Columns

Bolton's Still Revoltin'

John Bolton, Don Trump's former National Security Advisor (and the Lorax's crazy uncle), recently made an appearance on Stephen Colbert's The Late Show and went about the business of flogging his new tell-all book by dissing his former boss.

He ridiculed Trump. He lambasted Trump. He demonized Trump. He debased Trump. But he wouldn't apologize for continuing to play along with Trump despite his growing distaste for the man. Bolton now boasts he's made a clean break with the Master of Disaster.

At the same time, however, there's evidence that there's still a power connection between the Bronzed Bullfrog of Belligerence and his Mustached Toady. Here's the tip-off. How many people in Colbert's viewing audience noticed that over Bolton's right shoulder—in his den covered with framed documents—there was one framed letter prominently on display that bore a unique and unmistakable signature.

Yep, it was a framed letter signed by Donald J. Trump. 

A Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party 

It looks like the long-running battle between the Dems and the GOP is being eclipsed by a growing conflict within the Democratic Party—between the Corporate Democrats and the Bernified Revolutionaries. 

The rhetorical war got ratcheted up following Hillary Clinton's endorsement of New York's embattled 16-term Congressional incumbent Eliot Engle. The growing rift even awakened the ghost of Senator Joe "Red Scare" McCarthy when Engle's campaign fired off a text message that praised their man as someone who "knows what it's like to serve" and then added: "While communists try to take over the Democratic party, remember who has devoted his life to your district." 

And so it was that Engle, after a 31-year-stint in the House, appears to have lost his seat to Bernie-backed Our Revolution aspirant Jamaal Bowman. (The final outcome depends on the tabulation of absentee ballots.) As The Hill observed: "It's extremely rare for a sitting committee chairman to lose in a primary." What did Bowman have going for him? Support of Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and racial and economic justice along with endorsements from Elizabeth Warren, AOC, Working Families Party and the Sunshine Movement. 

This was just one wave of a progressive tsunami that swept the primary races. In addition to decisively returning Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) to office, primary voters abandoned the mainstream Dems and elected a host of Green Deal newcomers including Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), and Dana Balter (NY-24). (Note: Some have questioned Torres' progressive creds.) 

And, in the Kentucky Senate race, progressive candidate Charles Booker (as of press time) was leading former Air Force combat pilot Amy McGrath in the ongoing vote-count. The winner will face off against Republican Speaker and reform-gobbling goblin Mitch McConnell. 

In the next round of primary races, a half-dozen GNDers will be vying for seats in the House and Senate. In the Senate we have incumbent Ed Markey (D-MA) and newcomer Andrew Romanoff (D-CO). Progressive House contenders include Arati Kreibich (NJ-5), Candace Valenzuela (TC-24), Mike Siegel (TX-10), and Jon Hoadley (MI-06). 

Ben Cohen Explains the Green New Deal—Using Oreos

TrueMajority Video (2012)

At Least I Know I'm Impoverished 

A popular Country-Western song written by Lee Greenwood has become an anthem for right-leaning Americans. (The song became such a mainstream hit that even Pat Boone recorded a cover version!) It's key lyric professes: "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free!" 

Wait a minute. "At least"? 

What's the message here? "I may be underpaid, out-of-work, without enough food or proper housing, with no clear educational future for my children and no guarantee that housing costs or medical expenses won't leave me out on the street?" 

That appears to be the case since the opening lyric begins with this hypothetical apocalypse: "If tomorrow all the things were gone/ I worked for all my life/ And I had to start again…." 

In today's America we're facing a deadly pandemic, massive unemployment, racial injustice, police brutality, economic collapse, and potential nuclear annihilation. 

But, at least we know we're free … to … what? Sing patriotic songs? Worship the flag? Disparage minorities? Threaten to bomb Iran? Plot to invade Venezuela? Worship Donald Trump? 

A New Tune for Our Times 

We could use a new national anthem. For starters, there's the somewhat eco-friendly "America, the Beautiful." But given that we're still stuck with Trump, here's a revised version of "My Country 'tis of Thee" to fit our fretful times: 

My Country' 'tis of Trump 

(With apologies to Samuel F. Smith, 1844) 

My country, 'tis of Trump, Big Wall around a dump, For thee I mourn. 

Land where my freedoms died, Thanks to our ruler's pride, From every minor slight, Tweet-storms rained his scorn. 

Cruel narcistocracy, Death of nobility, Thy reign I loathe 

Trump loves oil's rocks and drills, Trees felled for timber mills, Dismissing Nature's needs, Climate Change? A hoax. 

Let pure greed swell the breeze, And all the poor folk freeze, Sweat-shops prolong. 

The press we excoriate, Dictators we imitate, Critics we extirpate, Muslims don't belong. 

Where 'ere our flag's unfurled, Insults and taunts are hurled, Then come the bombs. 

Bomb-dropping, damn the costs, Targeting schools and mosques, 

US-made holocausts, From Syria to Sudan. 

Groper of beauty queens, porn stars and nubile teens, of thee I squeeze. 

Master of business deals, defaults and bankruptcies, rubles-for-scruples schemes, Great Don our King. 

You Can't Spell Trump without Rump 

Trump is turning into a bad-ass, modern-day King George. This is a guy who would have ended the Boston Tea Party in a barrage of cannon fire. 

Ordering an armed attack on Americans peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights nearly turned Lafayette Square into a modern Boston Massacre — without, fortunately, a modern Crispus Attucks. 

Violence and rebellion in the streets is powerful but it's not enough. It's not just that the Boogaloo Bois and Sovereign Nation seem committed to revving up a race war, but it will take more than fists in the air and boots on the ground to radically change the way this country is run. Radical political change requires progressive change agents working in the Senate and Congress. 

We're starting to see more protest placards promoting the Green New Deal and demanding that we Defund the Pentagon as well as the cops. 

And, thanks to the noise in the streets (and no thanks to Joe Biden and the corporate Dems), we suddenly see developing a political network with the audacity to call for major cuts in Pentagon spending—to cover human needs (instead of covering dead human bodies). 

Serious political change requires more progressive actors heading to Washington after the November election. There seems to be a lot of committed activists ready to join The Squad on The Hill. 

Will Trump rig/quash the election? Will Biden win the popular vote by 5 million and lose to Trump in the Electoral College? Will the GOP convince the SCOTUS that "faithless electors" should be allowed to jigger the Electoral College vote to benefit Trump? 

What then? Trump is an indicted liar and conman who has threatened (and used) the armed forces to attack Americans. He's not capable of governing. Even if he overdoses on hydroxychloroquine, bleach cocktails, or Big Mac burgers, we're still going to be stuck with a pandemic that looks like it might rage for many months and a wounded economy that won't fully recover for years. 

A new progressive team in Washington could make a difference but, whoa god, are we facing a time of trouble. Could it get worse? It already has. Now Trump wants to uncork and test a nuclear bomb. 

This is turning into a real-life dystopian horror show. The zombies should be showing up any minute. 

How to Tell If Your Nappies Are Nifty 

On Father’s Day, the Environmental Working Group invited consumers to rejoice: We’re excited to announce EWG VERIFIED™: Baby Diapers!" 

"Did you know the diaper market is weakly regulated and manufacturers don’t have to disclose their ingredients or test the safety of their products?" Shocking? Yes. Surprising? No. 

So, if you're wondering whether those Pampers might trigger a rash of rashes, you'll be happy to know that EWG has stepped in "to create a standard you can trust for diapers. EWG VERIFIED diaper products can be found in our Baby Care section—a dedicated page for all things baby." 

More than 1,600 products are now EWG Certified and EWG is campaigning to force California to ban 12 of the most toxic chemicals currently used in cosmetics. 

Xavier Bacerra, the People's AG  

MSNBC's Chris Hayes recently hailed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as "The man who . . . beat Trump." Hayes was referencing Becerra's landmark Supreme Court win, which convinced a SCOTUS majority to preserve the right of hundreds of thousands of DACA Dreamers to continue living and working in the US. 

Becerra is relentless. The DACA win was just one of 84 lawsuits Becerra has lodged against Trump and, XB vows, "Our fight holding the Trump administration accountable is far from over." 

Here's something else that makes XB unique: he has openly turned to the public to solicit the financial wherewithall to trounce Trump. This grassroots-supported litigator is truly "the People's Attorney General." 

According to Team Beverra: "We’re not waiting for November to beat Trump. Xavier is beating him in the courts now. Our DACA victory was just the latest in a long list of wins. From safeguarding affordable healthcare to defending the environment, Trump keeps losing in the courts because the rule of law is on our side." 

Next up: XB is heading a 20-state coalition that will appear before the US Supreme Court to challenge the Trump Regime's attempt to "terminate" the Affordable Care Act and leave tens of millions of Americans without healthcare in the middle of a global pandemic. 

Building the Perfect Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder

A Pop-up Ad for Pop-up Guns 

There's a pop-up ad from the "Certified Website of Donald J. Trump" that asks "Do you approve of President Trump’s recent job performance?" But to give an honest opinion, you have to part with your private email address. (Voila! A do-it-yourself Enemy's List.) I opted not to respond. 

But before I could leave the Trump pop-up site, another pop-up ad appeared advertising ConcealedCarry, a new pistol product for potential Urban Rambos. Here's the video, courtesy of UrbanCarryHosters.com.