The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

Amid continuing diplomatic efforts to end the long war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday marked the country’s Independence Day with a speech in Kyiv’s central square, reminding Ukrainians that they are still fighting for freedom.

He later met with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, who arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in a show of diplomatic support. President Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, also arrived in Kyiv over the weekend for talks with Mr. Zelensky. Both Mr. Carney and Mr. Kellogg attended the Independence Day celebrations.

The Ukrainian leader made his speech in the square known as the Maidan, a place of great symbolic importance to Ukrainians and the site of enormous protests in 2013 that culminated in the ouster of the country’s pro-Russian president Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Mr. Zelensky expressed hope that in the future “on this square, on the Maidan of our independence, under our own flags, on our own land, our children and grandchildren will celebrate Independence Day — in peace.”

The holiday marks the day in 1991 when Ukraine’s Parliament voted to reject Soviet rule. In a referendum later that year, 92 percent of Ukrainians voted for independence, including a majority of voters in the regions in the east that Russia now claims to have annexed...

At the same time war criminal Putin is hammering all corners of Ukraine, incompetent drunkard Defense Secretary "Whiskey Pete" Hegseth is blocking Ukraine's use of long-range missiles provided by the US, at the Malignant Fascist's direction. These thugs will do anything for Russia.  Slava Ukraini!

The bad:

President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to expand his military deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to an offer by Maryland’s governor to join him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he might instead “send in the ‘troops.’”

Last week, Trump said he was considering Chicago and New York for troop deployments similar to what he has unleashed on the nation’s capital, where thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are patrolling the streets.

Trump made the threat to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trump’s unprecedented flex of federal power aimed at combatting crime and homelessness in Washington. Moore last week invited Trump to visit his state to discuss public safety and walk the streets.  [snip]

Moore said he invited Trump to Maryland “because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance” about improving crime rates in Baltimore. After a spike during the pandemic that matched nationwide trends, Baltimore’s violent crime rate has fallen. The 200 homicides reported last year were down 24% from the prior year and 42% since 2021, according to city data. Between 2023 and 2024, overall violent crime was down nearly 8% and property crimes down 20%.

“The president is spending all of his time talking about me,” Moore said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I’m spending my time talking about the people I serve.”...

Fact check:  the three Republican Governors sending National Guard troops to DC have 10 cities in their states with higher crime rates.

The convicted felon / sexual abuser Malignant Fascist continues his performative campaign of bluster, intimidation, and racism, which also serves as a precursor for a power grab in Democratic cities during the mid-term and presidential elections in blue states.  We know why, of course.  Ir's the same reason they're gerrymandering Congressional maps mid-way between census counts.  As the fascists they are, they want to lock in their power and control indefinitely by any means necessary. No elections that don't ratify Republican control.  We must disenthrall ourselves of any notion that it's anything less than that, and then we need to act accordingly if we want a democracy for ourselves and for future generations.

The ugly:

US immigration officials said they intend to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Uganda, after he declined an offer to be deported to Costa Rica in exchange for remaining in jail and pleading guilty to human smuggling charges, according to a Saturday court filing.

The Costa Rica offer came late on Thursday, after it was clear that the Salvadorian national would probably be released from a Tennessee jail the following day.

Ábrego declined to extend his stay in jail and was released on Friday to await trial in Maryland with his family. Later that day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified his attorneys that he would be deported to Uganda and should report to immigration authorities on Monday.

According to official documents posted online, the DHS told Ábrego’s attorneys on Friday afternoon that the “DHS may remove your client … to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends)”.  [snip]

The 30-year-old was initially deported by federal immigration officials in March. Though the Trump administration admitted that Ábrego’s deportation was an “administrative error”, officials have repeatedly accused him of being affiliated with the MS-13 gang, a claim Ábrego and his family vehemently deny.

During his detention at El Salvador’s so-called Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), Ábrego was physically and psychologically tortured, according to court documents filed by his lawyers in July.

Following Ábrego’s wrongful deportation, the Trump administration faced widespread pressure to return him to the US, including from a supreme court order that directed federal officials to “facilitate” his return.

In June, the Trump administration returned Ábrego from El Salvador, only to charge him with crimes related to human smuggling, which his lawyers have rejected as “preposterous”. His criminal trial is expected to begin in January.

Before his deportation, Ábrego had lived in Maryland for more than a decade, working in construction while being married to an American wife.

The bastards made an "administrative error," and rather than leave it at that and release him, to save face and because cruelty is the point of all this, they've been persecuting Ábrego for 6 months, including that stint at CECOT where he was tortured.  Think for a moment what this intentional cruelty toward immigrants, the whitewashing of our history of slavery and Jim Crow, the hollowing out of scientific research, the extortion of our colleges and universities, the sight of armed National Guard troops patrolling peaceful streets in our cities, etc., looks like to both our friends and enemies in the world. 

 

QOTD -- Specious Falsehoods And Evasions

 

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled yesterday (pdf) on the Malignant Fascist's "bad faith" objections in complying with the court's discovery motions in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's deportation without due process.  Here are a few select portions of her latest ruling:

"False Premise” Objections. Defendants object to certain discovery because they claim the requests are based on the “false premise that the United States can or has been ordered to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador.”2 See Defs.’ Objs. & Resps. to Pls.’ First Set of Expedited Interrogs., ECF No. 98-1 at 3. Defendants—and their counsel—well know that the falsehood lies not in any supposed “premise,” but in their continued mischaracterization of the Supreme Court’s Order... [snip]

Privilege Assertions. Equally specious, Defendants’ objections on the grounds of privilege are rejected. Defendants invoke in name only a range of protections—attorney-client privilege, the work-product doctrine, the deliberative process privilege, the state secrets privilege, and an undefined “governmental privilege”—without providing any supporting information or analysis.3 As Defendants and their counsel know, the proponent of a privilege must demonstrate the legal and factual bases to invoke the protections that such privilege affords... [snip]

Defendants’ answer to Interrogatory No. 5, in which they name exactly two individuals who “have been or will be involved in any of the actions responsive to Interrogatories 1–4 or in ordering or authorizing Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador, his initial placement in CECOT or his continued confinement in CECOT,” reflects a deliberate evasion of their fundamental discovery obligations...

She goes on to rule on other assertions and responses/ non-responses to interrogatories, largely calling out the bad faith on display by the MF's shysters.  

Defying Supreme Court orders, playing dilatory games with the courts, and generally acting with contempt for the judicial system -- all what you would expect from a lawless convicted felon and his cult minions.

Sen. Van Hollen Meets With Abrego Garcia In El Salvador

 

Good sign or false hope?

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Thursday evening in El Salvador, coming face to face with the wrongly deported man after two days in the country pushing for his release.

The Democratic senator posted a photo of the meeting on X but did not provide an update on the status of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S.

A Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland, Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation. U.S. President Donald Trump and Bukele said this week that they have no basis to return him to the United States, even as the Trump administration has called his deportation a mistake and the U.S. Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return.

“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar,” Van Hollen wrote on X, with a photo of the two men talking in what appeared to be a restaurant. “Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”

It’s not clear how the meeting was arranged, where they met or what will happen to Abrego Garcia. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele posted images of the meeting minutes before Van Hollen shared his post, saying, “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” The tweet ended with emojis of the U.S. and El Salvador flags, with a handshake emoji between them.

Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, said in a statement released by an advocacy group that “we still have so many questions, hopes, and fears.”

Van Hollen’s trip has become a partisan flashpoint in the U.S. as Democrats have seized on Abrego Garcia’s deportation as what they say is a cruel consequence of Trump’s disregard for the courts. A federal appeals court said Thursday in a blistering order that the Trump administration’s claim that it can’t do anything to free Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison and return him to the U.S. “ should be shocking. "...

We share those fears, given the cruel and reckless fascist regimes involved.  If the convicted felon Malignant Fascist's regime continues to brazenly defy court orders in a case involving an "administrative error" and the Constitutional right to due process, you can be absolutely certain more such extra-legal actions will follow -- with immigrants, protesters, higher education, the media, etc.  In fact, those extra-legal actions are almost guaranteed to continue regardless of the disposition of the Abrego Garcia case.

The lawlessness of this regime is metastasizing rapidly.

BONUS:  Read yesterday's 7-page order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit absolutely blistering the Malignant Fascist's actions, written by Reagan appointee J. Harvie Wilkinson (pdf).

(Photo:  Sen. Van Hollen press office, via AP)

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

... Two fresh surveys—both taken after Trump’s reckless “Liberation Day,” when he slapped haphazard tariffs on dozens of countries—show his approval rating underwater. Morning Consult polling puts him at 46% approve, 52% disapprove among adults. Navigator Research, polling registered voters, shows 44% approve and 53% disapprove of the president.

Both surveys also show Trump’s economic approval nosediving. Navigator found that 55% of registered voters now disapprove of his handling of the economy, with just 42% approving—a net -13, down from -5 in mid-March. Morning Consult similarly found that voters are 3 points more likely to disapprove than approve of Trump’s economic and trade policy. And it’s no mystery why: He managed to tank the stock market in just a few weeks.

Navigator also found rising economic anxiety under Trump. Only 36% of registered voters say they feel confident about their personal finances in the coming months, while 62% feel uneasy. The only group showing a flicker of optimism? Republicans—though even there, only 55% feel secure. 

And confidence is slipping fast. Among Republicans, Navigator found that net personal financial confidence has plunged—from +30 in early February to +32 in mid-March to just +13 now.

That suggests Trump is even losing ground with his base. And it doesn’t stop there. A growing number of Americans now believe the economy is actively deteriorating. In December 2024, just 37% said so. By April, that number had soared to 59%.

Then there’s the political landmine: tariffs. If Trump sees them as a winning issue, the public doesn’t agree. Only 30% of registered voters view tariffs favorably; 58% disapprove. Democrats (88%) and independents (55%) were especially sour, but even typically reliable Republican blocs weren’t sold. Fifty-six percent of non-college-educated voters disapprove of tariffs—just shy of the 62% of college grads who say the same.

And any inroads Trump made with voters of color in 2024 may be slipping, too. Navigator found that 64% of Black, 61% of Hispanic, and 67% of AAPI respondents oppose tariffs... (our emphasis)

Sad!  Not that the Malignant Fascist is ever allowed to see polls like this, lest the ketchup go flying, or that he would believe them anyway ("fake news!").  But we should take heart that the incompetence of the charlatan MF is rapidly becoming clear to voters.  The main problem still remains that the MF has no plans to hold / abide by future elections.

The bad:

The federal teams that count public health problems are disappearing — putting efforts to solve those problems in jeopardy.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s purge of tens of thousands of federal workers has halted efforts to collect data on everything from cancer rates in firefighters to mother-to-baby transmission of HIV and syphilis to outbreaks of drug-resistant gonorrhea to cases of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The cuts threaten to obscure the severity of pressing health threats and whether they’re getting better or worse, leaving officials clueless on how to respond. They could also make it difficult, if not impossible, to assess the impact of the administration’s spending and policies. Both outside experts and impacted employees argue the layoffs will cost the government more money in the long run by eliminating information on whether programs are effective or wasteful, and by allowing preventable problems to fester.

“Surveillance capabilities are crucial for identifying emerging health issues, directing resources efficiently, and evaluating the effectiveness of existing policies,” said Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the first Trump’s administration. “Without robust data and surveillance systems, we cannot accurately assess whether we are truly making America healthier.”

The offices that ran the Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer were scrapped. So were teams that reported how many abortions are performed nationwide, the levels of lead in childrens’ blood, alcohol-related deaths, asthma rates, exposures to radon and other dangerous chemicals, how many people with HIV are taking medication to suppress the virus, and how many people who use injectable drugs contract infectious diseases...

Make America Sick Again!  To think this addled brainworm nut is in the position he's in even after the world's experiences with pandemics, HIV, and other health threats means we've officially gone from the tragedy to the farce phase in the history of modern medicine.

The ugly:

The Trump administration insisted Sunday that it has no legal obligation to arrange for the return of a Maryland man illegally deported from the United States, arguing that a Supreme Court ruling last week only requires officials to admit him into the country if he makes it back from a high-security prison in El Salvador.

Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge that they don’t interpret the Supreme Court’s Thursday ruling — that the administration “facilitate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release — as obligating the administration to do anything more than adjust his immigration status to admit him if El Salvador’s government chooses to release him.

With El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele set to meet President Donald Trump Monday, DOJ attorneys argued the courts have no power to require the administration to engage with the Salvadoran government to reach a diplomatic solution. They contend such a potential order would amount to a violation of the separation of powers and an intrusion into what they allege is unfettered presidential power to conduct foreign relations.

“All of those requested orders involve interactions with a foreign sovereign — and potential violations of that sovereignty,” Justice Department attorneys wrote in a seven-page submission to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis. “[A] federal court cannot compel the Executive Branch to engage in any mandated act of diplomacy or incursion upon the sovereignty of another nation.”

The administration’s position suggests officials do not view the Supreme Court’s order as compelling them to seek Abrego Garcia’s return. The Salvadoran native entered the country illegally around 2011 and had been living in Maryland. The Trump administration has admitted it deported him to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 immigration court order barring his deportation to that country. Though Abrego Garcia was denied asylum, a judge found he could not be sent to his home country because of a legitimate fear of persecution by a local gang... (our emphasis)

Again, this is fascism, pure and simple.  No due process, deporting him illegally, and ignoring a Supreme Court ruling that was, in itself, only the slightest effort to see justice done.  But, then, the cruelty has always been the point for these fascists.