The good, bad, ugly and of course the stupid. 6-25-2025

5000+ Mexicans Form Record “Human Pride Flag”

Cops: Atlanta Teens Filmed Themselves Destroying Gay Bar’s Pride Flags, Hate Crime Charges Possible [VIDEO]

Riley Gaines: Defund States That Back Trans Athletes

Riley Gaines, who has turned a fifth place finish against non-trans swimmers into career with MAGA media.

Now let me see if I have this right. Riley Gaines finished 5th in a race with a trans athlete. And, if that trans athlete had NOT been in the race, Riley Gaines would still have finished in 5th place because the two swimmers were TIED for 5th. So, a trans athlete being in the race did not have any effect on Riley Gaines at all

Grenell Rages At “Hamilton” Creators Over Pride Event

 


Murkowski Floats Leaving Republican Party [VIDEO]

 

Cassidy Realizes Vax Advisory Panelists Are Crackpots

 

Fox Host: Israel Must Carry Out More Assassinations

US Intel: Bombing Only Set Back Iran For Months

 

Fox Host Furious About Ceasefire Announcement: “Adolf Hitler Wasn’t Thrown A Lifeline” At War’s End [AUDIO]

Sen. Katie Britt: “Trump Will Win The Nobel, No Doubt”

 

 

Trump Hints US May Leave NATO Mutual Defense Pact

 

Trump Admin Seeks To Deforest 59M Public Acres

 

Parliamentarian Nixes GOP Plot To Sell Public Lands

ICE Used National Guard Troops To Raid CA Weed Farm

 

Noem: Alligator Alcatraz Will Open “At Turbo Speed”

 

McConnell: Worried About Medicaid? “Get Over It”

Trump Challenges “Stupid AOC” To Cognitive Test

WH Claims DOGE Worker “Big Balls” Has Resigned

First of all, I would like proof of this man’s “big balls.”

Second, he is a national security disaster. From his Wikipedia page:

His maternal grandfather Valery Martynov was a KGB Lieutenant Colonel executed by the Soviet Union as a double agent. After his execution his widow moved with her children, including Coristine’s mother, to the United States.

Also from Wikipedia:

Bloomberg News reported that Coristine had been fired from his internship at cybersecurity firm Path Network in 2022 for allegedly leaking internal company information to a competitor. Following his dismissal, a large collection of internal Path documents and conversations was leaked online.

The apple may not fall too far from the tree in this instance.

Reuters published a story alleging that Coristine’s online content delivery network DiamondCDN had facilitated the work of the cybercriminal group EGodly. In 2023 Egodly thanked Coristine saying “We extend our gratitude to our valued partners DiamondCDN for generously providing us with their amazing DDoS protection and caching systems, which allow us to securely host and safeguard our website,” Egodly has claimed involvement in a number of crimes including email hacking, theft of cryptocurrency, and the harassment of a former FBI agent.

This guy would never have passed any sort of normal security clearance. That this story isn’t a massive front page scandal is an indictment of the times we live in.

Miscellaneous 6/24 Stuff On 6/25

The final story is posted in full because that’s how The 19th rolls. Enjoy! -A

Bombs Over Norway by Clay Jones

But his bucket came with a Peezy Prize Read on Substack

A Ukrainian lawmaker nominated Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, and has now withdrawn it, saying he had ‘lost any sort of faith and belief” in Trump and his ability to secure a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv. The mystery here is why ever had “faith” or “beliefe” in Donald Trump in the first place?

To believe in Donald Trump, you either have to be a cultist who does not live in reality, or have previously taken a tack hammer to the head.

The Ukrainian official, Oleksandr Merezhko, said Trump is “evading—he is dodging—the need to impose sanctions on Russia.” That’s because he’s Putin’s beyotch. Has Merezhko not been paying attention all these years?

Pakistan submitted a formal recommendation for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after saying his “decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership” stopped its recent military spat with India over Kashmir. Although India stated there was no need for external mediation on the Kashmir issue, playing down Trump’s role. Factor in that India’s leader is a Trump fan.

But now, just a day after recommending TACO for the Nobel Peace Prize, it’s condemning him for attacking Iran, saying the strikes “constituted a serious violation of international law” and the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a phone call Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressed his concern that the bombings had targeted facilities that were under the safeguards of the IAEA.

Today, Georgia GOP Rep. Buddy Carter has formally nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, writing to the committee that it’s “in recognition of his extraordinary and historic role in brokering an end to the armed conflict between Israel and Iran.”

But, Buddy…you don’t negotiate peace by bombing somebody. Also, the peace deal isn’t working. Israel accused Iran of violating the deal, and Trump got upset, probably because further escalation would ruin his pretend chances of winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Also, you don’t win a Nobel Peace Prize by bombing a nation that’s never attacked you.

Trump said, “We basically — we have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.” Oh, and you do, TACO?

Buddy didn’t nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize because he believes it would be deserved. Like Pakistan and the Ukrainian guy, Buddy is using the prize to kiss Trump’s ass. Pakistan and Ukraine both turned around and said Trump doesn’t deserve it, which they already knew. Maybe they should buy him planes. Buddy, I don’t know what you want from Trump, but can you buy him a plane?

Of course, Republicans are praising Trump for a peace deal with Israel and Iran, but why? There are no conditions or terms. Neither nation has given any concessions to the other. Has Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear program? No. Even if they did, why would it be more trustworthy than the deal Obama already made with Iran that Trump destroyed, which was working? Did Israel give Iran any concessions, like maybe abandoning its nuclear program that nobody wants to talk about?

Trump’s peace treaty is like the TEMU of peace treaties. It’s going to break just as soon as you start playing with it. (snip-MORE)

=============================

NATO Making Careful Preparations To Keep Baby Trump Entertained During Tomorrow’s Big Summit by Rebecca Schoenkopf

Wouldn’t want him to get bored or stomp out and demand to go home or anything! Read on Substack

This morning, Donald Trump was angry. One would imagine that after ending all wars forever with his flawless execution of the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, he just wanted to have a nice celebratory night, while SecDef Pete Hegseth drunked and belched around the White House residence in a sexy teddy singing “Nobel Peaaaaaaace Biiiiiiiiirthday, Missssteerrrrr [HIC!] Prezzzzdinint!”

Alas.

Instead it appears Israel and Iran stopped shooting long enough to let President Dumbass get on Truth Social and declare flawless victory, before they got right back to shooting at each other. It’s gotta be tough pretending to be the leader of the free world when none of the world, free or otherwise, has any respect for your leadership. (snip-MORE, and it is good!)

==================

Roe v Wade by Ann Telnaes

Overturned three years ago today Read on Substack

With Trump’s strikes on Iran and all the other shitstorms his administration has caused, the anniversary of American women losing their reproductive rights isn’t going to get a great deal of press. Here’s just one link to what abortion bans mean for women after the Supreme Court decision. There are plenty more.

============

Inside the queer pop-up parties you’ll never want to leave

Jun 18, 2025 Tara Pixley

This story was originally reported by Tara Pixley of The 19th. Meet Tara and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

Glitter sparkles across people and surfaces, rainbow-colored acrylic nails snap in time to the Afrobeat, and boisterous cheers egg on the occasional dance floor death drop. These are moments that make up spaces created for and by queer and trans people of color (QTPOC). From Los Angeles to Philadelphia, New York City to Atlanta, queer community organizers, DJs, musicians and artists are producing monthly pop-up events that attendees and organizers say are reimagining queer liberation through collective joy. 

Events range from underground warehouse raves like Hood Rave in Los Angeles to sunlit day parties and potlucks featuring patio yoga. Regardless of format, the trappings of queer life and culture are evident everywhere you look — necklaces made of popper bottles; chest harnesses as fashion; flags; fans; cheeky political statements across nails, hats and tees. The recognition of Black and Brown queer experiences is often apparent in event titles, like New York City’s notorious Papi Juice dance party and Los Angeles’ weekly Toxica event for sapphic Latine queers. 

These parties also frequently double as advocacy work, where they highlight mutual aid campaigns, promote queer causes and spread political awareness. In recent years, DJ shouts of “Free Palestine” are frequently met with affirmative cheers from dance floors dotted with keffiyehs and watermelon imagery. QTPOC parties are also changing the tunes of gay nightlife from the pop/EDM/disco variety to a musical mix of hip-hop, trap, house, reggaeton, soca and Afrobeats. 

“Everybody is able to see themselves in the music and feel safe here,” said Terri Flamer, who attended the Soulovely prom in Oakland, California, in May. “That’s probably the best thing about it, is you’re safe to be yourself, you can party, you meet people that don’t look like you and it’s all love.”

Queer dance parties also enable the ecstatic experience of group dance, which can be understood as its own form of activism. Maya Bhardwaj, a scholar studying the global influx of such parties in the last decade, called them queer utopias that center: “healing, mental health, ancestral faith practices, queer Black and Brown music and dance traditions, and spaces for activists and cultural workers to gather beyond mainstream bars and nightlife.” Mission statements from QTPOC dance party organizations often invoke terms like “affirmation,” “celebration” and “sustaining.“ 

While queer nightlife as a space of resistance isn’t new — it has its roots in AIDS activism of the ’80s — the intersectional community building and intention brought to crafting these spaces makes the current slate of QTPOC parties feel fresh. Often exclusionary White male gay spaces are frequently the only options for LGTBQ+ nightlife, and the pop-up event has become a go-to to address a lack of gatherings that feel welcoming to QTPOC folks.

There’s this sense of pain shared among QTBIPOC […] and therefore the joy that is experienced at these parties feels more necessary, more dire and more of a relief.”Nicole Prucha

Pop-up spaces provide “a feeling of safety in being able to trust that the people who are there have experienced or understand what it is like to be othered, in a sense apart from our sexuality,” said performance studies scholar Nicole Prucha about her experience attending Los Angeles QTPOC parties. As a queer Arab person who has often struggled to find places where she feels truly seen, Prucha said parties like Casual, Hot Pot and its sister event HabibiPot fill a vital need for queer people of color: “A place of refuge and queer world-building” at a time when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack.

The dance floor is reflected in Terri Flamer's sunglasses.
Terri Flamer attends Soulovely’s prom, held in the 14th season of Oakland’s QTPOC-centered monthly party. (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

Event organizers are often working with limited resources amid challenging financial situations. Five queer BIPOC coordinators — Kike Ayorinde, Camryn Casey, Madi Dalton, dRi Guillén and Leslie Tellería — produce community-funded Lavender Evolutions (LE) events in D.C., and the ticket sales for each event contribute to the next event. In a collective statement, the organizers shared that they are largely unpaid but, “We do give core organizers small payments to cover things like gas, food during events, and the many hours of labor leading up to an event.” The LE organizers acknowledge that “money is a huge barrier and we could always use more of it, but for us, it’s more important that we have events that are financially accessible.” 

They keep ticket prices below $25 to achieve that aim but struggle with the financial load of creating these pop-up spaces. The organizers say they are often unable to meet the market rates of DJs and other collaborators due to tight budgets, while logistical support frequently comes from community members willing to volunteer their time to assist with check-in and ticketing. Another challenge they face is making their work in building queer community attractive to funders. “Grant makers don’t always understand the scope of the work that we do and why it’s so important, especially in this moment,” organizers said.

Despite the challenges, organizers said the work is worthwhile. “We do experience burnout but we rely heavily on the collective,” the organizers said. “More than anything, we prioritize people. For our core organizers, it’s a delicate balance because our time and energy is limited. We’re all balancing our full-time jobs, life and Lavender, but the love of community keeps us going.”

They need us, we need them. It’s not always about the bottom dollar, sometimes it’s about building community and the dollars come after.Sgt. Die Wies

The 19th sent photographers to queer pop-up parties and events in Oakland, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta to show these spaces of radical queer joy in action and highlight the work that queer organizers are doing to build QTPOC community across the country. 


OAKLAND

Soulovely has brought QTPOC-centered “cultural affairs” to the Bay Area for 14 years

A group of people hold onto each other in front of a sign saying Soulovely.
Many attendees of Soulovely’s prom said it was a first for them, providing queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) an opportunity to attend a prom in a safe and community-based setting. (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

Soulovely is a beloved and long-lasting pillar of queer life in the Bay Area. Since 2011, its monthly events have served as a safe haven for a predominantly BIPOC queer community to celebrate their identities and bodies through music and dance. “I actually just found out that a loved one passed. So coming here was kind of like in honor of them as well, because they love to dance, I love to dance, we met out dancing — it brings people together,” said Mello-Jahlil Travis, who attended Soulovely in May.

A portrait of a woman wearing a white hat and dress.
Burlesque producer and performer Sgt. Die Wies attended the Soulovely queer prom on May 11 and says she thinks the space provides an opportunity to be “solution-based versus just focusing on the negativity. “ (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

Attendees and organizers both are often quick to point out these spaces are not about excluding White, straight or otherwise non-QTPOC people. Rather they are about radical inclusion and belonging. Sgt. Die Wies, a burlesque producer and performer who attended the Soulovely queer prom in May, said that the party is all ages with a variety of ethnicities coming out to be together:“It’s beautiful to see because there’s so much division in the world right now.”

A person sits on a chair framed by a doorway.
Mello-Jahlil Travis (they/them) said the Soulovely Prom gave them an opportunity to have a different prom experience. “I’m stoked to be here amongst other beautiful queer people. It’s important to be able to see people who look like you be themselves and feel free. There’s not everywhere that I feel like I can have my nails painted and dress like this. It’s dope to be around people who can receive that.” (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

While all are welcome, Jaycee Chang especially appreciates the way Soulovely centers queer and trans people of color. “It is both a space of joy and being a community but also, it’s a relatively politicized space where they’re very intentional about the artists that they bring in, the DJs, the themes,” Chang said.

And that can even extend to their families.

“One of the DJs who helped host HabibiPot [in Los Angeles], her mom was there to watch her first DJ set and she played Arab classics that my own mom had introduced me to,” Prucha said. “They’re both Palestinian, and her mom was there, standing on the tables with the rest of us, and she was crying because she was so happy that her daughter was there and had found community.”

A couple holds each other close for a portrait.
Tiara Reed (left) met her now-fiancée Chenelle Reed (right) at a Soulovely event and said “it’s so significant to have spaces where unapologetic joy and levity and freedom are welcome and everyone can just bask in it.” (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

These spaces also provide opportunities for LGBTQ+ people to meet each other beyond dating apps. A 2020 Pew Research Center study reported that lesbian, gay and bisexual people were both more likely to use online dating and more likely to experience harassment through dating apps than their straight counterparts. 

Soulovely is always part of our story.”Chenelle Reed

Ahn Lee feels safe at Soulovely parties because harassment is far less likely. “I feel like no one’s gonna try to come at me in a way that doesn’t feel comfortable,” Lee said.

Several partygoers laugh and dance against a colorful mural backdrop.
Since 2011, Soulovely events have provided a safe haven for the queer BIPOC community in the Bay Area. (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

And for others, like Tiara Reed and Chenelle Reed, Soulovely has become a character in their love story. Reflecting on the experience of meeting her now-fiancée, Tiara, at Soulovely and their future together, Chenelle said, “It’s going to be absolutely beautiful, because we have places like this … where you can connect and learn that anything is possible, family in all the ways is possible.”

A couple holds each other close and one kisses the cheek of the other.
Jaycee Chang (they/them, right) with their partner Ahn Lee (she/they, left), has been coming to Soulovely for over a decade. Chang said: “Even when the world is chaotic and there’s a lot of harm happening, we can come together as a community and create spaces that feel like refuge, like safety.” (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

ATLANTA

Southern Fried Queer Pride builds QTPOC community through education and embodied healing

Grassroots collective Southern Fried Queer Pride (SFQP) — now in its 11th year — focuses its events toward “artivism” with a stated mission to fight narratives that confine Southern LGTBQ+ people to “stigma, statistics and struggle” instead aiming to uplift an “honest narrative of resilience, rich history and vibrance.” SFQP offers year-round programming, typically providing between 40 to 60 events that feature community education — like the upcoming trans health care workshop — as well as gallery shows, marches and dance parties, such as its June trans cabaret and open mic.

Two people hug each other against a backdrop of books and plants.
Maya Wiseman (left) and Magdalena (right) have both volunteered for SFQP for years and say organization offers a space of respite and community connection for them. (Piera Moore for The 19th)

Community organizer Maya Wiseman said the May 18 SFQP Community Potluck was an alcohol-free and masks-required event to further expand on their inclusiveness, which has become a hallmark of SFQP events. “Queer folks have been marginalized throughout time, but often queer folks, whether they know it or not, naturally end up creating safe spaces for everyone,” said Wiseman, who has worked with SFQP as a community organizer for six years. “We try to create spaces that say ‘come as you are,’ because we’re not having this at a club. If you want to come here in pajamas, in a tank top and shorts, it’s fine with us.”

Several people lay on yoga mats on the floor.
Southern Fried Queer Pride offered yoga at its May 18 community potluck in Atlanta. (Piera Moore for The 19th)

Atlanta’s queer community is very easy to navigate, and SFQP is a big reason why.”Magdalena


WASHINGTON, D.C.

Lavender Evolutions and Alphabet Soup make space for QTPOC joy at summer day parties

A group of people pose for the camera in swimwear.
Alphabet Soup Events uses a tiered ticket pricing system that recognizes the systemic financial issues queer and trans people of color face to increase racial diversity across its attendees. (Mariah Miranda for The 19th)

While not explicitly centering QTPOC, Alphabet Soup events, like the recent Daisy Dykes pool party, are “sapphic-focused” and find other ways to make their events inclusive and accessible for queer people of color. Tickets are available at different price tiers, with some lower-cost tickets allotted for BIPOC attendees. 

Closeup of a couple kissing on the dance floor.
A couple dances together at a pool party by Alphabet Soup Events. (Mariah Miranda for The 19th)

Adu Ogbagiorgis has witnessed a big shift in the racial makeup of Alphabet Soup parties after the organizer started this pricing practice, which they see as a welcome recognition that “Black queers have a different experience than White queers.” For Ogbagiorgis, this approach to ticketing shows they want people of color to come to the events. “So it’s really awesome to see that a lot of more predominantly White spaces are making space for Black queers,” they said.

Mackenzie Bolden said they can be themselves at Alphabet Soup events. “I feel like I can just embrace my skin, embrace my personality, embrace my queerness, embrace everything that is me. And that’s something I treasure and will never take for granted because of how often I don’t feel that way.”

A group of people surround two people shooting water guns at someone.
Lavender Evolution’s SWEAT party featured a wet t-shirt contest at on June 8 in D.C. (Mariah Miranda for The 19th)

Lavender Evolutions hosted a daytime beer garden pop-up called SWEAT on June 8 that featured a wet T-shirt contest, a water balloon toss and little cabanas filled with the sounds of multiple kikis. 

A person with blue hair fans themself while wearing a leather harness the same shade as their hair.
Ciara Bridges whips out their fan while attending Lavender Evolution’s SWEAT party in D.C. on June 8. (Mariah Miranda for The 19th)

Jojo Morinvil, who attended the SWEAT party, deeply values the way Lavender Evolutions has been intentional in their creation of space for queer BIPOC people to enjoy themselves. “They started out doing nature walks and book [clubs], then, as they grew, they really created safer spaces for folks to socialize, to get to know people and learn queer history, [along with] events where you can dance and party with your friends,” Morinvil said. 

Several people slow dance as the sun sets.
Couples and friends slow dance at Soulovely’s queer prom in Oakland on May 11. (Manuel Orbegozo for The 19th)

I truly believe that being whimsical will crush the patriarchy.”Sgt. Die Wies

Sgt. Die Wies points to the unabashed vibrance, love and joy experienced at parties like Soulovely as “things (that) are going to just crush the darkness. We’ve survived harder times than this. We’ve been bullied before. They ain’t got shit on us. There’s too many of us. There’s too much light and too much love and too much joy. We’ll be okay.”

Mariah Miranda, Piera Moore and Manuel Orbegozo contributed reporting. 

Some good, bad, and really ugly news from Joe My God.

Trump Loses Yet Another Round Against Harvard

Senate Parliamentarian Nixes GOP’s Food Stamps Plot

 

Senate Parliamentarian Nixes Limits On Suing Trump

Hawley: Medicaid Cuts Present “Nightmare Scenario”

Dodgers Donate $1M To Families Impacted By ICE

 

Trump Reverses Again On ICE Raids At Farms: I Don’t Want To Hurt Our Farmers, They Keep Us Happy And Fat

 

Trump Demands Special Prosecutor Over 2020 Election

 

GOP Rep. Randy Fine Compares Mamdani To Iranian Supreme Leader: He’ll Turn NYC Into Shiite Caliphate

“Zohran Mamdani would do to New York City what Khomeini and Khamenei did to Tehran,” Fine said. “We cannot let radical Muslims turn America into a Shiite caliphate.”

 

HHS Threatens To Defund California Over Sex Ed

Perkins: If We Don’t Attack Iran, God Will Smite USA

Loomer: You’re Not MAGA If You Don’t Hate Muslims

Vance Mocks Sen. Alex Padilla By Calling Him “Jose”

So much for saving government money which they all claimed while shredding our government with the illegal doge.   Hugs

Megabill Would Trash $10B In New USPS Electric Trucks

The proposal is unlikely to generate much revenue for the government; there is almost no private-sector interest in the mail trucks, and used EV charging equipment — built specifically for the Postal Service and already installed in postal facilities — generally cannot be resold.

“The funds realized by auctioning the vehicles and infrastructure would be negligible. Much of infrastructure is literally buried under parking lots, and there is no market for used charging equipment,” Peter Pastre, the Postal Service’s vice president for government relations and public policy, wrote to senators this month.

Read the full article. $10 billion into the sewer to please their Glorious Leader. Something something DOGE.

 

ICE Is Beating Up Pregnant Women Now

Republicans uncover no new intel on Biden during hearing on his cognitive abilities in office

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republicans-uncover-new-intel-biden-hearing-cognitive-abilities/story?id=122971024

Democrats boycotted the hearing — with some walking out once it began.

June 18, 2025, 2:35 PM

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday digging into the cognitive abilities of former President Joe Biden and claims of whether his aides helped what they say was a cover up of his alleged mental decline — claims the former president and many on his staff have denied.

The probe didn’t uncover any new information on the former president — with Democratic members of the subcommittee boycotting the hearing.

Democratic senators on the committee walked out of the hearing shortly after it began, with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin blasting the panel for even holding the hearing, while he says a number of timely investigations should be going on related to President Donald Trump’s current actions.

“So far this year, the Republican majority on this committee has not held a single oversight hearing, despite numerous critical challenges facing the nation that are under our jurisdiction,” Durbin said.

The GOP panel repeatedly accused Democrats — and the media — of concealing the former president’s alleged real health conditions in order to prevent Trump’s 2024 victory.

“Today’s hearing is about competency, corruption and cover up within the Biden administration. Simply put, the last administration was rudderless from one crisis to another. The Biden Administration failed and folded. The partisan media did their best to cover up those failures,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley claimed.

PHOTO: Sean Spicer listens to questioning during Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearings on how the Biden Cover-Up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution in the Dirksen Senate office building in Washington, DC, June 18, 2025.
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer listens to questioning during Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearings on how the Biden Cover-Up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution in the Dirksen Senate office building in Washington, DC, June 18, 2025.
Mattie Neretin/Sipa USA via AP

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who was among the witnesses, compared his time working under Trump in his first term to his observations of Biden, praising Trump’s energy and mental focus. Spicer never worked for the Biden administration.

Spicer also criticized “legacy media” for questions raised about Trump’s fitness for office in his first term, while he claims they were not questioning Biden the same way.

“Many, rightly so, believe the media in this country is culpable in covering up the obvious decline of the 46th president and leaders of the free world — the president of the United States. The scrutiny that was baselessly directed at President Trump during his first term was wholly absent from the media coverage of the Biden White House,” Spicer claimed.

Republicans on the committee also focused on Trump — saying he is in command and makes skillful decisions.

“The public is counting on us to ensure this never happens again, because we won’t always be fortunate enough to have a leader like President Trump, who is so unmistakably in command,” Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt said.

Joe Biden speaks during a conference of the Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) at the Sofitel Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, on April 15, 2025.
Tannen Maury/AFP via Getty Images

In May, Senate Republicans announced their plans to launch the probe into Biden’s mental fitness while in office — including his use of autopen, a mechanical device to automatically add a signature to a document that’s been utilized by several past presidents, including Trump in his first term.

The hearing also comes after Trump earlier this month ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether Biden’s administration sought to conspire to cover up his alleged mental state while in office. The move by the White House represents a significant escalation, as it is a directive to the Justice Department to formally investigate.

Biden responded to the Trump order, saying “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency.”

“I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden said in a statement.

In May, House Oversight Chairman James Comer requested Biden’s White House physician, Kevin O’Connor, appear for a transcribed interview as part of an investigation into Biden’s mental fitness and use of a presidential autopen while in office. Comer asked O’Connor to sit for an interview on June 25.

PHOTO: Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the alleged cover up of former President Joe Biden's alleged incapacity to serve
Sean Spicer, Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow for Law and Technology Theodore Wold, and University of Virginia Law Professor John Harrison testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the alleged cover up of former President Joe Biden’s alleged incapacity to serve on Capitol Hill June 18, 2025.
Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP

The calls for the probes into Biden also come after the recent release of “Original Sin” by CNN host Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, claiming the Bidens had a “capacity for denial and the lengths they would go to avoid transparency about health issues.”

In response to the book’s release, a Biden spokesman said “there is nothing in this book that shows Joe Biden failed to do his job, as the authors have alleged, nor did they prove their allegation that there was a cover up or conspiracy.”

On Wednesday morning, Trump — who often criticizes Biden — lambasted the former president’s use of autopen and claimed that Biden didn’t have control while leading the country.

“All these people, all the scum that was around the Oval, you know, the Oval Office, or around the beautiful Resolute desk, telling this guy here, ‘Do this,’ ‘Do that,’ and not even tell him. They just go over to the autopen and sign whatever the hell they wanted to sign,” he said.

Trump claimed that it was aides who were making decisions for Biden — employing the autopen to carry out an agenda.

“He wasn’t for open borders, he wasn’t for transgender for everybody. He wasn’t for men playing in women’s sports. But he has no idea what the hell — he has no idea,” Trump claimed.

A big difference

Dimming The Glimmer

(Only yesterday, there was a glimmer of hope. Now, the step forward has gone backward on another aspect.)

The Best Way To Learn About Autistic Pride Is To Learn It From Autistic People

That’s a thing I began learning during my years working in schools, but I’ve really picked up a great deal more from fellow blogger Barry. Here is his Autistic Pride Day blog post!

My day and cooking to feel better

As some may already know I have been struggling recently.  Hopefully soon things will get better.  But some of the problems are my eyesight, Ron being in NH, the van has a tire that is leaking air badly, other issues like the house renovations leaving the bathrooms torn up and two rooms unusable, also I am hurting, tired, and I noticed recently I was getting depressed over everything. 

Yesterday I had an appointment with my pain doctor.  I have to by Florida law see them every two months.  It used to be 3 months but the people in the state legislature felt poor people needed pain help should pay for more frequent visits and jump through ever stringent and needless requirements.  I filled the tire with air, went to the appointment, my back muscles were so spasmed that I needed 12 shoots into the muscles on both sides of my spine from my shoulders down to my butt cheeks.  The muscles were so hard the provider struggled to get the needle in and each shot hurt a lot. 

I left the office and had to fill the tire with air.  It had gone from 36 psi to 20.  Thankfully I took the small battery operated compressor with me.  But lifting it from the passenger side of the van then carrying it to the driver’s front tire, kneeling to fill the tire, then carrying it back was enough to cause me so much pain I was crying.  I drove went quickly to the store next to our home, got the stuff to make the sauce, and drove home.  I again had to fill the tire back to 36. 

I was so down I sat here in my Pink Palace office and broke down.  Then after a while I decided I needed to break these feelings so I dried my eyes and started to cook.  I made short videos of it as I went along.  I had no plan for the recordings and just stumbled my way through them.  I knew that I had to keep them short as before I tried to email them to WordPress and they were too large of a file.  But I figured out I can hook my phone to my computer and transfer the files to the computer and then to WordPress.  So the videos are not great, I made verbal mistakes and I repeated some of the same things I already said without realizing it.   I start out rather shaky, but as I went along I felt a lot better.  The sauce came out great.  I used the rest of the peppers and the celery, but did not add more onion.  Not a fan of strong onion flavor.  So I combined them into a short video to post here.   

My plan this morning is to go for a walk, fill the tire go to the vet and get the cat medications, come home and rest / blog.  Tomorrow I will take the van to a nearby tire shop and see what the issue is with the tire.  Thanks for reading and maybe watching the video.  As always comments are welcome.  I wish I could share the sauce.  I sure made enough.  Hugs

 

Doctors Debunk RFK’s New Lies After Fox Appearance

Doctors Debunk RFK’s New Lies After Fox Appearance

June 14, 2025

The Advance reports:

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, ousted the 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) earlier this week in a stunning move that shocked medical experts. He defended his action in an interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, claiming that “97% of the people on the committee had conflicts of interest.”

He repeated falsehoods about vaccines that were immediately fact checked by doctors on social media platform X. He falsely claimed there were between 69 and 92 mandatory vaccines in the U.S. today and that most of the vaccines, excluding the COVID-19 vaccine, had not gone through safety tests.

“So nobody has any idea what the risk profiles are on these products, and we don’t know whether they have anything to do with the epidemic of chronic disease,” Kennedy said, presenting no evidence for his claims.

Read the full article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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