Tag: Justice

Some Clay Jones Work

National Guarding Caitlin by Clay Jones

Shut up and dribble Read on Substack

An appeals court is allowing Donald Trump to retain control of the California National Guard.

A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Trump “probably” acted within his authority, and added that his administration “probably” complied with the requirement to coordinate with Governor Gavin Newsom, and even if it did not, he had no authority to veto Trump’s directive.

The panel, with two Trump-appointed judges and one Biden-appointed judge, is using “probably” a lot in their ruling. That’s probably a bunch of bullshit.

The law sets out three conditions that a president can federalize state National Guard forces; an invasion (which isn’t happening here), a “rebellion or danger of a rebellion” against the government (which isn’t happening here), or a situation in which the U.S. government is unable with regular forces to execute the country’s laws (another thing not happening here).

The appeals court said the final condition had probably been met because protesters hurled items at immigration authorities’ vehicles, used trash dumpsters as battering rams, threw Molotov cocktails, and vandalized property, frustrating law enforcement. There was that probably again. What about the cops shooting reporters? Which cop agency is enforcing that?

Yet, the governor never called the president (sic) to say that Los Angeles or California couldn’t execute the nation’s laws because ICE agents were having items thrown at them. And lately, ICE and Trump have been breaking more laws than protesters. Can we deploy a state’s National Guard to enforce laws on Trump?

The courts need to factor in that Trump deployed the National Guard to fight Californians. (snip-MORE, including Caitlin Clark)

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

Isn’t It Ironic? by Clay Jones

Don’t ya think? Read on Substack

I was admiring the view from my buddy’s backyard late yesterday afternoon when a hawk, or some kind of bird of prey, almost flew into my head. What?

The backyard overlooks a ravine. So the hawk was flying as usual, but his height decreased as he approached the hill, him not approaching the ground but the ground coming to him, and the next thing you know, he comes closer to objects on the ground, in this case, me. Bear with me, I’m making a point.

This did not happen on Tuesday, but it did happen yesterday, which was Wednesday (there may be some MAGAts reading, and they probably can’t figure out how a calendar works). What I’m telling you is that yesterday, there was a 100 percent increase in hawks nearly flying into my head.

Of course, I’m exaggerating. While the hawk did make me jump as it came from behind, it was probably about 15 to 20 feet away. Still, it was at my head level, though it wasn’t ever about to slam into me. I still jumped, but my point remains.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security have both claimed multiple times since May that there’s been a 413 percent increase in assaults against their agents to justify their wearing of masks to conceal their identities.

OK, DHS and ICE…since when? Since Trump took over the White House? I mean, gosh and golly gee wilikens, 413 percent is a lot. That is huge, right? You would think with such a huge increase in assaults that we’d hear more about it, especially since ICE agents are such huge victimized crybabies.

What action justifies being classified as an assault? I mean, if it’s the action New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Landers committed when ICE illegally arrested him, then it’s not really much of an assault. When I was a kid, my mother used to threaten to beat me with a wet noodle. That threat of an “assault” never really scared me, and I was afraid of everything. The three things I was afraid of the most were sharks, tornadoes (before we even had Sharknadoes), and my mother. If you beat an ICE agent with a wet noodle, Kristi Noem would probably call it an assault.

I would have to know what kind of noodle would classify as an assault, only if it’s wet, of course. Would it have to be a spaghetti noodle, a linguine noodle, or a cork screw noodle? How about one of those Asian flat noodles? Maybe that could do some damage.

In a column for The Washington Post, Phillip Bump wrote, “That ICE uses a percentage is telling. A 413 percent increase could mean that the number of assaults went from 200 in 2024 to 1,026 in 2025 — or that it went from eight to 41.” Bump points out, “But there’s a big difference between an increase of 826 assaults and an increase of 33 — especially if some of those ‘assaults’ are of the Lander variety.”

If the assaults are of the Lander variety, then DHS and ICE are lying about the assaults. Also, if the assault by Landers was so bad, then why did ICE drop the charges, including assault, against him? (snip-MORE)

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!

Urgent Breaking News by gene weingarten

Special to The Washington Pist from The Washington Ghost Read on Substack

Hello. Today…

… is proud to re-publish, here, an unsigned parody newspaper that showed up on the streets around The Post building today, tucked under windshield wipers, etc. It’s four pages. That is the front page above, top and bottom, and the back page. It appears to be generated by Brits — they use the word “lorries” and “toilet rolls” — and is about Jeff Bezos’s revoltingly, ostentatiously tone-deafedly expensive upcoming marriage in Venice to the generously bodiced Lauren Sanchez at a time when his Post is drastically contracting its operation and jettisoning sections to save money, and when his overworked Amazon employees earn peanuts and have to pee in jars to meet their quotas.

That’s really all I have to report. Whoever is responsible for it is clearly a journalist and clearly paid quite a bit to produce it. It is very worth reading.

More stuff tomorrow.

—

Gene Pool Gene Poll: (snip-Go Vote! Click above on “Read On Substack”.)

Peace & Justice History for 6/20

June 20, 1960
Nobel Prize-winner in Chemistry Linus Pauling [for study of the nature of the chemical bond and the determination of the structure of molecules and crystals] defied the U.S. Congress by refusing to name circulators of petitions calling for the total halt of nuclear weapons testing. Pauling later won a second Nobel, a Peace Prize, for his work championing nuclear disarmament.

Linus Pauling
Interview with Linus Pauling on the peace movement, 1983
June 20, 1965
Hundreds protested following a military coup in Algiers, the capital of Algeria. The military, under chief of the armed forces Colonel Houari Boumedienne and his National Revolutionary Council, had deposed President Ahmed Ben Bella, the first president of an independent Algeria (following the withdrawal of French colonial control).
On the news at the time 
June 20, 1967
Boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston, Texas, of violating the Selective Service law by refusing induction into the U.S. Army (during the Vietnam War). The World Heavyweight Champion had claimed conscientious objector status on the basis that he was a Muslim minister. The conviction, for which Ali was sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, was later overturned by the Supreme Court.

“I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.”
June 20, 1982
2500 were arrested during a two-day blockade of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, about 50 miles east of San Francisco, the principal American nuclear weapons research facility, operated by the University of California.
June 20, 1995
Shell Oil gave in to international pressure and abandoned its plans to dispose of the Brent Spar oil-drilling platform and its contents into the North Atlantic. The environmental group Greenpeace spearheaded the effort to prevent Shell from sinking the rig, its members boarding and occupying it as a tactic to stop the deep sea disposal, and to call attention to the issue peacefully.
Shell’s plan would have dumped toxic and radioactive sludge into the ocean just west of the British Isles. A month later, at the Oslo and Paris Commission (OSPARCOM) meeting, 11 out of 13 countries agreed to a moratorium on the “dumping” of offshore installations, pending agreement on an outright ban.
Greenpeace climbers on Brent Spar platform

Shell ships use water cannons against Greenpeace activists on board the rig.
Read more about Greenpeace and Brent Spar
June 20, 2002
The U.S. Supreme Court declared executing mentally retarded individuals convicted of capital crimes to be unconstitutionally cruel [Atkins v. Virginia]. Besides being in line with a consensus among state legislatures, the court found that “Their deficiencies [the mentally retarded] do not warrant an exemption from criminal sanctions, but diminish their personal culpability.”

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjune.htm#june20

No Answer Does Not Exonerate

Juneteenth & More, in Peace & Justice History for 6/19

June 19, 1865

Known among African Americans as Juneteenth (also Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, or Emancipation Day), this is the day enslaved people in Texas and parts of Louisiana learned they had been freed by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. 
U.S. Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas, and announced the order that the slaves had been freed. This was two-and-a-half years after the Proclamation had taken effect January 1, 1863. It had stated, “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious (Confederate) states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” This had been kept from the slaves so the slaveowners could reap additional harvests, or because there weren’t enough Union soldiers to enforce the order until Granger arrived, but Juneteenth is the celebration of that day….
A Junetheenth celebration Richmond. Photo from Library of Congress (maybe 1921)
Learn More About Juneteenth?  New York Times
“Black Joy—Not Corporate Acknowledgment—Is the Heart of Juneteenth”  The Atlantic
June 19, 1964

Two hundred college students left Oxford, Ohio’s Western College for Women to join hundreds of other civil rights volunteers in Mississippi as part of “Freedom Summer.”
Under the umbrella organization of COFO(Council of Federated Organizations) they worked on projects across the state.Led by SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) and CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) field secretaries, they helped Negroes try to register to vote, they taught in Freedom Schools, participated in community organizing and, in doing so, endured the hostility toward civil rights work among whites in the deep South. “If we can crack Mississippi,” the students said, “we can crack segregation anywhere.”

Mississippi Freedom Summer Volunteers singing We Shall Overcome, 1964<
Student protestors are photographed by a policeman on Freedom Day in Greenwood, Mississippi in 1964.

ROBERT MOSES, director of the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project and leader of the training program in Oxford, is shown here during a break in a session which he conducted in Jackson, Mississippi, to prepare African-Americans for politically effective action.
more photos 
Good background on the need for a “Freedom Summer” 
June 19, 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate. The new law, initiated and passed through the determination of President Lyndon Johnson and Senate Republican leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois, guaranteed for the first time equal access to public accommodations “without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.”

Massive demonstrations a year earlier ensured passage of the Acts
The Senate had never before voted to end the filibuster of a civil rights bill, all of which were consistently opposed by the bloc of senators from the South. Following Senator Robert Byrd’s (D-West Virginia) 14+ hour-long speech, Senator Dirksen rose to speak, “We dare not temporize with the issue which is before us. It is essentially moral in character. It must be resolved. It will not go away. Its time has come.”

About the Civil Rights Act 
June 19, 1982
One thousand landowners occupied key islands in protest against French nuclear weapons tests at Kwajalein Atoll.The atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, is about 2100 miles [3400 km] southwest of Hawaii and 1400 miles [2250 km] east of Guam. The island is now home to USAKA (United States Army Kwajalein Atoll), the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, and about 2000 support personnel and family members on Kwajalein and the islands Roi and Namur.

Kwajalein Atoll
Struggles of Pacific Islanders to stop nuclear testing 
June 19, 1987
U.S. Supreme Court ruled teaching of creationism in public schools to be a violation of the U.S. constitution’s prohibition on establishment of religion by the government [Edwards v. Aguillard]. Students, parents and teachers had contested the Louisiana “Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction” law (Creationism Act). It required schools that taught evolution to also teach creation science. “The preeminent purpose of the Louisiana Legislature was clearly to advance the religious viewpoint that a supernatural being created humankind,” concluded Justice William Brennan in his majority opinion.
(I’m inserting this, because it’s not yet made it into the newsletter. -A)
June 17, 2021 (for June 19)
President Joe Biden declared Juneteenth a national holiday. Read a bit about the significance here, from the National Museum of African American History & Culture:
“This year marks the second anniversary since President Joe Biden named Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.
“As more Americans celebrate Juneteenth with family and community, it is vital to share the important historical legacy behind Juneteenth and recognize the long struggle to make it an officially recognized holiday. It is an opportunity to honor our country’s second Independence Day and reflect on our shared history and future. 
“The origins of Juneteenth date to June 1865. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and the Confederate army surrendered to the Union army in April 1865, enslaved people in Texas — the westernmost Confederate state — could not exercise their freedom until June 19, 1865. ‘On that date, Union General Gordon Granger led some 2,000 Union troops, many of whom were Black, into Galveston Bay, where they announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as ‘Juneteenth,’ deriving its name from combining ‘June’ and ‘nineteenth.’” 
Read More

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjune.htm#june19

Clay Jones, Open Windows

In the driver’s seat by Ann Telnaes

Trump changes direction on farm and hotel workers Read on Substack

Stephen Miller makes sure his vision for rounding up immigrants without due process continues.

(Meant to add this extra image- the thumbnail ideas in my sketchbook):

=====

The Peace Grifter by Clay Jones

Can you grift me now? Read on Substack

Here’s a fun fact: Between the 2024 presidential election and the inauguration on January 21, 2025, the Trump Store launched at least 168 new products. One product would have been weird.

This isn’t just a way to grift your supporters, but also to take bribes. The Trump Store isn’t run by the Trump Campaign, but by the Trump Organization. All the profits go directly to Donald Trump. These 168 products are in addition to the products launched before the election, like Trump Watches, Trump Shoes, Trump Bible, etc, etc. Now, we’re going to get Trump Mobile. I, for one, expect future commercials to be made even cheaper than those featuring Ryan Reynolds for Mint Mobile.

Trump Mobile will sell a gold (fake) cell phone for $500. Check it out. (snip-MORE)

Warrantless Goons by Clay Jones

The regime is arresting Democrats Read on Substack

They did it again. The goons have arrested a Democratic politician for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was just last week when California Senator Alex Padilla was tackled and handcuffed in a federal building in Los Angeles during a press conference held by Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The excuses for handcuffing the senator have been lies and bullshit.

They said he “barged” into the press conference. He was escorted in by the FBI and the National Guard, which is not “barging.” The so-called barging is not on any of the videos I have seen.

They said he “lunged” toward Kristi Noem, but you don’t see that on any of the videos either. You just see the Secret Service grabbing him. Kristi Noem carries on speaking while the SS is grabbing the senator and dragging him out of the room. If she was “lunged” at, she didn’t seem to be rattled by it.

They say he took off his Senate pin. Even if this is true, so what? It’s not a factor, especially since he identified himself.

They say he didn’t identify himself. Look at the tapes. He identified himself multiple times. (snip-MORE)

It’s Still PRIDE Month! Here’s Peace & Justice History for 6/18. Now Have Some Big Fun!

June 18, 1571
King Sebastian of Portugal enacted penalties for violation of censorship legislation. The fines could be as much as a quarter or half of the violator’s legal possessions, plus the threat of exile to Brazil or an African colony. Death sentences were also not uncommon. Seized books were burned and burnings were supervised by Roman Catholic priests.
June 18, 1840
The Oberlin Non-Resistance Society was formed at the Ohio college by students who believed “that the Gospel of Jesus Christ inculcates the duty of peace and good-will.” They were inspired by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison’s New England group of similar name.
They rejected all use of violence even in the name of duty to country. “We must submit to the ‘powers that be,’ and ‘obey magistrates,’ except when their requirements conflict with God’s laws; when we are meekly to endure the penalty of disobedience ‘threatening them not.’ ”
Though denounced by the faculty and ignored by the student newspaper, the group was among the first in a succession of peace- and justice-oriented organizations begun at Oberlin.
Oberlin’s peaceful tradition 
June 18, 1941
Less than two weeks before a scheduled march on Washington, its chief organizer, (Asa) A. Philip Randolph, was invited to the White House by President Franklin Roosevelt. Randolph was the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful black trade union. He, along with activist and singer Bayard Rustin, had issued a “Call to Negro America to March on Washington for Jobs and Equal Participation in National Defense on July 1, 1941.”

Roosevelt was wary of the prospect of such a demonstration and desirous of developing support for a war effort. Randolph told Roosevelt he would abandon the march plans only if the president would stop job discrimination in both the defense industry and the government. Before the end of the month, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which barred government contractors from discriminating in hiring on the basis of race, color, creed or national origin.

A. Philip Randolph and Eleanor Roosevelt
The order, sometimes called a second emancipation proclamation, was the federal government’s most significant action on behalf of the rights of African Americans since post-Civil War reconstruction of the 1870s.
June 18, 1948
A United Nations commission approved and recommended to the General Assembly an International Declaration of Human Rights, recognizing that “the inherent dignity and . . . the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world . . . .”
Text of the Declaration:  . . .
June 18, 1970
The U.S. Congress passed the 26th amendment to the constitution, lowering the voting age to 18 for all elections—federal, state and local. The amendment went into effect just 100 days later after 38 state legislatures had ratified the amendment.
June 18, 1979
SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), an agreement to put limits on both America’s and the Soviet Union’s long-range missiles and bombers, was signed by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev. This was the first arms-reduction treaty between the two superpowers. It was signed despite the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the previous year.

Read more on SALT II’s control of weapons of mass destruction 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjune.htm#june18

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!

Autistic Pride Day 2025: A Celebration of Worthiness, Not Superiority

Well, I Suppose They Made An Effort? + More In Republican Prejudice

Tell-It Report: Army Renames Fort Lee After a Black Soldier to Maintain Confederate Fiction by Michael Harriot

Barred from using the names of Confederate soldiers, the Trump administration “restores” the names of seven military bases that once honored the losers of the Civil War. Read on Substack

In Gullah Geechee communities, a “tell-it” was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention — from politics to entertainment.

President Donald Trump has reinstated the names of Army bases that once honored Confederate leaders. But, contrary to what he announced, Fort Lee won’t be named after Robert E. Lee, but a Black soldier named Fitz Lee.

Trump’s recent travel ban is preventing Haitian children scheduled to undergo heart surgery from traveling to the United States for their life-changing procedures.

The Grammys are adding a “traditional country” category just months after Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” earned her Country Album of the Year.

Read the full stories below:

Trump renames Fort Lee after a Black soldier because he can’t use Robert E. Lee

Continuing President Trump’s efforts to remove diversity measures enacted by his predecessor, the Army announced it was reverting to the original names of seven bases whose names were changed in 2023 because they honored Confederate leaders. Despite his statement on Tuesday in which Trump said one base would be restored to Fort Robert E. Lee, it will not actually honor the Confederate general who led the fight to keep slavery legal.

Instead, Fort Lee in Prince George’s County will be named after a Black soldier, Pvt. Fitz Lee, the New York Times reports.

In 2023, the Biden administration renamed the bases honoring Confederate leaders. Fort Lee then became Fort Gregg-Adams to honor two Black leaders, Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams. By law, names of Confederate soldiers can’t be used on military bases, hence the bait and switch.

Lee was a Buffalo soldier who fought in the Spanish-American War. Born in Virginia, he received the Medal of Honor in 1899 for risking his life to save wounded comrades in Cuba. Shortly after the mission, he suffered from vision loss, swollen limbs and abdominal pain stemming from kidney disease. He died at age 33.

Though the bases’ original names are back, like Fort Lee, they will not honor Confederate leaders. Instead, they will be named after the soldiers “who served in conflicts ranging from the Civil War to the Battle of Mogadishu,” the Army announced in a statement on Tuesday. No women are honored in the rebrand.

Along with the newly dubbed Fort Lee, bases included in the change are Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Polk, Fort Rucker and Fort A.P. Hill. Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth changed the names of Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, now honoring World War I and II veterans, respectively, with the same last names instead of Confederate soldiers.

“We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change,” Trump said during the announcement, CBS News reports. “And I’m superstitious, you know? I like to keep it going, right? I’m very superstitious.”

The Department of Defense originally spent about $39 million to change the names of military installations named after Confederate figures, CBS 6 Richmond reports. Although the changes are expected to take effect immediately, no estimated cost for the revamp was announced, according to CBS News.

Trump’s travel ban is blocking Haitian children from getting stateside surgery

Lifesaving procedures for more than a dozen Haitian children and young adults with serious cardiac issues have been stalled or canceled due to Trump’s travel ban, NBC News reports

The ban, which went into effect on June 9, extends to 12 countries and bars foreigners seeking legal immigrant status as well as those seeking visas from entering the U.S., according to CBS News.

The International Cardiac Alliance is an aid organization that has sent more than 100 children from Haiti to the U.S. for heart surgery. Though a proclamation made some exemptions, including for U.S. citizens and those traveling for the World Cup and the Olympics, those undergoing medical procedures with the alliance’s help were not on that list, according to NBC. Its waitlist includes at least 316 Haitians in need of heart surgery, ranging from infants to young adults.

The organization’s executive director, Owen Robinson, told the New York Times that finding adequate medical help in other countries will be difficult.

Sixteen-year-old Fabienne Rene and her family were counting on travel to treat her rheumatic heart disease. Her father, Fignole Rene, told NBC that they don’t know what their alternative option would be.

“I was not waiting to hear something like that,” Rene told the outlet in Creole. “We know for sure that there is nowhere in Haiti we can have this possibility. The only option that we have was just waiting to have an open door from the Cardiac Alliance.”

According to the NYT, Trump’s decision to prevent Haitians from visiting is because they stayed in the states longer than their visas permitted 25% of the time. In addition to Haiti, the 12 countries on the travel ban list include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, The Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Trump also issued partial suspensions for Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Trump has restricted travel for these 19 Black and brown countries because he deemed them “high-risk.” However, just last month, he gave white South Africans asylum, claiming they were subject to “white genocide.”

His administration also rescinded Haitians’ temporary protected status, which prevented them from being deported, and revoked a program that allowed them to move to the U.S, according to the NYT.

Grammys to add ‘traditional country’ category after Beyoncé’s historic win

The Recording Academy announced that they would be breaking up the country album category, adding a “traditional” category and renaming the existing category to “contemporary.” And Beyoncé fans don’t think their decision’s timing — coming just months after “Cowboy Carter” won big — is coincidental.

“The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said we would like to have more variety in how our music is honored,” the Academy CEO Harvey Mason told Billboard. “They said, we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.” According to the outlet, the new category was proposed in previous years.

Fans pointed to the not-so-subtle racist shade that they believe stemmed from “Cowboy Carter” winning both Best Country Album and Album of the Year, the first time Beyoncé has won in both categories.

An anonymous music executive told Phil Lewis that the academy’s intentions are clear. The executive pointed to the academy adding Best Dance Pop Recording category after Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” and “Break My Soul” won.

“Now, the same thing has happened again.” the executive explained for What I’m Reading.

“There are probably some country purists in power that aren’t happy with her winning Best Country Album — especially after she was snubbed completely from the CMAs — and suddenly the country album category is being divided into two categories.”

Beyoncé is currently on the Cowboy Carter World Tour. The show and album pay homage to country’s Black roots and call out the industry’s historic efforts to erase Black legacy and impact from the genre.

During her acceptance speech for Best Country Album, she expressed gratitude for those in the genre who accepted “Cowboy Carter.”

“We worked so hard on it,” she said. “I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists, and I just wanna encourage people to do what they’re passionate about and to stay persistent.”

ICYMI

Former host of MTV’s “TRL” and BET’s “Teen Summit,” Ananda Lewis, has died at 52 on Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer.

Sly Stone, the legendary frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, died on June 9 at age 82.

Silentó, the 27-year-old rapper who created a viral hit with “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in the fatal shooting of his cousin.

A Milwaukee jury convicted Maxwell Anderson of killing 19-year-old Sade Robinson, whose body was found dismembered after she went on a first date with Anderson.

Misty Copeland announced that she is retiring after 25 years with the American Ballet Company.

Solange’s Eldorado Ballroom opens in Houston.

Clay Jones

Homeless Geese by Clay Jones

And no, it’s not about Gary Read on Substack

This was drawn for the Fredericksburg Advance, which wrote with the cartoon:

The Advance prides itself on attracting superior talent to our pages, and Clay Jones may well be at the top of the totem pole if awards are the measure. In 2022 he won the Robert F. Kennedy Award, and he has been a finalist for the Herblock Prize. What makes a great political cartoonist? That’s tough to say, but certainly the ability to make connections that others miss, and that force us to both laugh and think about issues in ways we may not have previously imagined — even (perhaps especially) when it makes us uncomfortable. That’s precisely what Jones has accomplished today, building off this week’s seemingly unrelated stories about geese and the endless struggle in our community over the homeless.

Dawwwww. Thank you, guys. That’s super nice.

I was just being silly with this, but proofer Laura said it was “silly, but kinda accurate.” I was afraid my editor would hate it because it was so weird.

Creative note: I wrote this Thursday night, and drew at home Friday night at the end of a long day. I wanted it to be finished before Saturday so I could focus on all the DC stuff.

Music note: Dammit, I don’t remember because I drew it two nights ago.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see!)

Birthday Fascist by Clay Jones

Not even on your birthday Read on Substack

I’m sorry I made you wait for today’s blog, but I thought it would be more interesting to write the blog about Trump’s birthday parade after I actually attended his birthday parade.

And let’s not make mistakes about this. This military parade was not for the Army, but for Donald Trump.

Here’s the funny thing: I didn’t make it to the parade. Yes, I got a hotel room, and I planned to attend the parade, but three things happened. There were fences. Long long long fences. There was not a huge crowd, but it was tough to get through the snake of fences. Then, there were lines. But didn’t I just say the crowds were not huge? They weren’t, but the Trump organization likes to make people wait because it gives the impression that the crowds are large when they’re not.

And they must have expected much larger crowds because there were MAGA merchants everywhere. Yet, it didn’t seem like they were having a lot of customers. The street vendors selling ice cream had longer lines. I bought a cone.

If you want a huge crowd, go back to President Barack Obama’s inauguration. That was a huge crowd. Go back to Kamala Harris’ speech last November. That was a huge crowd. Or, go back to the last time I went to a Washington Capitals game. It was incredible if you could find a seat on the metro because the crowds were so large. But today, I took a metro at 5 p.m. and it was easy to find a seat. It wasn’t packed. And it wasn’t packed after the event either.

The parade started early because they wanted to beat the rain that never came. There were sprinkles, but nothing that should be able to stop a tank.

I said there was a thing that kept me from making it to Constitution Avenue, where the parade was held. The first were the fences, the second were the lines, and the third were the protests. The protests distracted me.

The official No Kings protests did not happen in Washington, DC. They didn’t want to start a fight. But, that didn’t stop independent protesters who did outnumber the MAGAts in my opinion. And readers, I feel bad because I wasn’t very nice to the MAGAts. You’ll see.

The closest thing I saw to violence was when a woman took a wild swing at a man holding a sign. They crossed paths, and she took a swing as they passed each other, which I don’t think she intended to connect. But he turned around and said, “Did you just take a swing at me?” She did not turn around, so he yelled, “Fuck Trump.” Yes, she was a MAGAt. And no, the man didn’t try to do anything violent. He kept on his way after yelling, “Fuck Trump.”

I had to know what was on his sign that made her want to take a swing, and here it is.

He hit a nerve. Here are some other scenes.

And then things got weird.

First, I saw this. (snip-yeah, go see it!!)

Ear Diaper Hater Club by Clay Jones

Read on Substack

In a telephone interview this morning with ABC’s Rachel Scott, Donald Trump said he “may” call Minnesota Governor Tim Walz about the targeted attack in Minneapolis that killed Melissa Hortman, a state legislator, and her husband.

In a moment that needs bipartisanship, empathy, and for a president to actually act presidential, Donald Trump said, “Well, it’s a terrible thing. I think he’s a terrible governor. I think he’s a grossly incompetent person. But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too.”

He just can’t do it. He gave it a shot yesterday, issuing a statement someone else obviously wrote, “I have been briefed on the terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against state lawmakers. Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI, are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law. Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place.”

Forgive me if I don’t put a lot of faith into the investigative skills of Pam Bondi and FBI Director (sic) Kash Patel.

Trump blamed “hateful rhetoric” from the left when an assassin took aim at his ear. You’re not going to hear the term “hateful rhetoric” from Trump over the assassination of a state legislator in Minnesota.

We’re going to hear a lot of hypocrisy this week coming from MAGA Land.

For Trump, it was “hateful rhetoric” that got his ear shot, but the “targeted attack” on the left is a mystery.

I wanted to give you a long and in-depth blog on this, but I totally forgot while waiting at the airport. The worst part is, my flight was delayed for over two hours, so I had time to write it. Now, my flight is boarding and I’m still typing.

The next time you hear from me, I’ll be in California.

The view from my room:

I’m staying at the Sheraton by the Pentagon. Here’s the view I took yesterday afternoon. (snip-MORE)