Smashing These Down, Here

Truth:

One of the Good Guys Left

Robert Redford has died at age 89.

His last scene:

He lived for a time in a town where my family lived. He was a regular guy who didn't go around all full of himself.

Pissing Off Friends and Making Enemies

Noem's battery plant raid may have major repercussions. The Korean workers' stories of their barbaric treatment are being well-covered there.

Since the 330 workers arrested in an immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG battery plant under construction in Georgia returned to Korea on Friday, many have begun to speak out about the human rights violations they were subjected to during custody.

Testimonies made public on Sunday showed that the detention center failed to meet any of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Mandela Rules, when it came to hygiene, contact with the outside world, complaints regarding treatment, and providing information on circumstances.
...
Hands bound to their waists, they had to bow their heads to lap up water to quench their thirst. When using the toilet, they were only given a piece of fabric to cover their lower bodies, as there were no private stalls. Almost no sunlight came in through the “window,” which was nothing more than a fist-sized hole in the wall, and they were only allowed to go outside for two hours a day to wander around a tiny yard.
...
Early on in their incarceration, the workers were crammed into a temporary detention center, which was a room that could house 72 people. A worker’s account made public by Yonhap News Agency described the facility as having rows of bunk beds with moldy mattresses. Hygiene products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and blankets appear only to have been provided on their second day of detention. Workers wrapped themselves in their towels to protect themselves from the chilly air. The stench in the water prevented many from quenching their thirst, and the only food the workers received came in the form of canned beans and toast.

The Administration is basically trying to apologize without having to apologize to South Korea for treating their citizens as though they were Hispanics. Trump delayed the repatriation of the Korean workers to try and persuade them to stay and continue working and, with one exception, they declined.

The Administration seems to be bent on making everybody in the world hate this country. After this, why would any foreign company set up an American plant when their installation crews would run the risk of being arrested by the mouthbreathers of the ICEstapo?

And Americans in South Korea might want to be careful about running afoul of the law.

The "Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee" Party. (Updated)

Vice President JD Vance on Monday jumped onto the conservative movement demanding consequences for those who have cheered Charlie Kirk’s killing, calling on the public to turn in anyone who says distasteful things about the assassination of his friend and political ally.

Killing somebody for their political beliefs is wrong.

But it would be nice if that was an ideal followed by the dead guy, who celebrated the attempted murder of Paul Pelosi. I am absolutely sure that if the perp had found Nancy Pelosi at home and killed her, Kirk and his ilk would have been figuratively dancing in her blood in celebration. Just like Republicans celebrated the murders of Melissa and Mark Hortman.

It is becoming clearer and clearer after Kirk’s slaying that freedom of speech, like every other constitutional right, is one that is to be freely enjoyed only by straight, white, conservative, christian men.

In that, they are dishonoring the man they seek to honor:

And it is no coincidence that whenever the Feds began looking at domestic terrorism, they found out every time that the threat was coming from the Right and the Republicans made them shut down the programs/inquiries.

As Sen. Murphy warns, we may be in for some dark times. For the Right is doing its best to turn this killing into their Reichstag moment and use that to quash freedom for everyone else. And they are not shy about their aims.

And above all, Trump needs to distract people from the fact that he is prominently mentioned in the Epstein files.

300 Million Americans Died From Drug Overdoses Last Year, According to the Orange Blob

That's what he said, so now the question is whether or not he has all of his marbles.

President Donald Trump is causing more speculation about his health and cognitive ability after he claimed on Sunday that 300 million people died last year from drugs, despite the United States population only being 340 million, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

Trump made the clearly incorrect claim after being asked by a reporter if the recent military strike against a Venezuelan boat, the administration claims was carrying drugs to the U.S., was illegal and would escalate tensions with the country.

"What's illegal are the drugs that were on the boat and the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs, that's what's illegal," Trump said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80,400 people died from drug overdoses last year, down about 27% from 2023, when 110,000 people died.

Some time recently, someone mentioned the drug overdose statistics and the Dementia Patient-in-Chief confused the population of the country with the total of drug deaths.

It's becoming more and more apparent to the rest of the world that the United States has a president who is in severe mental decline. Look for China and Russia, among others, to take advantage of the blustering and befuddled bozo in the Oval Office.

Krasnov Keeps Gaslighting For His Master

President Donald Trump said Saturday he is “ready to do major Sanctions on Russia” once all NATO countries have started “to do the same thing” and pause their purchases of oil from Moscow.

Since Hungary in particular is both a NATO member and a de facto Russian ally, Trump knows that his conditions will never be met.

It should be clear to even the most casual observer by now that Trump is as much in Russia's corner on this, saying that Russia's flying drones into Poland might have been a mistake. Everyone else who isn't a Russian tool knows that was no mistake. But Trump takes his cues from his master and acts accordingly.

Your Sunday Morning Prop Noise

The Battle of Britain Airshow, 20205:

So Much For Freedom of Speech

This is a reminder that only conservatives can get say hateful things and then get away with laughing it off as "freedom of speech":

Following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk this week, educators across the country have found themselves facing swift termination or potential discipline after allegedly sharing opinions on social media about the killing.

At least a dozen faculty and staff, from school board officials to classroom teachers, have been met with fallout over insensitive posts about Kirk’s death. In at least two instances, universities fired staff members entirely for posts deemed inappropriate.

Can't say bad things about a mouthy and dead clown who advocated for lynching and stoning people. And the "bad things" that people are being chastised for saying can be just reporting what the decedent had said inpublic. "He was respectful to those he disagreed with"-- in a pig's eye.

And this:

A friend of mine was on Charlie Kirk's "watch list" of Black professors. She received so many death and rape threats that her university offered her a security detail for the walk to class. This is Kirk's legacy. You would never know it from reading all of these legacy newspaper op-eds about him.

— Miles Howard (@milesperhoward.bsky.social) September 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM

Also funny how fast the Overly Made-Up Dementia Case went from demanding that leftists be killed to rambling about his new gilded ballroom.

Brian Kilmeade is a Nazi

Brian Kilmeade, co-host of Fox & Friends, is under fire after making shocking remarks about homelessness and mental illness during a recent broadcast. Instead of addressing the crisis with policy solutions or compassion, Kilmeade suggested “involuntary lethal injection” as an answer, then bluntly added, “Just kill them.”

Here's a tip, Brian: If you don't want people to think you're a Nazi, don't espouse Nazi-like policies. Such as exterminating groups of people because you don't like thm.

Thought experiment: What if somebody proposed killing all Fox hosts?

Caturday

Chip is warm on both sides.

Figures (Updated)

The shooter of Kirk seems to be a straight white guy, a Republican and one of the 4chan gropyers.

Fat chance that you will ever see an apology from the Wall Street Journal for printing that the shooter was probably some lefty tranny, not to mention all of the other right wing douchebags who've been spreading the same thing around.

Nor will you see any sort of retraction from the Fat Old Orange Fascist, who has been bleating for the last two days that the shooter had to be some radical left-wing lunatic.

For when there comes a time when there is a chance to try and get the country to pull together in the wake of some tragedy, that Russian tool is always exposing division and hate.

Because, as you know, he's done this for the Epsteinth time.

Also, this:

Kirk didn't serve in the military or hold office. The war hero treatment -- half-mast flags, military guard, Air Force Two escort, calls for a statue at the Capitol or to lie in the Rotunda -- shows that for MAGA, service to Trump has become the highest, most honorable form of service.

— Radley Balko (@radleybalko.bsky.social) September 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM

And this:

FBI Never Changes

So there was Kash Patel, talking about how law enforcement, especially the FBI, worked to bring the shooter to justice.

But what happened was that the shooter told his dad, who persuaded him to turn himself in, and drove him to the cop shop to do just that.

For the last 90+ years, the FBI has been out there, taking credit where credit isn't due.

Because It's Friday

The "River Don" steam engine:

Crickets From the Right

The 16-year-old boy who shot two students and then himself at Evergreen High School this week appeared to espouse white supremacist views online and showed an interest in mass shooters in the days before the attack.

Social media accounts that appear to be connected to shooter Desmond Holly are littered with references to mass shootings and antisemitic views, The Denver Post found.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jacki Kelley on Thursday said Desmond had been “radicalized through an extremist network,” but declined to offer any additional details. The public accounts offer some insight into what that radicalization might have included.
...
Sheriff’s officials on Thursday said Desmond shot two of his schoolmates — including 18-year-old Matthew Silverstone — before turning the gun on himself. Desmond later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A kid radicalized by far-right Holocaust-denying websites went to his school and shot the place up, killing a (presumably) Jewish kid and what do you hear from both the Right? Crickets. Not a fucking thing. But when it comes to the murder of Charlie Kirk, the Right is out there, spreading fact-free accusations and innuendos. For the only time that the Right gives a damn about Jews is when they can use Jews as a tool to accomplish some other objective, such as destroying higher education.

Also, it's funny how Republicans and Trump aren't responsible for J6 or the Charleston church shooting or the Tree of Life shooting or the Charleston car attack, but Democrats are supposedly responsible for Kirk's murder.

The Day to Remember That Trump Might Not Be the Worst President of the 21st Century.

That would be Chimpy. As a result of 9-11, he invaded one country then fucked up the aftermath, then invaded a country that had nothing to do with with 9-11, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and creating millions of refugees, which destabilized an entire region. ISIS came about as a direct result of his fecklessness.

His administration, with the direct approval at the highest levels, practiced torture of people who were not involved in the attacks, guys who were traded to special forces for money. His cabinet of war criminals have international warrants out for them, to the point that they only travel to countries that they can count on not enforcing the warrants.

He created an Orwellian department that continues to ruin the lives of the citizenry, resulting in armed masked goon squads grabbing people who look vaguely Latino.

He blew up the Federal budget, going from a path that would have reduced the Federal debt to blowing it up, because "Regan proved that deficits don't matter."

His SecDef so mismanaged procurement and training that we're still not out of the hole that he dug.

Immediately afterward, his top priority was protecting the interests of his Saudi friends, the country of origin for most of the attackers, and the country of the man who organized and funded the attacks.

In almost every way possible, Bush the Lesser failed so badly in his response to the attacks that, even to this day, he hides at his place in Texas, painting shitty works. One of the few things he did that was good, PEPFAR, was destroyed by tRump without a peep out of Bush.

There were a lot of heros who died that day, including the firefighters who were climbing the towers to rescue people when they fell. One of the enduring horrors was the sound of bodies hitting the roof of the visitors' center, people choosing to die by falling than by burning.

But none of that glory belongs to the shitbird in the White House at the time and his cabal of war criminals.

The Rightist Backlash

Charlie's trolls at work:

At least five historically Black colleges locked down campuses, canceled classes or ordered students to shelter in place after receiving “credible threats” of violence on Thursday. Many of the precautionary measures are no longer in place.

Alabama State University, Clark Atlanta College, Hampton University, Southern University and Virginia State University were among those impacted.

I don't think it's a coincidence.

Hoaxing These Down, Here

The Ambiguity of Agent Krasnov

President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered an ambiguous initial response to Russia’s drone incursion into Poland’s airspace, a provocative act by Moscow that has put the United States’ NATO allies in Europe on edge. ... Trump’s comment stood in sharp contrast to the strong condemnation by several European leaders and was notably less robust than that of his ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker.

He's not going to upset his banker, now, is he.

Charlie Kirk (Updated)

Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in an act that drew renewed attention to the threat of political violence across the United States.

Fair warning: Anyone who engages here in baseless speculation will have their comments deleted and, if you keep it up, will get hit with the Banhammer. So if you're going to assert something, back it up with facts from some reputable source.

For the future, keep an eye on Discount Goebbels and his boss, in case they seek to make this their Reichstag moment.

Also this:

The people who chortled over what happened to Paul Pelosi would like to encourage some decorum and propriety at this time.

And this.

Some of the decedent's greatest hits:

Kash Patel has donned his clown shoes:

Here We Go

Poland said Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered its territory over the course of several hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies, describing the incursion as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.
...
“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”

war with Russia This is what aggressors and domestic abusers do. They ratchet things up over time, so there is no bright line, unless the Russians send troops into Poland.

We may be inching into war and we're saddled with a Russian tool sitting in the White House. It's as though the candidate of the German-American Bund won the election in 1940.

Aggression gets deterred with strength, not with mealy-mouthed obsequiousness. "Oh, he's a good guy." "I fell down the stairs." "He didn't mean to hit me." "I provoked him." All the same shit-ass rationales that cops, lawyers and judges see play out in domestic abuse cases are at play here. And you see them in the rationales from the Right defending Putin.

Because the West isn't standing up to the Russians in a meaningful way, because many keep dealing with them, the Russians are going to keep pushing until a general war begins.

Strap in. This business is getting out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it.

Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself, Maybe

The prevailing view of the Epstein buffs has been that Hillary Clinton somehow had him killed. That never made sense because not only was her career over, Bill's had been over for two decades. Their foundation began fading into obscurity after the 2016 election.

No, the person with the most to gain from silencing Epstein was the man who was then and now, the president.

Cui bono? Who benefits? DJFT, that's who. He'll crash the economy and start WW3, if that's what it takes to get us from talking about his BFF, Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump's Sure a Shoo-in For That Peace Prize

Not original to me:

🇺🇸 Trump "coordinates" a peace deal between Israel & Hamas demanding Hamas come to the table in Qatar to finalize it.
🇵🇸 Hamas travels to Qatar finalize the deal.
🇮🇱 Israel bombs the Hamas negotiators in Qatar.

That'll give something to occupy the media's time other than Epstein. Which may be why Trump assented to the bombing of a nation where the US has a massive air base.

All this may turn out to be a catastrophic mistake.

Shirting These Down, Here

Russia is a Terrorist Nation and Everyone Who is Supporting Them Are Terrorist Sympathizers

And yes, this include the Rotting Fascist Mango and his servant, the Hillbilly Couch Fucker.

A Russian glide bomb struck a village in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as people stood in line in the open air to collect their monthly pension. The blast killed at least 24 people and injured 19 others, the Ukraine Emergency Service said.

The bomb hit the Donetsk region village of Yarova at around 11 a.m. local time, authorities said. The village lies less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the front line. Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said 23 of the dead were pensioners.

The Russians knew exactly what they were doing. They are war criminals.

And if you continue to spport Putin and his war of aggression, please, feel free to leave and sign up in his army.

Racial and Ethnic Profiling is OK, As Long as White People Aren't the Target (plus a cartoon)

That's one of the big lessons from the Six Fascists on the Supreme Court who permitted ICE to use ethnic profiling.

The other point is that the Six Supremes are indeed playing Calivinball-- they're rewriting the rules so Trump always wins.

So far, the lower courts are't going along. They're applying the law the way that they're supposed to and making the Administration fight each case before the Seig Heil Six.

John Roberts has continued along his path to being the most feckless and reckless Chief Justice since signatures were applied to the final draft of the Constitution. He's pretty much already there, much to the relief of the spirits of Roger Taney and Melville Fuller.

Also worth a read.

Your Orange God is a Creep and a Perv

His oft-denied birthday letter to Epstein was released:

Sure looks like his signature. And he may have committed perjury.

The Silence of the ACLU

I've not found any statement by the ACLU about Trump's proposed transgendered gun ban.

The NRA, GOA and others are not.

Breitbart headlines it as "blatantly unconstitutional".

The ACLU, though, while standing up for constitutional rights, seems to have a massive blindspot for any constitional amendment between I and IV.

Your Sunday Morning Jet Noise

The Greeks have their own Mach Loop:

Cadet Bone Spurs Is Not Cleaning Up the Red State Hellholes

As Donald Trump threatens to deploy national guard units to Chicago and Baltimore, ostensibly to quell violence, a pattern has emerged as he describes which cities he talks about.

Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Baltimore.

But not Jackson, Birmingham, St Louis or Memphis.

An analysis of crime trends over the last four years shows two things. First, violent crime rates in America’s big cities have been falling over the last two years, and at an even greater rate over the last six months. The decrease in violence in America is unprecedented.

Second, crime in large cities in the aggregate is lower in states with Democratic leadership. But the president focuses his ire almost exclusively on large blue cities in blue states, sidestepping political conflict with red Republican governors.

Those red state governors could use their own national guard to clean up their own shitholes.

But they won't.

That should suggest something to you, such as none of this is about crimefighting, It's about a small-dicked demented autocrat attempting to be dominant. A man who, when it was his turn to serve, ran away and hid behind his father's money and influence. But now, safely ensconced in the White House, he's ordering violence on his fellow citizens.

And if you support that, with all due love and respect, go fuck yourself.

Can't Upset the Demented Fuhrer of Orange, Mustn't We.

An internal email sent by the U.S. Tennis Association leadership to U.S. Open broadcasters, obtained by Bounces, requested that broadcasters censor any possible protests or other reactions to President Donald Trump’s presence at Sunday’s U.S. Open men’s final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Mustn't hurt his feewings, because everyone knows how angry the World's Oldest and Orangist Toddler gets when people refer to him as the utter fascist Russian-agent asshole that he is.

Department of War? (and more)

So we're going to spend billions of dollars to change all the names, the signs, publications, and everything else to "the Department of War", all to assuage the wounded egos of Cadet Bone Spurs the Draft Dodger and Secretary Kegstand? And it's not even legal, Cabinet Departments and their names are doen by legislation.

Meanwhile, the Asset is cutting security assistance to those countries that would be the first to be invaded by his boss should Russia start another war of conquest. In this, he is clearly doing Putin's bidding. Putin's getting a lot for his inveestment.

One would think with President Demento, Discount Goebbels and the Puppy-Slayer deporting undocumented workers, that there would be more jobs available. But guess not. DLS reported the worst jobs report since the first time we were inflicted with the Fuhrer of Orange as President. The plain truth is that, given the constant uncertainty of what the Tangerine Mental Case is doing on a day-to-day basis, companies are loath to hire people they may have to lay off after they're eligible to collect unemployment.

Also, this is an argument for the first thing we should do is take guns away from straight white men:

Because you guys are clearly the ones who are the most dangerous.

And don't forget:

Caturday

Because It's Friday

One hundred years ago, celebrating the first hundred years of railroading.

About Locomotion No.1.

Thousands of Straight White Guys Have Carried Out Mass Shootings, and Nobody Does Nothing

But let one transgendered person do it and the Trump DOJ's trying to strip gun rights from everyone who is trans.

In the wake of the Minneapolis Catholic church shooting, senior Justice Department officials are weighing proposals to limit transgender people’s right to possess firearms, according to two officials familiar with the internal discussions.

This is Hitler's playbook, people, right to a fucking T: Stripping gun rights from a despised minority to see if they can get away with denying gun rights to lots of other people. Reichminister of Hate Miller has already said that Democrats are a hate group, so guess who will be on the target list.

_____________________________
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Ever.
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Snorkling These Down, Here