"Who The Hell Wrote That?"

Dear Everybody:

The big news of the day is supposed to be that the Strait is open (according to Trump forever), but I think there’s a bigger story, and that’s the increasing unraveling of Trump and his followers:

--The most recent example was at a rally last night, where Trump was reading from a speech and came to a sentence about how his economy lowered taxes for small businesses and corner stores and he suddenly stopped and said, "What is a corner store? I’ve never heard that term. I know what a corner store is but I’ve never heard it described--a corner store. Who the hell wrote that?"

--Renee: The fucking store on the corner. LOL. What the fuck."

--Ty Cobb: "Clearly insane."

--Stephanie Grisham: "Clearly not well."

--Palmer Report: "In a span of literally two seconds, Trump confirmed multiple truly disturbing things. First, when he’s given a scrapt to read, he doesn’t even bother to look at it first, and he doesn’t understand it when he does try to read it aloud. Also, he’s so disconnected from reality that he doesn’t know what a corner store is. Or he used to know what it was and now he’s lost that part of his brain. He’s also so far gone that he actually admitted in public that he didn’t know what the phrase meant...he’s so thoroughly NOT in control of his emotions, he’s having outbursts like ‘Who the hell wrote this?’ in the middle of reading a statement that he’s supposed to be pretending he wrote. There really is nothing left of this guy."

--Today people some people on the right were trying to justify his remarks by saying he probably knows corner stores by the name of "bodegas," others that it’s because he’s so rich he never had to go to the corner store, but I don’t think so. I think it’s another sign of his dementia, in which people can no longer recognize words they once knew. And I think his saying, "I know what a corner store is, but I’ve never heard it described--" was an attempt at a save once he realized it was a word he should know.

--At the rally, Trump also said this about the DoorDash grandmother who brought him the bags of McDonalds: "To be honest, it was a little tacky."

--Paul A: "LOL. Trying to throw DoorDash Granny under the bus. Typical Trump. He’d throw a baby under the bus. Literally."

--Trump: "I have among the best Poll Numbers I have ever had, and why shouldn’t I, ALL THE COUNTRY DOES IS WIN. CNN had me at 100%, saying they never saw that before."

--Trump: "I’m not happy with Australia."

--Trump sent out fundraising emails telling supporters they’ve been promoted to Midterm Senior Strategists. (Which explains a lot.)

--The New York Times is FINALLY questioning his mental state, talking about his "erratic behavior and extreme comments."

--Trump immediately responded by posting, "HAVE THEY NO SHAME? HAVE THEY NO DECENCY?"

--Raj Seshu: "Good grief, Trump is spinning totally out of control."

--$$$$: "It’s time for the 25th Amendment. Something is really, really, really wrong."

--Robert Reich: "Trump is rapidly going stark-raving mad. He’s a clear and present danger to the US and the world."

--This morning he posted: "Tucker is a low-IQ person, always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!! So are Megyn Kelly, ‘Candace’ (Really Dumb and mentally ill!) and Bankrupt Alex Jones, who is completely ‘fried.’ There are others also! Then we have some that are VERY GOOD, true MAGA all the way, and smart. I should do a list of good, bad, and somewhere in the middle. Wouldn’t that be fascinating? President Donald J. Trump."

--Aryan Gurhar: "These people have lost so much defending you, especially Alex Jones, and they stayed with you all along."

--Bad Panda: "Just stop it! Good Lord! A lot of these people went out of their ways to campaign for you. Attacking them constantly is beneath you. Let it go."

--FIFA King: "No, mr. President, you are not winning attacking these four patriots."

--JD: "It’s a shame you are going against MAGA like Marjorie Taylor Greene. You believe lies from your advisors. So sad. Most of us agree with her."

--MAGA John Deucey: "What a failure of a President you’ve become. I’ve never been more ashamed of my vote."

--MAGA Christina: "I regret voting for you."

--Nancy Potter; "Trump has reached the point that he can’t let the slightest disagreement or disrespect go uncommented on or unpunished."

--Dem Rep Mark Takano in a hearing in the House today: "Millions of Americans are wondering if this president is delusional and thinks he’s Jesus Christ." She then read aloud Trump’s Easter Sunday post: "Tuesday will be Power Plant and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, In Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell--JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah! President Donald J. Trump!"

--Rep Takano then showed the photo of Trump dressed as Christ healing the sick with glowing golden light coming from his hands and asked Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, "An American President used the F-word in a Sunday morning message that was seen by millions. Does this raise concerns for you about the President’s mental health?" RFK, Jr. "The President is a bargainer and he knows how to make a deal."

--T-Fish: "Not an answer to the question. But seriously, you’re asking a question about someone’s mental acuity to a guy that should also be questioned about his mental acuity."

--RFK, Jr. finally answered the question, sort of: "There hasn’t been a president who is more sane. President Trump is the most stable-- He’s very very sane."

--Helen Kennedy: "And on this subject you can definitely trust me, a guy who hoards roadkill to eat later, dumps dead bears in parks, and gleefully cuts off whale heads and raccoon junk in front of his kids."

--Public Notice; "Trump and the people surrounding him have long pushed for a theocracy, an explicitly Christian nation. These folks are completely fine and happy when religious leaders weigh in...as long as they agree with what Trump is doing. But that’s not religion. It’s a cult. Trump is treated as infallible. He is treated as wise. He is treated as if he speaks on behalf of all Americans. He is treated, apparently, as if he is just like Jesus, or perhaps that he is actually Jesus. No wonder he’s mad that the pope won’t sign on."

--Meanwhile,Trump’s faith advisor Paula White is out there saying of Trump, "He can quote to you so many sermons. I mean, profound."

--Paula White also told reporters that at one point Trump wanted to build a megachurch with her. He wanted it to be all glass and had already picked out an architect. (Note; "She sells "resurrection seeds" that will grant people eternal life for $1,144.)

--Trump abruptly canceled an $11 million dollar contract with Catholic Charities, a partnership that has existed for 60 years, thus cutting off care for vulnerable migrant children.

--azdollarbill: "Trump’s vindictiveness knows no bounds..."

--Trump: "For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful."

--Bill Kristol: "Trump is attempting to reframe the Vatican’s opposition to the Iran War (a position rooted in centuries of Catholic just war theology) as a personal political betrayal and loyalty test that Trump-aligned Catholics must now grade themselves against. It’s an audacious move, essentially asking American Catholics to choose between their church and their president by characterizing the Pope’s conscience as a political problem."

--Attacking the Pope will further erode Trump’s support among Catholic voters in Rust Belt states and suburban and border counties.

--Anne Elk: "The Pope to Catholics is the Representative of God on earth. You attack him at risk."

--Chrononaut: "The fact that the Pope saying some basic Christian stuff is considered a political attack against Trump and MAGA clearly shows the anti-Christ nature of the regime."

--Dem Senator Peter Walsh: "I’m with Team Pope."

--Dem Rep Stephen Lynch: "That’s just sad. That’s disgraceful. That’s crazy."

--At the same time, Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission announced the separation of church and state is a lie, it doesn’t exist and the Founding Fathers never wanted it. (Note: Thomas Jefferson wrote specifically about "building a wall of separation between Church and State.")

--There has been skepticism about the shooting since it happened, partly because Trump had no scar on his ear even a couple of days afterward and because the whole Iwo Jima photo with his arm defiantly upraised seemed VERY odd, given that at that point of view it wasn’t known how many shooters there were. The Secret Service’s behavior seemed odd, too--they always keep the victim DOWN on the ground and then hustle them out of there)but the talk has come mostly from the left. But all of that talk came from the left. Now it’s coming from the right.

--In an article in Wired, reporters talked with Trump supporters who think his assassination attempt was staged, like conservative Tom Dillon: "I think that maybe it was staged...Trump should admit it."

--Qanon believer MJTruth asked, "How does everyone feel about the narrative surrounding the Butler Assassination Attempt on Trump?" and his followers agreed that it was staged. They talked about its being orchestrated by the Secret Service and the blood being from gel packs (used by actors to simulate bleeding.)

--Emerald Robinson is blaming the FBI for the shooting, and Tucker Carlson is floating the possibility that the FBI lied about the shooter’s online activity as part of a cover up.

--What seems to have set this off is that Joe Kent, after his abrupt departure from the FBI, told Tucker Carlson the assassination probe had been prematurely shut down.

--It’s now also being fed by the new theory on the right that Trump is the Antichrist. There’s a Biblical prophecy in Revelation about the Antichrist being struck on the head: "I saw that one of its heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was healed. Fascinated, the whole world followed after the Beast. Revelation 13:3."

--I think the Antichrist thing might be the more important than the assassination inquiry being shut down prematurely, and that the idea that Trump, instead of being the Messiah, is in fact the Antichrist is growing, which is VERY dangerous for Trump. There may not be any such thing as an Antichrist, but they really believe in that stuff over there in the fever swamps, and if this idea takes root, it could become a really MAJOR crack in his blind, worshipful following.

In Iran War/Excursion news:

--I have no idea what’s really going on. (You’ll see why when you see the assorted statements that have been posted about it.

--Today’s Friday, and suddenly, just before the closing of the stock market for the weekend (as he has done before), Trump announced that the war is over. Again--and forever. But then an Iranian official said it was only open for the ten days of the ceasefire, and if the ceasefire was breached, the Strait would shut down again, after which Israel continued to attack Lebanon. And through all this, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard hasn’t issued any statement at all, which many find worrisome. And nobody really knows what any of it means.

--Trump: "IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!" (The Strait of Iran???) A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD! DONALD J. TRUMP."

--ihatethistimeline3: "Did anyone tell Iran?"

--Iran then said that the Strait was indeed open, but only for the 10 days of the ceasefire. Iranian official: "All commercial vessels are allowed to transit the Strait of Hormuz, even US ships excluding Navy ships. Navigation through Hormuz will be in coordination with Iran and the Revolutionary Guard...If the blockade creates insecurity for Iran’s merchant and oil tanker vessels, then Tehran would consider it a breach of the ceasefire. In that case, the Iranian armed forces will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persial Gulf, the Sea of Oman, or the Red Sea."

--Evies D: "The Iranians just staked their claims of the strait."

--Trump told Bibi not to attack Lebanon: "Israel are PROHIBITED from doing so by the USA. Enough is enough!!!--Thank you."

--Trump: "We have a very good relationship with Iran right now."

--Trump: "This will be a great and brilliant day for the world. Because Iranhas just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open and ready for business. But the naval blockade as it pertains to Iran will remain in full force and effect until such time as our transaction is 100% complete."

--Aaron Rupar: "Trump’s playing a one-person game of Dungeons and Dragons and he’s the dungeon master and he’s just inventing stuff, whatever appeals to him that minute."

--The war/excursion/"little journey" with Iran, which was supposed to last 3 to 4 days is now in its seventh week.

--Trump: "All Iranian vessels, vessels with sanctions, and vessels suspected of carrying contraband, are subject to belligerent right to visit and search."

--Axios is reporting that Trump is releasing $20 billion dollars in frozen Iranian funds in exchange for Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile."

--Melanie D’Arrigio: "Trump is trying to pay his way out of the war he started."

--Neither Iran’s new Ayatollah nor the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have issued any statement at all, which makes people doubt any of Iran’s statements are official.

--A war powers resolution brought in the House by the Democrats to block the war failed to pass. The vote was 213-214.

In the most un-self-aware statement of the day, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt asked, "Why were Democrats silent so long about Eric Swalwell?"

--I don’t know. Why have you guys been silent so long about your pedophile boss?

In other news:

--In a blatantly corrupt move Trump announced he is hosting a gala at Mar-a-lago next week for the top 297 holders of his $TRUMP meme coin. The price surged more than 50% in the 24 hours after the gala was announced. (Note: It also poses a national security threat.)

--The former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia died along with his wife in what appears to have been a murder-suicide.

--In response to Trump’s DoorDash photo op, people have deleted their DoorDash app and have canceled their memberships. Hello Fresh and Our Place mocked the photo op and have made it clear on which side their allegiances lie.

In good news:

--Democrat Analilia Meija won the special election in New Jersey’s 11th District for the US House seat. She won by 20 points, a huge jump.

--The Gulf Coast grandmother who was arrested at an anti-ICE rally for wearing a penis costume has been acquitted on all charges.

--Criminal charges have been brought against an ICE agent for pointin ghis gun at motorists. (These are the first criminal charges filed against an ICE agent, and it’s VERY good news.)

Best comment of the day, from Rick Wilson: "The Jesus meme broke something in the MAGA hindbrain that the cages, the grift, and the felonies somehow couldn’t. And the man at the top? He’s slurring, sundowning, and rooting like a drunk uncle on Truth Social at 3 a.m. The crackup is here."

Keep calm and carry on,

Connie Willis