Thursday Cartoons: Grabbed by the Pussy

Did you all see what happened to the President of Mexico?

Groping of Mexico’s president puts violence against women in spotlight

"If this happens to the president, where does that leave all the young women in our country," said Sheinbaum, Mexico's first female president. "No man has the right to abuse women's personal space."www.reuters.com/world/americ…

JJ Lopez (@jjlopez1970.bsky.social) 2025-11-06T03:10:37.943Z

Video of the incident quickly ricocheted across the internet before being taken down by some accounts, underscoring for many in Mexico the insecurity women face in a country steeped in machismo and gender-based violence.

It has also raised questions about Sheinbaum’s security detail. Like her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum travels with minimal security and makes herself widely available to the public, including wading into crowds of people.

Sheinbaum has a minimum amount of security…

The video shows a middle-aged man putting his arm around Sheinbaum, touching her chest and attempting to kiss her. She moves his hands away before a member of her staff steps between them. The president’s security detail did not appear to be near her in the moment.

She also blasted Mexican newspaper Reforma for publishing images of the man groping her, saying she considered it a “re-victimization” and that it crossed an ethical line.

“The use of the image is also a crime,” Sheinbaum said, pointing to legislation against digital violence. “I am waiting for an apology from the newspaper.”

The federal government’s Women’s Ministry, created under Sheinbaum, issued a statement on Tuesday encouraging women to report violence against them, but asking media outlets “not to reproduce content that violates the integrity of women.”

Read more at the link.

All I can say is…wow.

Meanwhile here in the states, our own pussy grabber got fisted on Tuesday…and the cartoonists are having fun with it:

More here via Cagle:

Stay safe, this is an open thread.


Wednesday Reads: Democrats Dominated Yesterday’s Off-Year Elections

Good Day!!

Finally some good news! Democrats won big in yesterday’s elections, as voters sent a clear message to Trump. Democrats won the four big races: Virginia governor, New Jersey governor, New York City mayor, and California redistricting question. They also won less publicized races.

Here’s what happened:

NBC News: Democrat Abigail Spanberger wins Virginia governor’s race.

Democrat Abigail Spanberger has defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to flip control of the Virginia governorship, NBC News projects, setting her up to become the first woman to lead the state.

Abigail Spanberger acceptance speech

Spanberger, a former congresswoman, won the race in the blue-leaning state after holding polling and fundraising advantages throughout the campaign. Her victory provides Democrats with a shot of momentum as the party attempts to chart its path forward after its 2024 election defeat.

With an estimated 95% of the vote in, Spanberger had 57.4% of the vote, compared to 42.4% for Earle-Sears.

Virginia was one of two states, along with New Jersey, that held the first governor’s races of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Spanberger, 47, centered her campaign heavily on economic and affordability issues, as well public safety and her support for abortion rights. Her campaign and allied groups attacked Earle-Sears over her conservative record on social issues and her fealty to Trump.

“Tonight, we sent message,” Spanberger said in victory speech in Richmond. “We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025 Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our Commonwealth over chaos.”

Jim Saksa at Democracy Docket: Democrats Sweep Statewide Races in Virginia, Projected to Gain Delegate Seats, As Voters Reject Trumpism.

In a rebuke to President Donald Trump, Democrat Abigail Spanberger won Virginia’s gubernatorial race Tuesday, part of a Democratic sweep of statewide races. Her support for constitutional amendments on redistricting and voting rights restoration could make it easier to pass both pro-democracy measures.

Spanberger, a former U.S. Representative and CIA official, will replace term-limited Glenn Youngkin (R) in Richmond, after defeating Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R) to become Virginia’s first female governor. Spanberger ran a staunchly anti-Trump campaign.

In another sign of Democratic strength, former delegate Jay Jones (D) unseated incumbent Jason Miyares (R) in the attorney general’s race — a contest many observers had expected Miyares to win after Jones was mired in a texting scandal. And State Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi (D) won the Lt. Governor’s race over Republican radio host John Reid, becoming the first Muslim woman to win a statewide race in the U.S.

“Commonwealth voters made it clear what they were looking for from their next governor: lower costs, good jobs, affordable health care, and strong schools. And tonight, those same voters made it clear who they want to lead: Abigail Spanberger,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “With tonight’s victory, Virginians also delivered a resounding rejection of the self-serving and corrupt Trump establishment.”

Down ballot, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) announced that the party had maintained control of the Virginia House of Delegates. “With several key races yet to be called, Democrats have already secured enough seats to protect their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates tonight – the most competitive legislative chamber on the ballot this year,” the DLCC said in a statement.

That would mean Democrats hold a trifecta of both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s mansion as they push for a series of pro-democratic reforms next year.

NBC News: Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill wins New Jersey governor’s race.

Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey governor’s race, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Jack Ciattarelli after a hard-fought contest in which President Donald Trump loomed over voters’ choice.

Governor Elect Mikie Sherrill speaks to the crowd at the Hilton East Brunswick on Election Night. November 4, 2025

Sherrill worked to make the race a referendum on the president, casting Ciattarelli as a Trump acolyte who will not stand up to the president….

Trump made gains across the country in 2024, but his second-biggest gain in any state came in New Jersey. The president lost the state by 6 points last year, a 10-point improvement over his margin in the 2020 election. Now, Sherrill’s victory sends a signal that Republicans can’t expect those improved results from Trump to represent a straight line forward into future elections. Instead, the party is facing headwinds, as voters react to the president’s handling of the economy and other issues.

Following Trump’s closer-than-expected finish in 2024, the New Jersey governor’s race drew more than $100 million in ad spending from both parties, according to AdImpact. The contest presented an early test, ahead of next year’s midterm elections, of how to appeal to swingy Latino voters and navigate rising costs, especially for electricity. Democrats also looked to energize their party’s core supporters, particularly Black voters, while Republicans confronted the persistent challenge of turning out Trump’s supporters when he is not on the ballot.

A majority of New Jersey voters (54%) disapproved of Trump’s job as president and nearly two-thirds were dissatisfied or angry about the direction of the country, according to the NBC News exit poll.

Trump was also a factor for a slim majority of New Jersey voters, with Sherrill winning virtually all of the 38% of voters who said their vote was to oppose Trump, while Ciattarelli won the 13% of voters who said their vote was to support Trump.

NBC News: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York mayoral race.

Democrat Zohran Mamdani has won New York’s mayoral race, NBC News projects, after the 34-year-old democratic socialist energized progressives in the city and across the country while generating intense backlash from President Donald Trump and Republicans, as well as some Democratic moderates.

Zohran Mamdami wins NYC mayoral race.

In his victory speech after vanquishing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani claimed a broad mandate and set himself up in direct opposition to Trump, who made a late endorsement against him. “In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light,” Mamdani said.

“Together, we will usher in a generation of change, and if we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves,” Mamdani said later, before challenging Trump directly.

“This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one,” Mamdani said. “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”

Trump wasn’t the only subject of Mamdani’s speech, which he started by quoting the 19th- and 20th-century American socialist Eugene Debs and continued by promising the “most ambitious agenda” to address costs in New York City since the administration of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia nearly 100 years ago.

Mamdani defeated Cuomo, who ran as a third-party candidate after losing the Democratic primary in June, by about 9 points, with Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa trailing far behind. Mayor Eric Adams, who also mounted a third-party campaign for re-election after he won as a Democrat in 2021, dropped out of the race in September and endorsed Cuomo last month.

Lauren Gambino at The Guardian: Prop 50: Californians pass redistricting measure that helps Democrats flip up to five House seats.

Voters in California on Tuesday approved a high-stakes redistricting measure, a national triumph for Democrats hoping to stop Donald Trump and Republicans from retaining full control of the federal government in next year’s midterm elections.

It was a decisive victory for Democrats in deep-blue California, who had raced to counter a gerrymander in Texas, engineered at the US president’s behest, to carve out new safe Republican districts. The Associated Press declared Proposition 50 had passed almost instantly when polls closed statewide.

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks after Prop. 50 win.

“We stood stood firm in response to Donald Trump’s recklessness, and tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared with unprecedented turnout in a special election with an extraordinary result,” Gavin Newsom, the California governor, who spearheaded the initiative said in a speech at the Democratic party headquarters in Sacramento….

In approving the measure, voters chose to toss out the work of California’s independent redistricting commission and temporarily adopt maps drawn by the state legislature to help Democrats pick up five additional seats in the US House of Representatives.

Newsom and Democrats framed the measure as a way to safeguard US democracy from Trump’s “wrecking ball” presidency….

Democrats hold 43 of the state’s 52 House seats. The new maps are drawn to help Democrats flip as many as five of the nine Republican-held seats in the state. It could also help make several swing seats easier for Democrats to win.

Five seats could be decisive in the fight to retake control of the House, a chamber likely to be decided by razor-thin margins. The party that wins the majority will shape the final years of Trump’s second term in the White House – whether a unified Republican Congress will continue to deliver on his agenda or whether he will be met with resistance, investigations and possibly even a third impeachment attempt.

There were some notable victories for Democrats in the deep South:

Ashton Pittman at the Mississippi Free Press: Mississippi Democrats Break Republican Senate Supermajority, Flipping 3 Legislative Seats.

After 13 years, Mississippi Democrats have broken the Republican Party’s supermajority in the Mississippi Senate. Voters elected Democrats to two seats previously held by Republicans, reducing the number of Republican senators in the upper chamber from 36 to 34—one fewer than necessary to constitute a supermajority.

When a party has supermajority status in the Mississippi Senate, it can more easily override a governor’s veto, propose constitutional amendments and execute certain procedural actions.

Johnny DuPree

The Mississippi Democratic Party called the victory “a historic rebuke of extremism.”

“Breaking the supermajority means restoring checks and balances—and ensuring that every Mississippian’s voice counts in their state government,” Mississippi Democratic Party Vice Chair Jodie Brown said in a party press release this morning.

In the Mississippi Pine Belt region, Democrat Johnny DuPree won Senate District 45, previously held by Republican Sen. Chris Johnson of Hattiesburg. In North Mississippi, Democrat Theresa Gillespie Isom won the Senate District 2 seat held by Republican Sen. David Parker of Olive Branch, who decided not to run for reelection.

Republicans had held a supermajority in the Senate since sweeping the state government in 2011.

In the House, Democrat Justin Crosby also flipped House District 22, defeating incumbent Republican House Rep. Jon Lancaster. That district includes parts of Chickasaw, Clay and Monroe counties.

Elena Schneider, Erin Doherty and Jessica Piper at Politico:

For Democrats, Tuesday night felt like 2017 all over again.

All across the country, Democrats won big, from the marquee races to the down-ballot contests. Counties that had shifted right a year ago veered back to the left, and the suburbs that powered Democrats’ massive wins in the first Trump administration came roaring back. Exit polls even showed Democrats improved their margins with non-college educated voters.

The strength of the wins hints at Democrats’ appetite to take on Trump as he ends his first year in office and voters’ concerns about cost of living.

Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill cruised to double-digit victories in Virginia and New Jersey. Two Georgia Democrats flipped seats on the state’s Public Service Commission, the first non-federal statewide wins for a Democrat in nearly two decades. Democrats flipped a pair of Republican-held state Senate seats in Mississippi, cracking the GOP supermajority in a deep-red state. And a successful California ballot measure delivered five additional seats for the party’s House margins ahead of the 2026 midterms, offsetting Texas’ redistricting push.

It was an injection of life into a depleted, depressed Democratic Party that had been cast into the political wilderness by Donald Trump’s decisive victory a year ago. Democrats, locked out of power in Washington, have spent the last year soul-searching and data-digging, as their brand sagged to historic lows.

But they also started to overperform in special elections, hinting that the tide was turning. And on Tuesday, their first big electoral test of the second Trump era, they didn’t just match the wins from eight years ago that had been a harbinger of a blue wave in the 2018 midterms — in several key races, they exceeded them….

Democrats rode the traditional, party-out-of-power tailwinds, reenergizing their own base by pushing back on Trump’s second-term policies that have alarmed liberals. Spanberger’s and Sherrill’s messaging on the stagnant economy and affordability crisis helped their party bounce back in its first political test of the second Trump era — and by margins that even surprised some Democrats.

Ariel Edwards-Levy at CNN: CNN exit polls: Voters’ dissatisfaction with Trump helped fuel Democratic wins in key races.


Tuesday Cartoons: Twilight Zone

Hey, I’m sure you all know that when The Twilight Zone first aired it was on CBS…

Put that into perspective, yesterday Dak wrote a personal post about 60 Minutes…and just how awful CBS News has become, now that it has essentially gone completely TrumpTV.

So in a twisted sense, CBS is now living out its own Twilight Zone fantasy.

Now…imagine if you will, a country being run by a raping, stealing, racist, pedophile …who continues to break the law, without repercussions! Millionaires become richer by the hour while disease is rampant and children are starving in the streets. You have just found yourself in the twilight zone.

JFC! The looneys are in control 😳Laura Loomer is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon – The Washington Post

Raven Song Farm (@ravensongfarm.bsky.social) 2025-11-04T00:45:23.784Z

See what I mean!!!!

The Muppets and 60 Minutes(At least Kermit would ask follow up questions)

MisterJayEm (@misterjayem.bsky.social) 2025-11-04T01:12:19.860Z

Now for a few things of note:

thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.

Lex McMenamin (they/them) (@leximcmenamin.com) 2025-11-03T23:25:25.519Z

Jeffries: "The Trump administration and Mike Johnson are running a pedophile protection program. That's the reason they refuse to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-11-03T19:19:14.355Z

Grijalva: I do think that Speaker Johnson misplayed his hand.There are people all over this nation who were out there with signs that said, “Swear her in.” They wouldn’t have even known about me otherwise.Thank you for highlighting how corrupt the system you’re protecting really is.

Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2025-11-04T00:43:46.411Z

Rest in peace Diane Ladd, she was always one of my favorites:

Breaking News: The actress Diane Ladd has died at 89. She was an Oscar contender for three roles, including one in which she starred alongside her daughter, Laura Dern.

The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-11-03T22:27:36.862580Z

Diane Ladd, the Oscar-nominated actor and mother of Laura Dern, dies at 89.

NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-11-03T21:20:10.862Z

BREAKING: Diane Ladd, a three-time Oscar nominee known for roles in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Wild at Heart,” dies at 89, daughter Laura Dern announces.

The Associated Press (@apnews.com) 2025-11-03T20:52:24Z

Diane Ladd, Oscar-nominated actor of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, dies aged 89

The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-11-03T21:25:41Z

Cartoons via Cagle:

Some mad childhood books:

Please be safe out there, this is an open thread.


Mostly Monday Reads: I come to Bury CBS, Not to Praise It

“How can we tire from all this winning?” John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

60 Minutes premiered on September 24th, 1968, with Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace. I was barely a teenager when it premiered, but even then, I was growing into fully all the fringed suede and tattered blue jeans I could find with my guitar set filled with the likes of Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. However, I realized that I was watching something I’d watched for a very long time. Next year, I would buy that Woodstock Guitar strap and cut my first real studio audition. My best friend and I recorded a cover of “One Tin Soldier,” which was requested by Billy Jack for his second movie. Music and the News were the only things that got me through the banality of my life at that point. (Omaha, UGH!)

I spent my entire childhood watching and reading the news with my Dad, through the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and all those crazy times in the 1960s. It was a pivotal moment that led me to become the social justice activist I am today. Reasoner described 60 Minutes as a type of News Magazine, and we had just about all of them that went from our house to the customer service area of my Dad’s small Ford Dealership in a small town in Iowa. It was difficult to get the Washington Post during Watergate, but 60 Minutes was there in living color.

I haven’t really watched in a long time because so much has gone missing. Ever since I got my first newspaper subscription to the Manchester Guardian in High School, I have to say it was part of my education, right through to Graduate School. Now, during the time when I have ever been the least sanguine about our country’s future, I can only say RIP 60 Minutes. These are indeed bleak times. The U.S. Media has a grand old tradition dating back to Benjamin Franklin. It has lost its way to the same evil it sought to expose during World Wars and other events. It has a history of struggle between the powerful entities that seek to control the narrative and the writers who research and reveal the truth. In the age of Techbros and MAGA, Crypto and Virtual Cash, we see a barren landscape destroyed by greed.

I’ll start with the offending program, then offer some perspectives from a number of folks who used to have a place on TV news and are now relegated to the New Deal Blogosphere. I should mention that during that same period of becoming who I am, I wrote for both an underground Newspaper (The Aardvark) and two school newspapers. This blog is an extension of those of us who became very interested again in discussing the news during Dubya’s adventures in the Middle East and the hope we had of simply seeing a woman become president.

This is from CBS News, the former home of everyone’s Uncle Walter, and my personal favorite, Edward Bradley, who always showed up for the New Orleans Jazz Fest, sat with me in monitor world to hear his beloved jazz after I’d put all the microphones in their proper places and dealt with the talent. He always remembered to ask about my daughters by name. It hurts that the overseers used a woman to do this. “Read the full transcript of Norah O’Donnell’s interview with President Trump here.”

Editor’s note: On October 31, 2025, correspondent Norah O’Donnell spoke with President Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, FL, and this is a transcript of that conversation. They started by discussing the president’s recent meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, first of all, we get along great, and we always really have. We had the COVID moment, which was not– attractive as far as I was concerned. I wasn’t so happy. But outside of that, we have always had a great relationship. He’s a powerful man. He’s a strong man, a very powerful leader.

And– we’ve always– had the best of relationships, probably the best of– I could– I think I could speak for him, just about as good as it gets from his standpoint and from my standpoint. And having that is important because of the power of the two countries.

NORAH O’DONNELL: What did you get out of this deal that you wanted?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I got sort of everything that we wanted. We got– no rare earth threat. That’s gone, completely gone. We have tremendous amounts of– dollars pouring in– ’cause we have– very big tariffs, almost 50%. We never had anything in terms of tariffs, although I put tariffs on China, but Biden let it lapsed by the– by the fact that he gave exemptions on almost everything, which was just ridiculous.

By this time, the fact-checking should’ve begun, and some good old-fashioned interrupting with follow-up questions. It went on with none. Instead, we got mealy-mouthed clarifications.

But– we have– billions and billions of dollars coming in, and we have a very good relationship. I mean, we have– a great relationship with a powerful country. And I’ve always felt if we can make deals that are good, it’s better to get along with China than not, if you can’t make the right kind of a deal than not, because, you know, China, along with many other countries (they’re not alone in this), they’ve ripped us off from day one.

They’ve ripped us so much. They’ve taken trillions of dollars out of our country. And now they’re– it’s the opposite. I mean, we’re doing very well with China, and hopefully they’re gonna do very well with us. But I do think it’s important that China and the U.S. get along, and we get along very well at the top.

NORAH O’DONNELL: This trade war, though, was hurting Americans. I mean, our soybean farmers. China had stopped buying the soybeans.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.

NORAH O’DONNELL: As you mentioned, they were– China was withholding these rare earth materials that you need for everything from smartphones to– to build submarines.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure.

NORAH O’DONNELL: What– what was the crucial thing? I mean, how tough of a negotiatior–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, when you say hurting–

NORAH O’DONNELL: –is President Xi–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –it was a temporary hurt. It was a hurt because– I was takin’ in a lot of money from China. We’re doing very well against China. And all of a sudden they said, “You know, we have to fight back.” And so they used their powers. The power they have is rare earth because of the fact that they’ve been accumulating it and– and really taking care of it for a period of 25, 30 years.

Other countries haven’t. Now we are. I mean, we have tremendous rare earth, and it’s going to be– you know, it’s going to be– it’ll be a strength, but it won’t really be a strength if everybody has it. Everyone’s gonna have it pretty soon.

`I would call this full-throated propaganda allowed air time for way too long.  Here’s another example before I start telling Norah there’s something brown growing on her nose. It’s further on down the page. I’m just glad I didn’t watch it.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think in two years, we’ll start opening up plants and we’ll have a very substantial portion of the chip market. Right now we have almost none. We should have had a hundred percent. If we had par– if we had presidents that knew anything about business or knew what they were doing, because, frankly, they didn’t.

We lost 50% of our automobile business. It’s all coming back. We lost a hundred percent of the chip– you know, it used to be all Intel and other companies. And what happened is other countries came in, and they stole our chip business, and we didn’t charge tariffs.

If we would have charged let’s say a 100% tariff, none of those companies would have left. But they all left. Now they’re all coming back, Norah, because the only way they avoid the tariffs is to build in our country. If they build in our country, make their plant and make their product in our country, then it’s a very simple thing. They– they don’t have any tariff to pay.

NORAH O’DONNELL: Uh-huh.

Well, she’s certainly not an heir to the Murrow Boys. Like so many, Medhi Hassan left a big desk on a 4-letter network because someone saw him as being a bit too much of a journalist and one of color. He has his own spot out here on his own website.

It’s similar to the choice of my first Newspaper: The Manchester Guardian, which I still read daily as The Guardian. His site, named Zeteo, can be found on Substack on the web, alongside other banished reporters and what used to be known as “Public Intellectuals” rather than influencers. Today’s offering is ” Factchecking Trump on ’60 Minutes’.” He’s taken the place of the major legacy newspapers. The lede is divine. ’60 Minutes’ of Shame and Submission.’

Having watched the whole ‘60 Minutes’ interview and read the entire transcript, too, I genuinely can’t decide what was worse: Trump’s endlessly dishonest answers or O’Donnell’s non-stop softball questions.

I kid you not, here is a short selection of some of the questions this award-winning, highly-paid, veteran news anchor chose to ask the most powerful man on Earth in her limited time with him:

  • “Have some of these [ICE] raids gone too far?”
  • “Who’s tougher to deal with, Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping?”
  • “Why won’t Putin end this war?
  • “Do you worry about an AI bubble?”
  • “What do you hope to accomplish in the next three years?”

Ooooohh! Tough stuff! The new owner of CBS, David Ellison, and the new head of CBS News, Bari Weiss, must both be so proud. This is the kind of ‘balanced’ coverage I’m sure they were waiting for. Then again, to be fair to them, O’Donnell has a long history of softball interviewing that predates the recent takeover of her network by a MAGA billionaire. Remember her love-in with Saudi crown prince MBS in 2018?

But this isn’t just about O’Donnell or CBS. The ‘60 Minutes’ interview with Trump showcased everything that is wrong with US political interviews in general. The deferential tone. The lack of preparation. The failure to ask follow-up questions or dig deep into an interviewee’s answers. The inability (unwillingness?) to fact-check in real time.

At one point, Trump asked O’Donnell whether she knew “how many presidents have used the Insurrection Act,” to which the CBS anchor simply responded: “Tell me.” Trump then proceeded to lie about the proportion (“Almost 50% of ‘em,” he said, when the real proportion is 38%) and the absolute number (“some of the presidents, recent ones, have used it 28 times,” he said, when the most was actually only six times, and back in the 1870s).

But O’Donnell said nothing. She just moved on.

There were so many falsehoods and half-truths, and so little pushback, that after a while, I gave up. I stopped counting. Here’s what I did manage to catch, in terms of brazen lies, all of which were left unrebutted, uncorrected, unchallenged, by O’Donnell:

  • “We had nine wars on our planet. I solved eight of ‘em.” I have debunked this nonsensical claim before.
  • “We have no inflation.” Inflation is at 3%.
  • “It’s at 2%. It’s– it’s the perfect inflation.” Inflation is at 3%.
  • “Right now [grocery prices are] going down.” Grocery prices are up 1.4% since Trump came to office.
  • “A year ago, we were a dead country.” Not only did the US have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in both 2023 and 2024, but the Economist magazine called it “the envy of the world.”
  • “11,888 murderers were let into our country.” Not only is this number inaccurate, but many of the non-citizens convicted of homicide either here or abroad came in during Trump’s first term.
  • “Washington, DC, was… almost like a crime capital of the world.” In 2023, per PolitiFact, “at least 49 other cities in the world had higher homicide rates.
  • “[Biden] hardly went anywhere. Guy couldn’t leave his bedroom.” Not only did Joe Biden visit roughly as many countries in his term of office as Trump did in his first term, but Biden was the first US president to visit an active warzone – Ukraine – not under the control of US forces.
  • “I made Middle East peace. For 3,000 years, they couldn’t do it.” There is no peace in Palestine, no peace deal in place, and it isn’t a 3,000-year-old conflict.
  • “Communist, not socialist. Communist. He’s far worse than a socialist.” Zohran Mamdani is not a communist.
  • “I can’t give them $1.5 trillion so that they can give welfare to people that came into our country illegally.” The Trump/GOP claim that Democrats want to give free healthcare to undocumented immigrants has been repeatedly debunked.
  • “They emptied their mental institutions and their insane asylums– into the United States of America.” Asylum seekers don’t come from “insane asylums.” Obviously.
  • “One thing I can tell you, the 2020 election was rigged.” It wasn’t. The courts agreed.
  • “And a lotta people say when it’s rigged you’re allowed to do it again.” A lot of people don’t say this. The US Constitution doesn’t, for sure.

Please read it. The next section lists the questions O’Donnell should have asked as a follow-up. I will say that I believe Mehdi’s follow-up questions in every interview I’ve watched him do are stellar. He points out exaggerations and falsehoods, zeroes in on exactly what the issue with the response is, and just delivers it deliciously. I’m a Fan grrrl. And me, the teenage girl who had to sneak her friend Cathie into the Journalism workspace so she could lust after Kurt Anderson to keep her from going on about him all lunchtime long.

CNN had a more traditional take on said Interview by Daniel Dale. “Fact check: 18 false claims Trump made on ‘60 Minutes’.”

Trump told his usual lie that the free and fair 2020 election was stolen from him. He lied again that grocery prices “are down” even after CBS’ Norah O’Donnell informed him they are up. He declared once more that there is now “no inflation,” though there certainly is, and then that inflation is 2% or “even less than 2%,” though the most recent available Consumer Price Index figure is now up to 3%.

The president also deployed multiple other fictional numbers during his exchanges with O’Donnell, which were recorded Friday and released by CBS on Sunday.

And Trump made a variety of additional false claims on several subjects, including the government shutdown, the artificial intelligence boom, tariffs, his first impeachment and his former legal battle with “60 Minutes” itself.

I really wonder how many people besides you and me actually read this stuff and bring it up in normal conversation. I know that the MAGATs will never read or hear it.  I saved the best for last. This is from my precious Guardian reporting about the heavy-handed editing given to this latest 60 Minutes interview with Trump. Quelle Suprise, y’all! “CBS News heavily edits Trump 60 Minutes interview, cutting boast network ‘paid me a lotta money’. Trump said Paramount’s sale to David and Larry Ellison was ‘greatest thing that’s happened in a long time’ for free press.” This is reported by Jeremy Barr.

The CBS News program 60 Minutes heavily edited down an interview with Donald Trump that aired on Sunday night, his first sit-down with the show in five years.

Trump sat down with correspondent Norah O’Donnell for 90 minutes, but only about 28 minutes were broadcast. A full transcript of the interview was later published, along with a 73-minute-long extended version online.

The edits are notable because, exactly one year before Trump was interviewed by O’Donnell at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday he had sued CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which he alleged had been deceptively edited to help her chances in the presidential election.

While many legal experts widely dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless” and unlikely to hold up under the first amendment, CBS settled with Trump for $16m in July. As part of the settlement, the network had agreed that it would release transcripts of future interviews of presidential candidates.

At the beginning of Sunday’s show, O’Donnell reminded viewers that Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit, but noted that “the settlement did not include an apology or admission of wrongdoing”.

During the interview, in a clip that did not air on the broadcast, Trump needled CBS over the settlement and repeated his claims against the network.

“Actually 60 Minutes paid me a lotta money. And you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t wanna embarrass you, and I’m sure you’re not,” Trump said. “But 60 Minutes was forced to pay me a lot of money because they took her answer out that was so bad, it was election-changing, two nights before the election. And they put a new answer in. And they paid me a lot of money for that. You can’t have fake news. You’ve gotta have legit news. And I think that it’s happening.”

During another un-aired portion of the interview, Trump praised the sale of CBS to the Ellison family and said the network’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, was a “great new leader”.

The US president said he didn’t know Weiss, but told O’Donnell: “I hear she’s a great person.

Well, this is getting long for a meager WordPress blog post.

 

“And that’s the way it is.” Can you believe he signed off when I was getting my first graduate degree? Wow!  I’m old!

 

 What’s on your Reading, Action, and Blogging List today?

 


Sunday Reads

Good Afternoon!!

Many thanks to JJ for writing the post yesterday. My internet was out for close to 24 hours. I could still access the internet from my phone, but I really missed TV. I usually have it on MSNBC with sound muted so I will know what’s happening in news and politics. That’s the longest cable outage I’ve experienced in years.

The same horrible news was happening when the TV came back on. I don’t know why I keep watching it. Lately I’ve been trying to distract myself by watching streaming shows on Netflix and HBO/MAX. I really enjoyed “Task” and “Mare of Easttown.” Right now I’m having fun watching Dept Q. My biggest problem with these shows is that I have trouble stopping myself from just binging all the episodes at once.

Anyway, here are the latest happenings that caught my attention this morning.

Here in Boston, there was an explosion at Harvard Medical School.

The Harvard Crimson: Authorities Investigating Explosion at Harvard Medical School, Believed To Be Intentional.

A view of the Harvard Medical School in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Photograph Brian SnyderReuters

A device exploded inside the Goldenson Building in Harvard’s Longwood medical campus early Saturday morning, according to a message from the Harvard University Police Department to University affiliates.

The Boston Fire Department Arson Unit responded to the incident and determined the explosion to be intentional.

The explosion took place on an area of the fourth floor of Goldenson, a Harvard Medical School building on the school’s main quad. An officer who responded shortly before 3 a.m. observed two individuals fleeing the building, according to the email sent by HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano this afternoon.

HUPD sent a subsequent email to Harvard affiliates shortly after 5 p.m. asking for assistance identifying two men, who they described as suspects. The images were captured on security footage.

Both men are shown wearing sweatshirts with hoods and ski masks.

The Boston Police Department performed a sweep of the building and determined there were no additional devices in the building. No injuries were reported in relation to the incident….

HUPD is actively investigating the incident with local, state, and federal authorities. The FBI was on scene Saturday afternoon assisting HUPD, according to FBI spokesperson Kristen M. Setera.

NBC News: ‘Intentional’ explosion at Harvard medical campus under investigation.

Police are investigating an “intentional” explosion at a Harvard University medical building early Saturday morning.

Surveillance views of suspects in Harvard Medical School explosion

A fire alarm at the Goldenson Building, part of Harvard’s medical campus in Boston, went off at 2:48 a.m. A Harvard University Police Department officer who responded to the call saw two “unidentified individuals fleeing from the building,” Harvard police said in a statement….

The university released photos on Saturday evening of two individuals captured on CCTV footage. One was depicted wearing a balaclava, and the other wearing a hoodie with the hood raised and a face covering.

The university asked for the public’s help in identifying the individuals.

Trump appears to be itching to start a war.

Strikes on fishing boats in international waters continuing regularly. The latest from NBC News: U.S. military kills 3 in Caribbean boat strike, Hegseth says.

U.S. forces carried out a strike on another suspected drug boat in international waters, killing all three people on board, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said late Saturday.

He said the boat was in the Caribbean Sea and was known by U.S. intelligence as a drug-smuggling vessel. The three males on board were described as “narco-terrorists” associated with a “Designated Terrorist Organization,” Hegseth said.

“This vessel—like EVERY OTHER—was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said in a post on his X account, which did not include any evidence for the claims….

The strike is at least the 15th since early September against vessels and crews in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that the Trump administration has claimed were involved with drug trafficking. At least 64 people have been killed in the strikes, according to official estimates.

Hegseth claimed that boats like the one struck in the Caribbean are part of an effort by narco-terrorists to “poison Americans at home” and reiterated his policy to treat the alleged smugglers “EXACTLY how we treated Al-Qaeda,” he said.

“We will continue to track them, map them, hunt them, and kill them,” Hegseth said.

I think they are lying. Until I see/hear some evidence,  I’m going to assume these are just fishing boats.

Ellen Nakashima and Noah Robertson at The Washington Post: Trump administration tells Congress war law doesn’t apply to cartel strikes.

A top Justice Department lawyer has told lawmakers that the Trump administration can continue its lethal strikes against alleged drug traffickers in Latin America — and is not bound by a decades-old law requiring Congress to give approval for ongoing hostilities.

T. Elliot Gaiser, head of the Trump administration’s Office of Legal Counsel, made his remarks to a small group of lawmakers this week amid signs that the president may be planning to escalate the military campaign in the region, including potentially hitting targets within Venezuela.

One of Trump’s murderous “drug boat” strikes

The president needs lawmakers’ approval for sustained military action under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which was passed in the wake of the Vietnam War to prevent another drawn-out, undeclared conflict.

A 60-day clock started ticking after the administration informed Congress on Sept. 4 that it had conducted a strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean two days earlier. It has followed that with other strikes and has killed dozens of people.

The 60-day window closes Monday, and until now it had been unclear what the administration would do.

Gaiser said the administration didnot believe the strikes met the definition of hostilities under the law and did not intend to seek an extension of the deadline nor Congress’s approval of ongoing action, according to three people familiar with the matter, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

“The administration appears to be blowing through the 60-day limit,” a senior congressional aide said.

What’s their explanation?

Asked for comment, a senior administration official said the War Powers Resolution did not pertain to the current situation, because, “even at its broadest … [it] has been understood to apply to placing U.S. service-members in harm’s way.”

The official said the administration does not believe U.S. troops are in danger in the ongoing operation, so the law did not apply.“The operation comprises precise strikes conducted largely by unmanned aerial vehicles launched from naval vessels in international waters at distances too far away for the crews of the targeted vessels to endanger American personnel,” the official said in an email.

US warship docks in Trinidad and Tobago as Trump steps up military pressure on Venezuela.

In essence, the official said, “the kinetic operations underway do not rise to the level of ‘hostilities.’”

National security experts challenged the administration’s interpretation.

“What they’re saying is anytime the president uses drones or any standoff weapon against someone who cannot shoot back, it’s not hostilities‚” said Brian Finucane, a former legal adviser to the State Department who is now a senior adviser for the U.S. program at the International Crisis Group. “It’s a wild claim of executive authority.”

If the government ignores the Monday deadline, he said, “it is usurping Congress’s authority over the use of military force.” Under the Constitution, only Congress can declare war.

Trump couldn’t care less about the War Powers Act or any other law.

Júlia Ledur and Susannah George at The Washington Post (gift link): These are the U.S. ships and aircraft massing off Venezuela.

The large-scale buildup of U.S. military forces and assets in the Caribbean suggests that the Trump administration may be preparing to expand operations in the region, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas and raising the possibility of the first U.S. strikes on Venezuela.

U.S. forces in the Caribbean include eight Navy warships, a special operations vessel and a nuclear-powered attack submarine. When the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives in the Caribbean next week, it will bring with it three more warships and more than 4,000 additional troops.

President Donald Trump has indicated that he is planning for increased operations against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but when asked on Friday whether he is considering military strikes inside Venezuela, he replied “no.”

Use the gift link to view graphic depictions of the U.S. military buildup in near Venezuela.

In addition to the Naval buildup, the Pentagon has flown bombers along Venezuela’s coastline in a show of force and moved assets to U.S. bases in the area, including one in Puerto Rico that is now housing F-35 fighter jets, according to Washington Post analysis of satellite images.

The Pentagon has acknowledged carrying out more than a dozen strikes on alleged drug boats, killing at least 61 people since September.

From the beginning, the Pentagon’s buildup in the Caribbean has far exceeded what was needed for a counternarcotics operation, suggesting the mission was always “set to evolve,” said Ryan Berg, the director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

But Berg said the addition of the carrier strike group could indicate that the expanded operations are imminent. “The competition for these vessels is tremendous,” he said, because only three are deployed at any one time. Once the Ford arrives in the Caribbean next week, “It’s going to start a clock ticking and Trump will have about a month or so to make a major decision on a strike before he has to move” the vessel elsewhere.

Read more with the gift link.

Trump’s latest war threats involve Nigeria. Raquel Coronell Uribe at NBC News: Trump tells Defense Department to ‘prepare for possible action’ in Nigeria.

President Donald Trump on Saturday said he has instructed the Defense Department to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria over the country’s alleged killing of Christians.

“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump wrote on social media.

“If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!” Trump added.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth replied to Trump’s social media post with a “Yes sir.”

“The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately,” Hegseth said on X. “The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

On Sunday morning, Nigerian presidency spokesperson Daniel Bwala said the country would welcome U.S. assistance in fighting Islamist insurgents “as long as it recognises our territorial integrity.”

He told Reuters: “I am sure by the time these two leaders meet and sit, there would be better outcomes in our joint resolve to fight terrorism.”

Trump’s announcement comes a day after he categorized Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” a designation the U.S. gives countries the government deems as engaging in “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” Other countries on the list include China, Cuba and North Korea.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu commented Saturday morning after Trump identified his country as one of “particular concern,” writing on X that the “characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality.”

So now we’re going to fight new crusades? Sounds like something Hegseth would love.

There are some new polls out today:

NBC News: Poll: Frustration with Trump gives Democrats an opening a year before the midterms.

Democrats have an early lead in next year’s battle for control of Congress amid an ongoing government shutdown, as more voters say President Donald Trump has not lived up to their expectations on several major issues that propelled him back to the White House in 2024, according to a new national NBC News poll.

Around two-thirds of registered voters say the Trump administration has fallen short on the economy and the cost of living, and a majority say he’s fallen short on changing business as usual in Washington. At the same time, the Democratic Party continues to suffer from low ratings from voters as it seeks to offer an alternative.

Meanwhile, the issue of protecting democracy and constitutional rights are top issues to voters, alongside costs, as Trump continues an expansive agenda of executive actions on immigration and other key policy areas. And a majority of voters believe he’s done more to undermine the Constitution than defend it.

The president’s overall approval rating in the survey sits at 43%, a 4-point decrease since March, while 55% disapprove of his job performance.

And one year before the 2026 midterm elections, Democrats lead Republicans in the fight for Congress by 8 points, 50%-42%, the largest lead for either party on the congressional ballot in the NBC News poll since the 2018 midterms. Democrats had a negligible 1-point edge, 48%-47%, in the March survey.

More details at the NBC link.

CBS News: CBS News poll finds rising concern over government shutdown impact on economy, Americans personally.

Americans are increasingly voicing concern about the shutdown’s impact on the U.S. economy, as a big majority feel Congress isn’t even working to try to end it.

There’s also increased worry from people over being personally affected, particularly among those with lower incomes, along with that concern about national impact.

Politically, that means no one is “winning” overall: Congressional Democrats, Republicans and President Trump are all drawing increasingly negative marks for their handling of it as it has gone on.

Democrats express more concern over the economic impact than Republicans do.

Other governmental functions, including air travel, also draw concern due to the shutdown.

Most disapprove of how all the players involved are handling it, and those views have become a bit more negative over October, the month when the shutdown began.

Again, read more at the link

Politico: New poll shows what Americans think of America, and it’s not great.

America’s brand is fading from within.

In a bitterly divided country, pessimism and cynicism reign supreme: Two-thirds of Americans say it is at least probably true that the government often deliberately lies to the people. That distrust cuts across partisan lines: Strong majorities of Donald Trump voters (64 percent) and Kamala Harris voters (70 percent) agree.

Is the American dream dead?

Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent, say that the best times of the country are behind them, according to The POLITICO Poll by Public First. That’s greater than the 41 percent who said the best times lie ahead, underscoring a pervasive sense of unease about both individuals’ own futures and the national direction.

The exclusive new poll, conducted nearly one year after Trump’s reelection, reveals a deep strain of pessimism across the electorate — but especially for Democrats.

People who voted for Harris last year are twice as likely as Trump voters to say the United States’ best times are in the past.

America, as a country, is like “someone who is feeling lost, confused, or beat up … or uncertain of what to do, and looking around and saying this isn’t right, this isn’t the way,” said Maury Giles, the CEO of Braver Angels, a nonprofit that works to bridge partisan divides.

Sounds about right. Read the rest at Politico.

News about Trump’s health

Trump recently admitted he had an MRI when during his second “yearly checkup” at Walter Reid. He also disappeared for 6 days around Labor Day, then appeared at the 9/11 ceremony with the right side of his face drooping. What’s going on?

Nathaniel Weitzel at The Hill: Trump’s MRI scan raises specter of secrecy in presidential health.

President Trump’s off-the-cuff disclosure that he underwent an MRI scan is raising fresh questions about the secrecy surrounding Trump’s health and the need for presidents to be more transparent.

Trump is the oldest person to be elected president, and his aides and allies have long projected him as the picture of strength and vitality.

Outside physicians initially raised questions after Trump visited Walter Reed Military Medical Center earlier this month for what the White House described as a routine follow-up visit, though it was his second visit in six months.

A note from his physician pronounced Trump in “excellent overall health.”

Later, Trump disclosed that he underwent an MRI and a cognitive test during the secondary physical.

The Hill talked to a former White House doctor:

Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician to three presidents and wrote a book about his experience called “Transforming Presidential Healthcare,” said he wasn’t surprised a 79-year-old man needed a second checkup and that it’s typical for presidents to go to Walter Reed for advanced imaging.

Trump’s drooping face on 9/11

“Most any procedure scope, I had the capabilities there at the White House. The only thing I couldn’t, that I’d have to Walter Reed for, is advanced imaging,” Kuhlman said.

But Kuhlman questioned the timeline of the treatment that was released by Trump’s physician Sean Barbabella. Aside from the MRI, other testing and preventive health screening could have been done in the White House doctor’s office in less than 15 minutes.

“It’s about an eight-minute helicopter ride from the South Lawn to Walter Reed. So we know that he at least had four hours available to undergo medical care,” Kuhlman said.

“There’s a disconnect there.”

There certainly is. Read the rest at The Hill, including the long history of lies about various presidents’ health.

At Raw Story, a second doctor opines about the significance of Trump’s MRI: ‘Not routine’: Doctor highlights major questions after Trump reveals MRI.

President Donald Trump revealed Monday that he had undergone an MRI scan during a recent checkup at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center but has remained tight-lipped about what prompted the examination, leading to one medical expert raising serious questions as to the president’s health.

“It’s not part of a routine screening examination,” said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a CNN medical analyst who’s certified in interventional cardiology and internal medicine, speaking on the network Monday.

“There’s been really a lack of candor coming from the White House about this,” Reiner added. “When they announced that the president would visit Walter Reed at the beginning of this month, they initially said it was for his annual checkup, but when they were reminded that that’s not due until April, they said ‘okay, it’s for a routine semi-annual checkup.’”

Trump revealed the surprise medical visit while aboard Air Force One on his way to Japan and called the MRI scan he received “perfect.” At 79 years old, Trump is the second-oldest president to ever hold office – behind only former President Joe Biden – with questions having been raised about his health after photographs of his hands and ankles have shown bruising and swelling, respectively….

“The big question is what prompted his MRI?” Reiner said. “What symptoms were they concerned about, what particular type of MRI was performed? Was it a brain MRI, was it a cardiac MRI, was it an MRI of the spine, of his prostate… what prompted the concern that would take him in a relatively unscheduled way to Walter Reed for this testing?”

“Why won’t they tell us exactly what was tested, why the testing was performed, and the results?” the physician added. “I think without that, there’s really no trust. Just tell the public what’s going on with the president!”

And these two doctors aren’t even dealing with the danger of Trump’s obvious cognitive issues.

More stories of possible interest:

The Washington Post: Uncertainty hits after vulnerable Americans woke up to a SNAP freeze.

The New York Times: Food Stamp Cuts Expose Trump’s Strategy to Use Shutdown to Advance Agenda.

Forbes: As Open Enrollment Begins, Data Show A 30% Increase In Obamacare Premiums.

Chicago Tribune: Border Patrol’s strong-arm tactics are the new norm in Chicago as Trump moves to sideline ICE leadership.

The Guardian: Trump policies loom large over New Jersey’s unpredictable governor’s race.

The Hill: Spanberger leads Earle-Sears in Virginia, AG race a toss-up: Poll.

That’s it for me today. What’s on your mind?