JV Last has a dark view of Real Americans which I confess that I find irresistible. (I know it’s wrong. I can’t help it.) He’s chronicled the stories of a few this week which you should read if you need a little shot of schadenfreude this weekend.
I’ll just share this about the Trump-loving owner of the Montana Knife Company, who has made if clear in the past that he had nothing to worry about with these tariffs because he makes his knives in America. Last thoughtfully shares the transcript of the man’s Instagram post:
This is the shape of the number [holds up an egg] that’s gonna be on our website next to our knives of how much tariff affects the prices of our knives. Because we’ve been preaching this all along: We’re American made. Buy American, you don’t have to worry about this shit.
He’s making America great again one knife at a time.
Last writes:
But global supply chains are a bitch. You see, people who make knives need steel. They need machine tools. They need parts for the machine tools. And man oh man was Josh surprised to learn about all of “this shit.”
Here he is three weeks ago suddenly explaining “how this affects business” and complaining that “it feels like sweeping policies, you know, things are being enacted that aren’t really truly being thought out.”
And these policies are hurting patriotic American businesses! Like his! If only there had been some way Josh could have known where his tools came from before he got chesty about how great tariffs were.
Watch the first few minutes as Josh tries to avoid saying that his god-emperor is screwing him. It’s glorious.
It is indeed glorious.
Apparently, Josh wasn’t aware that his product used imported materials — or that tariffs tend to raise the price of things that are made in America as homegrown manufacturers raise prices as well. That whole “supply chain thing” escaped his notice during COVID probably because he was too busy protesting wearing a mask and getting vaccinated. It was a lot.
I saw the pic on my feed and mistakenly believed it was a live one, and didn’t spot the mocked up kneepads. I couldn’t understand why so many people were laughing and raging about it. Then I realised, deleted it and reposted with another pic. My words remained the same… https://t.co/UZ6OKlQ8fx
Heinrich, the network’s senior White House correspondent—whom Trump has previously targeted—spoke about the summit’s conclusion with anchor Brian Kilmeade, who also said he hadn’t expected things to wrap up with the usually talkative Trump walking away without taking questions.[..]
“I was surprised no questions,” Kilmeade said, after Trump and Putin were vague about what—if anything—was accomplished at the Alaska meeting, which began with Trump clapping and rolling out the red carpet for the Russian leader, who is accused of war crimes. “I was surprised no details on what progress was made,” Kilmeade continued. “You and me and everyone else in this room was surprised,” Heinrich replied.
“We were told we would have an opportunity to put questions to both leaders after a joint press conference in the event that meeting went well enough that they could set the stage for a second meeting. And President Trump said if that didn’t happen, he was likely to call off the joint presser and just address the media solo and send people home. Neither of those things happened,” she said.
“And what was really stunning to me, as someone who has been in a lot of these press conferences, a few things were very unusual,” she continued. Heinrich noted how Putin spoke first and in his native language, despite the U.S. being the host country.
“Putin started right off in Russian, and we all had to get our headsets on and listen to him rattle off this diatribe about the history of the U.S.-Russia relationship,” she said, adding that the Russian leader repeated phrasing about Ukraine that put the onus on them to end the war that Russia started.
Heinrich went on to say that the joint appearance was “unusual” and “atypical.”
Actually, it’s always like that when Trump meets Putin.
The upshot? Total capitulation to his buddy Vlad— allow him to keep the pieces of Ukraine he wants in return for a “promise” not to take any more:
After his summit with Russian President Putin in Alaska on Friday, President Trump will meet Ukrainian President Zelensky for what could be a difficult meeting at the White House on Monday afternoon.
Trump’s positions coming out of the meeting — that he no longer supports a ceasefire, and it’s “up to President Zelensky” to make peace — appear highly unfavorable to Ukraine.
Zelensky and Trump announced their upcoming meeting after a phone call between Trump, the Ukrainian president and several NATO leaders during which the president briefed them on his meeting with Putin.
The call, which lasted more than an hour an a half, “was not easy,” a source with direct knowledge said. The meeting will take place six months after their disastrous Oval Office meeting in February.
Trump called Zelensky from Air Force One on his way back to Washington from Alaska. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, who were in the Trump-Putin meeting, were also on the call.
They spoke with Zelensky for an hour and then the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Finland, NATO and the European Commission joined the call for another half hour. According to the source, Trump told Zelensky and the NATO leaders that Putin doesn’t want a ceasefire and prefers a comprehensive agreement to end the war. “Trump said on the call that he thinks a fast peace deal is better than a ceasefire,” the source said.
That’s the opposite from the approach Trump originally endorsed. Zelensky has been adamant that there must be a ceasefire before peace talks.
Trump also told Zelenskythat Putin had told him that Russia was making significant progress on the front lines and that if he wanted, he could capture the entire Donetsk region and other areas where fighting is taking place.
According to the source, Zelensky told Trump that Putin was misrepresenting the situation on the front. During the call, Witkoff briefed Zelensky and the NATO leaders on how Putin sees the issue of territory and what he’s willing to give in return.
“The impression was that in return for territory, Putin is willing to end the war and commit not to try and occupy more areas in Ukraine and to not attack other countries,” the source said.
Essentially Putin demanded that Ukraine surrender and Trump said fine. It was just as we thought it would be when Trump became president in January.
By the way, Putin’s “commitment not to try and occupy more areas in Ukraine and to not attack other countries” is worth about what Trump’s “commitment” not to grope women is worth — nothing. He has learned that helping Trump and his idiot cronies gain and maintain power will pretty much take the United Stater and its economic and military power out of the equation. Others are seeing the same thing. (Taiwan???) He will do what he wants.
I realize that it’s a waste of time to condemn the American right for hypocrisy because they’ve made it one of their primary organizing principles. However, once in a while, even now, the sheer audacity of it just takes your breath away:
Yes, you absolutely cannot have a DOJ employee assaulting cops. It’s an outrage.
Less than five years after urging rioters to “kill” police at the Capitol, a former Jan. 6 defendant is working as a senior adviser for the Department of Justice, which has been dramatically remade under the second Trump administration.
NPR has obtained police bodycam footage from multiple angles of the former defendant and current administration official, Jared Wise, berating officers and calling them “Nazi” and “Gestapo.” NPR located the footage, which has not previously been published, in a review of thousands of court exhibits from Jan. 6 criminal cases, obtained through legal action by a coalition of media organizations.
The Department of Justice had introduced the footage as an exhibit in Wise’s trial. NPR also obtained the transcript of Wise’s testimony, in which he acknowledged that he repeatedly yelled “kill ’em” as officers were being attacked and tried to explain his actions. Wise was not convicted of any crimes related to Jan. 6, due to President Trump’s order to end all Capitol riot prosecutions.
On Jan. 6, Jared Wise urged rioters to "kill" cops.
"You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo," Wise yelled.
Trump dismissed Wise's Jan. 6 case, and the DOJ hired him as a senior adviser.
It boggles the mind how their brains don’t explode. But then I suppose that would require something like a conscience or intellectual consistency which none of them have.
“So what was that all for?” asks Jonathan Lemire about the “summit” between President Donald Trump and Russian dictator and indicted war criminal Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump dominated the news for a day when he welcomed the Russian dictator to Alaska. So there’s that. But the summit was a bust for the “world’s greatest dealmaker,” probably a slogan written in gold on a Father’s Day coffee mug from Barron.
Putin got a PR coup and Trump got nothing for his 7,000 mile round trip, however Karoline Leavitt spins it. In the “press conference” after their meeting, the dictator and the wannabe took no questions.
In his brief remarks, Trump conceded that he and Putin had not reached a deal to end the war in Ukraine or even pause the fighting. “There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” the president said. He characterized their three-hour meeting—vaguely—as “very productive.” Of the outstanding issues between the two sides, he admitted that “one is probably significant,” but he didn’t say what that was. “We didn’t get there but we have a very good chance of getting there,” Trump insisted. The Russian president, for his part, made mention of “agreements” that had been struck behind closed doors. Yet Putin also provided no elaboration, leaving the distinct impression that it was a summit about nothing.
Call it The Seinfeld Summit. The impression left at the end was that if portrayed in a Looney Tunes cartoon, Trump would resolve into a large sucker.
If anything, Putin seemed to make clear that his demands regarding Ukraine haven’t changed. In his usual coded way, he said an agreement could be reached only once the “primary roots” of the conflict were “eliminated”—which means, basically, that Ukraine should be part of Russia. “We expect that Kyiv and European capitals will perceive that constructively and that they won’t throw a wrench in the works,” Putin said, in what sounded like a warning. “They will not make any backroom dealings to conduct provocations to torpedo the nascent progress.”
Read eliminating “primary roots” as Ukraine deposing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ceding territory, disarming, and forswearing future membership in NATO.
Trump went out if his way to flatter Putin, even offering him a ride in the presidential limousine dubbed “The Beast,” a virtually unheard of honor, and for a former KGB officer yet.
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace was aghast. The former Republican and White House Communications Director under George W. Bush told former Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul that Trump’s fawning over Putin was “disgusting“:
“Why all the public adoration — this carefully, carefully — I mean, I worked on presidential events for six years. This is a lot of stagecraft. My understanding is that our reporting is that they timed their arrivals. There was a car there. We understand, from our bureaus around the world, for Putin. Trump put him in “The Beast.” There’s a lot of touching. I don’t know that we always see him touching Melania as much as he touched Putin today. The handshake and then the hand on top of the hand, I mean, everything that over nine years we’ve learned about Trump, this is as fawning as he can be with any public figure he’s ever photographed with. Why?” she asked McFaul.
Recall and contrast the ambush Trump and Vice President JD Vance prepared for Zelenskyy, officially a U.S. ally, at their February meeting in the Oval Office. There is nothing subtle about Trump’s allegiances in this war of Russian aggression. The president of the United States hates Zelenskyy almost as much as he admires Putin.
“The best thing you can say about the Alaska summit is that it could have been worse,” writes The Washington Post’s Max Boot.
But, if Alaska was not a disaster, it was definitely a defeat. Putin walked away the clear winner from his latest encounter with an American president.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs finds Americans stand solidly behind Ukraine, the scrappy underdog. “[S]ix in 10 continue to support the United States sending arms and military supplies to Kyiv (62%, up from 52% in March) and providing economic assistance to Ukraine (61%, up from 55% in March).” Additionally, “Six in 10 Americans (60%) express a favorable view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; just 10 percent view Putin favorably. “
According to a recent Pew poll, “59% of Americans say they are not confident that Trump can make wise decisions about the Russia-Ukraine war.”
But kissing up to dictators? Trump the flag hugger is hell at kissing up to dictators.
Friday was #BeBraveDay called by the Visibility Brigade. I stood alone on the Flint St. overpass above I-240 westbound in Asheville at drive-time for nearly two hours. I held up the sign above the whole time. At seven words readable from an overpass, “A DECENT LIFE SHOULDN’T BE THIS HARD” doesn’t fall neatly into the Race Class Narrative “shared value-villain-vision structure” and I’m no messaging guru. I want to share what I observed over those two hours.
What polling tells us is that both major parties have a branding problem. People feel abandoned by both. As Anand Giridharadas put it, “I just feel so profoundly undefended right now by the well-meaning people” [meaning the Democratic Party and people with small D democratic values in “the big powerful press”]. So do many others. It’s why so many these days identify as independent, and why Democrats’ favorability ratings hover around 34 percent.
So I prepared this sign with the struggling 20-year-old student I met on Tuesday in mind and for people who feel unheard and undefended.
Drivers passing below threw many thumbs-ups, two thumbs-ups, waves, honks and headlight flashes. But it was the diversity of vehicles that caught my attention. Sure, there were Subarus (ubiquitous here), plus Hondas and Toyotas, and even one Mercedes. But positive feedback also came from lawn-service pickups, work vans, personal pickups, a couple of semis, and aging beaters with hanging body panels and peeling paint. I read the latter set as the sorts of voters and non-voters Democrats have lost to despair, disgust, and apathy.
The only negative reaction was a guy who yelled out his pickup window from below, “Then stop voting for Democrats!”
Pedestrians passing on the bridge included a 30-ish couple I would guess were not Team Blue. Male and female both gave me versions of, “Boy, you’ve got that right.” An older couple asked if I was fighting for democracy, read the sign, and thanked me. Two high-school-to-college-age girls in a white Toyota stopped on the bridge behind me and asked what the sign said. When I spun it around, they both threw a thumbs-up and gave a little cheer. They belong to the generation that largely sits out elections, probably like the lawn service crews, pickup and beater drivers.
Photos by Julie Harrison from Thursday.
I’m not trying to sell this particular message. It’s just that our other sign protests in bluer neighborhoods are more partisan and geared toward movement-building. That’s needed, of course. (“I’ll have what she’s having” events.) But activating the non-voters who don’t believe anyone has their backs is key to Democrats being once again in a position to help them. Moving Democratic pols from being able to help them to actually helping is the next step, but one step at a time. Rebuilding trust must come first.
Rather than some version of “Save democracy” or “Trump is a fascist,” less-engaged neighbors may first need to feel that someone understands their struggles and has their backs before they’ll trust that we are not simply seeking power for power’s sake. They can see that every day on TV.
A pair of U.S. representatives from North Carolina are advocating for the federal government to continue to protect the small population of red wolves.
Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04) and Congressman Greg Murphy (NC-03) joined together to propose a bipartisan resolution for continued red wolf repopulation and recovery effort support, including building wildlife corridors.
“North Carolina is home to the last remaining wild population of red wolves in the world, a species native to our state which plays a unique role in our state’s ecosystem,” Foushee said. “It is imperative that we ensure that red wolves do not go extinct. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan resolution alongside a fellow member of the North Carolina delegation, Congressman Greg Murphy, to support the continued efforts to protect and revitalize the red wolf population.”
“I am proud to support Congresswoman Foushee’s resolution highlighting the importance of efforts made to preserve the red wolf population,” Murphy said. “With the only wild population of red wolves being located in eastern North Carolina, it’s vital that we recognize the preservation efforts.”
The only wild population of red wolves in the world resides in North Carolina, with an estimated 15 living at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Manteo.There are currently only 270 captive red wolves in the country.
Latest news! North Carolina Reps. joined together to propose a bipartisan resolution for continued Red Wolf repopulation and recovery effort support, including building wildlife corridors. With only 18 known Red Wolves left in the wild, every step forward is vital. Read more: 🔗 bit.ly/4mDSqZC
The Guardian reports that he called Jens Stoltenberg out of the blue while he was walking down the street one day:
In a statement to Reuters, Stoltenberg, the former Nato secretary-general, said the call focused on tariffs and economic cooperation ahead of Trump’s call with Jonas Støre, the Norwegian prime minister.
“I will not go into further detail about the content of the conversation,” Stoltenberg said, adding that several White House officials including the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, were on the call.
I would say this could have been misrepresented by the Norwegian press if it weren’t for the fact that he can’t stop talking about how he deserves to win the prize and said this publicly about the Kennedy Center Honors just two days ago.
Trump: Since 1978 the Kennedy Center honors have been amongst the most prestigious awards. I wanted one, never able to get one. I waited and waited. I said to hell with it, I'll become chairman. I will give myself an honor. Next year we'll honor trump, ok?pic.twitter.com/IWfIdlMy2c
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) August 13, 2025
Why would we think he’d be above threatening tariffs if he doesn’t win the Nobel Prize?
Newsom started it a week or so ago and now more Dems are getting in on the act. Good. Social media runs on this sort of thing and, for better or worse, social media is part of our political discourse.
Thank you. Has anyone ever asked Trump or his henchmen wtf his crazy postings in all caps and the “thanks you for attention to this matter” is all about? His political career is based on trolling.
“Oh, that’s just Trump” has gotten us a bizarroworld fascist state and it isn’t actually funny at all.
The new Pew Poll shows Trump’s overall approval slipping to 38%, most precipitously among younger, Hispanic and Asian voters. (I still don’t know what they were thinking last year …)
Meanwhile:
His personality traits aren’t wearing well either. Most interestingly, views of his mental sharpness are finally going negative (as they should have been for years.)
Public assessments of Trump on several personal traits are also more negative than they were in 2024. Fewer now say he cares about the needs of ordinary people (37% today, 42% last summer), is a good role model (29% now, 34% then) or is mentally sharp (48% now, 53% then).
All in all, the Trump coalition appears to be melting back toward the hard-core GOP base of grumpy old white folks. The disillusionment of significant numbers of 2024 Trump voters has several apparent sources. The best known involve the priorities he has set in his second term as president. Like most other pollsters, Pew finds Trump’s approval underwater on a long list of issues. They discern at least some confidence in Trump’s leadership on a few issues (e.g., negotiating favorable trade agreements and using military force wisely) and little at all in others (e.g., making good decisions on health-care policy and “bringing the country together”). Assessments of his One Big Beautiful Bill Act remain a bit in flux (23 percent of Americans, and the same percentage of Republicans, are “not sure” how they feel about it), but the percentage strongly disapproving of the megabill (33 percent) is a lot bigger than the percentage strongly approving (11 percent). Another Trump “accomplishment” Pew looked at closely was his tariff program, which remains very unpopular, with 61 percent of Americans and 32 percent of Republicans disapproving.
So despite all the beltway hoopla about all of Trump’s alleged “winning” on every front, it doesn’t appear that the public is very impressed. He’s even starting to lose altitude with many of his own voters.
I’m not sure Republicans care much about public opinion anymore now that they’ve decided they have begun a new Thousand Year Reich, but assuming they haven’t quite gotten that accomplished it’s good to see that they haven’t been able to totally pull the wool over the country’s eyes just yet.l
Trump’s election rigging comes to an end now. California won’t stand by and watch Trump burn it all down — we are calling a special election to redraw our Congressional maps and defend fair representation. This is a five alarm fire for Democracy. Vote YES November 4. — Gov. Gavin Newsom
Trump’s election rigging comes to an end now. California won’t stand by and watch Trump burn it all down — we are calling a special election to redraw our Congressional maps and defend fair representation.
