No exit in sight.

 

I few months ago I was driving down to Louisiana to play golf with some friends of mine. I had a craving for a bag of those pecan nuts that they serve at Buc-ee's. (If you know you know). Anyway, I got distracted and missed my exit. I was pissed and frustrated because there were all kinds of signs along the way telling me where to get off. The farther down the highway I got, the more anxious I became, because I was intent on going back and getting some of those damn pecans. I kept looking for an off- ramp to turn around, and it seemed like it took  forever for me to finally find one. 

I imagine that's how Donald Trump had to have  been feeling as he tried to get out of this mess of a war that he got us into with Iran. We all know why he did it in the first place, to distract us from the Epstein files and all the ugliness that comes with it. By all objective measures this has been a disaster of epic proportions. The real winners were the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Not only did they realize their strategic hold over the Strait of Hormuz, but they also realized that  they could pretty much destroy the world's economy and make a ton of money by holding the world's shipping markets hostage. We dropped bombs on Tehran and destroyed their buildings, but they will make enough money when this is all over to build bigger and better buildings. We took out their leaders, but they have already replaced  them with younger and more fanatical ones. 

No wonder Trump was dying for an off- ramp.  He saw himself getting deeper and deeper into something that was only going to make things worse for his flailing presidency. So, as a result, he made a deal. A very bad deal, but one that allowed him an off- ramp. He declared victory and lied that the war was a success, but at this point, he had no choice but to do that. He had to say something to save face.  

Iran will now add billions to their coffers, they will maintain power over the Strait of Hormuz, and they will keep their subterranean stockpiles of near-bomb grade (60% enriched) " uranium. Yep, those scuba tanks filled with thousands of kilograms of highly enriched uranium is still there. In the end, we spent billions of dollars, sacrificed 13 American lives, and the lives of hundreds of Iranians (including 120 school girls), all for naught. 

I took the off-ramp and got back to Buc-ees's in no time. It just seemed longer, because I was so anxious to sample the pecans.  Mr. Trump will not be so lucky, he took an off-ramp, but he is going to find that the treat he is looking for will be nowhere in sight. 

I need caption for this picture.

 

I will pick the winner after the first fifty comments.

Go!  

"Profiles in Cowardice"

"The coward only threatens when he is safe" ~ Goethe~ 

The word out of Washington now is that some of the Republican elected officials are now defying Trump and pushing back on his agenda. The editorial writers and talking heads on cable news are quick to point this out and praise them as being independent and defiant. They are not. The Senators who trump opposed in their primaries, who were ultimately defeated by MAGA handpicked candidates, are still angry and bitter. (Ken Paxton? Really?!) Others see the tide turning in the polls, and so, as politicians like to do, they are reading the political tea leaves. So everybody calm down.  Let's not give them the profiles in courage stamp just yet.

The public outcry against Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund has been so loud and angry that it defies logic that the White House would actually think they could get away with it.  Trump's loyalist could not defend it, and the public would not let them. And so it gave the cowards cover. They came out against it, and the White House had to scrap this particular grift they were planning on the American people. (For now)  

Then there are the picks for his cabinet posts. These are folks who are so seriously unqualified for the positions they are slated for, that you have to wonder if Mr. Trump is trying to sabotage his own administration and if he really wants the government to fail. Or, if he is just testing the sycophants who are beholding to him in Washington. It didn't take a lot of courage to come out against Bill Pulte, a MAGA political hack who rump picked to run the national intelligence agency. " I see no evidence of any qualifications for the job", says John Cornyn of Texas, who Mr. Trump has already dumped like he was one of his former mistresses. It wasn't hard to come out against Bill Pulte's nomination, Stevie Wonder could see that the man should not have even been considered for the position. Especially now that we are at war.

Finally, speaking of war, Mr. Trump's war of distraction (Remember Jeffrey Epstein?) in Iran had to have been the last straw for some of the cowards who are now finally pushing back. On June 3, the House passed a Democratic resolution to end the Iran war. Four Republicans actually crossed over and voted with the Democrats.  Not much, but it was enough to get the resolution through. Of course it means nothing, because Trump will veto it. But it's a crack. 

The mid-terms are coming, and Trump's approval ratings are in the mid thirties. That spells doom for anyone who is hanging unto his MAGA coattails.  One thing we know that a cowardly politician can do, is read the poll numbers. 

USA Today columnist, Rex Hupke, said it best:   

"The Republican Party remains largely in lockstep with Trump as he marches them and the rest of us off an economic and reputational cliff. But the war powers vote and submarining the beloved ballroom are clear signs that cracks are forming in the party.

I expect those cracks will spread and deepen the closer we get to the midterms. And if the country is lucky, and voters are smart, the whole cult-of-personality monument Trump built from the spines Republicans willingly surrendered will come tumbling on down." 

Cowards do not have spines.  

*Image from rawstory.com 

 

The Field Negro news watch.

Here are some of my takes on a few of the most relevant news stories right now.    

I will start with the war in Iran. Mr. Trump announced last night that the Americans and Iranians are on the verge of agreeing to a truce to end the war. This is a "really big deal" says Dear Leader. So what are the terms of the deal? Well field hands, like everything else in life, the devil is in the details. 

So it seems that the Iranians will allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and they will of course charge a fee. Or, a toll. Whatever you want to call it, the bottom line is that the Iranians will now be making a lot more money by controlling this narrow strip of water than they did before. Also, and here is the big one, and this seems to be the sticking point with all of this: The Iranians will not be handing over their highly enriched uranium. Which means that they would still have the ability to produce a nuclear weapon. So Trump's war of distraction got us nothing. Zilch. Nada. In fact, it made the Iranians objectively more powerful. The deal Trump is dying to sign to get an off ramp from this fiasco, is actually worse than the one Obama brokered in 2015, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).  America, and I am serious when I ask you this. Why did you elect this man? Twice! 

In other news, I see where Jaxson Dart, the quarterback of the New York Giants, introduced Trump at a rally in New York a couple of days ago. (Shocker! A kid from Utah who played at Ole Miss, supporting MAGA)  No biggie, he is entitled to his freedom of speech. Besides,  I already hate the Giants, almost as much as I do the Cowgals. As a die hard Birds fan who bleeds green, I can only hope that the Trump sports jinx continues, and that Big Blue gets their asses kicked in a ton of games this year. 

I do think it's funny, though, how conservative commentators were quick to tell athletes to just shut up and play sports when they openly supported politicians like Obama. Now that one of their own is supporting Trump, it's crickets.  I am not sure who advises Dart, but next time it might be important for them to tell their client how to read the room.

Speaking of athletes in the SEC. Lane Kiffin , newly minted head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), recently posted in a story about the racism in Oxford, Mississippi, or lack of diversity in that city, and not surprisingly, it has the Ole Miss fans up in arms.  They claim that Baton Rouge, Louisiana is just as racist, and that the LSU Tigers were actually named after a Confederate military regiment.  All facts. 

To me, the entire debate is kind of funny. It's like Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt fans debating over who was a better sprinter.  

I also see in the news that the NAACP is finally wising up and trying to get some of these three. four, and five star athletes (playing for state schools who would want to take us back to the forties and fifties, and prevent black votes from having the power  that they should at the ballot box) to reconsider their choices and consider playing for schools in states with a more progressive record when it comes to minority voting rights. 

Young man, you will get just as much NIL money, and  date just as much pretty girls at USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Notre Dame, and Penn State, to name a few. Say no to Ole Miss, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana,  Tennessee, Arkansas...you get the picture. Trust me, they need you a lot more than you need them. Make a statement and do your ancestors a solid and spurn those schools. Just a few years ago they wouldn't let you near their campus or consider having you as a student or student athlete in their midst. Now they want to use you to raise their state's profile and allow them to push out their chest and brag about what a great [insert sport here] team they have.

Finally, it looks like the 1.8 billion dollar grift that Trump and his cronies was trying to pull on the American people is officially on life support. The fact that it got this far and MAGA was actually onboard with it tells you all you need to know about where we are as a country.  Imagine suing yourself for 10 billion dollars, and then settling with yourself for 1.8 billion, with the funds being paid for by tax payers who you are supposed to be serving. That is a hall of fame level of corruption that only Donald Trump and his MAGA base could pull off.  And it's still not over yet, with the help of his personal attorney turned Attorney General, he is still going to give it the old college try.  

Wait, I know I said finally, but there is one more bit of news. Last night some insane person tried to shoot up the White house and the Secret Service shot and killed him. Sorry, I take that back. In the age of Trump this isn't news anymore. It's more like just another distraction. 

Carry on.

Enjoy your Memorial Day.    

The death of voting rights.

 

"Neither love nor evil conquers all, but evil cheats more" ~Laurell K. Hamilton~ 

The United States Supreme court ruled recently that gerrymandering is cool if it's done for political reasons. And, if it just so happens that black voting rights are diluted or weakened, so be it. In other words, race is no longer a thing in America. Old white Southern men are not racist anymore. The court's majority argues that there must be some sign of intentional discrimination to trigger any type of civil rights protections.         

The latest ruling from Donald Trump's court stems from a court case in Louisiana, where they said that it was cool for Louisiana to dismantle a second predominantly black voting district, because it was racist. Keep in mind that a third of Louisiana's population is black, and, as of now, only two of their six congressional seats belong to an African American. This will soon change to one, as the seat created in 2024 to give blacks more voting power in Louisiana has been essentially wiped out by the court. 

Of course as soon as Mr. Trump's court struck down Louisiana's congressional map, the Louisiana state senate wasted no time in constructing a plan that would eliminate the majority black district now being represented by Cleo Fields. And just to be transparent, Cleo Fields is a friend and old classmate of mine, and he cares deeply about the people he serves in the state of Louisiana, so watching this travesty unfold really hits home.  The court is saying you can discriminate and gerrymander for political but not racial reasons, but sadly, in Southern states like Louisiana, you cannot separate the two.  

When it comes to being black in America; it's always one step forward, and two steps back.  America is still not willing to view us as equals, or allow us to exercise our hard earned right to vote in a way that benefits us. The dilemma is, of course, that the only way to change and dismantle the system in place is to vote out the folks who are in power. The folks who are at this time in our history, doing everything humanly possible to make sure that our votes are weakened. 

The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was the signature achievement of the civil rights movement. Before the VRA was passed, about 24% of blacks were registered to vote, and just a couple of years after the passing of the act, black voter registration more than tripled. But along came Mr. Trump's court, and they have been attacking and dismantling it, with one ruling after another.  Much to the delight of white Southerners, many of whom did not believe that blacks should have had the right to vote in the first place.

House Speaker, Mike Johnson, had this to say: " The Supreme Court issued a long-awaited opinion and they stated the obvious: that drawing congressional lines must be fair, you cannot draw lines on the basis of race.... This brings back fairness and certainty to the system". By "certainty", of course, he means that we are making sure that certain folks don't have a vote, and only certain people will hold that power over them.    

    

The Field Negro Power Rankings. (FNPR)

 

These are crazy times, people. But those of us who know saw it coming. It's sad to say, but there is a real possibility that in the next ten years America will no longer be a democracy. 

Anywhoo,  in order to fight the good fight, we need all the field Negroes to represent. 

Here is the latest field Negro power rankings.

10. D.L. Hughley:  He is still out here mixing comedy with social activism and honesty. Especially on the internet where he is an unapologetic critic of the modern day house Negro.   

09. Katanji Brown-Jackson: Poor Justice Jackson sits on the highest court in the land, and she has to   watch while her colleagues gut our civil rights and all the protections that we were afforded before the Fourth Reich came for us. 

08.  Don Lemon: All you need to know is that he is on Trump's radar as an agitator and someone in the media to be feared. That's a good thing.  

07. Joy Reid: See Don Lemon. She is higher on the list because the right and MAGA hates her even more.   

06. Godfrey: This dude has been fire on the internet. He is a comic with a conscience, and he always has a powerful and well reasoned message.  His "Leave Black People Alone" segment that he shares with his over two million Instagram followers is comic gold. 

05. Victor Glover: This brother was  part of a crew that traveled the farthest from the earth in human history. More importantly, he made us proud by handling himself with grace and dignity throughout the entire process.  

04. Ben Crump: As a lawyer, I really appreciate how this man goes out there and shines a light on high profile cases involving civil rights abuse.   

03. La Tosha Brown: She works behind the scenes, but her work is just as important as all the high profile folks on this list. She co-founded Black Voters Matter, and she is organizing and mobilizing black voters in states like Alabama. Alabama! Nuff said.    

02.  Justin Pearson: This young Tennessee state representative has the type of energy and oratorical skills that is needed now more than ever to get folks fired up. If we are going finally wake up  and become engaged, we are going to need young brothers like this to help spearhead the movement. 

01. Michelle Obama: Unlike her husband, the former First Lady is speaking out and making sure everyone knows that we all tried to warn you. 

Render unto Caesar.

" Julius Caesar styled himself as a servant of the republic, claiming to speak for the people even as he disregarded laws and norms to govern by caprice. The Roman republic did not survive him.

The second Trump administration has revealed American Caesarism in nearly full bloom. Despite ambitions to fundamentally change the course of the country, this administration has no real legislative agenda. Instead, the president governs by executive orders, emergency decrees, and extortionate transactions, using his power to reward his friends and punish his enemies. He’s launched foreign military adventures and full-blown wars seemingly based on personal whim, and has made the military a political prop and a tool for domestic law enforcement. With Congress sidelined and the courts reluctant to check Donald Trump’s excesses, America has been left with what some legal scholars have described as an “executive unbound”—and with a president who threatens to supplant the republic in all but name.

Trump’s most fervent supporters justify his approach in terms reminiscent of Caesar’s. The White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has remarked that “the whole will of democracy is imbued into the elected president.” Many Republicans argue that Trump’s policy preferences deserve support because he has a “mandate,” and they heap scorn on the “unelected” judges who have had the temerity to rule against him." {More}

 The excerpt above is from an article in The Atlantic written by  Gregg Nunziata. In it he writes about how the legal right has spent decades empowering the presidency, and how they must now reckon with the monster that they helped to create. As someone who has dedicated his life to studying, practicing, and understanding the law, I shudder at what I see happening in the legal profession. The highest court in the land is controlled by a majority that cares more about the man who put them there than they do the law and upholding the Constitution. 

Mr. Trump is allowed to govern the way he does, because his handpicked court and the feckless right-wing politicians who fear him, will do nothing to stop him. 

I hate to say it, but it's only going to get worse. The war in Iran will not be ending anytime soon, and I fear that by the end of this summer America will be closer to a literal civil war than we could have ever imagined. It's gotten that bad. And the man who is singularly responsible for all this division and turmoil is none other than Donald J. Trump. America's own version of Julius Caesar.  

"Men really believe what they wish to be true"

"If you must break the law, do it to seize power" 

Those two quotes were attributed to Caesar, not  Mr. Trump. But at this point, who can tell the difference? 

Green light red light in the Strait.

 

"War, what is it good for? Absolutely, nothing" ~ Edwin Starr~ 

Before Trump's war, also known as Operation Epstein, most Americans would have thought that the Strait of Hormuz was just the name of a bad Disney movie.  I am pretty sure that the Trump team did not think this war with Iran thing through, because from the way things are shaping up, they never heard of it either. If they did, they would understand how important that tiny stretch of water is to the world's commerce, and how easy it is for the Iranians to control it. 

Trump is dying to get an off ramp to end his ridiculous and pointless war, but the Iranians do not seem willing to give it to him. This past Friday he declared that the Strait of Hormuz is officially open, and that all ships will be allowed to pass through, thanks to the blockade being created by the mighty United States Navy.  But just this evening Iran announced its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. So sadly, those gas prices will not be going down anytime soon.  Reports are now coming out that the Strait of Hormuz is in "absolute chaos ", because Iran is once again firing on ships. 

Autocrats like Trump, of course, love wars. They don't care about the cost of human lives or what it will cost in terms of actual dollars. It gives them a sense of power, and it stifles debate. They view it as another tool in their tool box to hold on to power.  The American people (MAGA cult members excluded) see right through this charade. Most of us know that there is no point to this war, and that after all the carnage, destruction, and money spent; nothing has changed in Iran. Yes, a lot of bombed out buildings, but the Revolutionary Guard is still in control, they still have a large stockpile of  enriched uranium, and  they still control the Strait of Hormuz. So what was the point of all of this?

I will give you a two letter hint: J E. 

The House Negro Power Rankings.

 

The House Negroes have been very active of late. As a result, the House Negro power rankings have to be constantly updated. Here goes.

10. Tim Scott: Timmy is still holding down the tenth spot, because he still refuses to say a negative word about Daddy Trump and his administration.

09. Clarence Thomas: Uncle Clarence will never leave this list.

08. Stephen A. Smith: Still loud, and still wrong. Bu he dropped a little, because he has managed to keep his mouth shut for a few days. 

07. John Maples: Poor John thought he could grift his way to power by getting the endorsement of the MAGA leader. It didn't work. Emily George, a white woman, kicked his ass in the special election for the seat in Dear Leader's backyard. Black folks overwhelmingly supported the white woman over this clown who thought that his blackness would get him some inroads with us. Sorry bro, "all our skin folks ain't our kin folks." 

06. Byron Donalds: Another delusional black man who believes that he will ever get the approval of the MAGA crowd. You're a prop good brother, that's it.  

05. Jason Whitlock: Of course he had something negative to say about Michael B. Jordan winning the Oscar for best male actor. House Negroes are very predictable. 

04. Amber Rose: Another talentless clown looking for love in all the wrong places.  

03. Chili from TLC: She denies being a Trump supporter and retweeting negative things about former first lady, Michelle Obama, but the internet had receipts. To the house you go, Chili. Who is a "scrub" now?

02. Lorenzo Sewell: This black MAGA minister is all in for Trump. This clown said that the Trump presidency is "improving black American lives", and is sticking with Trump no matter what. Somebody check this man's banking history. 

01. Nick Cannon: The Democratic party is the party of the KKK? Take a break from having all those children with multiple women and read a history book . It might prevent you from making an absolute fool of yourself in the future. 

No bottom.

 "Evil people hate the light because it reveals themselves to themselves. ... They will destroy the light, the goodness, the love in order to avoid the pain of self-awareness. ... [E]vil is laziness carried to its ultimate, extraordinary extreme."

M. Scott Peck 

Donald Trump is a truly despicable human being, and not because of his politics or who he chooses to align himself with politically.  I know good people who want the best for this country who are both republican and independents. We differ on how things should be done, but I understand, that  at their core, they are decent, principled, and compassionate. Donald Trump is none of those things. He is a vile, soulless, despicable human being, who thinks only of himself and nothing else. 

See his reaction to the death of Robert Mueller, for example. A man he perceived as his enemy because he was investigating him for crimes he clearly committed against the people of the United States. Mueller never came right out and said that Trump colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, but, as he was duty bound to do, he investigated him. That was enough to draw the ire of Trump. For the record, I was very disappointed in Mueller's investigation of Donald J. Trump. I believe that there was enough there to conclude that he did collude with the Russians, and there was a criminal conspiracy, but Mueller did not see it that way, and while he didn't totally exonerate Trump, he also did not find that there was a conspiracy. That's a shame, because had he found such a conspiracy, we would most likely have been spared the nightmare we are living through as a country. Countless lives lost, billions and billions of dollars spent on a war that no one wanted. The only people who wanted this was was Mr. Trump (He had to keep that Epstein cover-up out of the headlines),  Benji Netanyahu,  and the Zionist who control the Israelis government.  

Sadly, the members of Trump's cult will continue to support him no matter what. Those who were once America first isolationist, are now justifying the war because Iran had to be eliminated because...well, they were bad people. They had the potential to make more nukes, even though Mr. Trump himself assured us that he bombed and destroyed their nuclear arsenal months ago. This was all before more news of his connection to Jeffrey Epstein started trickling out, and his Justice Department was scrambling to cover it up. So he had to  devise a new scheme to distract us. Enter Operation Epstein. Made possible by a cadre of loyalist and a cult made up of folks willing to look the other way. 

“Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” 

That was Donald Trump on the death of Robert Mueller. It will also be a quote from millions and millions of people around the world when the inevitable happens. 

  

Operation Epstein.

 

Happy Sunday field hands.

Imagine being such an evil and contemptible human being that you would literally start a war with another country (one with nuclear capabilities) in order to cover up the fact that you possibly had sexual relations with underaged girls. 

Sadly, I believe that's where we are in America right now. 

Leave your thoughts and comments.