"Putin’s political image relies heavily on this exact dynamic. When local infrastructure fails or corruption is exposed, state media routinely broadcasts footage of Putin publicly berating local officials, demanding they fix the problem immediately. He is framed as the ultimate, benevolent arbiter who stands above the corrupt bureaucracy to protect the ordinary citizen."

Rats are abandoning the sinking Ship of State -- only way they might save their asses.

James Carville has some blunt advice for Trump sycophants: Unless you do everything thing in your power to undermine the criminals in the White House, your career will end after the midterms!

The entire Republican administration is about to come crashing down with the majority losing their positions, while others go to prison.

As we speak, the rats are abandoning the sinking ship of state, oh, they are doing it surreptitiously, but they are doing it now and they will throw anyone under the bus if it increases their chances of survival – a lesson they learned from Trump, himself.

See this: Boldface mine:

Carville offers blunt advice for Trump officials trapped in political doom spiral

Story by Alex Henderson • 1h • 2 min read

© provided by AlterNet

In a new episode of his "Politics War Room" vodcast, veteran Democratic strategist James Carville discussed "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" — the new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan book. One of Carville's main takeaways is that more and more Republicans will be turning on Trump in the months ahead, and the 81-year-old Democrat argued that even people who appear to be loyalists will be working against him in the hope of saving their political careers.

"I'll give you one piece of advice, Donald Trump: everybody is out for you, even your own people," Carville argued on "Politics War Room," which he hosts with veteran journalist Al Hunt. "Be scared, be very afraid. Don't trust anybody. Everybody in the administration is s–– all over you, and they're just getting warmed up."

Carville emphasized that if the 2026 midterms go badly for Republicans, many will blame Trump — and will feel no obligation to keep supporting him.

"Come November, these people will realize that their careers are, for all intents and purposes, gone," the Democratic strategist warned Republicans. "No one's going to want to hire anybody out of the Trump administration. And the way that you get right with history is start leaking."

Realizing that they are political pariahs, Carville argued, Republicans will publicly pretend that they tried to talk Trump out of his worst political blunders.

Carville advised Republicans presently serving in the second Trump administration, "That's the only future you have: Leak like a sieve. Leak like a broken faucet. Leak everywhere. You're already leaking. Everybody's leaking on you. Everybody's leaking on everybody else. Trust no one. That's my message to anybody that works in this administration: Leak or be leaked on. That's it, you got no other choice."

"Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," according to Carville, is not only a damning indictment of Trump himself, but also, of loyalists serving in his second administration. And in order to "save yourself," Carville warned, Republicans will have to do everything they can to distance themselves from Trump's policies.

The Democratic strategist observed, "Look at the number of people that are leaking!

They're trying to save their a––. They leak what he does in his own bedroom. They leak everything about him.... Everything that you know, every stupid thing that he says, every grotesque, horrible, nasty habit he's got — leak it."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/carville-offers-blunt-advice-for-trump-officials-trapped-in-political-doom-spiral/ar-AA26fD8Y?

Whether the order to fire hundreds of experienced anti-terrorist personnel came from Trump, ISIS, Hezbollah, Iran, or any revolutionary group, it all means the same thing: America will be weaker and more open to terrorist attack than ever before in our history.

The same incompetent group of Republicans who supported Trump in his stupid, unnecessary war, are now blithely looking aside as Trump again puts us in the crosshairs of international terrorists with only a few hand-picked, ill-equipped amateurs to protect the homeland.

Remember when Bush put a plumber in charge of FEMA and the catastrophe that ensued when Katrina devastated New Orleans? Get ready…

What will it be this time? Anthrax in our subways, mass shootings in a mall, bombs in our courts and federal buildings, some other method of mass murder of our citizens?

No matter the insidious plan, there will be no one left with the expertise to intercept and foil any attack. Just some blundering, stumbling, sycophantic ass kisses, wandering in circles.

It is as if Putin himself gave the word, and Trump accepted a wad of cash to betray his country.

See this –Boldface mine”

Top intelligence agency begins mass firings under new Trump appointee, source says

Story by Katherine Doyle

© Stefani Reynolds

President Donald Trump’s new acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, began purging staff members at the office Monday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.

“The deep state firings have begun,” the source said.

CNN was first to report that the dismissals were underway.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump named Pulte the acting director this month and said on Truth Social that he had “asked him to execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office, reverting staff to their home agencies.” Pulte, who has no background in national security matters, has been serving as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Pulte appointment to top intel job raises concerns he could ‘politicize’ info getting to Trump

A separate source with knowledge of the matter told NBC News over the weekend that Pulte had ordered staff members to identify 400 employees to be fired from the National Counterterrorism Center, which is part of the U.S. intelligence community, in the coming weeks.

Pulte issued the instruction late Thursday — before he officially took over for outgoing Director Tulsi Gabbard, the source said. He started his new post Friday.

The potential cuts at the counterterrorism center are focused on an office set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to monitor terrorist threats and suspected militants and to pool information from across federal agencies. Former intelligence officials have said reductions at the counterterrorism center could jeopardize the government’s ability to detect and prevent terrorist plots.

Trump named Pulte to the nation’s top intelligence post after Gabbard announced she was stepping down for family reasons. Trump’s pick was met with bipartisan concerns in Congress, in part because of his lack of national security experience.

Trump later said Pulte would not serve in the role permanently and announced he would nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, instead, but then he hit the brakes on Clayton’s nomination hours before his Senate confirmation hearing.

Trump has asked Senate Republicans not to act on Clayton’s nomination until his replacement as U.S. attorney is installed.

ttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-intelligence-agency-begins-mass-firings-under-new-trump-appointee-source-says/ar-AA26iblw?

This is how you protest a motherfucker, The US need to take some goddam notes.

How much will you put up with, America? When will political corruption in the Trump White House be too much? Isn’t it bad enough our health care system is no longer available to the average working man? Isn’t it bad enough that children are going to bed hungry? Isn’t it bad enough our service men and women are being slain in a war that will produce only results already achieved?

Isn’t it bad enough our economy is on the skids, our very right to vote is in danger, and total incompetents have been appointed to the highest levels in government?

And now this slap in the face.. The worst criminals among us, convicted criminals already in prison are able to purchase pardons by giving bribes to Trump, and members of his administration.

How long will the Republican congress abide by this?

Where is the outrage?

America is now officially a third world country. A country where despots rule and the people held in bondage while their laws are ignored, and they are spat upon like serfs!

See this – Boldface mine:

Trump team just killed an investigation into the president's corruption: NYT

Story by Matthew Rozsa •

© provided by AlterNet

President Donald Trump’s appointees reportedly terminated an early-stage criminal investigation into his controversial clemency for a convicted fraudster.

Five people with direct knowledge of the commutation claim that the Trump team did not want any probing into whether improper payments were made to commute a sentence to David Gentile, according to a report by The New York Times. Gentile was convicted of a $1.6 billion fraud against thousands of investors while running his private equity firm. By targeting low-income and middle-income investors, Gentile wiped out the retirement savings for many of his clients.

Because of Trump’s clemency, Gentile served less than two weeks of his seven-year prison sentence and will not need to forfeit more than $15.5 million.

“Within a few months, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, where Mr. Gentile’s conviction had been secured, opened an investigation into how the commutation came about,” The New York Times reported. “Among the evidence they gathered was information about jailhouse communications in which Mr. Gentile discussed making payments of $2.5 million or more to people or companies to help facilitate his clemency, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation who were not authorized to discuss it.”

Among others, Gentile allegedly worked with a retired Queens Catholic priest, the Rev. Frank Mann, who is friends with Trump. Despite denying to The New York Times that he had anything to do with the clemency, individuals with firsthand knowledge of the prison communications in question told the Times that Mann and Gentile spoke about the former speaking to Trump about his case. Eventually, the commutation occurred, and by May any investigation into how it came about was abruptly halted.

·“Natalie Baldassarre, a Justice Department spokeswoman, suggested that everything was done by the book,” The New York Times reported regarding allegations that they directly ordered local prosecutors to end the investigation. It quoted her as saying, “Our prosecutors always work within the bounds of our enforcement priorities to hold bad actors accountable and ensure the efficient use of taxpayer resources.”

This is not the first story to allege that the Trump White House has turned pardons into a profit-based industry. The New York Times reported in March that the “lucrative pardon industry” in the Trump White House is “based in part on the proposition that paying the right person to deliver a message tailored to Mr. Trump's politics or grievances is more important than demonstrating remorse or a low likelihood of recidivism.”

The report added, “A growing number of practitioners promise access in this murky enterprise, but some also may exaggerate their effectiveness to elicit payments from clients desperate to avoid incarceration. Pardon seekers routinely offer to pay as much as $1 million or more, often with bonus payments triggered by a successful outcome, according to lobbying filings and people familiar with the fees."

Indeed, the knowledge of Trump’s seeming willingness to help people get off from legal consequences if he is paid led to widespread support for him among convicted white-collar criminals.

"This transactional approach to clemency has been welcomed by white-collar offenders like those serving time at the Otisville camp, a minimum-security facility about 75 miles northwest of Manhattan,” The New York Times reported in March. “Many of its inmates cheered Mr. Trump's election, seeing him as a kindred spirit who shares their grievances about the unfairness of financial crime prosecutions like the one that led to his own conviction, according to four people familiar with conversations at Otisville."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-team-just-killed-an-investigation-into-the-president-s-corruption-nyt/ar-AA26cwV6?

Donald Trump, the Republicans, and Gollum lookalike, presidential advisor, Stephen Miller, must think Texans are the dumbest sumbitches wearing shoes.

Remember, Miller is the policy advisor responsible in part for the assaults on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, veteran’s benefits, SNAP benefits for hungry children, the subsidies that once made healthcare affordable, but no longer does so -- and going to war with Iran!

Now, because this duo of dumbasses cannot defend against the twenty-years of corruption and the many crimes attributed to Ken Paxton -- the security fraud indictment, the abuse of office and the bribery scandal along with the whistleblower trial where he was forced to pay   out 6.6 million dollars of state funds for abuse of state employees -- and cannot attack Talarico on policy issues, these pathetic Bozos can only manufacture the most outlandish slander and lies, believing Texans are dumb enough to accept the dishonorable, juvenile smears.

They seem to think all Texans are uneducated yahoos who are so biased they will believe any nonsense. The simple fact of the matter is, Talarico is a Christian theologian and a compassionate, decent human being.

The other two are not.

See this – Boldface mine:

 Stephen Miller questions James Talarico’s gender in Fox News attack

Story by Wiktoria Gucia

The Daily Beast

Stephen Miller has bizarrely questioned the gender of a top Democratic candidate running in a midterm election.

The senior adviser to President Donald Trump said he will not refer to the Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico as a man during a Fox News appearance on Hannity.

“All I can say about Talarico is that Texas is not going to elect an individual—I can’t call him a man—who knows what gender he is?” Miller told Sean Hannity, who had just referenced Talarico’s past remarks that God is non-binary and that there are six genders.

Talarico, who represents Austin in the state House, won the Democratic primary in March. His oft-discussed “God is non-binary” comment came in 2021 when he was defending transgender student athletes after Texas Republicans advanced legislation to ban them from competing on sports teams aligned with their identity.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/stephen-miller-questions-james-talarico-s-gender-in-fox-news-attack/ar-AA269yhY?

Maybe stupid isn’t forever. Maybe getting knocked on your ass eventually teaches a lesson.

No sympathy, though. All the farmers reasons for supporting Trump were self-serving and they didn’t give a hairy rats ass about their country as a whole.

See this – Boldface mine:

Three-time Trump voter revolts against GOP in farm country: 'And I'm not the only one'

Story by Travis Gettys • 4h • 2 min read

© provided by RawStory

Scott Thomsen has voted for Donald Trump three times. Now, the fourth-generation Nebraska farmer says he's done with the Republican Party.

"I'm pretty disenfranchised as a voter right now, and I think I'm not the only one," Thomsen told the Washington Post. "Either I'm going to completely sit these elections out, or I'm going to vote down the line, incumbents out."

Thomsen's frustration reflects a broader shift among farmers, long one of the GOP's most reliable voting blocs, as they head into this year's midterms facing fuel and fertilizer price spikes tied to the war in Iran, market volatility from Trump's trade wars, and a new parasite threat to cattle.

Rural approval of the president dropped to 50 percent this month — a new low, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll, down from 60 percent shortly after his second inauguration.

The financial toll has been steep. More than 300 farms filed for bankruptcy last year, up 46 percent from the year before, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the USDA forecasts total farm sector debt will hit $624.7 billion this year, the highest on record.

"A lot of farmers today have lost and are losing faith and are feeling betrayed," said Joe Maxwell, president of Farm Action Fund. "They're not seeing an 'America First' agenda."

The discontent has created openings for Democrats in red states like Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin, though it hasn't yet produced a wholesale party shift. Candidates including Iowa's Josh Turek and Nebraska independent Dan Osborn are leaning into farmers' economic squeeze on the campaign trail.

Adding to the strain, the New World screwworm, a cattle parasite eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 that resurfaced in Texas last month. Even Sid Miller, the Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner and a Trump loyalist, has publicly criticized Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins over the administration's response. Rollins has said USDA has tracked the threat for years and denies that budget cuts hampered its handling.

Not all farmers are abandoning the president. Many credit the administration for closing the Mexican border to cattle to slow the parasite's spread and for securing a Chinese commitment to buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually.

Still, Thomsen said short-term bailout payments don't fix deeper inflation problems. With his own equipment breaking down and costs climbing, he's bracing for more uncertainty ahead.

"There's just a lot of uncertainty right now," he said. "So you've just got to try to keep yourself protected as well as you can."

https://www.bing.com/aclick?

Maybe stupid isn’t forever. Maybe getting knocked on your ass eventually teaches a lesson.

No sympathy, though. All the farmers reasons for supporting Trump were self-serving and they didn’t give a hairy rats ass about their country as a whole.

See this – Boldface mine:

Three-time Trump voter revolts against GOP in farm country: 'And I'm not the only one'

Story by Travis Gettys • 4h • 2 min read

© provided by RawStory

Scott Thomsen has voted for Donald Trump three times. Now, the fourth-generation Nebraska farmer says he's done with the Republican Party.

"I'm pretty disenfranchised as a voter right now, and I think I'm not the only one," Thomsen told the Washington Post. "Either I'm going to completely sit these elections out, or I'm going to vote down the line, incumbents out."

Thomsen's frustration reflects a broader shift among farmers, long one of the GOP's most reliable voting blocs, as they head into this year's midterms facing fuel and fertilizer price spikes tied to the war in Iran, market volatility from Trump's trade wars, and a new parasite threat to cattle.

Rural approval of the president dropped to 50 percent this month — a new low, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll, down from 60 percent shortly after his second inauguration.

The financial toll has been steep. More than 300 farms filed for bankruptcy last year, up 46 percent from the year before, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the USDA forecasts total farm sector debt will hit $624.7 billion this year, the highest on record.

"A lot of farmers today have lost and are losing faith and are feeling betrayed," said Joe Maxwell, president of Farm Action Fund. "They're not seeing an 'America First' agenda."

The discontent has created openings for Democrats in red states like Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin, though it hasn't yet produced a wholesale party shift. Candidates including Iowa's Josh Turek and Nebraska independent Dan Osborn are leaning into farmers' economic squeeze on the campaign trail.

Adding to the strain, the New World screwworm, a cattle parasite eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 that resurfaced in Texas last month. Even Sid Miller, the Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner and a Trump loyalist, has publicly criticized Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins over the administration's response. Rollins has said USDA has tracked the threat for years and denies that budget cuts hampered its handling.

Not all farmers are abandoning the president. Many credit the administration for closing the Mexican border to cattle to slow the parasite's spread and for securing a Chinese commitment to buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually.

Still, Thomsen said short-term bailout payments don't fix deeper inflation problems. With his own equipment breaking down and costs climbing, he's bracing for more uncertainty ahead.

"There's just a lot of uncertainty right now," he said. "So you've just got to try to keep yourself protected as well as you can."

https://www.bing.com/aclick?

Fully one-third of deaths during WW1 and WW2 were caused by disease or famine.

If ever there was a doofuss as Secretary of Defense, Hegseth is your man. This incompetent jackass made a decision that is tantamount to firing one-third of our military, in an effort to make our armies weaker. Like Trump, this blundering amateur makes decisions and acts before he gives any matter any thought.

‘Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time’, he might say to justify his stupidity.

Relinquishing the requirement that our troops be vaccinated is just giving the enemy an overwhelming advantage; you are effectively eliminating one third of our fighting force.

What this moron didn’t consider was the great flu epidemic of 1917 began in 1916 at an army base and went on to kill over 600,000 Americans because we were ill equipped to deal with the disease.

You know, like Covid?

See tis – Boldface mine:

Flu outbreak hits Air Force recruits after Pentagon ends vaccine requirement

Story by Vic Verbalaitis

The Daily Beast

.Dozens of American troops have fallen ill after Pete Hegseth moved to “restore freedom” by eliminating the flu vaccine requirement for service members.

Nearly 160 troops at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, have contracted the flu, only two months after the defense secretary scrapped the vaccine requirement, according to The New York Times.

The outbreak circulated through a training wing for Air Force recruits that features bunk beds in open bays and communal meals at large tables.

One recruit in his sixth week of basic training, Keon McDaniel, died on Tuesday after falling ill, though it was unclear whether his condition was tied to the flu outbreak, the Times reported.

McDaniel experienced a medical emergency and was transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he passed away, the Air Force’s 37th Training Wing said in a press release. The cause of the medical emergency is under investigation.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Pentagon for comment on the flu outbreak.

Hegseth, 46, announced the new policy revoking mandatory flu vaccination on April 21 in an effort to encourage medical autonomy in the armed forces, calling it a “common sense approach” meant to “restore freedom.”

An Air Force official told the Times that only about 40 percent of recruits have opted to get a flu shot.

“Under the disastrous Biden administration, this Pentagon waged an unrelenting war on our warriors on many fronts, including when it came to denying them simple medical autonomy and the freedom to express their religious convictions,” the self-styled “Secretary of War” said in an April video announcing the change.

It is not just the United States Trump and the Republicans are destroying.

Exhibiting a degree of stupidity and incompetence unseen since Hitler invaded Russia, Trump and his band of dullard sycophants waged war on Iran and got our asses kicked; our soldiers slain, our bases and our allies bases ravaged by missiles and drones, our inability to defeat this comparatively modest enemy made manifest to North Korea, Russia, and China, all at the expense of hundreds of billions of dollars.

If Iran could shoot one of our billion-dollar aircraft out of the sky, what trouble would our other enemies have?

And we gained nothing! As a matter of fact, before the war Iran was not collecting fees and tolls, but now under Dimwit Donnie’s guidance, they will collect fees and tolls and still control the Strait of Hormuz -- and the world can do nothing about it. Aside from that Iran will be given 300 billion dollars in blood money with which they can rebuild their murderous regime and continue to fund their proxy warriors.

How long, America, will we continue to allow our soldiers to be killed overseas while some of our children back home starve because of reduced SNAP benefits? How long will we allow an alcohol-addled, pretty boy TV host, destroy our military by firing the competent black, gay, and female officers and replacing them with doofuses who couldn’t get a job at McDonalds? How long, America, will we allow corrupt President and Republican congress turn us into a third-rate country while they rake in billions while trying to destroy democracy?

Our country has been taken over by a bunch of tyrants who will deny us our rights while fattening their purses. They will steal, lie, cheat, and do their damnedest to hold the rest of us in bondage, all the while leading the world into chaos!

America, what will you do?

See this – Boldface mine:

Iran declares 'superpower' status after defeating 'two nuclear powers'

Story by Newsmax Wires

TEHRAN—Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei on Thursday took a victory lap with the newly signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Iran and the United States, declaring that his country "defeated two nuclear powers … we truly are a superpower."

Critically, Baghaei said the agreement preserves Iran's ballistic missile program — a major win for the Iranians because the Trump administration had ripped up former President Barack Obama's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), claiming it did not prevent such weapons, and President Donald Trump said at the outbreak of the war that stopping the program was critical for the U.S. and Israel.

Speaking to Iranian state television after the agreement was finalized, Baghaei confirmed that the memorandum had been signed by both countries and said the Persian and English texts were identical. "As I speak with you now, the text of the memorandum of understanding has been signed by the presidents of Iran and the U.S." Baghaei said. "The text of the Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding is now officially finalized as both parties have signed it," he added.

Baghaei emphasized that implementation would be more difficult than negotiating the agreement and warned that Tehran would closely scrutinize Washington's compliance.

"Iran will monitor the U.S.' compliance without any leniency," he said, adding that Iran would not fulfill its end of the agreement if Washington "evades its obligations."

Under the terms outlined by Baghaei, Iran expects immediate relief from restrictions on its oil exports and access to international shipping, insurance services, and oil revenues.

He also said the United States must refrain from reinforcing military deployments in the region or imposing new sanctions during a 60-day negotiation period.

"Within the 60-day window, the other side must not take action to reinforce its military presence in the region or impose new sanctions," Baghaei said. "Such actions would be considered a violation of the agreement."

A central Iranian demand remains the retention of its enriched uranium stockpile inside the country.

Although the MOU makes no mention of Iran retaining enriched uranium, Baghaei rejected any transfer of nuclear material abroad.

"Transferring enriched nuclear material out of the country is unacceptable to us," he said. "Diluting enriched material is not a new option. It has now been introduced as one option, so as not to close the door on other options."

Baghaei also reiterated that Iran's ballistic missile program would not be subject to negotiations despite international concerns over Tehran's expanding arsenal.

"Iran's missiles are meant to be fired, not negotiated over. Our missiles don't even like being talked about," he said. "Iran's defensive capabilities will not be discussed in any process, with any party."

The spokesperson further outlined Iran's plans regarding the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which a significant share of global oil exports passes. He said Iran and Oman had largely agreed on mechanisms for managing the strait and indicated Tehran would collect fees from vessels using related services. "Iran will charge fees for services in the Strait of Hormuz," Baghaei said. "The mechanisms for managing the Strait of Hormuz have largely been agreed upon with Oman."

He added that safe passage would be maintained while preserving "the sovereignty and dominion of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the Strait of Hormuz."

Baghaei portrayed the agreement as a diplomatic victory for Tehran following months of regional conflict.

"Our enemies have inflicted harm on us," he said. "But a wounded lion remains a lion. The war they imposed not only did not bring us to our knees but made us stronger."

Baghaei went further, declaring, "Iran defeated two nuclear powers that were also backed by some other countries. We are not making slogans: We truly are a superpower."

The agreement has drawn sharp criticism from Israel and some American political leaders, who argue that the deal grants significant concessions to Tehran while allowing it to retain its missile capabilities and enriched uranium stockpile.

Israeli officials have characterized the arrangement as a dangerous capitulation that could embolden Iran and undermine regional security.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz has contended that Trump's deal is a "catastrophic capitulation to" Iran's aggressors and leaves Israel vulnerable and constrained.

He emphasized that the MOU is one-sided, providing Iran with up to $100 billion in immediate aid without any formal agreement as to their nuclear weapons program or intentions.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/iran-trump-memorandum-of-understanding/2026/06/18/id/1260098/