He's a cheater of wives, at golf, and Americans out of votes

Alex Samuels of Daily Kos discussed a poll that asked whether gerrymandering should be legal. Of all US adult citizens 9% said yes, 69% said no. Even Republicans don’t like it – 14% yes, 57% no. Some of this is definitely in response to the Texas Republican attempt to create a more severe gerrymander to squeeze out five more seats. And driving the perception that gerrymandering is bad is one of the jobs of the Democrats who broke quorum in Texas. The longer they stay away the more attention they bring to the Republican power grab and the better chance of boosting national outrage against gerrymandering. Samuels also discussed the more seats Republicans try to squeeze out the smaller their margin will be in each one. That means there is the possibility of holding an election that is a referendum on the guy in the Oval Office and a blue wave could swamp what they think are safe seats. But another problem is an erosion of trust in democracy. A YouGov poll found a third of Americans are unsure whether their state districts are fair and a bit more than a third know they are unfair. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported on the comments of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. He is hosting many of the Democrats who broke quorum in Texas. Pritzker said:

It's a big ugly bill. It's hyper unpopular in Texas, among people in Texas and across the country. And he knows he's going to lose the Congress in 2026. That's why he's going to his allies and hoping that they can save him,” Pritzker said. “And we've all got to stand up against this. This is, it's cheating. Donald Trump is a cheater. He cheats on his wives. He cheats on golf, and now he's trying to cheat the American people out of their votes.

Back in 2016 the question was: Is the nasty guy a white supremacist? The answer was: I can’t tell you – but white supremacists sure think he is. Oliver Willis of Kos discussed an update of that question. Is the nasty guy a Nazi? Actual Nazis sure think he is. Alas, that support from the top has come with a rise in white supremacist violence. In 2020, 13% of extreme demonstrations and violent acts involved white nationalists. Just four years later, in 2024 almost 80% of such events involved white nationalists. Emily Singer of Kos wrote that the gaudy ballroom the nasty guy plans to start building next month is illegal. Major changes to the White House (beyond hanging gaudy gold plated stuff all over the place) need to have the approval of the National Capital Planning Commission. Approval can take years because the commission verifies the changes don’t compromise the historic building. Doubling the footprint would definitely do that. Because the nasty guy says construction begins next month we know he didn’t submit the plans for review. Though the nasty guy has committed many vile crimes he has never been held accountable for any of them. He has also stacked many courts, especially the Supreme Court, to make sure he never will be. So why would the illegality of his ballroom plans stop him? In Monday’s pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted tweets by Justin Wolfers. I’m looking at the second and third of those tweets:

I was just in Japan for two weeks, and learned a lot from talking Japanese policy wonks about the "strategic ambiguity" at the heart of the US-Japan trade deal, and what this reveals is – and isn't – in a number of the President's "deals." I should have been clearer: Both sides (implicitly) agree not to write down any deal. They understand Trump will fill the silence with outlandish claims, delivering him a political win. And our trading partners are obliged to deliver nothing, giving them the economic win.

In the comments is a cartoon that needs a bit of explanation. Recently, the DOGE whiz kid known as “Big Balls” (there’s a real name somewhere) was allegedly the victim of a carjacking. The details don’t matter. It was that incident, or at least the report of that incident, that prompted the nasty guy to claim DC is a crime infested hellhole only he can clean up. He federalized the DC Police and pulled in the National Guard to make DC safe again, even though the DC crime rate has been falling and is the lowest in 30 years (as various news organizations have been reminding us). The cartoon is by Jesse Duquette. The title is “‘Big Balls’ is a false flag.” The caption says:

Step One: Have a dutiful stooge take part in a staged event Step Two: Used staged event as pretext for militarized takeover of a city Step Three: Cory Booker probably gives a long speech while Chuck Schumer writes a strongly worded letter Step Four: Onto the next city Step Five: Repeat

Willis reported on Monday that because of the nasty guy’s infatuation with the safety of DC the FBI has assigned 120 agents for night patrols in DC. They are pulled from other duties that would have more consequence over safety. On Sunday night at lest two dozen agents were on the scene of a minor traffic accident between a car and moped. Actual police handled it just fine. Washington Post writer Drew Harwell posted a video of armed agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration patrolling the National Mall. He called it “tremendously goofy.” DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has been keeping her cool. It is “the president’s call about how to deploy the Guard.” And: “I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard.” And all of this looks like a big diversion from the Epstein files. In Tuesday’s roundup Chtown Kev quoted Mark Jacob of his Stop the Presses Substack and his interview of retired journalism professor Jay Rosen.

JACOB: Can’t the media become much more aggressive than anything you’ve suggested here? Can’t headlines start with the words “Trump lies”? Wouldn’t a confrontational approach be better for the media — and the public — than the current practice of amplifying the lies and correcting them quietly while the independent press dies of 1,000 cuts? ROSEN: Calling things by their right names is a hugely important use of the First Amendment, a case of “use it or lose it.” The press has to be aggressive, yes, and in multiple ways: digging for information, asking blunt questions (when they are good questions) even if that might endanger a reporter’s future access. Aggressive, too, in warning the Republic that its democracy is under attack, and bringing attention to that warning by use of every media platform available. There’s also a kind of aggression in dispensing with refuge-seeking behavior in journalism — in contrast with truth-seeking. [...] I want false claims to be declared false. Clearly and provably. By journalists who are themselves evidence-based. If the best description of what they know is there’s no evidence of that, then say it: “There is no evidence.” If a provably false claim is knowingly used to whip up resentment against a marginal group, there is every reason to call it a lie in tomorrow’s newspaper. What I care most about is that false claims get presented as false. Is that true? Did that really happen?

In the comments are several good memes and cartoons. Rep. Adriano Espaillat quoted some of the nasty guy’s announcement that he was taking over DC.

And we are getting rid of the slums, too. We’re getting rid of them. It’s not politically correct. We’re getting rid of the slums where they live.

I note he doesn’t say how he will be getting rid of the slums and what he will do with the residents. Though the urban renewal projects of the 1950s and 60s come to mind, where black neighborhoods in many large cities (including Detroit) were replaced with freeways that allowed white residents to flee to the suburbs and still work in Detroit. Espaillat responded to the nasty guy:

Using military force against an impoverished civilian population is the act of a dictator, not a president. Donald Trump’s actions to declare a public safety emergency against individuals experiencing homelessness and personally attacking them is vile and inhumane.

A meme posted by exlrrp shows the words of Chef José Andres:

Donald Trump, you didn’t have the power to call the National Guard on January 6... But now you do?

Dobber included a tweet by Will Chamberlain.

I bought my family to DC for the Cherry Blossom festival. The first thing I saw when I exited the L’Enfant Plaza Metro was a gang of youths driving ATVs down the street, one of whom was doing a wheelie. So forgive me if I doubt that crime is down.

keptsimple responded:

Bragging about being a giant pussy is integral to the conservative mindset.

I add: Youths driving ATVs and doing wheelies is not a crime. Only a giant pussy would infer that those actions mean they are also criminal. A tweet by Acyn:

Baltimore Mayor Scott response on Trump: I think it’s very notable that each and every one of the cities called out by the President has a black mayor, and most of those cities are seeing historic lows in violent crime.

A cartoon posted by paulpro and created by Sandeep Adhwaryu shows two extremely thin people sitting in front of the rubble of Gaza. One says: “Do we get a Nobel Peace Prize for starving quietly without troubling their conscience?” In today’s roundup Dworkin included a tweet by Mark Hertling:

For the record, our division commander BANNED things called “presence patrols” in Iraq. “If you don’t have a specific task & purpose, your ‘presence’ doesn’t do anything.” National Guard stating they are now doing presence patrols in DC. A complete waste of soldier’s time & effort.

At the top of the comments LJ Slater posted a cartoon by Slyngstad. At the top it says, “Trump calls in National Guard and takes control of DC Police to deal with crime.” In the center is a drawing of the Capitol attack. Below that are the words, “Oh wait, sorry wrong cartoon...” A tweet by ramseyfay33 shows a woman in a selfie. She’s along the Reflecting Pool with the Lincoln Memorial in the background. There are very few people about. She wrote. “Checking in from the front lines of the downtown DC war zone. There are baby ducks and a lady tap dancing. Send in the Guard!” Fiona Webster posted a cartoon by Carolyn Crampton. It shows two young witches on either side of a crystal ball. In the ball is an image of a man with a glum expression. One witch says, “I see Chief Justice John Roberts weighing his oath of to the Constitution against blackmail threats from the face-eating-leopard party.” Way down in the comments paulpro posted a meme by Lainey Molnar. It shows a woman with an infant and behind her is an outline of a man. The caption says, “I wish we said ‘children of absentee fathers’ instead of ‘single mothers’, because how is the parent who stayed the problem?”