic construction projects, his rampaging incompetence, or his boundless corruption.

"Of all the ways a president could tank his political standing and sabotage his party’s chances of success in an upcoming election, few are as straightforward as directly causing an increase in the price of gasoline at the pump. Yet Trump has managed it. He truly is a president like no other." --  Paul Waldman, "Public Notice" Substack, on "Why Trump deserves all the blame for high gas prices."  Waldman notes that many experts believe if the  Malignant Fascist's bungled war with Iran doesn't end soon (and what would Iran's incentive be for that to happen?) gas prices could remain high for a prolonged period.  Elect clowns ...

 

Capital One Dropped Trump Over Money Laundering Flags

 


A bogus lawsuit filed by the corrupt Malignant Fascist's legal team a few years ago against Capital One accused it of illegally de-banking the MF after his instigation of the January 6 seditious insurrection.  Now, Capital One has responded by asking the court to toss out the suit, claiming that the MF's companies' accounts were closed after reviews raised red flags about money laundering.  From Bloomberg:

"Capital One Financial Corp. said in a court filing late Friday that it closed accounts belonging to President Donald Trump's sprawling real estate company in 2021 for legitimate reasons after an internal review by the bank's anti-money laundering team.

The lender made the revelation in a filing asking a judge to toss out a Trump Organization lawsuit accusing it of illegally 'debanking' the president's company because of political discrimination following the assault on the Capitol by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.

Capital One, which denies discriminating against Trump's business, said the internal review was triggered by 'transaction patterns' that 'are among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance.' The bank said it's only making the anti-money laundering review public now as a result of the litigation.

The filing does not give details about the transactions at issue or accuse Trump or his company of wrongdoing. The decision to close the accounts was made as part of a process involving the lender's anti-money laundering professionals 'with decades of law enforcement experience,' the bank said." (our emphasis)

It wouldn't surprise us if it were disclosed that a number of those transactions were from the MF's friends in the criminal world and from his supporters in Russia

It's always amusing when the MF's lawsuits backfire on him, with Capital One noting that the MF's suit forced the disclosure about the money laundering review as the reason for closing his accounts.  In his zeal to extort money through lawsuits, his failures and criminality always surface.

 

Dementia Don's Imaginary On-Again, Off-Again Saber Rattling "Diplomacy"

 

Last night, the demented, incompetent Malignant Fascist (a.k.a., Moron Metternich) issued another puerile statement (with the usual random Capitalizations, bombastic bullshit, and of course "Thank you for your attention to this matter!") claiming he was holding off on striking Iran, not because American munitions are depleted or because he was warned by his Saudi business partners not to, but because the perimeters of a concept of an outline of a chimera of a Deal was in the works and Iran asked him to.  Sure, Jan!


How many times since the MF launched his war of choice against Iran have we heard this bullshit?  

"Locked and loaded" my ass!  His own Pentagon has said we're low on the munitions being used against Iran.  The only thing that's loaded is "Whiskey Pete" Hegseth.



"Perimeters of a deal" my ass!  There's no indication Iran is budging on its intent to control the Strait of Hormuz or give up its nuclear program. 

"The country of Israel joins me in this commitment" my ass.  Israel (Bibi) wants regime change in Iran, and the last thing it wants a "successful and prosperous Iran."

We think a group of Model UN students could have done a more competent job of negotiating an agreement by now than the Kushner-Witkoff real estate team in whom the MF put his trust.  And, speaking of trust, what country in the world trusts the MF's (and therefore, America's) word on anything?  That could also be said of his fracturing MAGAt base -- the audience for these moronic "Truths" -- who've seen his constant lies blow up in their faces time and time again.

The timing of these supposed cease-fires also seems to always coincide with calming the stock market for Monday's opening bell.  Surely a coincidence!


Saturday, August 1, 2026

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Patrick Chappatte, The Boston Globe)

(Nick Anderson, Raw Story)

(Michael de Adder, caglecartoons.com, Canada)

(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)

(David Rowe, Financial Review, Australia)

(Matt Wuerker, Politico)

(Matt Davies, Newsday)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Clay Jones, claytoonz.substack.com)

(Jeff Stahler, gocomics.com)

(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)

(Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Canada)

(Jon Adams, @citycyclops)


Skeets Of The Day

 

Operation Epic Fail: timing the war criming, Houthi attacks, China aids Iran --


The administration is currently floating the idea of knocking out energy targets in Iran, but to wrap the bombing up before the stock market opens on Monday. These are not serious people.

— Angry (@angrystaffer.bsky.social) July 31, 2026 at 6:44 PM

 

The Yemeni militant Houthi group says it's targeting vital Saudi Arabian energy facilities—a situation that threatens to harden high gasoline prices at a precarious moment for Republicans ahead of the midterms. The Houthis' target is Abaaid—the world's largest crude oil processing facility.

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— Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) August 1, 2026 at 7:51 AM

 

Latest piece is out. Reports from the last few days indicate that China is about to send advanced, finished munitions to Iran--of the type that could chaos for any US escalation. However, Trump pretends otherwise. China might be going in for the kill--with US help. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

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— Phillips OBrien (@phillipspobrien.bsky.social) August 1, 2026 at 4:29 AM


Humiliating admission by Trump regime that Reflecting Pool damage was contractor-caused --


David Hearn’s defense attorney: “The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”

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— Scott MacFarlane (@macfarlanenews.bsky.social) August 1, 2026 at 9:03 AM

 

Idiots on parade.

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— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) July 31, 2026 at 6:17 PM

 

We could've made this montage of liars an hour long but you get the point

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— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) July 31, 2026 at 7:02 PM


A regime full of lies, liars and grifters -- 


Acting attorney general Todd Blanche has insisted for weeks that President Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund is completely, undeniably dead. But on Friday, Trump twice undermined Blanche’s sworn testimony.

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— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) July 31, 2026 at 7:30 PM


Corrupt FIFA boss and Malignant Fascist fluffer about to go down -- 

 

I’m absolutely libbing out over Infantino’s demise. UEFA are just rocking him. It’s nice to see a bud guy finally get a comeuppance.

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— Max Berger (@maxberger.bsky.social) August 1, 2026 at 9:38 AM


The crimes committed against immigrant children by the MF's racist regime --

 

"An estimated 26,000 children who entered the U.S. without parents or guardians are expected to be left without independent legal representation as soon as Monday, according to lawyers who help represent them." www.npr.org/2026/08/01/n...

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— Social Media Lab (@socialmedialab.ca) August 1, 2026 at 6:12 AM


Some good news for you. Hoping it continues -- 


Musk’s wealth, which peaked at about $1.33 trillion on June 16, now stands at $684 billion.

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— Bloomberg News (@bloomberg.com) July 31, 2026 at 5:00 PM


The priorities of the deranged, dementia-ridden Malignant Fascist -- 


HABERMAN: “.. He thinks the economy is boring. He literally will tell advisers he finds this boring to talk about.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) August 1, 2026 at 8:01 AM


Sixth and counting --

 

Iran War Enters 6th Justification

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— The Onion (@theonion.com) July 31, 2026 at 3:30 PM

Corrupt FIFA Boss' Scheme Falls Through

 


FIFA's unapologetic Trump sycophant and sketchy hustler Gianni Infantino thought through his close association with the corrupt Malignant Fascist and his family would bring him new riches by selling off pieces of the World Cup event.  The plan, hidden from member soccer conferences and internal FIFA officials, blew up after it was made public that the MF's son-in-law's brother Josh Kushner was involved in the plan.  The blow-up now threatens the corrupt Infantino with removal:

"Gianni Infantino's position as Fifa president is growing increasingly untenable as Uefa declared it has lost confidence in the Swiss-Italian after he scrapped his controversial plan to sell off stakes of the World Cup to private investors.

Uefa’s 55 member associations insisted they would not participate in any Fifa tournament until plans for the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) were withdrawn and confirmed they would even have boycotted the next World Cup, forcing Infantino’s climbdown late on Friday evening.

Concacaf, the governing body for North America and the Caribbean, reiterated their own concerns over the lack of consultation and rejected the proposal, as did the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) who called for an “urgent review of its governance” at Fifa – piling more pressure on Infantino. [snip]

Calls are growing from Uefa member associations to back a candidate to run against Infantino, and the European governing body’s president Ceferin appears the most qualified.

A rival of Infantino, Ceferin most recently no-showed the World Cup 2026 final after the tournament was plagued by controversy, most notably the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s red card ban following a 'review' request from Trump, which Uefa said 'crossed a red line'”.  (our emphasis)

It's another chapter in "Everything Trump Touches Dies," something that the power-lusting Infantino was blind to as he wormed his way into the MF's good graces, giving him a nonsensical "FIFA Peace Prize" because the MF was butthurt over not receiving a Nobel Prize.  He intervened in the red card dispute on the U.S.'s Balogun after the MF's phone call, angerimg every other participating nation.  His arrogance in not consulting with FIFA member associations at last seems to be fatal.  His term is up next year, and what would have been a likely re-election as head of FIFA now looks dead. 

(photo: The MF awards himself the "Peace Prize" as Infantino watches. AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

 

DOJ Drops Reflecting Pool Case: "Botched Installation, Not Vandalism" (UPDATED)

 



The insane, bald-face lies about the Reflecting Pool damage that the Malignant Fascist spread to hide the incompetence of his regime has finally blown up, with a finger-pointing display by the "Justice" Department prosecutors.  From NBC News:

The Trump administration has dropped its case against a former Olympic canoeist charged in connection with damage to the Reflecting Pool, acknowledging their allegations against David “Davey” Hearn don’t hold water.

In a filing Friday afternoon, a supervisor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which is headed by Jeanine Pirro, wrote that officials obtained information that undermined “the evidentiary basis for the indictment” against Hearn.

Prosecutors said that after the indictment came down on July 2, the Interior Department provided additional documents to the U.S. Attorney’s Office “indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings.”

DOJ said it “first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism” after reviewing more documents.

“Had [the Interior Department] been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” the filing said.

DOJ said when it presented the case to a grand jury, it was “not in possession of any information from DOI indicating that any damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by anything other than the actions of the defendant and other vandals who damaged the pool’s lining.” 

The Justice Department filing said that based on its review of evidence, “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.”

A spokesperson for Pirro said the filing spoke for itself. Her office also moved to dismiss at least one of the other three misdemeanor cases that had been brought in connection with the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump blamed vandals for the issues with the pool after he announced a plan to coat the bottom with “American flag blue” ahead of America’s 250th birthday. The project faced several setbacks, and the cost grew considerably beyond his original estimates. The coating began coming up and algae flooded the water once the pool was refilled.

Trump has made repeated claims about vandals cutting 350-foot slits into the Reflecting Pool — saying at different times they used a knife, a box cutter and a razor. He called the alleged vandals “thugs” and said they were “sick” and “terrible.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

Hearn had told NBC News that the pool’s condition was exactly the same after he stuck his hands in the water as it was when he arrived. He pleaded not guilty after he was charged with destruction of property and accused of doing more than $1,000 worth of damage to the pool.

“The Government’s case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought,” Hearn attorney Steven Levin said in a statement Friday. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American. The government’s approach was ready, shoot, aim. The federal government owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”

The government’s case against Hearn had been flooded with problems. A key witness initially wasn’t able to represent to a grand jury that the damage the government accused Hearn of causing would have cost more than $1,000, the key threshold it needed to meet to bring a felony case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Reddington, a rookie federal prosecutor, earlier in the week accused Hearn’s defense attorneys of violating grand jury secrecy rules. But as Hearn’s defense attorneys noted, the rules that Reddington cited applied to government attorneys, not defense attorneys.

How this ended and why needs to be shouted far and wide, over and over, as a clear example of the abuse of power and weaponization of the justice system that the regime of lickspittle flunkies is inflicting on everyday Americans, in this case simply to mollify the MF's raging narcissism, sense of victimization,  and incompetence.  It's more evidence on top of more evidence that when the real vandal, the MF, opens his mouth, he's lying -- and he doesn't care who gets hurt in the process.

UPDATE:  Not surprisingly, since it exposed him as the liar and sociopath that hie is, Trump BIG MAD at Pirro for dropping the case (not at Burgum, because he lied in service to his cult leader!) . 

(Image:  the botching and the botcher / AP, Getty Images)