MIDDLE OF THE UNBELIEVABLE KRAYZEE WEEK

There are 76 days to the midterms. We’re heading into the final turn before the straightaway to the finish line. Urge your horse to run faster.

In the meantime, the express train to Krayzeetown keeps picking up speed.

Yesterday, Dilbert cut off the talks with Iran that haven’t been happening for the foreseeable future. On Lies Anti-Social, Trump wrote there “are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled” with Iran; a White House official clarified that the president was announcing an end to talks with Iran , a notable development just a day after Jared Kushner publicly referenced ongoing “positive and active conversations” with various parts of the Iranian government in a Fox News interview. Trump is frustrated that a deal with Iran hasn’t been reached to replace the ceasefire agreement that formally expired Monday, and is instead resorting to pressure to try to extract the US from the conflict. One US official said Trump “wants the blockade” of the Strait of Hormuz “to play out and thinks they can inflict a lot of pain on Iranians and get them to capitulate.”

The pain that is being inflicted is not by the U.S. on Iran. It is pain being inflicted on the U.S. economy - and more importantly on the political life of Donald Trump - by Iran. American voters are no longer buying his bullshit. Only the 33% that will never get the memo still support him, while 64% of Americans disapprove of the ways he is handling things overall. And 80% - including 71% of Republicans - no longer believe he will end Trump’s War anytime soon. Trump has no room to maneuver, whether he wants to admit it or not. He has destroyed the international position of the United States of America in the 19 months since he stole his way back into power through his incompetence and moron stupidity.

The eleven U.S. aircraft carriers that are the backbone of the U.S. Navy are no longer able to engage in widespread operations. Over half the fleet is in the yards for major repairs after being used too much and the rest need to retire to the yards for repair. For the first time since before the Korean War, there is no American aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific to backstop South Korea, Taiwan, Japan or the Philippines should China decide it’s a good idea to make a move amidst all the confusion. South Korea - which has been no friend of Japan since the days when Japan was ther colonial oppressor attempting to wipe out Korean nationality - is now talking about working closer with a soon-to-be-nuclear armed Japan in the face of Trump’s abandonment of the historic U.S. commitment to defend the country against his dear friend Kim Jong Un, leader of “peaceful” and “non-aggressive” North Korea, whose government has been dedicated to “involuntary unification” since the days of his grandfather in 1949. As Dr. Phillips O’Brien put it earlier this week, The American Age is over and it will not be revived in 2029 regardless of who sits in the White House then. As has always been the case, a reputation takes a lifetime to build and a minute to destroy. The same is true for a country. This is what 77 million self-identified “patriots” created in November 2024.

Maladministration II is still eyeing additional economic measures against Iran after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated announcements would come this week. “There are many levers the president can crank harder in the weeks and months ahead,” the official said. “While he has been consistent in saying he prefers a diplomatic solution, he continues to retain all options if Iran continues to engage in terrorism and refuses to make a deal.” The current sanctions and naval blockade, the official argued, have already “crippled Iran’s economy.” The challenge for the administration will be intensifying that pain without harming the American economy. Options like seizing Iranian assets and sanctioning Iran’s trading partners, exchange houses, and Chinese banks all have potential downsides. Iran has already faced the worst the U.S. had to offer. The regime is largely impervious to any economic costs of continuing to oppose the U.S. in Trump’s War. What no one in Maladminstration II can admit - without having their career destroyed by Dearest Leader - is thatthe economic costs Iran is imposing on the United States are impossible for the Trumpers to ignore, since these difficulties are why they are now losing support from voters who supported Dilbert three times. A president with a 33% approval rating and whose administration is opposed by two-thirds of the country, does not have the room to maneuver they think they do. Their exhortations to the country to “tighten your belt” are not being received by people who are now balancing food in the refrigerator versus paying the rent versus putting gas in the car to get to work, and who see Trump’s War as the direct cause of their difficulties.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf bashed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent yesterday, calling them “way out of their league” in trying to bring Tehran to the table for peace negotiations. “Americans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement. Bessent and Hegseth are way out of their league. Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made.”

The rest of the economy is coming apart under Trump’s malfeasance. America’s housing market is showing signs of struggling as inflation and economic uncertainty weigh on would-be buyers. US housing starts, including construction of single-family homes and apartments, fell 12.4% in July from the previous month, according to government data released Tuesday - much higher than investors expected. While Home Depot beat earnings expectations yesterday, the company’s chief financial officer said the company is operating in “frozen housing market conditions” and that its customers are hesitant to spend on big projects, according to CNBC. Confidence among US homebuilders is still anemic. The data shows how hard it will be for lawmakers to sell their bipartisan housing law on the campaign trail, and adds to growing evidence of inflation’s continued drag on the US economy.

In Florida’s primary election last night, former whitstleblower Alex Vindman was defeated in an upset for the Democratic Senate nomination by progressive state legislator Angie Nixon. Vindman was viewed as a heavy favorite against Nixon, a recent DSA member, heading into Tuesday’s contest, raising $16 million for his campaign, significant for a Democrat in Florida, while Nixon brought in just over $900,000. Vindman stated in his concession that Nixon “ran a strong campaign. I will be standing by her side in the fight against Ashley Moody. I hope you’ll join me.” The DSCC also released a statement supportive of Nixon after her victory. Nixon is a Jacksonville native and former community and union organizer. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee quickly took a swipe at Nixon: “Florida will never elect a socialist to the US Senate and we look forward to Ashley Moody’s victory in November.” Nixon had criticized Vindman for only recently having moved to Florida and said her campaign was an attempt to prove that insurgent progressive politics has a place in Florida politics; her “localism” argument against Vindman may have been what carried the day. We shall see. Both Nixon’s campaign in Florida and El-Sayed’s campaign in Michigan will test the question of whether such progressive politics can prevail outside overwhelmingly-Democratic districts in a Democratic state like New York. Nixon’s position on Israel appears to put her at odds with voters in the state with the third-largest Jewish population in the country, most of whom are retirees from New York - in Florida CD-25, the DSA candidate lost to incumbent Democrat Jared Moskowitz, but Nixon - like AOC - separates from the DSA’s “Faculty Lounge Politics.”

In closing, it was TACO Tuesday once again. At 10:15pm yesterday, Trump wrote on Lies Anti-Social: “I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” The announcement came less than two hours before a 50% levy on nearly $20bn (C$28bn) of Canadian imports were set to go in place. The two sides have been at an impasse on several issues, including US tariffs on autos and many Canadian provinces banning American liquor sales. “Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done,” Carney said in a letter posted on X. Trump also said a final trade deal could allow the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline. The oil pipeline, which would connect Alberta to the US, was blocked by both the Obama and Biden administrations. Environmentalists and indigenous groups have long opposed the pipeline but Trump has said multiple times he would like to revive the project, which would carry 830,000 barrels of oil a day. “The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” Trump wrote on L:ies Anti-Social. That won’t be happening, along with most everything else he deludes himself with believing.

Sweetie

The TrumpDOJ requested in a Monday court filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit that the court reinstate criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, following a lower court order earlier this year that found the Salvadoran man was the subject of a likely vindictive prosecution. The DOJ denied that the prosecution was vindictive, arguing the District Court’s order was “erroneous at every step.” Abrego Garcia faced two counts of human smuggling charges after he challenged the Trump administration’s decision to deport him to a megaprison in his native El Salvador. He reentered the U.S. in June 2025 after the Supreme Court said the White House must “facilitate” his return. The smuggling charges were connected to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, where he was pulled over by state Highway Patrol for speeding and was seen transporting multiple men without luggage. He pleaded not guilty. “The government had an obvious interest in protecting the public by prosecuting Abrego after courts ordered his return,” federal prosecutors wrote in the Monday filing. “There is nothing suspect about electing not to prosecute a criminal alien and instead remove them, but upon their court-ordered return to prosecute them for criminal conduct that poses a risk to public safety.” U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw found in his May ruling that the actions of DOJ officials, including public statements from Attorney General Todd Blanche about the case, reflect “an abuse of prosecuting power.” The DOJ denied these accusations, saying his “statements do not suggest animus” and emphasizing that the charges were brought by career DOJ prosecutors. “The United States provided objective evidence that the charges were brought for legitimate reasons by a decision maker who incontestably harbored no animus,” federal prosecutors wrote. “The district court relied on speculation rather than objective proof, second guessing a prosecutor’s actions based on its own subjective reasoning.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation - the group trying to stop rump’s White House ballroom - urged the Supreme Court to deny Maladministration II’s emergency request to allow construction, calling it “astonishing” on Tuesday. Maladministration II wants the justices to step in to stop a lower court order that would grind the above-ground work to a halt starting at the end of the day this coming Friday. “Petitioners, however, insist they will keep building - no matter what anyone says,” lawyers for the National Trust wrote in response to Trump’s request. The battle comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that Trump needed additional congressional authorization for the 90,000-square-foot project, rejecting the president’s arguments that it can move forward because private funds are going toward it. The TrumpDOJ has increasingly leaned on a national security argument, saying the ballroom is necessary to protect the president’s safety after a number of shootings and threats in his vicinity. The government has detailed plans for a drone port, military-grade venting and missile-resistant steel columns as part of the new structure. The Trust wrote, “If Petitioners believe there is a pressing need for a ballroom, nothing prevents them from asking Congress for one - today, tomorrow, or any time in the future. But Petitioners’ efforts to foil judicial review and arrogate Congress’s exclusive powers should not be rewarded with a stay that allows Petitioners to complete a ballroom they lacked any authority to commence in the first place.” Trump has repeatedly lambasted the Trust, saying the lawsuit has forced him to publicly detail planned security features. He wrote last Friday on Lies Anti-Social, “These are the TREASONISTS that brought the suit against the Military Complex. They revealed Top Military Secrets!” (FACT CHECK: No, Dilbert, they didn’t, you fuckheaded moron.)has repeatedly lambasted the group, saying the lawsuit has forced him to publicly detail planned security features.

In their continuing war on everything good in America, Maladministration II oved to strip protections from 44 million acres of national forest Tuesday. The U.S. Forest Service has proposed rescinding the 2001 “Roadless Rule,” which prohibits road construction and logging in pristine parts of national forests that don’t currently have roads. By blocking roads, the rule targeted by the administration also inhibits activity like mining and oil and gas drilling in these areas. 44 million acres of the 193-million-acre National Forest System are subject to these protections. Maladministration II argued the rule also impedes forest management and could exacerbate wildfires. “For too long, outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities,” Bimbo masquerading as “Agriculture Secretary” Brooke Rollins said. “Today, we filed a proposal to restore authority to local forest managers who know the land best, removing the barriers that have kept them from doing the work the land demands. It’s time to turn the page on the failed roadless rule and return our forests to health and productivity.” (“The land” “demand” nothing from you, you failed bumfuck) However, environmental advocates criticized the move, arguing that it would allow for harm to the forests. “The Forest Service’s misguided proposal will clear the way for reckless projects that can permanently scar these spectacular roadless landscapes and do long-lasting harm to countless communities that depend on our national forests for tourism, recreation, and clean drinking water,” Kristin Gendzier, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, wrote. The majority of the forests that would be affected fall in Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming; two - Colorado and Idaho - have their own state-level roadless protections. The next step in the rulemaking process is a 30-day public comment period, after which the repeal can be finalized; it’s likely to face legal challenges that could delay implementation.

I’m sooooo surprised: The Maladministration II task force created to combat antisemitism pushed for settlements with Ivy League universities despite government investigations that were rushed and incomplete or that failed to establish legal violations by the schools, a former Justice Department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower disclosure. The complaint alleges that the investigations into some of the nation’s most prestigious academic institutions were designed to strong-arm the schools into cutting deals for political purposes. Outcomes of the investigations were “predetermined, without regard to the evidence” in a “politically mandated effort” to extract money from schools through settlement demands and funding freezes under the pretext of rooting out antisemitism, the complaint alleges. The work of the multi-agency task force, launched by the Justice Department under then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in February 2025, was “marked by extraordinary procedural irregularities, predetermined outcomes without factual or legal support” and disregard for the law and Constitution, lawyers for the former government attorney wrote in seeking watchdog investigations into their client’s complaints.

Last Thursday, the TrumpDOJ Anti-Civil Rights Division accused Duke University’s law school of unlawfully considering race in admissions in the latest Maladministration II action against higher education institutions. In a findings letter to the school, the TrumpDOJ said that while administrators paid lip service to being race-neutral in admissions, they used other factors as stand-ins for race, including personal essays and whether someone was a first-generation college student. The Durham, North Carolina, school said in an emailed statement it was reviewing the letter and is committed to following the law “in a manner that is consistent with our academic mission.” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon (who needs to be among the arrestees on January 20, 2029) said, “Duke Law School doesn’t get a free pass to discriminate against white and Asian students simply because it thinks it has good intentions. Using ‘diversity’ essay questions to identify preferred races for admission is still illegal discrimination based on race.”

Minnesota is now officially suing Texico Governor “Hot Wheels” Abbott, after he refused to extradite ICE officer Christian Castro. Hennepin County prosecutors charged Castro in the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year, and he faces four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime. Texas Rangers arrested him in May, and he remains jailed in Texico. Governor Tim Walz initially sought to extradite Castro in June. Abbott still hasn’t signed off, even after prosecutors in Minneapolis formally requested extradition in July. Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison escalated this week with the lawsuit, arguing Abbott’s refusal to extradite Castro is unconstitutional. Ellison added that Abbott is trying to prevent Castro from being held accountable in the jurisdiction where the alleged crimes occurred. “Hot Wheels” is running in a tight reelection race against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, and is likely doing his best to shore up his MAGA bonafides by stiff-arming prosecutors in the blue state Trump has gone out of his way to antagonize. (Wouldn’t it be nice if that falling tree had been more effective?)

A blistering new report from the Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA) finds that DHS has repeatedly hired, retained and even promoted ICE agents despite multiple documented warning signs of violent and/or predatory behavior. The OIA looked at 60 years of cases involving ICE, CBP and related contractors charged or convicted of violent or sexual offenses. Of 152 people identified since 1982, more than 86% were charged with or convicted of sex offenses. 78 of the cases in question involved children. 45% were directly tied to the person’s law enforcement work. The OIA report concludes that federal agents used their badges as a weapon for coercion and access to vulnerable people. Some of the cases are jaw-dropping. One agent, who was convicted of assaulting a child as a juvenile, was later hired by CBP and worked there for nearly 20 years before being caught again. Another, whose job was conducting background checks for DHS, was eventually convicted of soliciting a minor. Another agent allegedly assaulted two teenage sisters inside a CBP office. A former special agent for ICE was even sentenced to life in prison for assaulting two women and using his badge to threaten and silence them. DHS’ pattern of enabling and protecting predators appears to be accelerating at a rapid rate. OIA documented 14 cases in 2025 alone and 22 more in just the first eight months of this year. That’s nearly a quarter of the entire dataset packed into two years. ICE reportedly doesn’t include family court records in its background checks, and recruits have even shown up to training without completing any background checks at all. OIA is now calling on Congress to freeze hiring for ICE and Border Patrol, rescreen the entire workforce and create independent oversight with real subpoena power. If Democrats retake Congress in the fall, this could be near the top of their list.

Mike Huckabee, a self-proclaimed “Christian Zionist” and Trump’s Ambassador to Israel has condemned “settlers” (mostly crazy Americans who still adhere to the Nazi philosophy of the late American Zionist Nazi Meir Kahane) who are holding three families (one a Palestinian-American family) in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, near Nablus, under siege, as “Israeli terrorists”. The siege comes as Israel’s military conducts raids in Jenin, blocking access to aid for Palestinians in the refugee camp on the fourth day of its assault in which at least 20 people have been killed by the IDF’s largest military operation in the West Bank in more than 30 years. Huckabee posted on X, “Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting. No excuse for such thuggish behaviour.” He added that the US embassy has been “VERY involved & the IDF & Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this.” US officials have long condemned settler violence towards Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in general terms but they have not deemed Israeli settlers’ actions “terror” or referred to them as “terrorists”. Palestinian residents of the village say they have been cut off from water, electricity and other critical supplies during the siege, which they describe as an attempt by the settlers to seize their land, part of the 78 year ethnic cleansing Zionists have operated inside Israel since the 1948 war. Loai Ridi, an American-Palestinian who lives in Toledo but owns a house in the village, said his brother Qusai Abu Rida and 18-year-old nephew, Ahmed, were among those trapped. “He (Qusai Abu Rida) does not want to leave the home. Because if he leaves the home, the settlers will take over immediately,” Ridi said. IDF troops initially tried to move the trapped families out of their homes while settlers remained camped outside. The United Nations human rights agency and the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also condemned the settler siege in Qusra. “These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said. Qusra has faced settler attacks for decades, and residents tie the rise in violence to the spread of illegal settlements and the lack of accountability for attackers by Nitwityahoo.

Speaking Sunday on the influential “October 8” podcast, former convicted terrorist/now Israeli National Security Minister Itamir Ben-Gvir, said: “It’s no secret, I disagree with the prime minister. I think we should carry out targeted assassinations in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat. No, there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.” He went on to say, “I see all of Gaza as ours. We should have settlements throughout Gaza, encouraging as much emigration as possible, sending them to their countries, and for the terrorists, no emigration, nothing, just to kill them one by one.” Leaders of the U.S. pro-Israel lobby this week called for Ben-Gvir to be removed from office for this statement. There has been no word from anyone in the Nitwityahoo government that this would happen, despite Ben-Gvir’s statement being at odds with the Prime Minister’s announced “peace plan” for Gaza. (FACT CHECK: Palestinians do not come from “other countries.”)

Trump - the politician whose life is the embodiment of the Seven Deadly Sins - is invoking God to raise money from the shitkickers and hayseeds of the Xtian Right. A campaign email from the Trump’s team uses Christian faith to solicit donations. In the email, Trump describes surviving the assassination attempt at a campaign rally in 2024 due to his “steady compass of Faith” that has “guided” his hands “through it all.” The email, which was first reported by MeidasNews, is paired with a photo of Trump speaking from a podium in the sky, surrounded by fluffy clouds. “I was never supposed to survive the bullet of an assassin, BUT I DID. I was never supposed to be President of the United States again, BUT I AM. I was never supposed to Make America Great Again, BUT I WILL NEVER SURRENDER! I was saved for this one reason: Make America Great Again. I was made for this, BUT MAGA IS POWERED BY YOU. That’s why I’ve launched a 24-HOUR TRUMP FUNDRAISING BLITZ, and I’m asking everyone to chip in $15 to make it one for the record books.” It’s like this loot will join the other $400 million he has raised despite not being a candidate for office, none of which has been given to any actual GOP candidates running this year.

Tuesday on his podcast “the Breakfast Club,” Charlamagne tha God said America’s system of checks and balances has failed, warning the country is doomed unless Trump officials are jailed. “If every single person in this administration isn’t in jail in the next five years, it’s just a wrap for America as a country. We used to be a proper country. I thought we had checks and balances, but maybe we never did.”

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

Molly

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.

“This is great, I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28)

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