Donald Trump was asked about the shooting in Minneapolis while he was aboard Air Force One on his way back to DC from another taxpayer funded golf weekend in Florida. Question: "Do you believe that deadly force was necessary?"

Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement … Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."

In my ongoing rich v. the rest rant …

A Yale study documents how the Supreme Court has shifted from appointees by both parties being statistically the same in rulings for the rich and the rest to in recent times Republican appointees heavily favoring the rich. The effect? The Republican dominated Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has dramatically increased the impact of money in politics allowing the rich to exert outsized influence with their checkbooks and diminishing the political power of the rest.

I read 4 articles that show how core institutions can quickly devolve into the opposite of the principles upon which they were founded.

The first was an article on how a country founded on a rejection of royalty has devolved into a monarchy. Here’s one passage from the article: “Nearly 250 years after American colonists threw off their king, this is arguably the closest the country has come during a time of general peace to the centralized authority of a monarch. Mr. Trump takes it upon himself to reinterpret a constitutional amendment . . . ”

As everyone knows, the most critically important post at each of our major institutions of higher learning is the football coach. And if your coach can’t lead your institution’s dedicated team of student athletes to a national championship, then the only way . . . . . . to rid your institution of that humiliation and disgrace is to fire the coach and poach a better coach (and a better group of dedicated student athletes) from some other institution of higher learning.

Another example of the real divide in America between the rich and the rest.

Trump’s crypto czar billionaire David Sacks has investments in over 400 companies that stand to benefit from policies he advances. As the article says, “Policies that Mr. Sacks supported at the White House have laid the groundwork for his investments to flourish.”

And don’t just take my word for how this ethical conflict of interest reeks to high heaven …

Remember in 2015 when Trump said he doesn’t have to repent or ask God for forgiveness because he doesn’t make mistakes?

I suppose you could develop such a warped perspective if your entire life centered around blaming others and avoiding responsibility for your own actions. . . Why pray for God to forgive you if in your mind you’ve never been at fault?

The recent shooting of 2 National Guard members by an Afghan man who worked with the CIA in the war in Afghanistan is an example. Trump puts all the blame on Joe Biden and views himself as blameless.

.@MollyJongFast: “Instead, [Trump] wants you to give to him — or else. This is reverse philanthropy: Instead of the richest helping the neediest, they pay tribute to the greediest.” There are 2 Americas: A Gilded America for the Rich and a Stark America for the Rest.

From an article in The Guardian:

“The poor’s share of the US economic pie is shrinking to developing-world levels. The income of Americans in the top 90th percentile of wealth grew more than twice as fast between 2000 and 2023 as that of Americans in the bottom 10th percentile. These days, Americans in the poorest 10th of the population draw about 1.8% of the nation’s income, about the same as poor Bolivians. In Nigeria, they reap 3%, in China 3.1%, in Bangladesh 3.7%.”

Watching Ken Burns “The American Revolution” on PBS — a must-watch.

In episode 2, Burns highlights Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” published in January 1776 and the most read publication in the colonies behind the Bible. Paine opposed hereditary succession. Here’s what he wrote: In episode two, Burns highlights Thomas Paine and his pamphlet “Common Sense,” published in January 1776 and the most widely read publication in the colonies behind only the Bible. Paine was vehemently opposed to hereditary succession. Here, in part, is what he wrote:

An op-ed co-authored by Utah’s Republican Governor Spencer Cox entitled “The consequences of America’s moral drift” posits that consumerism and our online addiction economy leads to materialism and a disconnection from civic engagement, and fosters our country’s moral drift. The authors say that education can play a central role in reversing our moral drift with a focus on curricula centered around meaning, purpose and civic responsibility. For instance, they suggest philosophy courses in high schools to promote civil discourse and critical thinking.

Trump’s Department of Agriculture says it won’t use emergency funds for SNAP benefits, so 42 million low income Americans won’t get nutritional assistance in November. Millions of children, elderly and disabled people, and Veterans will go hungry as a result. The Department of Agriculture will, however, reopen 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices to distribute $3 billion to farmers as many struggle to survive as Trump’s tariffs cause other countries to turn elsewhere for agricultural products they used to buy from American farmers.

“(W)e can keep paying farmers to farm soybeans, pay them more to convert some of those soybeans into wildly inefficient fuels, pay them even more when they can’t sell their soybeans because we’re in a trade war with their customers — and then pay extra to bail out . . . . . . one of the countries replacing them in the marketplace. That only makes sense in Mr. Trump’s Washington.”

The Republican embrace of white nationalism is clearly evident. Racism has long been baked into the Republican brand, but they used to try and be discreet about it, but not anymore. Recall Trump scaring voters with the bullshit ckaim that Haitian immigrants are eating your dogs and cats and Ron DeSantis arguing that one of the positive benefits of slavery was skills training in things like blacksmithing.

When I was a judge at the Department of Labor, I did hundreds of black lung cases. Often, the miners came to the hearings pulling an oxygen tank and they’d have to sit down and catch their breath after the short walk from their cars to the courtroom. Black lung disease is brutal … it’s a tough way to live and it’s a hard way to die.

The Black Lung Benefits Act was passed in the 60s when Democrats controlled the House and Senate. It provided a small monthly payment and medical care to miners totally disabled by black lung.

From an op-ed by Frank Bruni in today’s New York Times:

“We’re facing the profoundly dangerous convergence of a leader determined to distract and deceive us and a social and political landscape primed for distraction and deception. . . . . . Have we dealt with anything quite like this before? The existence of the shorthand IRL to designate that an event or relationship is occurring In Real Life, and not just online, suggests both the unreality of cyberspace — the fog . . .

There's an excellent op-ed in today's Asheville Citizen Times by my friend and fellow Air Force Veteran Brad Gutierrez. Here's an excerpt: "Trump’s attack on nearly every corner of American life under the guise of increased efficiency is simply a quest for unfettered power to do as he wishes, namely enrich himself and his wealthy supporters through deregulation, dismemberment of political opposition through fear, ..

Calling the Big Bad Wealth Transfer to the Rich Bill the “Working Families Tax Cut” is like calling the movie Deliverance “a story of love and adventure.” If JD Vance was honest (use your imagination) he’d drop the word “tax” and call it what it is … The Working Families Cut. I suppose if you can convince people to believe a firehose of lies is “Truth” and cruelty is Christian then perhaps you can convince them that getting screwed to make the rich richer is actually wonderful.

Not long ago, I would have said there’s no way in hell that this could happen in America, but that was then and this is now.

So, here’s the scenario that could unfold: — Trump sends troops (so glad I’m retired) into cities where Democrats are in charge on the pretext that crimes is out of control and he’s restoring order. That it’s a pretext is clear from the fact that crime rates are higher in many red areas and he’s not sending troops there.

We've talked before about how the Big Beautiful Wealth Transfer to the Rich bill is great for the megawealthy and bad for ordinary Americans who have to worry about paying rent, putting food on the table, and whether they can afford to go to the doctor. We already have a colossal gap between the very richest and an ever shrinking middle class and a struggling working class. The BBB is going to make the gap even wider.

“No funds appropriated herein may be used to pay, support, or reimburse, either directly or indirectly, Stephen Miller, or to support any activity or program that Stephen Miller directs, consults, or advises, without the prior authorization of Congress.” Every appropriation must originate in the House of Representatives. Under the Constitution, neither the Senate nor the White House can make funds available for any purpose; the Constitution gives that power solely to the House.

We’ve talked about the impact the $1 trillion cut to Medicaid will have on working class and poor families in Western NC and on rural healthcare. Well, hold onto your MAGA hat and your Trump bible, according to Senator Ron Johnson, more cuts are coming.

politico.com/live-updates/2… Johnson says the Trump White House and Republican Party leaders assured him that if he’d go along with the Big Bad Wealth Transfer to the Rich Bill they’d support consideration of another bill later this year to totally eliminate Medicaid expansion and cut an additional …