There are 79 days to the midterms.
How desperate is Dilbert? This desperate: The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Iran and Oman have negotiated who the strait will be administered. The US has no way of imposing anything thee.
So, Friday, Dilbert gave a speech on Long Island insisting that Iran was being “very badly defeated” after repeatedly declaring victory in his war. “Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to. Moments later, he rambled that the U.S. could not let Iran have a nuclear weapon before dismissing the higher costs of energy due to his war. The U.S. broke a record on Friday when the average price for a gallon of gas was the highest it has ever been in August, according to GasBuddy.com. With a national average for a gallon of regular gas at $4.07, while diesel hit $5.41 a gallon. He saide, “For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember, you’re doing it so that a very evil country cannot have - a country, really it’s the number one state sponsor of terror in the world, we don’t want to have them have a nuclear weapon - so remember that when you have to pay a litlte bit more, your’e at $4. It’s ok. I’ll never apologize. I did the right thing.” HE IS DELUSIONAL. The current price of gas is NOT “a little bit more.” And there are no negotiations involving the United States over the Strait of Hormuz, nuclear weapons, or anything else. In fact, on Thursday Iran’s leading general said that Iran would keep the war going for the rest of the Trump term and then negotiate with the administration that replaces his misrule.
While he was demonstrating the depths of his dementia, Trump was asked about the situation aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. When asked whether family members were concerned about conditions on the ship, Trump replied, “No, they’re not.” (FACT CHECK: 200 relatives attended a town hall last week with Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and other senior military officials, raising concerns about exhaustion, mental health, food and water shortages, plumbing problems, sanitation and disrupted mail.) When questioned whether the deployment had gone on too long given the mental health risks, he replied, “No, no, no. Not nearly long enough,” A few hours later, as the backlash continued, Cao declared the Lincoln had completed its mission and “will return home soon as part of a planned rotation.” He also took a veiled swipe at families who spoke out and other critics, saying that “deployments are hard” and “sailors and marines are expected to dig deep.” He also accused the media of “trying to paint our warriors as victims.” “There is no question our young men and women have been pushed to their limits - but they have never broken. They are rightly tired - but have never been out of the fight.”
A few hours after Dilbert spews all this, Iran answered with a post on X from Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, calling on the U.S. to “accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in delusions,” stating further that the Strait of Hormuz “cannot be seized with a tweet, nor with an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor through an election speech. This strait will only be opened and closed under Iran’s command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in delusions, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade.” A 60-day negotiating period intended to hammer out a deal to end the conflict, set when Trump and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June, ends this coming Monday with few direct negotiations having taken place.
The mysterious strikes targeting multiple Ecuadorian fishing boats near the Galápagos Islands this year were carried out as part of a covert CIA program. The strikes were part of a “covert action” program, a type of secret operation overseas that is approved by the president but where the role of the U.S. government is not publicly acknowledged. The strikes on the Ecuadorian fishing boats ajave been carried out by a mystery aircraft flying out of El Salvador that has been identified as a Cessna Citation Longitude using the call sign “FENIX 701.” (Given its sordid history, the CIA’s use of “Phoenix” in a covert op today is either tone deaf or a deliberate middle finger.) The plane flew from Tennessee to El Salvador in November, was photographed from the ground and via satellite at El Salvador’s Ilopango International Airport, was tracked in the vicinity of the Ecuadorian fishing boat strikes, and was last detected landing in San Antonio, Texas, in April.
In Houston, U.S. attorney Aaron Reitz confirmed that FBI tests didn’t find meth in the van being driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo when he was fatally shot by ICE last month. The TrumpDOJ made public its suspicion that the substance was meth before running any tests in what appeared to be a smear job to come up with an ex post facto political justification for the wrongful shooting.
In Tacoma, U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright awarded $5,498 in compensatory sanctions and $11,455 in attorney’s fees to an undocumented immigrant who was wrongfully transferred by ICE outside of her jurisdiction without notice twice, in what she found to be two willful violations of her court orders.
The full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals - one of the most conservative appeals courts - dismissed the leading challenge to President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act after the administration deported the three Venezuelan men who originally filed the lawsuit using a different law. That left the case without plaintiffs, and the appeals court refused the request to substitute new plaintiffs who had been targeted under the AEA.
A state judge in Nevada threw out criminal charges over the 2020 fake electors scheme, ruling that Attorney General Aaron Ford “failed to present sufficient evidence from which a reasonable grand jury could infer the requisite intent to defraud.” Ford vowed to appeal.
Staurday, the NYT reported that the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago has spent the past year investigating Authentic Campaigns Inc., a Democratic fund-raising firm once co-owned by Loren Merchan, the daughter of Juan Merchan, the judge in Trump’s hush-money trial in New York - in which Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies. Andrew S. Boutros, U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Illinois, directed Authentic Campaigns Inc. to turn over a broad range of internal communications with clients. They included former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and the Democratic National Committee, according to a grand jury subpoena reviewed by the Times. The Merchan family has been a frequent target of Trump and his allies, who have made unsubstantiated claims that the judge was out to get him and that his daughter profited from accusations aired at the trial. The firm’s legal team, which included Preet Bharara, the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, sought to limit the request. Prosecutors eventually modified the subpoena, narrowing it to focus on a $468 payment from the Harris presidential campaign, and emails between Ms. Merchan and her father. No follow-up subpoenas have been issued to individuals, including Ms. Merchan, suggesting that prosecutors might not be actively working to charge anyone. The subpoena came from a criminal referral from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. The panel made the referral after Mike Nellis, the founder of Authentic Campaigns, refused to provide the committee with confidential emails it was seeking, including those between Ms. Merchan and her father. At the time, Nellis said,
“The Trump administration’s targeting of my company is an outrageous abuse of power. It is a ridiculous fishing expedition based on conspiracy theories that are completely divorced from reality.” The career prosecutors who secured the subpoena, Matthew Skiba and William Hogan, both played roles in a case against six protesters accused of assaulting federal agents during the White House-directed immigration crackdown in 2025 known as Midway Blitz.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is not the only aircraft carrier suffering from dismal morale and a severe supply shortage, according to a new report. Loved ones of sailors on the USS George H.W. Bush are sounding the alarm that it has “virtually no food, water, or soap” after four and a half months at sea, the independent journalist Aaron Parnas reports. “They’ve been out at sea for 146 days with no end in sight,” a loved one of two U.S. sailors texted Parnas. “Morale is low, and everyone is miserable. It’s heartbreaking.” The concerned family member said she learned of the on-board conditions because her sister-in-law returned stateside for a family emergency and shared how dire the situation is. The USS Bush is in the Arabian Sea as part of a carrier strike group. It left Norfolk, Virginia, in March.
Smokey loved pasta
In addition to firing off most of the US smart weapons in Trump’s War, a report this week in the Washington Poast has confirmed that Trump’s Iran war has reportedly cost the U.S. military at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones that have been shot down or crashed, leaving no more than 145 remaining in dwindling defense stockpiles. A top general recently called the MQ-9 “the most valuable player” in America’s weapons lineup. Each drone costs from $30 million to $50 million, depending on its sensors and missiles, which puts the loss to taxpayers at more than $1.3 billion.
With less than three months before a midterm election in which voters have the affordability crisis at the top of their minds, the Trump White House has apparently decided the best thing to do is to talk about potentially giving even more tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
Maladministration II is weighing two specific proposals: one would peg capital gains taxes (which are exclusively paid by investors rather than people who actually work for a living) to inflation. The other would exempt home sales from capital gains tax up to $2 million. That’s a significant increase from the current exemption of $500,000. It’s worth remembering that tax cuts for the rich is a genuinely unpopular position with a broad swath of the American public. Right now, 52% of Americans say the government should redistribute wealth by imposing higher taxes on the rich. Pew Research found that 61% of Americans - and even 41% of Republicans - think the richest Americans don’t pay enough taxes. So naturally, Maladministration II is trying to characterize these proposals as a benefit to the middle class. The Yale Budget Lab estimates that tying capital gains taxes to inflation would cost anywhere from $170 billion to $1 trillion over the course of a decade. The benefits are also slanted in favor of the super-rich, as anyone making less than $100,000 would get almost nothing, while people making over $3 million a year would get a tax cut of roughly $350,000 annually. As for the $2 million capital gains exemption, the National Association of Realtors says that would only help the richest 15 percent of homeowners. The other 85 percent are already not subjected to any capital gains taxes from home sales.
Kroger Foods is moving forward with plans to close 60 stores nationwide by the end of the year, with 39 locations across 15 states already shuttered. The closures affect multiple regional stores, since Kroger operates Fred Meyer, Fry’s Food and Drug, Harris Teeter, Jay C, King Soopers, Mariano’s, Pick ’n Save, QFC and Ralphs. Kroger-branded stores will take the biggest hit, followed by Harris Teeter and Pick ‘n Save locations. Chairman and interim CEO Ron Sargent stated the closures are intended to simplify business operations and refocus resources on high-growth areas. While store workers are being offered jobs at other locations, Kroger announced plans to eliminate nearly 1,000 corporate and administrative positions. The grocery giant still operates around 2,800 stores nationwide and is currently pursuing a $1.65 billion acquisition of the Giant Eagle chain. These closures are most likely to occur in “food desert” locations that have few grocery stores, forcing the mostly poor, mostly nonwhite residents to travel long distances to obtain food.
Monday, August 10, Todd Blanche took the oath of office as attorney general, administered by federal appeals court judge Emil Bove, another of Trump’s defense lawyers before moving to the Department of Justice, where he was Blanche’s top deputy. Using Bove to swear in Blanche looked like a victory lap for Maladeministration II. FBI director Kash Patel and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, attended Blanche’s swearing-in. Retired conservative judge J. Michael Luttig told MS NOW: “Todd Blanche now becomes the symbol of Donald Trump’s corruption of the rule of law in America and the actual ruin of the Department of Justice of the United States. This is another shameful act of acquiescence, if not obeisance, by the Senate Republicans; they will bear this badge of shame the rest of their lives. Never before in American history has an attorney general been confirmed who was as corrupt as Todd Blanche. The Department of Justice is already in shambles. And he will further ruin the Department of Justice.” As soon as he took office, Blanche issued a memo dramatically expanding executive privilege, described as the authority of the president to “withhold certain sensitive information for the public good.” Blanche says the president can shield “presidential communications with private advisers so long as the communications relate to official presidential decisionmaking.” The memo defines as a “private adviser, anyone the President consults outside the Executive Branch.” This definition would enable the White House to defy congressional subpoenas for anyone to whom the president talks. Democrats are planning to begin investigations of Trump’s corruption if they retake control of congress. Knowing the White House would stonewall them, they intended to subpoena companies, college officials, and private citizens to testify. The memo, which is not legally binding but which indicates the administration’s position, would hamper that effort. This shows that Trump is already setting up a fight after the GOP is wiped out in November.
Congress set up the Corporate Transparency Act after documents leaked to BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2020 found that between 1999 and 2017, banks flagged more than $2 trillion in potentially laundered money, moved by criminals operating out of Russia, China, Iran, and Syria through shell companies. One of the documents flagged how much Russian money was flowing into the U.S. in 2016 through Deutsche Bank; the bank later used the report to close multiple shell companies operated by Trump, Beavis and Butthead, and the Trump Organization. The act required the owners of any company that was not otherwise overseen by the federal government to file a report identifying each person associated with the company who either owns 25% or more of it or exercises substantial control over it. That report, including name, birthdate, address, and an identifying number, would go to FinCEN. The measure also increased penalties for money laundering and streamlined cooperation between banks and foreign law enforcement authorities. The measure passed on a bipartisan basis; then-senator Marco Rubio of Florida, now secretary of state, co-sponsored it, calling it the “most significant anti-corruption and money laundering law in decades.” This week, the TrumpTreasury Department said it will not collect the information the law requires.
California voters are sharply divided over a ballot measure to impose a one-time tax on billionaires to help fund healthcare programs. A new poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies released Friday shows 48% support Proposition 40, compared with 41% who oppose the proposed wealth tax and 11% who are undecided. The proposal was crafted by a healthcare workers’ union to compensate for an estimated $100 billion in federal healthcare cuts approved by Trump and congressional Republicans that it argues will cause devastating harm to millions of California’s most vulnerable residents. Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires who resided in California as of Jan. 1, 2026. Gov. Gavin Newsom argues it will prompt the wealthy to flee California, further harming its volatile budget, which is dependent on the state’s richest residents. The California Democratic Party and leading progressives support the measure. Democratic voters mostly support the ballot measure and Republicans largely oppose it. Younger Californians are far more likely to say they plan to vote for it compared to seniors. Minorities, women and lower-income voters are also more supportive of the measure than white voters, men and Californians who earn at least $200,000 annually. Union households support the measure, while non-union families are evenly divided about it.
Among the other controversial measures on the Nov. 3 ballot in California is Proposition 39, a measure pushed by Republicans that requires all voters in future elections to show government- issued identification every time they vote in person or provide a special PIN or the last four digits of their Social Security number when submitting mail-in ballots. The measure would require the California secretary of state and county election officials to verify that registered voters are U.S. citizens by “using government data,” which according to supporters could include information in the federal Social Security Administration database (whifh has been found to have a large error rte), a jury summons or other government records. 52% of likely voters oppose the ballot measure, while 42% support it. Californians are predictably divided along partisan lines; 80% of 10 Democrats oppose the proposal, while 90% of Republicans support it. Independents oppose it 54 - 36.
Saturday was the 81st anniversary of the surrender of Japan, ending World War II. After Douglas MacArthur - America’s “Shogun” in postwar Japan - failed to force the Japanese to “de-fascist” as the Germans were forced to “de-nazify”, the old Jpanese ruling class stayed in power. Over the years since, Japanese leaders have demonstrated Japan’s real attitude toward the war by their visits to Yasukuni Shrine, in Tokyo every August 15, which contains the ashes of Japanese military dead from the war, including those of the war criminals tried and executed after the war. This year, conservative Japanese premier Sanae Takaichi stayed away - despite having previous announced she would visit on the anniversary - and issued a statement that mourned the Japanese victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Okinawa, as well as those who perished in overseas battlefronts. As with all other Japanese leaders, she did not mention Japanese atrocities in Asia or apologize. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, another Cabinet minister and three executives from Takaichi’s governing party did show up at the shrine Saturday. Liberal Party secretary-general Shunichi Suzuki told reporters he prayed while keeping in mind the prime minister’s thoughts for “the spirits of the war dead” and that he brought Takaichi’s cash offerings in her capacity as party leader. The official Japanese history of the Pacific War - which is taught in all schools - has always been that Japan “liberated” Asia from European and American “oppression,” but unfortunately made strategic retreats, and then got hit with A-bombs. I remember back when I was there while in the Navy, telling a Japanese friend the real history of the Pacific War; she looked at me like I was talking about an event in some other galaxy. Somehow, I don’t think Germany acting like this would have ever been allowed. Another “Big Mac” decision that puts him top of the list of America’s WORST generals. (The only Japanese commander MacArthur went after with war crimes charges was General Masaharu Homma, who defeated him in the Philippines in 1942 - the general was convicted and executed for crimes committed by his army in 1945 during the Battle of Manila, in which the General was unable to exercise any control over the army due to lack of communications.)
Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.
“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln
Smokey
The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford that is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters. Thanks to the new subscribers who stepped up with the TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers. The rest of you free subscribers will get the month of August to join TAFM under that offer - now the price of a cup of coffee. That little bit goes a long way. Thank you to the new paid subscribers for your support. I hope more of you will join during the extended special offer.
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