Alligator Alcatraz Edition
June 30, 2025
1. You guys! For the low price of $249.00, you now can purchase Trump fragrances for men and women! The name of the scent is, of course, "Victory 45-47," and Trump made a video and social media posts hawking his new product today! He reports that these fragrances are all about Winning, Strength, and Success! If you are like me, you've often looked at our president and thought, "I want to smell like HIM!" Our desires have been answered. Check out the merchandise at gettrumpfragrances.com.
2. For just a moment, please think about how MAGA would have reacted if Biden or Obama had made 30-second ads for watches or coins or Bibles or shoes or cologne while occupying the White House.
3. Trump has threatened to support a primary race against any Republican who doesn't vote in favor of his Big, Beautiful Bill. He tweeted yesterday, "REMEMBER, you still have to get re-elected. Don't go too crazy!" He has mentioned at least two members of Congress by name - Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) - for daring to disagree with him. Most Republicans, however, are falling in line, putting their reelection ahead of any integrity or doing what is best for the constituents in their districts.
4. Trump can scratch one of those primary efforts off his to-do list. After Trump made a series of social media posts trashing Tillis on Saturday night, Tillis announced yesterday that he is not running for another term. And suddenly, unburdened by the yoke of Trump, he is speaking truth. He took to the floor of the Senate today and slammed the budget bill for the number of North Carolinians who will be kicked off Medicaid (the estimate is at least 10 million nationwide - and that's conservative).
5. When asked over the weekend if there is room within the Republican Party to disagree with Trump, Tillis remarked, "If you have the courage to. If you don’t, there isn’t. It’s all what you want to do as an individual member." It should not take courage to have an differing opinion from the head of the executive branch as a member of the co-equal legislative branch. Congress has lost all standing and did so willingly.
6. Remember Elon Musk? He is back posting against the Big, Beautiful Bill. He wrote this afternoon, "Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their hand in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth." In another post, Musk promised to start a new American Party the next day if the budget bill passes. This creates quite a conundrum for Republicans. If they vote FOR the bill, the richest man on the planet is going to fund a campaign against them. If they vote AGAINST the bill, the sitting president, who has had a death grip on the Republican Party for a decade, will hold rallies against them and spend some of that new fragrance money backing their opponents. Tough spot.
7. North America’s Building Trades Unions, which has more than three million members, has stated, "If enacted, the BBB stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country. Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects." But let me offer you the assurance that this bill is not all bad news - it includes $40 million for Trump's statue garden of American heroes. I will try not to worry about the projection that the only hospital in my county here in Tennessee will close if this bill passes because at least I will be able to visit statues of Kid Rock and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
8. How awesome is Bryan Adams? The number one song 30 years ago was "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" and 40 years ago it was "Heaven." That's domination over decades, my friends.
9. The dregs of social media have gone wild today for a video of New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani eating rice with his hands while discussing what he has learned from the Third World. And by dregs, I mean members of Congress. My member Andy Ogles wrote, "Socialism = bad. Islamist terrorists = bad. Third world customs = bad. Western civilization is just that—civilized. If you love communist socialism or are a Islamist terrorist sympathizer, you should probably go back to the Third World because that’s the only place your values have compatibility." And Congressman Brandon Gill (R-TX) wrote, "Civilized people in America don't eat like this. If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World." Tacos and popcorn and chips and wings and french fries would like a word with their racism.
10. Tomorrow, Trump will be heading to Florida to attend the grand opening of a new detention facility that has been given the nickname "Alligator Alcatraz" (and probably to golf). It's unclear if he will be given giant scissors to cut a ribbon. One hopes. As press secretary Karoline Leavitt described this new prison, "There is only one road leading in and the only way out is a one-way flight. It is isolated, and surrounded by dangerous wildlife in unforgiving terrain. This is an efficient and low cost way to help carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in American history." It is located in the Everglades. There is no air conditioning. There will be up to 5000 people detained there. In tents. The developer has bragged that it doesn't really need a fence because it is surrounded by water with alligators. This is America 2025. And this is how our Department of Homeland Security teased its opening over the weekend:
