Trump’s fascist fetish by Ann Telnaes
A huge banner of Trump is hung on USDA building Read on Substack
Open Windows
Category: Crime
Peace & Justice History for 5/20
| May 20, 1916 Emma Goldman spoke to garment workers in Union Square about the benefits of birth control.  Goldman speaking to a crowd of garment workers about birth control in New York City’s Union Square Read more about Emma Goldman: Birth Control Pioneer |
| May 20, 1961 A mob of 300 white segregationists, with the tacit assent of the local police, attacked a busload of both black and white “Freedom Riders” in Montgomery, Alabama’s bus depot. Among those beaten was Justice Department official John Seigenthaler who had tried to negotiate their safety.  Freedom Riders challenged racial segregation at Montgomery bus depot. Attention to the violence forced Attorney General Robert Kennedy to send in U.S. Marshals to protect the Riders. They had been seeking to guarantee equal access to interstate transportation by riding the bus but had been met by violence elsewhere in Alabama as well as South Carolina. The Freedom Rides discussed NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross (with transcript)  Robert Kennedy and John Seigenthaler The Freedom Rider story 50 Years After Their Mug Shots, Portraits of Mississippi’s Freedom Riders |
| May 20, 1968 In the first such instance during the Vietnam War, Arlington Street Unitarian-Universalist Church in Boston offered sanctuary to Robert Talmanson and William Chase, both of whom had refused to participate in the war. Talmanson had been convicted of refusing induction, and Chase had gone AWOL (absent without leave) as an army private after having served nine months at Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. Church leaders had declared theirs a “liberated zone” on the first day of the trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and four others in federal court for counseling draft resistance. They believed that individuals had a right to decide not to kill as nonviolent persons, most especially in a war they considered unjust. |
| May 20, 1971 A delegation of U.S. pacifists traveled to Cuba to exchange children’s art. |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymay.htm#may20
Clay Jones
He Sells Sea Shells By The Sea Shore by Clay Jones
86 doesn’t mean what 47 thinks it does. Read on Substack
(I worked in restaurants from mid-70s through mid-80s. 86 means cancel or never mind, not kill. Else the call “86 99” would have been very awkward, especially because usually the kitchen only called the boss when something the boss needed to know about was occurring. You could hear a call, “99” when the boss was wanted for something, then if whatever it was resolved, or the caller made a change, it was “86 99” so the boss could continue what they were up to. So to me, this controversy is just weird, stupid, and definitely a waste of we the people’s resources, since the highest offices are sounding off about investigating. On to Clay Jones. -A)
The number 86 doesn’t mean what Donald Trump thinks it means.
Former FBI Director James Comey tweeted an image of seashells forming the numbers 8647. What that means is replace Trump. But Trump and his cult freaked out and claimed that Comey was calling for the assassination of Trump.
But 86 doesn’t mean killing someone. It simply means to replace them, or get rid of someone or something. The term started in the restaurant industry way back in the 1920s or 1930s. The term meant an item on the menu was no longer available, so they would have to 86 it. Then it spread to customers they wanted out of their restaurant, so they would 86 a customer, NOT murder the customer.
There are different theories as to why they used the number 86. Some believe it came from the word “nix.” Others believe it came from the address of 86 Bedford Street in the West Village of lower Manhattan during prohibition. An informant inside the police department would call the restaurant to warn of a police raid, and tell the restaurant that their customers needed to leave through the door on 86th Street. That became “86 the customers.”
I don’t know if those stories or theories are true, but 86 does NOT mean someone should be assassinated. It’s not a death threat or a call to kill somebody, like all the times Trump has tweeted insinuations for his goons to attack people.
A good example of 86 is when Trump fired James Comey. He 86’ed Comey. In 2020, the voters 86’ed Trump by kicking him out of office. Hopefully, in the midterms, we 86 Republicans from the House.
As we all know, Donald Trump is a hypocrite.
When MAGAts were chanting, “Hang Mike Pence” during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, they weren’t trying to “86” Pence. They were trying to murder him.
When Donald Trump called for the death penalty for General Mark Milley, was he trying to 86 him? No, just kill him. Milley had retired, so he couldn’t be replaced.
When Trump posted a video of President Joe Biden hog tied in the back of a pickup truck, was he calling for Biden to be 86’ed or murdered?
When Trump Jr. tweeted a picture of a hammer after Paul Pelosi was attacked by a hammer-wielding lunatic, was he calling for him to be 86’ed or bashed in the head with a hammer?
What Trump is trying to do is 86 all criticism of him. The Secret Service is investigating Comey for his 86 post, which is bullshit.
In addition to howling about Comey, Trump is crying about Bruce Springsteen criticizing him, which he did from Scotland. Trump got all bent out of shape from the Boss’s criticism and went on the attack. Remember when presidents would ignore criticism from celebrities?
Trump threatened Springsteen, posting, “This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’ Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
Trump is threatening Springsteen for saying, “My home America, the America I’ve written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.” That sounds about right.
Trump said, “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy − Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country.”
If Trump never liked Springsteen or his music, then why did he steal it for his hate rallies? The Boss had to send a legal notice for Trump to stop playing Born in the USA.
Trump didn’t stop there, and on the same day he was filling his diapers over the Boss’ criticism, he attacked Taylor Swift, and posted on ShitSocial, “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’“
Are we still talking about Biden having dementia? Trump’s definition of “hot” is his daughter.
In case the Secret Service is reading, I wholeheartedly endorse 8647.
By the way, Springsteen, the “dried-up prune,” is younger than Trump, and his face definitely looks better than Donald’s dried-up face covered with orange pancake batter.
Creative note: A couple of readers told me they were looking forward to my cartoon about Bruce Springsteen. But I didn’t know if I was going to do one. There are four or five other things I wanted to hit, and that I thought were more important. The Comey/86 thing was one of them. But what do you know? I found a way to get two of those subjects off my list with one cartoon.
I had a long conversation with Proofer Laura about the license plate. She didn’t know the significance. I didn’t tell her.
Music note: I listened to the Smashing Pumpkins.
Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see it!)
Republicans caused or did this. We should ban them.
Photo: Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, who also serves as Kennedy Space Center director, a post she assumed in 2021. Trump elevated Petro to lead NASA after he ousted former Sen. Bill Nelson for believing in climate change.
As previously reported here, European governments have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to lure US scientists.
Newly-released data shows that Oklahoma ranks 46th in per-pupil spending, but Walters, who is eyeing a run for governor, has called for cuts to his state’s “wasteful” education spending, including $250,000 to provide school districts with emergency inhalers.
In his KFOR interview, Walters did boast about getting new teachers a signing bonus, but as was widely reported the time, $290,000 of that money had to be clawed back because it had gone to teachers who did not qualify. Some of those teachers had already spent the money.
The SPLC’s report is here. The February 2024 report linked below shows that the same thing is happening in the UK.
Guess who donated to the Texas Republicans behind the new law?
Something something free speech.
Rep. Beth Lear first appeared here in January 2024 when she defended her anti-trans bathroom bill by citing the “millstones” bible verse which calls for drowning anyone who hurts children.
She later blamed “depraved monster” Alfred Kinsey, liberals, and the ACLU for transgender people even existing.
Rep. Josh Williams first appeared here in July 2024 for his bill that would criminalize drag shows in the presence of children. Williams reintroduced his bill last week.
“Libyan Gov’t Decries Fake News about Taking 1 mn. Palestinian Refugees: ‘Committed to the Palestinian Cause’”
Juan Cole 05/17/2025
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Abu Dhabi-based Erem News reports that the Prime Minister of Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh, has vehemently denied the report in the “American Thinker” by what Libya called the “notorious conspiracy theorist” Jerome Corsi that the Trump administration is negotiating with the Libyan government to take one million Palestinians. It is an absurd allegation on the face of it. Libyans have long been extremely pro-Palestinian and any leader that cooperated with the extremist government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in ethnically cleansing so many Palestinians from …
Read More Here: https://www.juancole.com/2025/05/scurrilous-palestinian-committed.html
Some clips from TizzyEnt
BTO and Pork Chops
Freak Off Crypto by Clay Jones
How much Trump Crypto to keep Diddy out of prison? Read on Substack
I was reading some of my colleagues’ work this morning at GoComics, and I came across a cartoon by Gary Varvel defending Trump’s bribes (also, Gary, plane tires don’t have treads). An idiot in the comments section wrote, “So they gave him a bribe and then they gave him trillions of investments? I don’t think you know how bribes work.” The idiot doesn’t know how bribes work… or facts.
None of these three bribing nations, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, or Saudi Arabia, is investing trillions, which is a lie mentioned in the cartoon. A good way to tell if a cartoonist is instead a propagandist is when he/she rely on Trump for their research.
A lot of the “deals” Trump announced were actually made by President Joe Biden, while the rest aren’t binding, and won’t take effect until Trump is “supposed” to leave office, like that 747, Bribe Force One, won’t be ready until then either.
By the way, Qatar had been trying to sell that plane with no takers for over five years. Grifting, er, I mean gifting it to Trump will save them millions in storage fees. The entire world is moving away from that type of jet, including Qatar, which no longer includes it in its fleet of aircraft. This jet will now cost us more than its asking price to refit it.
This is like giving a dog a pork chop to make it like you, but in this case, the pork chop is a 747 jet. Also, the Qataris could have just given Donald Trump a pork chop.
What these nations really want from Trump is the arms deals and being legitimized by an American president (sic). It’s true they like Trump more than they liked President Biden or President Obama. The Crown Prince, who had Jamal Khashoggi murdered, rarely greets visitors when they arrive at the airport. He didn’t greet Biden at the airport, but he met Trump. Naturally, corrupt fascists governing monarchies without elections, who are also murderers, would love Trump. It’s like being loved by mobsters, Jason Vorhees, Jeffrey Epstein, and Roger Stone.
They also love Trump because they got a sucker who is easy to play.
Trump has been using his entire second regime to enrich himself. He’s fired the people who root out corruption in government, and then he got busy.
Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, ruled that accepting Qatar’s gift of a jet doesn’t violate the Emoluments Clause, but she took a bribe from Trump years ago to stop investigating Trump University in Florida, and she used to be a lobbyist for…wait for it…Qatar.
By accepting the gift, Trump announced to the rest of the world that he’s open for business, and corruption is his business. If you thought his first regime was corrupt, as Bachman-Turner Overdrive would say, you ain’t seen nothing yet, B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Baby.
In the first regime, Trump and the Trump Organization said it wouldn’t create “new” business with foreign nations. In Trump 2.0, they announced that they WILL take in new business from foreign nations, and they just secured a bunch of golf resorts and other real estate deals in the three nations Trump visited this week, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Trump Org. is now involved in six Middle Eastern real estate projects sponsored by Dar Global, the international subsidiary of a Saudi-based firm with close ties to the Saudi royal family. It gets worse.
Don Sniffy Jr. and his buddies have created a new private club in Washington, DC that costs $500,000 to join. It’s called the Executive Club. The purpose of the club is to sell access to Trump and officials in the regime. Remember when Republicans howled about Hunter Biden selling access to his father, and felt the need to waste a lot of our money investigating it? There’s no investigation needed here because they’re doing it out in the open.
And then there’s $Trump Crypto.
Trump used to hate crypto and has posted in the past, “I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”
He also said, “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”
And he said that bitcoin “just seems like a scam,” and it’s a “disaster waiting to happen,” and “I think they should regulate them very, very high.”
It must be true that it’s a scam that can facilitate unlawful behavior because now, Trump LOVES crypto and has created his own. In fact, $Trump Crypto was created in January, three days before he was inaugurated, and promised to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet.” And then the crypto industry donated $18 million to his inauguration, where donations go to disappear…which is much like how crypto works.
Foreigners are jumping to donate to $Trump, including a tiny TikTok e-commerce company with ties to the Chinese government that has zero revenue, yet found the funds to buy $300 million of $Trump Crypto, just when Trump is delaying the shutdown of TikTok in America. Now we know why the delay was instituted. Maybe that’s why he’s delaying tariffs on China for 90 days. There are 90s days to bribe Trump not to place 145 percent tariffs on China.
Follow the money. Follow the shell game.
If you need further proof that Trump is taking bribes, then listen to this: If you buy enough of $TRUMP Criminal, oops… $Trump Crypto to become one of its top 220 investors, then you’ll get to attend an “intimate private” dinner with him later this month. If you buy enough to become one of the top 25, you will win a “VIP White House Tour.” And if you give him a plane, you’ll get to spend the night with Trump in the Lincoln Bedroom, and with guaranteed spooning time.
Trump is not even hiding that he’s selling access and using the White House to grift.
According to Bloomberg, $Trump Criminal, I mean Crypto, is nearing the value of $1 billion. Did you know the value of the Trump family has increased by nearly $4 billion since January? At that rate, their value will be $32 billion by the time Trump 2.0 is “supposed” to end. Also, at this rate, by the time 2029 gets here, Trump will have eight 747s.
And finally, the Justice Department disbanded a division dedicated to investigating cryptocurrency crimes, declared that meme coins are no longer subject to regulatory oversight, and paused a fraud case against a top crypto mogul who pumped $75 million into $Trump Criminal…oops, I mean Trump Crypto.
Now we know how Diddy can beat the rap, and getting a pardon from Trump is not out of the question. According to Rolling Stone, Diddy’s people are talking to Trump’s people.
Trump has attended Diddy’s parties, which are often called “freak offs.” Tiffany Trump has attended the “freak offs.” Trump and Diddy have both said they like each other. They’ve both been prosecuted in cases involving sex or sex abuse. They were both tried in Manhattan. They have a lot in common. They’re both criminals because Trump stole classified documents and Diddy stole Every Breath You Take by the Police.
How much $Trump Criminal can Diddy buy? Oops.
I meant $Trump Crypto.
Creative note: One of my concerns with this cartoon is that it may be too subtle. Well, too subtle for MAGAts maybe.
The bribe in the cartoon was originally a 747, but I realized I hadn’t hit the $Trump Crypto bribes yet. Oops.
I meant $Trump Criminal.
Music note: I listened to some tunes today that have been remastered, and they sounded much better before the remastering. Yo, remastering MoFos. Some of us like to hear the bass.
I did not listen to Diddy.
Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see it)
Busy Day in Peace & Justice History on 5/17, Including Outrage & Rebellion in Seattle, a Wedding in MA, & a SCOTUS Decision Desegregating Public Schools; So Much More-
| May 17, 1919 The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) was formally established in Zurich, Switzerland. |
| May 17, 1954 In a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education, ruling “separate but equal” public education to be unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal treatment under the law. The historic decision, bringing an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, specifically dealt with Linda Brown, a young African American girl denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin. Read more and more  Above: Nettie Hunt and her daughter Nickie on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1954.  George E. C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall and James M. Nabrit (left to right), the successful legal team, celebrate the Brown decision. . . three years later . . . |
| May 17, 1957 Martin Luther King, Jr. led 30,00 on a Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. to mark the third anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education decision in which the Supreme Court declared racial segregation in education unconstitutional. |
| May 17, 1968 A group of anti-war activists who came to be known as the “Catonsville Nine,” including Philip and Daniel Berrigan, broke into the Catonsville, Maryland, draft board center and burned over 600 draft files.  The Catonsville Nine in a picture taken in the police station minutes after the action. From left to right (standing) George Mische, Philip Berrigan, Daniel Berrigan, Tom Lewis. From left to right (seated) David Darst, Mary Moylan, John Hogan, Marjorie Melville, Tom Melville. photo Jean Walsh Read more about the Catonsville Nine |
May 17, 1970 100 protesters staged a silent “die-in” at Fifth Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle to protest shipment through their city of Army nerve gas being transported from Okinawa, Japan, to the Umatilla Army Depot in eastern Oregon. Outrage and Rebellion |
| May 17, 1973 In Washington, D.C., the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, headed by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina, began televised hearings on the escalating Watergate affair. One week later, Harvard Law Professor Archibald Cox was sworn in as Watergate special prosecutor. Flashback: On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. with the intent to set up wiretaps. One of the suspects, James W. McCord, Jr., was revealed to be the salaried security coordinator for President Richard Nixon’s reelection committee. |
May 17, 2004 Marcia Kadish, 56, and Tanya McCloskey, 52, of Malden, Massachusetts, were married at Cambridge City Hall in Massachusetts, becoming the first legally married same-sex partners in the United States. Over the course of the day, 77 other such couples tied the knot across the state, and hundreds more applied for marriage licenses. The day was characterized by much celebration and only a few of the expected protests materialized. Read more |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymay.htm#may17
Did drumpf just threaten someone for using their 1st Amendment?
Trump bashed the Boss — once known as the “embodiment of rock & roll” — due to Springsteen’s criticism of the drumpf administration.
“I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States,” Trump wrote. “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy.”
Trump went on to accuse Springsteen of being a “pushy, obnoxious JERK” and “dumb as a rock” for having previously supported President Joe Biden, before attacking Springsteen’s appearance.
“This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country,” the president wrote, adding, “Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
That, to me, sounded like a threat! It sounded like the President of the United States just threatened a citizen because he exercised his 1st Amendment Right to Free Speech. I mean, I’m surprised he didn’t say “Nice guitar you gots there. Shame should somthin’ happen to it”.
Hey! Isn’t that Illegal?
Management at a Kid Rock-themed restaurant and bar in Nashville reportedly rushed non-citizen employees off the premises during the weekend over fears of an impending ICE raid.
Hey, isn’t it illegal to hire people who you know are not legal to work in the United States? Why, that’s a crime!
During the busy Saturday service, non-citizen employees at three restaurants owned by Nashville businessman Steve Smith were told to leave, including Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse.
Hey, didn’t someone just arrest a judge for not turning over non-citizens to ICE?
“We were already understaffed because of the ICE raids throughout the weekend,” an employee at one restaurant told the outlet. “Then, around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, our manager came back and told anyone without legal status to go home.”
I mean, it’s almost like they don’t mind breaking the law whenever it suits them. Who would ever have thought it?
Did you ever get the feeling that this whole immigration issue is nothing more than a bullshit issue used to divide us? Asking for a friend.
Scottie's Playtime 