Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation to the White House after months of escalating tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the firing of senior officers and the direction of the Army’s modernization efforts.

Substack’s Adam Kinzinger has been searching the news reports on the general’s resignation and its impact.

“Last night, the White House confirmed he’s out eighteen months into the job. The Atlantic reports how it happened. Last week, Driscoll went to the White House and took his concerns straight to the president. He told Trump how many generals and senior officers Hegseth had fired, pushed out, or passed over for promotions. Supposedly, Trump was surprised by the number. It’s been all over the media, but maybe not Fox News. Driscoll’s argument was simple. The Army can’t modernize when the people responsible for modernizing it keep getting fired.

Then he told the president he was leaving. The White House asked him to stay through the midterms, but he said no. So look at where that leaves the Army. Hegseth fired the Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, in April without explanation. Now, with Driscoll gone, the largest branch of the United States military has no Senate-confirmed civilian leader and no Senate-confirmed top general in the middle of a war.“

It’s that illegal war in Iran that has Generals mad.

“The Washington Post got a look at the classified Secretary of Defense orders book from August 14th, the document that moves American forces around the world. In it, the chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with the four-star commanders for Europe, the Pacific, and Latin America, warned Hegseth that prolonging large-scale operations against Iran is unsustainable and is weakening our ability to respond to threats elsewhere, including at home. The Navy’s top admiral and three of those combatant commanders formally wrote non-concur.

In military language, that means we will follow the order, but we want it on the record that we disagree. Hegseth’s extended the deployments anyway. Some units stay at least through September. Others are now ordered to stay into 2027. The 82nd Airborne’s deployment just got stretched to a full year.”

Many in the military believe the war is legal because the Trump DOJ tells them it is.

The killings of suspected drug smugglers by blowing up their boats is a different story.

Daniel Maurer is a veteran, Army JAG officer and law professor. He was a guest of Substack’s Meidas Touch this week.

“And those casualties, I think the best way to frame them is not as war casualties, but as murder victims, because that’s what we’re doing, because there is no legal authority to conduct these strikes. Total war against drug dealers and killing drug dealers without legal authority is murder. It’s an extrajudicial killing under international law because international law does not recognize going to war against criminals. You go to war against nation states or armed groups.

This drug cartels don’t meet the definition, the legal definition of an organized armed group that is posing a threat to civilians and other government organizations or entities. They don’t pose a threat to a state sovereignty. Are they threatening? Yes. Are they dangerous? Yes. Are they criminal? Yes. Are they bad actors? Yes. But that doesn’t make them targetable under the law of war.“

Maurer says he was shocked that the Pentagon approved a campaign in the same waters where the Coast Guard is already working to stop the drug trade.

“The US Coast Guard also is conducting operations in the Caribbean in the same area, interdicting similar boats doing allegedly the same thing, and they’ve been doing that for decades. They have legal authority to do that. They have a statute that, provides them the authority to be policemen, essentially, on the high seas to interdict drug smuggling, and they’ve been doing that, and they’re still doing that, which means it’s a crapshoot. If you’re on a fast boat, whether you’re a criminal narco terrorist or not, you don’t know if you’re gonna be picked up by the Coast Guard and arrested and either prosecuted in US district court or returned back to your home state, or you’re gonna get killed.

That’s not how we do business. That’s not how we conduct criminal law enforcement operations. That’s not how we conduct military operations.”

One would think that all of that killing would have an effect on the drug trade but it hasn’t.

“You would think that the price of drugs would have gone down on the street if they were, they have not. The pragmatic nonsense of this, right? The idea that you’re having success by killing off a low guy whenever you want doesn’t have a larger impact, doesn’t have a strategic effect. So there’s, there’s problem number one. Practically, it’s not a good strategy.“

Given the fact that this is all illegal should create some concern among those who are doing the dirty work. But when it’s time for accountability they may be in the clear..

“There is no statute of limitations on murder. In theory, a future, let’s say, where a Democratic administration that is spurred on to find accountability for people who committed bad acts under the Trump administration, could look at the chain of command and every single military service member who had participated in these illegal strikes. And they could in theory, bring charges. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t think there’ll be a huge public outcry to bring the drone operators to justice for this because they are following orders that they believe are at least not patently unlawful.”

Retired generals remind the troops that they swore an oath to uphold and protect the constitution and not a dictator. Legal help has been created to help them make such a choice. Without a congressional vote wars are illegal. Killing drug suspects is also not allowed in our constitution,. Former vets, like myself, are lining up to get the word out. It’s hoped that some will get the message and that they need to stand down from these illegal acts.

Meantime, the calls for Hegseth’s removal have been on the rise. Even a few Republicans are speaking out, realizing the negative consequences the military orders will have on the mid-term elections.

Music out:

“I've got my finger on the trigger
And tonight faith just ain't enough
When I look inside my heart
There's just devils and dust“

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

For Sailors and Marines on the Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, it’s been more than 260 days deployed. According to protocol, that’s way too long without leave.

But they’re still on ship and are being treated horribly.

Washers and dryers are breaking down. The ship’s store is nearly empty. Soap and toothpaste are becoming scarce. Food is short. Mail is failing to reach them, so are birthday cards, photographs and packages from home.

“He, at first he was in good spirits, uh, but once it started going past the, uh, what they anticipated to be the return date, I could definitely see a change in his overall mental health. And to where he had been very positive, it started getting very dark. He describes the overall experience as, um, a scene out of the American Horror Story, um, where he feels like everybody is dead, but they don’t know it yet, and, um, a lot of concern about when they’re gonna go home.

I’m not just talking one isolated incident where he complains about the conditions. This has been trending and spiraling downward since about March or April with, um, no supplies, food shortages, uh, low morale, um, a lot of talking about, um, depression and death.“

One sailor reportedly said he had to walk the entire ship looking for somewhere he could take a crap.

Independent journalists like Jim Acosta are being attacked for doing their job while reporting what these military men and their families are telling them. Joe Walsh was telling Acosta this past week.

“And we have American sailors, who are literally jumping overboard into the sea because they’re living on ship in horrific conditions.

Yes.

I mean, to me, that’s, it’s always hard to say this, that’s the biggest headline of the week.”

Another independent to feel the heat from the regime is Substack journalist Aaron Parnas who helped break the week’s biggest story.

“Donald Trump has lost the United States military. This afternoon, the President of the United States made comments that are being condemned across the military. I have gotten messages across my social media platforms already. He said that families of service members are lying, that they’re not concerned, that our reporting isn’t true. He instead attacked our reporting, refusing to acknowledge the pain that America’s troops are experiencing abroad because of his deployment.

He said their deployment has not gone long enough. Mind you, these service members have been aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln for longer than their deployment was supposed to be. It came after Pete Hegseth said all of this reporting is just a misunderstanding. The reporting is misunderstanding what is happening on these ships. Well, the truth is, our service members and their families deserve better, deserve the truth, and I’m giving them the truth.

Denial is not an excuse not to take care of the troops. It’s an aircraft carrier for god’s sake. At least they could load up a helicopter to drop troops the supplies they need to stay alive.

So far just one elected official, Congressman Seth Moulton, interviewed on CNN, has promised an investigation.

Reporter: “You heard the Navy. They tell us that they aren’t seeing an uptick of mental health issues on the USS Lincoln, and they’re saying they have plenty of mental health resources available. Listen, you’re on the Armed Services Committee. Is that statement good enough for you?”

“Absolutely not, and we will be conducting an investigation to get to the bottom of this. Zero suicides is the only acceptable number, and I’m speaking not just as a veteran, but as the co-author of 988, the National Mental Health Hotline, a service that I made sure was available to troops, even troops overseas. It’s pretty obvious, though, that these troops are not getting the mental health support that they need, and it’s our job in Congress to get to the bottom of that.“

But so far, Trump has not shown much love for the military.

Donald Trump called our troops suckers and losers.

Donald Trump dodged the draft himself.

Donald Trump mocks war heroes.

Donald Trump started war.

Now, he’s abusing troops on the USS Lincoln.

As former Presidents from both parties would say, “Vote accordingly.”

AI has even given them a song to sing.

Music out:

“We’re the living presidents. Our privilege was to serve. We’ve been watching on the sidelines. Here’s what we’ve observed. The country that we left you is now getting out of hand. It’s clear it’s not the nation that our founding fathers planned.

It’s time to rise up as a nation who is tired of this shit. It’s our duty now to make a stand and give their ass a kick. All we have to do is grab the problem by the throat. It’s not rocket science, just get off your butt and Vote.”

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

Before the questions a group of several survivors put out a video for the Senators to see.

“My name was released.

My phone number was released.

Where I went to school.

Where I live.

My students can now search me and read about my abuse.

I am an Epstein survivor.

I am an Epstein survivor.

I am an Epstein survivor.

We were exposed.

Nude pictures of victims were released.

Our family’s safety was put at risk.

Now Todd Blanche wants to be the Attorney General of the United States.

Todd Blanche had a duty to protect us.

Instead, he protected the people- who committed crimes against us.

30 years.

1,200 victims.

And 6 million files.

A mountain of evidence.

But Todd Blanche says there are no investigative leads.

Todd Blanche failed us.

He failed victims everywhere.

We deserve better.

Our country deserves better.

Vote no on Todd Blanche for Attorney General.

Vote no.

No.

No.

No.

Vote no on Todd Blanche for Attorney General.”

During the hearings, Republican Senator Tom Tillis said Blanche would have to earn his yes vote by meeting with the survivors. One of those survivors was interviewed later by “Breakdown” Show Host, Allison Gill.

“Epstein survivor Annie Farmer, who attended the meeting, had this to say, quote,

I’ll speak with Annie Farmer about everything that happened in that meeting and why it shouldn’t assuage anyones concerns about voting yes to advance Todd Blanche, let alone Tom Tillis.”

Annie Farmer told Allison in the exclusive interview that the meeting with Blanche did nothing to change her mind on insisting Senators vote no on his confirmation.

“He only strengthened my resolve to speak out against his confirmation. Of course, it felt in that meeting he was only meeting us because his hand was forced. And so there was already that sense going into the room, it was very last minute.

It was scheduled on his timeline, not in a way that I think would make it possible to engage with the largest number of us or give us time to think more about what our priorities were to communicate to him. So I think already going in emotions were running high, and I think that he could have done such a better job of meeting the moment, meeting those feelings, expressing empathy in a way that was believable and authentic and providing some kind of concrete information that would’ve helped us have any kind of good faith belief that he really was wanting to do better in this case.

In the beginning, he said he was just there to listen. You know, as people went around introducing themselves there were of course, questions being raised. So I think we didn’t want him to, to just listen. We had been waiting for a meeting, at this level for a long time, and so many of us had questions, and ultimately, speaking for myself, I felt really dissatisfied with the answers he provided. And as the meeting went on the frustration just intensified and I felt, condescension really is what I said in my statement because there was just a way, that he engaged that felt that he was unprofessional in my mind.

Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested by the FBI in 2020 and charged with multiple offences, including conspiracy to entice minors and sex trafficking of minors to Jeffrey Epstein. She was convicted on five out of six counts, including the one of sex trafficking of a minor.

She was later moved to a minimum security prison after Trump took office. Annie Farmer says that deal is still being hidden by Todd Blanche.

“Of course, I had a lot of specific questions about the Ghislaine Maxwell matter, about his interview, about the prison transfer. He kinda went back to some of his talking points, the threats that she received which required her to be moved, but he had nothing to do with it. And when I asked if it would be possible to release communications around that matter in order to show what he was saying to be the case, he said that was privileged. There were several things he said were privileged, and it was just of course beyond the possibility they could be released, but in speaking with attorneys afterwards that, that privilege can be waived, right?

You know, similar to, like, these kind of documents that the FBI is holding onto in regards to conversations within the department about charging Epstein and the types of crimes and he said, “Oh, well, we just never release anything of that nature.”

The Epstein Survivors heard Todd Blanche in their meeting with him. What they heard was everything from evasive answers to no answers to their questions about the files and why they haven’t been released.

But there’s another reason to vote no. This one comes from US Representative Jasmine Crokett.

“Todd Blanche specifically walked into the Senate today and proudly said that he is the president’s personal attorney. When you become the US attorney, when you walk into a courtroom, whether you are the US attorney or if you are an assistant, you walk in and you either say the government is ready to proceed, or you say the people, or you say the United States. You don’t say Donald Trump versus. And so therefore, we need somebody that is going to stand up for the people in this country.

That includes the survivors.”

Music out :

“I hear those victims in the morning, now they call me. The news each day ignores them more, just puts them on display. Driving down the road I pray, Republicans, won’t you grow some vertebrae? Vertebrae. Epstein files, stacking piles, to disgrace and take out Don. His name is in the accounts of drama.

Please compile those Epstein files.”

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening

Major Jason Watson has served more than twenty years in uniform. He accused the regime of launching what he called unconstitutional wars in Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran.

“The President and vice president must be impeached, convicted, and removed.”

“ I Jason Paul Watson, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I first swore this oath over 20 years ago. I have devoted my life in service to our democratic republic. When the President of the United States orders military action against foreign countries, absent an emergency scenario, as was done with Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, that’s an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’s authority and a violation of the War Powers Clause.

When the President of the United States grants an unelected mega-donor sweeping authority to shut down large swaths of our federal government, along with unrestricted access to our government databases, that’s an unconstitutional circumvention of Congress’s advise and consent authority under the Appointments Clause.”

The Major also talked about the unconstitutional deportation of American citizens.

“When the President of the United States directs the Department of Homeland Security to deny hundreds of people any due process before illegally detaining them and sending them to a foreign prison notorious for human rights abuses, that’s a violation of our Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights. When the President of the United States sponsors violence on the American people engaged in their constitutional right to peacefully assemble and protest, that’s a violation of our First Amendment rights. The constitutional impeachment process is our best pathway to restore fidelity to our Constitution.

But Congress remains unconvinced of the urgency and necessity for them to honor their oaths. I am calling on average Americans everywhere to peacefully exercise your First Amendment rights en masse every day until this administration is removed and our democratic republic is restored. I believe in America. I believe in us. If just a nobody like me can take a stand for our Constitution and our democratic republic, then you can too.

I hope you will join me in the defense of our republic. Thank you.”

Then Capitol Police arrested him—for holding a sign on the House steps without a member of Congress beside him. The Air Force has opened an investigation that could cost him his career and his pension.

His treatment has made some veterans angry like this man who posted this video on Substack.

“Hey, so if you want to help this guy, talk about this guy. Because the mainstream media is not. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, they’re not talking about Major Jason Watson, Air Force Major, and him calling for the impeachment of Trump and Vance for several crimes. So if you want to help him out, talk about him. He was arrested for being on property grounds. He wasn’t specifically arrested for what he said.

He will go through a process with the military, which could result in him seeing jail time, loss of a 17-year career, you name it. And he made that choice. He made that choice to stand up as an active duty military member and talk about what is happening. And in doing so, he made a ton of people look small. The entire Republican Party who has bent the knee to Trump. A lot of establishment Democrats who will not talk about Trump and what is going on and will not bring impeachment charges.

Oh, we need to wait till we get in the majority. Your job is to protect this country and the citizens of this country. Waiting till you have some kind of leverage is not an option. Do what’s right now.”

Meanwhile, the regime’s Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, has his own ideas about what the military’s duty should be.

“We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country.”

While retired Major General Stan McChrystal has his own ideas about what Hegseth is now.

“Those are the words of a potential war criminal, right? Those are the words of a potential war criminal right there. And that is not the advice and counsel and direction that any Secretary of Defense should be providing our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. It puts them actually in greater danger. The Secretary of Defense is a disgraced major that was kicked out of the D.C. National Guard. He has no qualifications whatsoever to be the Secretary of Defense other than his extreme loyalty to the president.

Again, those are the words of a potential war criminal.”

As a former Marine I join many other veterans in calling Major Jason Watson a true hero of our time. His name will stand out with others who choose to risk everything to defend the constitution and America.

Music out:

“I Want My Flag Back

From the fists and the noise, from the slogans that shrink it, from the men being boys. It was never your weapon, it was never your throne. It was stitched for the many, not claimed by the lone. I want my flag back. Let it mean what it said, not just red for your outrage, but the blood that was shed. For the promise of justice, for the hope we once had. Yeah,

I want my flag back.”

That’s the way it feels to me now. Back in 1976 it was different. Everyone was in the mood to party for our 200th celebration. 50 years later, it’s hard to find that same level of excitement for year 250. It’s hard to share the joy when we hear about the next vanity project from our wannabe dictator who is out to hijack America’s birthday and make it all about him. That’s already happened at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall. Substack’s Adam Kinzinger is checking it out.

“So let’s be clear. This was supposed to be a summer where we were celebrating two hundred and fifty years of America. Look back to what happened in nineteen seventy-six. It was a year of celebration. America Two Fifty was an organization that was put together by Congress. It was supposed to be bipartisan, and its goal was to put together these events. But this was taken over by Donald Trump and Freedom two fifty because Donald Trump wanted to make the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of America about him.

He wanted it to be a celebration of Donald Trump. Look at the passport he put out where it’s him. Look at all of this. Look at the opening speeches at this state fair where they said things like libtards, and then they wonder why all of a sudden people aren’t going. Look, people aren’t pointing out the lack of attendance because we’re dunking on America or because we’re not proud Americans. We’re pointing it out because it, like everything Donald Trump does, has died because of him, because he makes it about himself.

And when thirty percent of the country is all that approves of you, and you make this a celebration of you, nobody’s gonna turn out, and nobody’s turned out. A lot of states have even not-- decided not to participate. Again, let me remind folks, in an opening speech, they said libtards and then claimed this is a celebration of American unity. It’s failed. And it’s too bad because when I was born in nineteen seventy-eight and I started to come into consciousness, I saw the quarters from nineteen seventy-six.

I heard about the bicentennial, and I thought like, “Well, that sounds kinda cool. I’m gonna be old, forty-eight years old, when the two fifty comes around.” The two fifty’s come around, and it’s dead because Trump touched it. Everything Trump touches dies, and this is no different. I’m sorry if it makes you mad. You shouldn’t be mad at people pointing out the lack of attendance. You should be mad at Donald Trump for destroying what was supposed to be an extremely unifying event. When you say libtard in the opening, uh, I’m sorry, you’re not really a unifying event.“

There’s no unity to be found in a gilded ballroom, a Trump golf course in DC or the reflecting pool. Donald Trump is already blaming leftist vandals for wrecking the pool which was reflecting just fine before it was drained and painted. Now it’s full of algae and flaking paint. Reporter Scott McFarlane, tells Substack host Ken Harbaugh, the damage wasn’t caused by vandalism.

“As he’s saying that there were vandals who did this, and there’s absolutely no evidence whatsoever that any vandals had anything to do with this. Here’s how I know that. There are 24-hour cameras monitoring the reflecting pool. If there was a vandal who poured chemicals or destroyed the system, that video would already have been released by the Trump administration. I also know from my experience, 25 years in this town, there’s always police down there, park police, security. They’re monitoring the landmarks. They would have seen somebody, you know, poisoning the reflecting pool.

And the petty cases of vandalism that have been described are just that. They’re petty cases. Somebody touched the water by hand, which is at this point apparently criminal, even though people would dunk their whole bodies in that thing in years past or go walking through it like Jenny did in the movie Forrest Gump. I mean, there’s been a lot more incursions before than we’ve seen over the last few days, but they’re criminalizing those because of the scrutiny. This is a political mess in addition to being a literal mess. And Ken, there’s going to be an argument. In fact, there’s already an argument from the Trump administration that the media is fixated on this and not paying attention to real story.”

Then there’s the “Arc de Trump.” A nickname for a United States Triumphal Arch, a controversial 250-foot monument proposed by Donald Trump to celebrate him on the nation’s 250th anniversary. The proposed gilded structure would stand on Columbia Island near Arlington National Cemetery. This former Marine is having none of it.

“As a marine veteran, I don’t want a giant monument with a golden figure on top to honor any politician, especially not Trump, because monuments are supposed to honor principles, sacrifice, and service, not a single politician. But the proposed Arc de Trump is to be constructed right next to the Arlington National Cemetery. Why there, and why now, or why at all? Arlington is sacred ground. More than four hundred thousand service members, veterans, and their families are buried there.

It’s a place of reflection and remembrance and humility, something our commander-in-chief and his loyalists know nothing about. Now they want a massive two-hundred-and-fifty foot triumphal arch dominating the skyline, towering over the graves of those who actually gave everything, obstructing views and pulling attention away from the true heroes who defended this nation. The men and women who sacrificed themselves for our beloved country are already honored at Arlington. We don’t need to elevate one man above the country he was elected to serve.

So stop gaslighting us into thinking this is about celebrating our two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary or beautifying the area. Let me make this abundantly clear. Real patriotism remembers the fallen first. It doesn’t build ego trips on their doorstep. The country, the fallen heroes, veterans, and families all deserve better.“

This pattern of creating vanity projects by our dear leader is nothing new. Would be authoritarians and their propagandists have realized for years that reshaping memories are just as meaningful as dictating national policy. The huge vanity projects are a product of one man’s ego rather than our nation’s shared identity. So it goes with America’s 250th celebration. Donald Trump wants his name attached to it and is dead set on making sure that it happens. So far most people are not cooperating.

Music out:

“Don’t hand me a sparkler, don’t pour me that wine. This don’t feel like freedom on the Fourth of July. You can dress it in red, white, and blue all you want. But a house divided ain’t a thing you flaunt. Two hundred fifty years and we’re standin’ here. Trying to remember why we used to cheer. We’ll celebrate again when the truth can stand. But tonight, this don’t feel like our land.”

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

This year the World Cup’s 48 teams playing picked a base camp, one town to live and train in between matches. The folks in Lawrence, Kansas put out the welcome mat.

A video made by an Algerian reporter went viral on the internet.

“And what’s the idea you have about Algeria?

So, I wanna say thank you to Team Algeria for choosing our hometown, Lawrence, Kansas, to come here. And so welcome. Welcome to the United States. Welcome to Kansas.

What do you know about Algeria, and what’s the thing that made you to come to support Algeria?

I came mainly because I was so happy that they chose our town for their base camp, and we just know Algeria is on the Mediterranean Sea, and then the south part is in the Sahara Desert and we know that you gained independence from France kind of around the time I was born. So we don’t know too much but we wanna welcome you here.

Everybody here has been very friendly and very welcoming, and I’m really glad Algeria is gonna be here. And one, two, three, Viva L’Algeria.“

Then there’s the University of Kansas marching band.

The state’s flagship university’s musicians learned Algeria’s national anthem, note for note, so that when these players, a long way from home, walked out for practice, the first thing they heard was their own country’s song.

Music plays …

Algeria paid back the honor. Reports say the team opened a training session to the public and spent the afternoon out on the grass with neighborhood kids, walking them through drills, signing autographs, posing for pictures.

Here in the city of Portland, Oregon an 11 year old Jordanian soccer fan was granted access to her home team, who were training at the University of Portland. The media turned out for the event.

“Been watching soccer since a little kid, and I really like seeing teams play, screaming and chanting with my family at home, and yeah.

Zane took it a step further on Saturday night, though. Not only was she checking out her country’s squad at their open practice, she also wanted to make the day special for them.

We made little gifts or memories for the soccer players as a sign of appreciation for all that they do, for playing for us. We made them a little postcard as a memory of them coming to Portland.”

The city of Boston welcomed teams from Scotland and Haiti for their World Cup match. The city showed up in force to celebrate with soccer fans from both countries.

But the Scots may have had the edge since the Tartan Band showed up with their pipes.

“The World Cup has officially arrived in Foxborough, and Boston Stadium is buzzing.

I haven’t seen this since 1974. I was 14.

And so what does it mean for you to-

Now I’m ready, man. I’m ready to win. We’re ready to win. We’re ready to win.

It’s been amazing. People are friendly. There’s Scotland fans everywhere, and the city center’s full.

Yeah, definitely.

So we’re all behind the team.

The Scottish and Haitian fans were both out in full force, with no shortage of kilts or bagpipes.”

It was good to see an America steeped in celebration. Even if it came from people who are here from other countries. They got to see an America where a Boston police officer juggles a soccer ball because, as one writer put it, “for one minute nobody is performing a culture war. They are just watching a guy in uniform do keepie-uppies in the street.”

My thanks to Substack writer Adam Kinzinger who used his Good News Sunday piece to change my mind about the positive results of having the World Cup on this side of the planet.

Thanks Adam for helping to change the fake story of America.

“That Americans have soured on outsiders. That we have decided the rest of the world is a threat. That we look at people who do not talk like us or pray like us or come from where we come from and see a problem instead of a person. And then a college town in Kansas goes and learns every note of a North African country’s national anthem just so a group of strangers feel at home for a few weeks. An old local stands in front of a row of its flags and tells them, in so many words, “We don’t know much about you yet, but we are awfully glad you came.”

Music out:

They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

Katie Couric and Jim Acosta have joined the growing ranks of independent journalists airing their stories on such platforms as Substack and YouTube.

Katie invited Jim to her show on Substack to discuss the recent loss of such an iconic news show as Sixty Minutes and the departure of Comedian Stephen Colbert on CBS because Trump wanted them gone.

CBS took a knee to Trump because they wanted a merger approved by his FCC.

“And I’m very worried about what’s taking place right now because it looks like it’s a fait accompli that, that Paramount is going to be able to gobble up Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent company of CNN, and that you’re going to have what is essentially the makings of a propaganda giant in this country. And Katie, what concerns me so much about this is that you and I have been in this business long enough to know we haven’t had that before in this country. And folks might say, “Oh, it’s a bit hyperbolic to say, oh, it’s gonna be propaganda,” and so on. But-

Katie : Well, we have Fox News. Wouldn’t you call that?

I would say we have we have that, but I think it is a different animal in that we kind of already are living with it and have been living with it for some time. Whereas you are taking two news organizations, CBS and CNN, that had been basically operating as, you know, regular tried and true news divisions and in fact trying to turn them into propaganda arms of the Trump administration.

I’ve been saying that on my show. We already have one Fox. We don’t need another one.”

And as Katie Couric points out, Trump’s list of journalists he sees as enemies is growing by the day.

“I still have friends at CBS. They’re very upset about what is happening there, and I’m sure you also talk to people at CNN. And, you know, Trump has even pointed out anchors he doesn’t like. I mean, case in point, you were one of them, Jim.

Jim: Yeah. He said he got rid of me.

And, and here I thought these were just programming decisions, you know?

Katie : Right.

Jim: He put out a Truth Social post not too long ago and taking credit for the ousting of various anchors and hosts, Stephen Colbert being one, myself, Terry Moran, some others.”

Former CNN Anchor Jim Acosta says the Trump threats began even before the election.

“I mean, it was made pretty clear to me during Joe Biden’s presidency, I had lunch with a Trump advisor who basically said, you know, Trump and John Malone speak all the time. Just so you know, we’re coming after you. You know, this is not over yet. And when he got back into the White House, I thought, oh, that’s probably not good. And then as we were getting close to the inauguration, I was starting to get pressure to move to a different, to a very undesirable time slot. And I thought, oh, well, isn’t that interesting?

What a coincidence!”

Jim Acosta says the reason given for those threats were new to him. And he adds he’d never heard that before.

“I was told I had to watch my tone, and that was sort of…”

Katie : “Did you say, “What does that mean?”

Jim: “Yeah, I did, I did say that. And I think it was pretty clear there was pressure being put on people internally to be careful what they say. And I had never really experienced that in all of my years of doing television news under Republican or Democratic administrations. But under Donald Trump, you know, because he’s so sensitive and thin-skinned and these days he can’t stay awake for very long, you know, he doesn’t like negative coverage and critical coverage, and that is, that is par for the course. That is how it goes.”

Jim says he’s very worried about the future of network news and the journalists hired to do that job.

“And I just worry what’s gonna happen to my old place, as I call it my old, my old, my old place when I talk about CNN. And I worry greatly that they’re going to try to take what used to be a traditional news network, down the middle news network, and turn it into a propaganda machine for Donald Trump. And that is, that is very worrisome. That should be worrisome to all Americans. When as I’ve been saying, when 60 Minutes is in trouble, we’re all in trouble. When CNN is in trouble, we’re all in trouble as a country.”

Katie Couric says making CBS into a propaganda machine is not working out for them financially, but Jim Acosta argues that it’s not about the money or the numbers.

“The ratings are tanking over at the evening news and the morning show. It’s not working. A lot of people are just purposely saying they’re not gonna watch CBS, especially after Stephen Colbert…”

Jim: “This is not about profits. This is not about ratings. This is a political exercise. And make no mistake…”

Katie: “Well, it is about profits in a way, because it is about greed and about this merger.”

Jim: “On the entertainment side, yes, and consolidating studio work and, and staffs and that sort of thing, certainly. But if the ratings aren’t bearing out, then they aren’t gonna make money in that fashion and so this is not about ratings. This is a political exercise. This is Project 2025 in action. This is to see whether or not they can take regular brand name news networks and turn them into places where if they’re not total propaganda arms of the administration, that they’re pulling their punches, that they’re pulling back, that they’re worried and they’re cautious about criticizing the person in the White House.”

The shutting down of CBS News Radio was big news this past week.

For me that’s very personal. I’ve worked for CBS Affiliate stations in the Portland, Oregon market for nearly 60 years. I’ve worked closely with the network anchors while reporting local events of national interest.

But the biggest story is the one about job loss. Not the economic impact.

It’s about the people who are disappearing behind the scenes: The reporters no longer covering beats. The editors no longer catching mistakes. The producers no longer making one more phone call before air. The copy editors no longer asking, “Are we sure about this?”

According to the latest report, the news industry announced 839 job cuts through the first four months of 2026 — up 46 percent over the same period last year. As a whole, there were nearly 3,000 media jobs lost at the same time.

I join Katie and Jim for being worried about the future of real news in America.

Music out:

Invisible airwaves
Crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle
With the energy
Emotional feedback
On a timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price –
Almost free…

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

These were stores that had a lot of customers and were not hurting for sales. So business was good and there was no need to go bankrupt.

Senator Elizabeth Warren breaks out her white board that depicts a mall with the names of stores, many that no longer exist.

“Private equity wants you to believe that Red Lobster went bankrupt because of their endless shrimp. They want you to believe that Toys R Us went bankrupt because families quit buying toys in person. They want you to believe that Claire’s went bankrupt because teens stopped shopping at the mall.

You deserve the truth. All of these companies are victims of a private equity takeover, and it’s the same story every time. Private equity marches in. A few wealthy investors buy the outfit, strip out the assets, load the company up with debt, and suck the money out of it until it collapses. And then, after thousands and thousands of workers have been laid off, after pensions have been raided, after stores have closed, those private equity firms walk away with their pockets stuffed with cash.”

“I watched a similar scenario take place in the radio industry several years ago. But it was made much worse as a new federal law allowed media to consolidate ownership of stations. Groups of stations were formed while each station in the cluster struggled to pay off the debts that were piled on to it by the new owners.

This resulted in layoffs and declining bottom lines causing stations to lose their value. The owners blamed the internet for the losses, even though many advertising sales were generated by on line resources.

Many stations just shut off their transmitters with no plan on returning to the air anytime soon.

Now it’s happening to many stores who were doing well before they were sold to private equity firms.

“And there goes your local mall and all the stores you grew up with. Don’t believe me? Just look at the numbers. Companies bought by private equity firms are 10 times more likely to go bankrupt than those that aren’t. Or look at the profits of the companies before and after private equity’s takeover.

Toys ‘R’ Us wasn’t failing. It was actually doing just fine. And make no mistake, these companies aren’t managed into the ground by accident. For most of them, that was the plan all along. Private equity bought Toys ‘R’ Us back in 2005, and at the time, the company had over $11 billion in revenue.

You know, it sounds like it was doing pretty well, but private equity borrowed money to buy the company, loaded it up with debt, the debt that Toys “R” Us was now responsible for paying. At the same time, Toys “R” Us was also now responsible for paying its PE overlords regular management fees. Over 13 years, Toys “R” Us ended up shelling out $464 million, nearly half a billion dollars, to the private equity companies. And for what? For their being the owners.

And did that half a billion dollars go toward workers’ wages or modernizing Toys R Us to sell toys online? Nope. In fact, the private equity company fired thousands of Toys R Us workers, stopped regular maintenance at its stores, and ultimately fell behind in the modernization. It ran the company downhill and made nearly half $1 billion in the process. As for Toys ‘R’ Us, now it was burdened by all of this debt, and we know how that story ends.

Toys ‘R’ Us had to declare bankruptcy.”

A bankruptcy that was blamed on poor sales because customers were using Amazon to make online purchases.

“Despite the destruction they caused, executives whined and cried that Amazon was to blame. But Brandon Ballou, in his book Plunder, points out some context here that can’t be overlooked. At the time, Toys sales remained steady even during the Great Recession and in the year before it filed for bankruptcy. What really sank the company was the burden of payments Toys R Us had to make to private equity. And here’s the worst part.

What came next? The PE company made out like bandits. The Toys R Us CEO, a friend of the private equity company, got a nice salary and then took a $2.8 million bonus. Oh, and the workers who lost their jobs and their retirement plans, they were given severance packages amounting to $60 per person. $60.

I’ll say that again. Nearly half a billion to private equity, a $2.8 million bonus for the CEO, and $60 for each worker who is now out of a job. Let me read you just one excerpt. From plunder. At the end of the bankruptcy process, Mary Osman, a former Toys “R” Us employee in Boardman, Ohio, told activists that, quote, “I can’t find another job at my age. No one will hire me.”

So Senator Elizabeth Warren is introducing legislation that would stop the looting of successful businesses by Wall Streets private equity companies because right now nothing is being done stop it.

“Washington has done very little to rein in these firms or to ensure that their incentives align with the best interests of our economy. And as a result, private equity firms, they can use all sorts of tricks to get rich, even if the companies they buy fail. And that’s what happened with Friendly’s, with Brookstone, with Petco. With David’s Bridal and with Joann’s. Look, I call this legalized looting, and it’s why I have a bill to make this illegal.

The bill is called Stop Wall Street Looting Act, and it’s about time we get this done before there are no malls left.“

Music out:

We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries
We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs

I’m Mike Turner.

Thank you for listening.

If it was Donald Trump’s desire to have us forget about the Epstein Survivors by starting a war and building a ballroom at the White House, it hasn’t worked very well.

Less than two miles away from Jeffrey Epstein’s former mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, five survivors of the late sex trafficker’s abuse demanded that the investigation into his crimes continue. mainstream media was absent but the independents were there to record their stories.

Courtney Wild, who was abused by Epstein in that mansion at age 14 says she wants to “make sure this never happens again.”

“What happened to me was terrible, but what happened after that by our own government changed my life just as much. I came here today to ask for one simple thing: to make sure this never happens again. I filed a case under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act because government secretly made a deal with Jeffrey Epstein. They signed a non-prosecution agreement. They made the deal behind closed doors.

They never told me, and they never told any of us. Instead, they sent letters telling me to be patient, even though they knew the case was already over. For years, I believed there was an investigation happening. There wasn’t. When I found out the truth, I went to my lawyer, Brad Edwards.

He took my case in 2008, and he fought for me against the government for over a decade. We wanted to do the right thing for all victims. Together, we wanted answers to a simple question. How could this happen? We had to fight all the way to the 11th Circuit, which took years to get the emails between the government and Jeffrey’s lawyers to help us understand what happened.

When we finally got them, they showed something I will never forget. The government wasn’t trying to negotiate with Epstein’s lawyers. It looked like the government was trying to make him happy. They were trying to make sure that the punishment they were going to give him was okay with him. It seemed like they had forgotten that there were 40 of us kids who had been abused by him.

I was so confused because where I come from, if you commit a crime, you go to jail. I have never heard the feds of letting you help them decide which crimes they’re going to charge you with, or if you’re cool with how long you’re going to spend in jail.”

She spoke at West Palm Beach City Hall in a hearing before Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. The hearing follows over a year of global debate about the Epstein case — which has embroiled the Trump administration in scrutiny and led to the release of 3 million pages of documents pertaining to Epstein’s sex-trafficking of what the Department of Justice estimated to be over 1,000 victims. Testimony focused on survivors’ calls for accountability, and the questions that remain unanswered.

“If prosecutors choose to ignore victims, those victims voices must be put on the record, memorialized, and preserved, especially when a deal is made behind closed doors. There needs to be attorneys fees provision so victims can find lawyers who will stand up for them. If those changes had existed back then, maybe what had happened to me and so many others would have not happened. My case against the government for violating the rights of at least 40 of us Palm Beach kids was happening from 2008 to 2019. Do you know how many other girls Jeffrey abused in that time period?

I bet the FBI knows. But the point is that Epstein continued to abuse other girls in New York, New Mexico, around the world, and even still here in Florida. After he was released in 2009, and everybody knew it. There were lawsuits, there were so many new articles. He was a registered sex offender, and still nothing was done by the government.

Not until 2019 when he was finally arrested. None of those girls should have ever been abused. Jeffrey Epstein should have been in jail. If he had been in jail like any other man who did the same thing as him, there wouldn’t have been a single victim after 2009. But he wasn’t, and he did.

He abused so many girls after 2009 at the same exact time that I was asking the government why he got the deal and why they violated my rights. That is the real injustice here. That is the real thing we need to prevent from ever happening again in this country.”

Survivor Jena-Lisa Jones testified that since the Epstein victims came forward to tell their stories, they have been abused once again. This time by their own federal government.

“The Department of Justice released documents that exposed our names, our Social Security numbers, and deeply personal information. Survivors’ identities were made public. Husbands learned about their wives’ abuse for the first time. Children learned about the abuse of their mothers from reporters, from strangers on the internet, and in some cases from other kids at school.

Some survivors learned that friends had also been abused only because they saw their names in those documents. Others saw the most intimate details of their own trauma publicly exposed. Our privacy was violated. The government promised us over and over again that our information would be protected and properly redacted. Those promises were broken again.”

The House Comittee also heard from Sky and Amanda Roberts. Sky is the younger brother of Virginia Giuffre. Virginia was only 16 years old and had just finished 10th grade when her sex trafficking by Epstein began.

“This is only a small sample of the thousands of stories that still remain untold. But the question today is no longer whether names exist. The question is, what will Congress and the Department of Justice do about it? Even if only a handful of names are publicly known, will there finally be investigations and accountability?

When former Prince Andrew denied knowing Virginia despite evidence and testimony surrounding that encounter, that deserves scrutiny and investigation.

And when Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch met with Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker accused of perjury, and shortly after was moved to a minimum security prison, that demands answers and investigations. So today we ask for 4 things. First, Congress must hold this Department of Justice accountable, including contempt proceedings, as the record has shown that this DOJ has violated the law. Second, state investigations must continue and expand in New Mexico, New York, Florida, the Virgin Islands, and everywhere this network operated. Third, this committee must issue further subpoenas and require alleged co-conspirators, enablers, financiers, and witnesses to testify under oath.

Fourth, follow the money. Financial records are not secondary. They may be the key to exposing the full network. Suspicious payments, shell entities, possible tax violations, money laundering, and transactions connected to trafficking and abuse must be investigated aggressively because financial crimes can open the door and lead to real prosecutions. And finally, the Epstein and Maxwell investigations must be reopened, not partially, not quietly, but fully.

Survivors and the public deserve the truth, and enablers must no longer hide behind wealth, power, or silence.“

The informal hearing comes amid pressure on the full Oversight Committee to host a forum with Epstein victims. But no date has been set.

Music out :

We are stardust, we are golden
We are caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening

“You don’t even know what the average American is paying. You don’t know what we paid in terms of the missiles that hit the Iranian school. You don’t know what we’re paying in terms of gas. You don’t know what we’re paying in terms of food.

It’s the incompetence. It’s the incompetence. It used to be that that type of stuff worked. And then you started to lose the people that you campaigned for, because you said you wouldn’t get us into bad wars. You said, you would bring down the prices.”

Hegseth says any price is worth the cost of Iran not having a nuclear weapon.

But Arizona Senator, Mark Kelly told independent journalist, Scott MacFarlane that he’ll be ready with this question when Hegseth testifies before his Senate committee.

“What’s the endgame here? They went into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, and now they’re kind of stuck. And every time the president says, hey, we’re close to some kind of solution, then we’re back where we started. We’ve seen that happen over and over again. The other thing is, and there’s reporting on this even today, the number of munitions that we’ve expended and this Secretary of Defense, I think people have seen this, you know, gathers all the admirals and generals.

He talks about lethality and killing people. And then they— this administration declares war on Iran. And I watched him multiple times go to the camera, in a brief and talk about, well, we hit 10,000 targets, now we hit 13,000 targets. Well, of course, we’ve expended a huge amount of munitions that are going to take to replenish. That puts our national security at risk in other theaters.

So this was kind of handled as you would expect, somebody who was just talking about maximum lethality and just said, let’s go out and kill people. And now we’re in a situation where we’re less safe and we’re no closer to the end of this thing than we were at the beginning.”

Senator Kelly is asked if he can speculate on how long the Iran War will last?

“I don’t know. I don’t think they have much of a plan. And what they did for the Iranians is they gave them, you know, basically a gift in allowing them to, you know, shut down the Strait of Hormuz. And I am confident that they realize the strategic asset that that is.

So, how do you get them to give that up? They can generate a lot of revenue. By some estimates, they could generate more revenue by controlling the Strait of Hormuz than they can from their oil industry.”

Mark Kelly is a target of Pete Hegseth. Senator Kelly was one of a group of Democrats who urged military members to obey the US Consitution instead of a dictator because it’s the law.

“I’ve been through a lot of stuff before. I mean, these guys aren’t going to intimidate me. I’ve almost been shot down multiple times. My wife Gabby, 15 years ago, was nearly assassinated, shot in the head, in the hospital for 6 months. I mean, I’ve served this country as a combat pilot, as a test pilot doing risky things, as an astronaut.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump, they’re not gonna intimidate me. I was asked by a BBC guy, a couple months ago. He said, when you’re up at night in the middle of the night thinking about this, which part of it do you worry about the most? And I said, oh, wait a second. You think I’m up in the middle of the night thinking about Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump?

That’s not me. I mean, they picked the wrong guy. I’m not going to back down. from these clowns. I’m suing Pete Hegseth because he’s trying to demote me and taking— take away my pension for something I said, which by the way was follow the law.

But here’s the thing, this isn’t just about me. This is about 2 million other retired veterans that they’re trying to silence. This president doesn’t like people speaking out against him, and you can even see it. I don’t think he even likes his cabinet disagreeing with him. That’s not the environment that creates a well-functioning organization.”

The Iran War may not be the largest issue in the upcoming midterm elections. Senator Mark Kelly says it will once again be all about the economy even if the war comes to a close before then.

“Fifty percent of Americans are having a hard time affording food. Half the country. Kids have been kicked off of their SNAP benefits, food benefits, free lunches. People have lost their healthcare. Folks can’t afford their lives.

People are drowning in a crisis of affordability. They just can’t buy the stuff they need anymore. They can’t pay their rent. And it really is a crisis. I talk to people all over the country, and if you’re a young person and let’s say you’re right out of college or right out of high school, you’re now having a harder time finding a job.

The prospect of you buying a home someday wasn’t like when I was a young Navy lieutenant and I was able to buy a house in my 20’s and I was in the Navy. I mean, people today are looking at maybe they’ll buy a house when they’re in their 40’s.”

That’s the hard part. Watching your kids grow into adults who are unable to afford a home. It wasn’t easy for the boomers either. But at least you could come up with just enough to be able to find a place where you could hang your hat. But today the top one percent have it all.

Music out:

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

Former Marine Communications Officer, Joe Plenzler worked for the Marine Commandant at the Pentagon. He linked up with Georgetown Law Professor and former Pentagon Defense Counselor, Rosa Brooks, in a recent Meidas Network broadcast on Substack to talk about Trump’s attack of Iran.

Trump and Hegseth’s desire to wipe out an entire civilization has cost us dearly and left us buried in rubble we may never be able to crawl out of. Rosa Brooks says it will take generations before real recovery is possible.

“It’s clear that many, many thousands of people, including many, many civilians, have been killed. There’s a cost to U.S. service members and U.S. allies. And we don’t, I think, have an accurate tally at this point of service members who have been badly injured or of U.S. bases and infrastructure in the region that have been badly, badly damaged. Our allies in the region have been attacked. The global economy is in complete chaos at this point, owing to the disruptions to oil, as well as just the geopolitical uncertainty.

And then add to that, the impact on international relations. The United States of America, which once called itself the leader of the free world, become a nation that says we don’t care about international law, we don’t care about U.S. law. We actually have a president who, of course, just a few days ago said, you know, he was perfectly happy to wipe out an entire civilization, and that the destabilizing effect— I mean it’s going to be the work of generations to undo this. We are turning ourselves into sort of essentially the people the rest of the world is going to see as like the Nazis. They may have looked at the US and said, well, okay, we don’t like what you did here or there, but we think that you are a stabilizing force overall.

Now people look at us and they just think, you people voted twice for this crazy, scary guy who is not only destroying your democracy, but seems happy to trigger a nuclear war, level entire populations. We can’t trust you. We’re afraid of you. And that’s not a good world for them. And it’s also not a good world for us.”

Former Marine Communications Officer at the Pentagon Joe Plenzler says the use of expensive missiles to shoot down inexpensive Iranian drones is driving the defense budget higher while lowering our defense capabilities that may be needed to protect the country in a nuclear war.

“I was talking to another defense expert last week. He’s like, I don’t know why we’re shooting THAAD at drones. They are there to protect us from ICBMs coming across the North Pole. And he said, you know, he brought up the analogy that they’re forcing us to spend gold and platinum to shoot down tin, and he said logistically it’s completely unsustainable.

I mean, the defense contractors will make bank, right? Which I guess is why, you know, Trump’s asking for $1.5 trillion. I’m almost joking a little bit at that number for defense.

Rosa: Yeah, trillion here and there. Soon you’re talking real money.

Yeah. And without irony, you know, Hegseth from the podium is like criticizin Iran. He says they spend all their money on bombs and guns and missiles and tunnels and all this other stuff. And when you look at the 2028, the budgetary pie chart from the White House, it looks like Pac-Man eating the rest of the federal budget, right?

Just because two-thirds of it would be spent on defense, which is insane.”

But for Joe and Rosa our biggest loss is the lack of respect for human life. Trump says they’d do it just for the “fun of it.”

Joe: “Yeah, I’m having visions of the world being dragged back to the battle days of empire, right? And think about the wars that caused. I mean, how many—

Rosa: “The emperor is Caligula, not just the days of empire but, you know, it’s Caligula or it’s whatever. Just pick a world historical crazy person.”

Joe: “Yeah. And while Stephen Miller is looking fondly back at that, I mean, you know, there were days of empire where 40, 50, 60,000 people died in a day, you know, from battles like Cannae and other places, right? Like, not a great world to live in. World War I, I mean, how many hundreds of thousands of young people were slaughtered in trenches for a pointless war, right? Yeah. World War II, millions of people killed, displaced.”

Rosa: “I think they think that world is okay.”

Joe: “Yeah, well, it’s not their kids and it’s not them that are fighting it, Right. So, yeah, you know, yes, it’s easy, like Senator Lindsey Graham, to be so brave with the lives of other people’s kids being like, oh, I have no doubt the Marines can drop in and take Karg Island. You know, they took Iwo Jima and it’s like, yeah, 7,000 Marines died there. Like, you know, you’re so brave with the lives of other people’s kids.

If you want to be first on the ramp I would love to see that. You know, Lindsey Graham, Stephen Miller, all the Trump kids, like, yeah, be the first on the beach, see what that’s like.

A particularly bleak moment. I don’t— I think it was Kharg Island. It may have been a different target.”

Rosa: “Remember when Trump said this? It seems so long ago, but in fact it was only maybe 10 days or 2 weeks ago. He said, well, we bombed it. Maybe we’ll do it again just for fun. And just the kind of total absence of any awareness that both American and Iranian lives— that you’re killing people.

We don’t kill people just for fun. And you want to say to somebody’s parent, you want to say to some kid’s parent, yeah, you know, yeah, I’m sorry your kid died and, you know, but it was fun. Like fun for me. It’s just so offensive too.”

Joe: “Yeah, it’s disgusting.

It’s obscene, really. Yeah. And I hear stuff like that and it’s just kind of like, clearly this is coming out of the mouths of people who have never pointed a weapon at another human being and pressed the trigger. And never walked through the detritus of the aftermath of a battlefield and smelled what that smelled like.

And so it’s like this bravado. I think in their minds they think it’s impressive. But to anyone who’s actually really been to war and engaged in combat, we see right through that.”

Both agree that this war has left the view of the United States as that of a rogue state. Joe: “An erratic, predatory power governed not by law, but by the whims of a capricious, short-sighted, and self-indulgant president.”

Music out:

War, It ain't nothing but a heart-breaker
(War) It's got one friend that's The Undertaker
Oh, war, has shattered many a young man's dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is much too short and precious
To spend fighting wars each day
War can't give life
It can only take it away, oh

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

It was supposed to be the largest protest in American history. From what I saw, I don’t think it missed that mark by much, if at all.

But I know that this has to be the largest gathering in my town’s history. Thousands marched and lined the streets along the busiest highway that rolls through Tigard, Oregon. Organizers says this No Kings protest was important.

“From the streets of Oregon to communities across this country, people are standing up just like here today, and they are organizing. They are making their voices heard, and it is making a difference.“

Oregon residents are especially sensitive to the Trump regime’s attack on state election law. The state was the first to allow vote by mail and as a result has the largest voter turnout per capita in the country. That’s why Oregon Secretary of State, Tobias Reed, was on hand to remind the crowd that vote by mail in Oregon is not going away anytime soon.

“We took him to court. We won. That illegal executive order is not in effect.

Then, he tried to sue me and a bunch of other secretaries of state because of how we reacted when he demanded access to our entire voter file, to your private voter data. You remember what we said? We said no. Well, he sued us. He lost that court battle too.

And now he’s demanding that Congress pass this so-called SAVE Act, this unnecessary, expensive, cynical attempt to make it harder for people to vote. So we have to ask, Why? I think the answer is obvious, because he knows he’s unpopular. He knows that when Americans have a chance to vote in a free and fair election, they’re going to send all his congressional allies home.”

Trump has not tried to hide the fact that he would like to mess with the election system so that Republicans don’t lose the midterms. If they lose it’s pretty clear they also lose the majority in both houses of Congress.

“But there’s a long time between now and November, and the work we have to do to mobilize voters, to connect with Oregonians, that doesn’t start in October. It starts now. We have to make sure that Washington hears our voices so loudly they cannot misinterpret the results. So it is up to all of us. We have to talk to our friends, our neighbors, our families, our coworkers.

We have to look for those Oregonians who feel the same kind of concern about the Constitution and the future of our democracy. And importantly, we also have to connect with Oregonians who are feeling isolated and marginalized and look for ways to help them see themselves in our shared future. We are very fortunate in Oregon. We were the first state to make voting by mail our norm, and we lead the nation when it comes to turnout. So let’s not take any of that for granted.”

That’s why protest size was so important for No Kings. For residents who show up to be counted, the numbers are important on a personal level.

This is a big one, isn’t it, for Tigard? We’ve been to a couple of them now, and this seems to be the largest out here.

“This is the largest one I’ve seen. Yeah, people are fired up, and that’s good.”

What brought you out here?

“Well, I just want to make sure that I’m out here to support democracy and voting and women’s rights. All the things that I fought so hard for. I want to see it continue.”

I thought it was appropriate for the Tigard folks to bring out our Secretary of State, Tobias Reed, who had some good things to say about voting. I think we need that support right now, don’t we?

“Oh, we definitely do. Our voting system has to remain intact. It is the important thing, and that’s why he’s trying to stop it, because he knows he’s not going to win.”

Pushback from a very few as far as getting out here, as far as protests are concerned. Do you think getting together with this massive crowd that we have here in Tigard really helps?

“It does. It helps to see how many people feel the same as I do, how many people are fighting for free speech and women’s rights and equality. And it’s important.”

Does it make you personally feel better when you see this many people out here with you?

“Yes, because then you know you’re not alone. Then you know there are people on the side of democracy and freedom in our country.”

Looking at the latest crowd pictures from around the country, this No Kings protest was huge and could very well be a record when the counting stops.

Bruce Springsteen was there on the capitol steps to thank the people of Minneapolis for the inspiration that allowed all of us to stay in the fight against ICE.

“You gave us hope. You gave us courage. And for those who gave their lives— Renee Goode, mother of 3, brutally murdered. Alex Pritty, VA nurse, executed by ICE, shot in the back and left to die in the street without even the decency of our lawless government to investigate their deaths. Remember the names of those who died on the streets.”

Music out:

Thank you, Minneapolis, St. Paul. No kings, no war.

I’m Mike Turner.

Thank you for listening.

The breaking news of CBS mass layoffs sounded like this.

“CBS News announced Friday that it is shutting down CBS News Radio, ending a historic broadcast service that’s been on the air since 1927 and once carried Edward R. Murrow’s World War II dispatches from London. Today, CBS News Radio provides material to an estimated 700 radio stations across the country and is best known for its top-of-the-hour news roundups. The service will end on May 22nd, the network said Friday. The closure comes alongside layoffs of approximately 6% of the CBS News workforce, roughly 60 to 70 employees, according to editor-in-chief Barry Weiss and CBS President Tom Sabrowski. The executive cited a shifting news landscape and the need to reach younger, digitally focused audiences.”

Before my layoff in local radio, I spent over a decade reporting Oregon events on CBS Radio News. I was proud to do live reports on the network. It was an honor to work at one of the CBS affiliate stations that carried the network’s shows. They carried the legacy of Edward R Murrow who gave us the first news reports of the Blitz in London to those huddled around their radios here in America. I was proud to participate in a news show that won a journalism award bearing his name.

I carried the respect of the CBS network with me in the form of the CBS hat on my head when I was out and about covering local news stories during the pandemic for the Portland affiliate. Those stations will scramble now to replace their network going dark on May 22nd.

And former CBS affiliate radio journalists are just beginning to find out about the demise of CBS Radio News.

“CBS Radio News going out of business.

It’s damn sad. Speaking as a former employee of at least one CBS Radio News affiliate in my hometown, after 99 years, you know, Ed Murrow would be mortified. Uncle Walter too. And all the other folks who were part of that great legacy. You think of Dan Rather covering the JFK assassination in Dallas, Texas, and folks like Leslie Stahl.

And by the way, yeah, everybody on the staff at CBS Radio News is going to lose their gig as of the middle of May.

Who’s to blame? Well, these kind of things I tend to believe are in the wind. Barry Weiss is not helping a damn bit, but I don’t really think it’s her fault. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of other factors involved. I’ll tell you one thing that contributed to this downfall greatly is when the idiot radio suits get up and say things like, “Well, you know, people under 50 are no longer interested in what’s on the radio.” Gee guys, I wonder why.

File that one under the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy.“

Local radio’s losses began with consolidation. It allowed independents to be purchased and assembled in groups of stations. A single job would be handled by one person serving the entire group. That led to less competition and ultimately fewer jobs. Local communities were no longer being served by a station located there since most of the programming decisions were made elsewhere. The focus changed from serving the community to cutting jobs and saving money.

But now it’s about making more money for corporate owners serve the Trump regime by airing positive stories about such things as pedofile presidents and illegal wars.

Former CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta was invited to a Senate hearing to explain the current journalism landscape.

“Senator Adam Schiff, the members of Congress here today, the city of Burbank and their teams for inviting me to be a part of this spotlight hearing on the damage being done to our media in this country. And here is the breaking news. The news is broken. We may not be able to put the pieces back together again if the Paramount, Warner Brothers, Discovery merger goes through and puts my former home CNN under the control of the Ellison family. You see, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has cracked the code on how to hurt the press in America.

You may recall Trump and his team seized my press pass during his first term. What is happening now goes way beyond that. As a former White House correspondent and anchor for CNN and a former correspondent for CBS News, I can only report to you what I see with my own eyes— an assault on our freedom of speech and the free press in America by the most powerful man in the world. Who is taking us all down the road of Putin or China-style state-dominated or state-controlled media in this country, owned by the oligarchs in service to Trump and MAGA, all in the name of special treatment for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of everyone else. Ladies and gentlemen, the news does not belong to the oligarchs.

It belongs to us.”

Jim Acosta left CNN when he saw the handwriting on the wall. He’s now an independent journalist with a daily show on Substack.

Another former mainstream journalist is Ben Meiselas, who also produces several segments a day on Substack. When he got wind of the CBS layoffs he sent a personal letter to the departing staff.

He told them “You are not the ones who failed. You told the stories that needed to be told. And now you’re being told that your work no longer fits the “new direction.”

Meiselas says the CBS layoffs are dressed up in corporate language about “strategy” and “economic realities” when it’s really all about control.”

Music out:
Is there anybody out there?

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

That has made “The Angry Male Vet” even angrier in his latest post on Substack.

But, it’s the most asked question out there these days. “Why are we doing this?”

“We’re going to make a ton of money.

Gleefully saying that on Fox News. We’re going to make a ton of money. No missile threat, no nuke threat. No, they were going to hit us first threat.

It’s about the fucking money. And how are they going to do that? How are they going to make money for themselves? For their billionaire donors, for people like Netanyahu: using our blood.

The men and women who elect to serve, who volunteer to serve this country and protect us, they’re going to use their blood and our money that we give them.

That’s how they’re going to make a ton of money for themselves.”

How one profits from wars is in the details.

In this one, big oil gets a ton of money from inflated oil prices. And in any war, those who own the companies that make the tools of war are rolling in green.

We call it the Military/Industrial Complex. It’s the machine that pays off politicians and their donors with money paid for by the lives of those who fight their wars.

That’s what the “Angry Male Vet” wants us to understand.

“And you need to remember that. And you need to remind people you elect to be a part of this government to represent you. You need to remind them too, as loud as you fucking can, and in their face as much as you fucking can be, because they’re detached. They’re detached. They’re making decisions to profit off of the blood of our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, and using our money to do it, to make themselves fucking more money.”

“We’re going to make a ton of money. Lindsey Graham. And he’s just saying what they’re all thinking.

Every member of this fucking administration, all their billionaire donors, AIPAC, that’s what they’re thinking. We’re going to make a ton of money using the blood of our citizens, our friends and neighbors. Our community and our money to make themselves more fucking money.”

It’s not going the way the Trump regime expected. We continue to lose support from our allies as well as the rest of the world. The Angry Male Vet has been giving us daily updates and the latest news is not good for Donald Trump.

“Oil storage facilities in Iran have now been struck as well. While oil and gas prices throughout the globe continue to jump, Trump, a billionaire whose travel costs are paid by our taxes, said, if they rise, they rise. China’s foreign minister has called for an immediate stop to all military operations against Iran. This comes as The Washington Post is reporting that two cargo ships owned by an Iranian company linked to Tehran’s ballistic missile program have left a chemical storage port in China en route to Iran.”

Opponents of the war are calling for Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to face war crimes charges for the deaths of Iranian school girls killed by a US cruise missile at the beginning of the war.

“Trump and Hegseth are also continuing to deny the US struck the girls’ school in Iran, killing 180 human beings, the vast majority of them young girls. This comes despite sources reporting that military investigators are confident that it was a US strike during an attack on a nearby IRGC base. The school was struck twice, according to witnesses on the ground, with the second strike killing sheltering survivors.”

It is the killing of the Iranian school girls that has the religious community upset. Father David said this in his post on Substack.

“Father David here. All of the horrors that Trump banged on his drum to get people to support him, that he claimed his opponent would cause, he is now of course causing. The conservative, even right-wing Wall Street Journal reports that for the first time the Strait of Hormuz has been absolutely closed, foretelling horrific economic consequences. Meanwhile, we learn that it is our own Tomahawk missiles that slaughtered those 170 young girls at a school on a double-tap strike where they were first struck and then the survivors moved to a safer area only to have them struck again. So much for Pete Hegseth saying only Iranians target civilians. No, we do.

These appalling acts are only compounded because the man at the top has repeatedly challenged his military commanders as to- Why can’t we use the nuclear weapons that we have?

This is what you voted for, and this is what we have. It is getting very late in the day to turn around and change your mind and join us who oppose him. And you Republicans in Congress, your refusal to challenge this man is putting us at the doorstep of Armageddon. Wake up, take on your responsibility, and let’s act before it is too late.

God bless us all.”

And a final word from the Angry Male Vet:

“The people that are currently running this country do not give a flying fuck about us and will gladly send our military off to die for a dollar, an extra dollar in their bank accounts that already have way too many fucking zeros.”

Music Out:

Just black and white, rich or poor
Them and us, stop the war

I'd love to change the world
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening

Kristi Noem was fired this week as Secretary of Homeland Security. That’s the agency responsible for ICE and all of its terrorism against Americans. Leading up to her dismissal was her appearance at a Senate hearing. She was taken down as one senator after another unloaded what they referred to as her immoral, corrupt, and incompetent assistance to the murders, kidnappings, unlawful detentions and violations of civil rights.

And it was a Republican critic of her agency that led the charge that day. Senator Thom Tillis thought it was also a good time to critique her book.

“Secretary, I read your book last week, and honestly, some of the parts of it impressed me, but some of it distresses me. And I’ll give you a good example of one that does. The passage where you talk about killing a dog that was 14 months old. I train dogs. All right.

And you are a farmer. You should know better. You should know that if you’re going out to a hunting lodge and you’re putting pheasants out and you’re putting dogs out, you don’t take a puppy out there. A 14-month-old dog is basically a teenager in dog years. You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time in training, and then you have the audacity to go into a book and say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices.

It’s in your book. We could play it if we had time. At that same lunch hour, you killed a goat, and you killed the goat because you said it was behaving badly. You are a farmer. If you don’t castrate a goat they behave badly. You should have probably done that before. But my point is, those are bad decisions made in the heat of the moment, not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis. We’re an exceptional nation.

And one of the reasons we’re exceptional is we expect exceptional leadership. And you’ve demonstrated anything but that in the time that I’ve seen you responding to the emergency in North Carolina and across the Southeast. And acknowledging when mistakes are made and speaking too soon for the expedient of social media or whatever it is.“

Senator Tillis was especially upset about the lack of emergency help for his constituents in North Carolina following a devastating storm.

“I want to talk a minute about FEMA. You have a policy right now that anything over $100,000 has to go through your desk for approval. I asked my staff, because I’m a management consultant, I don’t try to do cheap shots in here, but the facts do not lie. This is your administration for FEMA response. This is President Trump’s first administration.

Which one would you like to have? If you’re a state that has a $60 billion disaster, your biggest disaster in South Dakota that I can tell, but when you were an elected official, was about $500 million. So 1/100th of this single storm where thousands of people are hurting in North Carolina and you’re just barely catching up. This is what incompetent FEMA leadership looks like.

And people are hurting in western North Carolina from the most significant storm they’ve ever ever experienced.“

Thom Tillis fumed about roadblocks that were put up by Noem to halt government investigations into her agency.

“And Mr. President, or Mr. Chair, in my remaining time, I have a lot to go, but I want to submit this letter from the Office of Inspector General that cites 10 different instances under Ms. Noem’s leadership where they’ve been misled and not allowed to pursue investigations that they think are critically important. Does anybody have any idea how bad it has to be for the OIG in this agency to come out and do this publicly? That is stonewalling. That’s a failure of leadership.

And that is why I’ve called for your resignation. And if I don’t get an answer to these questions, (applause) I don’t want an applause. Please don’t do that for me. If I don’t get an answer to these questions, if I don’t get an answer that you’ve had a month to respond to and the remaining ones as of today, I’ll be informing leadership that I’m putting a hold on any in bloc nominations until I get a response. And in 2 weeks, if I don’t get a response, I’m going to deny quorum and markup in as many committees as I can.“

As for the ICE roundups and the murders of innocent civilians by agency thugs in Minneapolis, Senator Thom Tillis pointed out that this regime is only interested in numbers and not the immorality of their crimes against humanity.

“We want 1,000 a day, 6,000 a day, 9,000 a day because numbers matter, right? No, they don’t matter. Quality matters, not quantity. Quality. And what we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Miss Noem.

A disaster. What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that turn out are American citizens. I could talk about the culture that’s been created here. With, Stephen Miller aiding and abetting. I heard first reports that he was the one that said it was a domestic terrorist situation where two people lost their lives in Minneapolis.

I’ve heard that report. Maybe you can refute it. I don’t know that we’ll have time for you to respond because I’ve given you a performance evaluation here. I’m not looking for a response. And I’m saying, Ms. Noem, that time after time after time, I’ve been disappointed in looking at the vicious people that did this damage to these families,“

Thom Tillis is latest Republican to speak out against the cruelty of ICE and the agency that runs it. More are raising their voices to point out the difference between good and evil. And even Donald Trump was furious over her Senate performance and eventually decided that firing Kristi Noem was the right thing to do.

But he’ll have a hard time shaking off his responsibility especially stating at her dismissal that she has served us well. Most who live in Minneapolis would disagree.

Music out:

King Trump’s private army from the DHS

Guns belted to their coats

Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law

Or so their story goes

Against smoke and rubber bullets

In the dawn’s early light

Citizens stood for justice

Their voices ringing through the night

And there were bloody footprints

Where mercy should have stood

And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets

Alex Pretti and Renee Good“

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

The party was hosted by Defiance.org Co-founder Miles Taylor who kicked it off by introducing the Portland Frogs. As a native Portlander it was good to see our frogs get some more national attention.

“If you had your head buried in the sand last year, you might have missed that the symbol of defiance in the United States of America became the frog. Why? Because when Donald Trump looked into Portland, Oregon, and he said the protesters are terrorists and insurrectionists, some brave people showed up at an ICE facility armed with inflatable frog costumes.

They danced to EDM music, and it was one of the greatest emperor has no clothes moments we have ever seen in American history.”

Among the most notable in the swamp was actor Robert DeNiro who talked about “love of country.”

“We all love our country.

I choke on that phrase. We all love our country because our country isn’t so lovable right now. In the current climate, declaring love for our country is like an abused spouse professing love for their abuser. I’ve never thought of citizenship as being an act of love. I’ve tried to be a good citizen. I pay my taxes, vote, obey the law, recycle, stay within the speed limit most of the time. Not always.

In return, I’m grateful for the opportunities and freedoms my family, my fellow citizens, my immigrant ancestors have enjoyed. But my heart is broken as I see them being taken away, both the freedoms and increasingly my fellow citizens.”

Donald Trump seems to think that makes America strong. Independent broadcaster Mehdi Hasan begs to differ.

“Strong?

Is a democracy strong when a secret police is murdering American citizens in the street in cold blood? Is a democracy strong when lawmakers are being indicted, journalists are being arrested, comedians are being pulled off the air? Is a democracy strong when judges are being threatened, their rulings ignored, their families are being mentioned? Because the truth is that the state of our union is not strong.

It is weak.

It is stressed. It is being stress-tested right now by a man who declares himself a dictator, who has always believed that laws are for other people.”

Former Trump White House staffer Stephanie Grisham was also on the State of the Swamp docket.

“I sat in the rooms where decisions were made, and I saw what happens when power stops serving the country and starts serving itself. So I walked away.

Not because it was easy, but because integrity mattered more than my title. I knew there would be consequences. Not just for me, but for my family. I was serving in his White House, and I stood up to him publicly when too many chose comfort over courage. They still do that today because I knew what a second term would unleash, and now we’re living it.”

Some just walk away, while others are shown the door by the billionaires. Former network journalist, Jim Acosta, walked away when he knew cuts were in the works. He’s now successful independent enjoying the freedom he has on Substack.

I love it when these former FCC regulated broadcasters allow themselves to stretch their vocabulary when they are no longer under the thumb of the feds.

“Welcome to the National Press Club. It has not been renamed the Trump National Press Club, and it never fucking will.

And for those of you who watch my show, you know I say the F word all the time, so we just say fuck it, right? If we’re not going to say fuck in a time like this, when are we going to say it?

Ladies and gentlemen, that is my position, and I think it makes a lot of sense.”

Jim Acosta headed up a panel of speakers that included former ABC Journalist Terry Moran who was shown the door after his dangerous tweet about White House Chief Stephen Miller which was seen by his boss and the regime.

“And just before I hit send, actually, I thought to myself, this is hot. This is, you know, hard language. But then I thought, it’s a description. I thought, this is a description of the public man that we see every day that is just horrifying as an American public official. Yes, it’s— and it was, I guess, getting to me.

Moran described Miller as "richly endowed with the capacity for hatred" and alleged Trump's hatred is for "his own glorification.”

Anyway, the next morning, you got to take that down. Da da da.”

The Swamp broadcast had many more excellent speakers who can be found on YouTube and Substack.

It was a good counter to the two-hour Trump speech. But the opposition wasn’t done. The rebuttals came just afterwards with newly minted Virginia Governor, Abigail Spanberger, leading the charge.

“And let me ask you, the American people watching at home, 3 questions. Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the president working to keep Americans safe both at home and abroad? Is the president working for you?

Costs are too high in housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare.

And I know these same conversations are being had all across this country because since this president took office last year, his reckless trade policies have forced American families to pay more than $1,700 each in tariff costs. Small businesses have suffered, farmers have suffered, some losing entire markets. Everyday Americans are paying the price.

And yet our president has sent poorly trained federal agents into our cities where they have arrested and detained American citizens and people who aspire to be Americans. And they have done it without a warrant.

They have ripped nursing mothers away from their babies. They have

sent children, a little boy in a blue bunny hat, children to far-off detention centers.”

All in all, a great night for the Trump opposition with many voices being broadcast to add to the weight that will be needed to bring down the regime.

In fact were told that the State of the Swamp broadcast reached 215 million people.

As the frogs would say:

Music out:

• “We’re still here still dancing”

• “Still dancing with the frogs”

• “The future is here and were still writing the songs.

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening.

This survivor wanted to tell her story.

“I survived the islands. There’s way more than one. I survived Candyland and all their vile games. I survived the ritual rings, and I survived at the hands of more men and women that I can count. My name’s all over those files and way more that haven’t been released and I’m still here.

I survived the loss of my family, all my friends, my career. I’ll survive this loneliness too.

Too many have gained off my vulnerability. I don’t need to show it to them anymore, and I don’t need to be asked if I’m okay“

Even the Super Bowl was no distraction for their stories when an ad popped up asking those in the know to tell the truth.

“After years of being kept apart, we’re standing together, standing, standing together because this girl deserves the truth, because she deserves the truth, because we all deserve the truth.”

Survivors showed up at congressional hearings held to question Attorney General Pam Bondi about the Department of Justice refusal to hear their stories.

In one powerful moment, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal asked the survivors in the room to stand if they had not been able to have that meeting.

“.And if you are willing, please raise your hands if you have still not been able to meet with this Department of Justice.

Please know for the record that every single survivor has raised their hand.”

Jayapal then asked Bondi to turn around and apologize to the survivors.

“You apologize to the survivors in your opening statement for what they went through at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information.“

There were no apologies. Just notes from a burn book full of put downs for those who dared her to apologize. But Bondi said several times during the hearing that there was no evidence of any crime committed by Donald Trump.

On that point, Congressman Ted Lieu disagrees.

“Donald Trump is in the Epstein files, thousands and thousands of times in those files. There’s highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children, of Donald Trump threatening to kill children. So I encourage a press to go look at these allegations and I’m highly disturbed that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch just got the law wrong yesterday. He said essentially that it is not a crime to party with Jeffrey Epstein.

Well, that’s actually not correct. If Jeffrey Epstein was human trafficking minors for these sex parties and you show up and patronize the establishment at that party, yes, you’re guilty. ‘cause patronizing is part of the law of the federal sex trafficking.”

And despite Pam Bondi’s claims about transparency, Representative Jasmine Crockett says the truth is still hidden by the Trump Regime.

“It is time to take the blinders off. I don’t understand why we are pretending any of this is normal, so I want people to be very clear eyed. They are playing games right now and again, this is all about shielding and distracting from the President of the United States who is absolutely mentioned in those files. And frankly, we know that he had already been sued prior to him ever entering office where there were allegations that he sexually molested a child. This is on the record.“

As the survivors say:

“We’re standing together, standing, standing together because this girl deserves the truth, because she deserves the truth, because we all deserve the truth.”

The survivors truth will win out. They have stated that the names and deeds will be released by the survivors themselves.

They cannot be redacted.

But even in times like this we need to remember what Bad Bunny said during Grammies.

“Hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need to be different. We, we fight, we have to do it with love.”

I’m Mike Turner

Please pardon my RSV voice. If you’re not wearing RFK’s anti-vax blinders, keep in mind there’s a vaccine for this. Thousands have been hospitalized and I was one of them. Believe me, you don’t want to catch this uncommon cold.

Thank you for listening.

It’s been five years now that rioters took over the nation’s Capitol in an attempt to overthrow an election. The release of the transcript of Prosecutor Jack Smith’s testimony to the Judiciary Committee confirms that Donald Trump was very much a part of the insurrection.

“For nearly three decades, I’ve been a career prosecutor. I’ve served during both Republican and Democratic administrations, and I’ve been guided by those principles in every role I’ve held. I continued to honor those principles. When I was appointed to serve as special counsel in November of 2022, the decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts.

Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power. Our investigation also developed powerful evidence that showed that President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January of 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom.

He then repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents. I remain grateful for the council judgment and advice of my team as I executed my responsibilities. I am both saddened and angered that President Trump has sought revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents, and support staff simply for doing their jobs and for having worked on those cases. These dedicated public servants are the best of us, and they have been wrongly vilified and improperly dismissed from their jobs.

I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy. In the 2024 presidential election, we took our actions based on the facts and the law, the very lessons I learned. Early in my career as a prosecutor, we followed Justice Department policies and observed legal requirements. The timing and speed of our work reflects the strength of the evidence and our confidence that we would’ve secured convictions at trial.

If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”

There are many hours of testimony to listen to but Aaron Parnas on Substack goes over one part of it that deals with the legality of challenging election results.

“And then he was asked about, well, there was a long list of disputed elections, the election of 1800, 1960, the year 2000, where candidates had previously said or disputed the veracity and the results of the election. And Jack Smith said, There’s no historical analog for what President Trump did in this case. As we said in the indictment, he was free to say that he thought he won the election. He was even free to say he falsely won the election. But what he was not free to do was violate federal law and use knowingly false statements about election fraud to target a lawful government function.

So essentially he’s differentiating. He could say, he was saying Trump can come out and say, I falsely won the 2020 election, but ultimately he used those words to target a lawful government function, in this case, the transfer of power, the certification of the vote.

That’s where it violated the law. He also said that the government had numerous witnesses who would say, quote, I voted for President Trump. I campaigned for Trump, President Trump. I wanted him to win said the Speaker of the House in Arizona and the Speaker of the House in Michigan. We had an elector in Pennsylvania who was a former congressman who was going to be an elector for President Trump. His case, he says, was built on Republicans who put allegiance to their country before the party. And so the president got information from people he trusted, let that sink in.

With respect to the Arizona Speaker of the House, that is someone the president reached out to, he also reached out to governors. He reached out to Republicans, his allies. Smith was saying that his case in which the president was preying on party allegiance of those people who supported him there, his record was rife with examples of him reaching out to people, including folks from Michigan. He invited them to the White House. They told him you lost because you underperformed. They told him when he brought them there. And again, our case was filled with examples of that. And he developed evidence that Donald Trump caused what happened on January 6th, exploited it, and that it was foreseeable to him.”

Jack Smith’s testimony before congress was so powerful that some believe that Trump’s military takeover of Venezuela was an attempt at distraction from the political fall out that is sure to come. Could be. But in reality it’s just another oil war brought about to satisfy corporate interests who want a big chunk of the world’s supply of crude. As one congress member said, “Trump promised no “new stupid wars”, yet he’s starting one with Venezuela without congressional approval.”

It is becoming more difficult for the GOP in congress to ignore these charges without at least holding a vote on impeachment.

It’s a new year and time for resolutions and even people who don’t do that, like Resistor Vic proclaimed that maybe it’s now time to resolve to take a stand.

“In 2026, I resolve to not allow fear pushed by the American political power structure to shape my politics. I resolve to choose my candidates deliberately, not by party pressure, not by endorsements, and not by habit. I resolve to not let the expectations of a tyrant or community pressure steer me away from what I know is right and just I will not obey. In advance, I resolve to remember my nation’s history and why we have our institutions, from our local public schools, to our national parks, to the constitutional institutions of power, the courts, the Congress, the White House, and I will protect them.

I resolve to remember that tyranny and community cannot coexist and I will work to strengthen my own communities. I resolve to remember those who struggled and sacrificed to make our nation better and I will honor them through my actions. I resolve to help others when they are in need, and it’s within my power to help. I resolve to accept into my community those who were once against it, but now wish to be a part of it.

I resolve to continue to use my voice as best as I can to achieve all of these things.”

Sounds like a plan Vic. Thanks for your voice! Here’s to a happier year!

Music out:

“We'll drink a cup of kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne“

I’m Mike Turner

Thanks You for listening

As many predicted, the release of the Epstein Files turned into a massive coverup of the worst sex trafficking ring in our history.

Once again, the Trump regime decided it was better to break the law instead of complying. The Epstein Files Transparency Act requires the release of all unclassified Epstein-related records. Any redactions should be minimal and legally justified.

Instead, the Department of Justice produced a nonfunctional website, thousands of unlabeled files, blacked out text and a vague promise that this was merely an “initial” step.

Ben Meiselas of Substack’s Meidas Touch lined up an exclusive interview with attorney Arick Fudali, who represents eleven survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse,

“It almost felt like I was trying to buy concert tickets, you know, trying to get on it first. There was even a waiting room as if there was some sort of raffle or lottery to be able to have the privilege of seeing these documents at the DOJ. So kind of them right to, you know, to make this website for us to review. And there is zero context, there was nothing. Right now, as of Friday there was 8,000 files with no names. It’s all EFTA and then a number, this is, you know, what we call in the civil litigation rule, a document dump, right?

Where you just sort of hide things in plain sight by just throwing everything. You can think of a bunch of documents with zero context, no order, no rhyme or reason, and then force the people who actually wanna get information to go through it. So that’s already frustrating.”

Also frustrating, says the survivor’s attorney, is the bending of laws to suit their agenda,

“And I’m so sick of this administration, and frankly past administrations of, continuing to just bend laws and continue to disregard laws like a release of the Epstein files didn’t need a law. They, Trump, could have just done it. The DOJ just could have done it. That’s how things are supposed to be done. You know if they really wanted to do what was best for the survivors, they wouldn’t have made a couple, months and almost years long charade of trying to hide these documents. They, the first request, they would’ve said, you know what, the survivors want this. Let’s give them what they deserve.”

“But they didn’t do that. They forced congress to make laws and flip flop and go back and forth. And there were efforts to conceal, efforts to change minds, delays in swearing in Congress. People, you know, it’s just such an exploitation. And then using, pretending like they’re doing what’s right for the survivors is such a slap in the face.”

The result is that survivors are once again used, not supported. Fudali said. “They’ve been wronged by administration after administration, Justice Department after Justice Department, for decades.”

“They were exploited by Jeffrey Epstein, and then they were exploited by the politicians, who surrounded themselves with Jeffrey Epstein. So they just continue to be wronged. In the nineties, the FBI learned of credible allegations against Jeffrey Epstein and nothing was done about it. In 2008, he, Alex Acosta caught Jeffrey Epstein dead in his tracks, did nothing about it, slap on the wrist, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and and finally in federal custody and was able to kill himself. It made Maxwell, finally the only person ever, only person in all of these decades and decades of investigations into the most prolific predator of our time.

She’s the only one who’s been convicted and what happens, you know, just recently, she’s given a platform by the Department of Justice to just make things up and, you know, spout nonsense. And then she’s rewarded for spouting nonsense after given that platform by moving to a minimum security resort-style prison.

So, while I hate to be so negative about this and put in these terms, but this is literally nothing new for these survivors. They continue to be wronged, they continue to be exploited. And despite that, what’s so inspiring is they continue to stand up, they continue to fight, they continue to be empowered, and they continue to not take no for an answer. And the survivors are the only reason right now that we’ve gotten anything that this law was passed, that we’ve seen any documents and hopefully we’ll continue to see documents. So I just wanna make the point, it’s so remarkable that despite decades of being exploited and being wronged, they continue to be strong and they continue to make progress and cause change.”

And for the Epstein survivors and their lawyer, this has nothing to do about politics.

“This is not a political issue for the survivors. It’s not a political issue for me. I think every single person that had suspicious associations with Jeffrey Epstein, I don’t care what side of the aisle they’re on, I don’t care what color ties they wear, they need to be investigated and prosecuted. If there’s evidence of misdoing, this is not a political issue. It’s become one, but it absolutely, for the survivors and myself, this has nothing to do with politics. It’s about justice. One thing that I believe is under-reported about Jeffrey Epstein, and I say this in a the least complimentary, way possible, is that Jeffrey Epstein was a master manipulator.

He was a brilliant predator to put it, the worst possible way I can say it. He knew how to control people and he was really good at identifying the weakness of each one of his victims, and he would use that weakness over them. And it’s so heartbreaking and is devastating to hear these stories.“

The next step for survivor’s attorney Arick Fudali is to head to court.

“My plan is to make sure to see what’s been released and if there hasn’t been enough released start looking into lawsuits. You know, I am certainly not afraid to file lawsuits against this administration. I just filed a lawsuit against the FBI today.”

My thanks to Meidas Touch and Ben Meiselas for allowing portions of this interview to be published. His show on Substack along with other former corporate media journalists is proof that independent journalism is alive and thrives away from corporate broadcast facilities.

There’s proof of that in this photo with Donald Trump and a young girl on Epstein’s plane. (The photo can be found on my written Substack podcast.)

The DOJ would like to see this photo banned from the internet. But I found it on Substack. You’re welcome to reproduce.

Music out:

Got big crime in DC at the White House
Got big crime in DC at the White House
No more great again
No more great again

I’m Mike Turner

Thank you for listening and/or reading my Substack!

And, despite it all, I hope you have a very merry and peaceful Christmas

But first:

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency or ICE thugs may find it more difficult to detain and deport innocent civilians after recent congressional hearings.

Homeland Security head, Kristi Noem was so roughed up she had to flee the scene. Illinois Congresswoman Angela Ramirez led the charge.

“You lied to members of this committee. You violated court orders by not turning around deportation flights bound for El Salvador, where we know that hundreds of people under your leadership have reported that they were raped, they were beaten, and they nearly died. And your agents use chemical weapons in Chicago despite court orders from District court, Judge Ellis forbidding their use. Secretary Noem, you, Gregory Bovino, and your ICBP and DHS deputized agents have waged an unaccountable, unlawful, unconstitutional war against communities across the nation.

Our residents have been surveilled. They’ve been threatened. They’ve been tear gassed. They’ve been hit with pepper balls. They’ve been shot. They’ve been subjected to warrantless arrests and precision immobilization maneuvers. They’ve been kidnapped and disappeared under your leadership. So we have a lot to talk about. But you and your department continue to reject Congressional oversight.

You have misused resources appropriated by Congress.

You’ve engaged in unethical behavior.

You have repeatedly made false and misleading statements to Congress and to the press, and you’ve undermined the separation of powers and disregarded the role of Congress on the courts. Bottom line, you lie with impunity. You reject checks and balances, and you ignore Congress on the courts.

Your options are limited. Either you’re going to resign, Trump’s gonna fire you or you will be impeached. I’ve already called for your resignation. You may remember I hand-delivered my request to you back in May, and I urge you to reconsider resignation because I’ve taken the first step towards your impeachment and I’ve called on the Judiciary Committee to open an investigation into your lawlessness.

Mr. Chairman, I know that at the end we’ll be entering a number of articles into consent, but since I have a few moments, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter calling the Judiciary Committee to investigate Secretary Noem’s impeachable offenses. Whatever you choose, the American people will have justice Secretary, and you will be held accountable. I’m going to make sure of that every single day.”

Even combat veterans with no criminal record were rounded up, detained and deported by ICE. A few of those were brought in by the committee.

“You served our country in Iraq, you had your rights violated by our own government that you fought for and put your life on the line for in this country. That in of itself is horrific. You told agents that you had served in the military, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“You clearly stated that you were a U.S veteran and served this country. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“When you were violently arrested by ice, you had no contact with your family the entire time that you were in detention by your own government that you served in Iraq. Is that correct? “

“Yes”

“You missed your daughter’s birthday while you were in detention, and your family had no idea where you were during the time that you were in detention. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“I think what the American public need to understand is if this can happen to these five U.S citizens that are standing in front of us and sitting here right now, it could happen to anyone. The Donald Trump government is now arresting and detaining United States citizens with no due process, no rights, no call to a lawyer, no call to family. That is the America that we live in today and why we’re here and what we’re fighting against every single day.”

One of those affected by the illegal arrests had even voted for Trump. Veteran Jim Brown answered questions from the committee.

“Why did you vote for him?”

“Because I was an idiot. 80% of the Evangelical Christian people were lied to if you really wanna know the truth. And that’s exactly what happened. They said criminal, you know? And I believe criminals need to be off the street.”

“I just wanna make sure people watching this understand who you are.”

“My wife and I, when we don’t work, we’re ministers. We help the needy. That’s what we do.”

We learn a little more about Jim Brown and his deported wife from Substack’s Meidas Touch. He was a guest with Ben Meiselas and the congressman who asked him questions.

“He is a Navy combat veteran who served our country in the Gulf War. He’s married to a woman named Donna who came to our country legally from Ireland when she was 11 years old. She has lived here for 48 years Jim’s wife, Donna has been in prison for the last four months. She did not come here illegally, and she has never committed any crime other than writing two bad checks totaling $80, 10 years ago. She is currently in prison and facing deportation.”

“Bring in Jim right now, Jim Brown, your wife Donna, has been in this detention center for a, a long time, several months. We saw you in the audience area during that hearing, as Kristi Noem turned around and looked at you, you didn’t really get an opportunity to speak to her at that hearing. She did an incredible job in channeling what you and your wife and, and others are going through. What would you wanna say to her though if you were given the opportunity to speak with her?”

“She gets on TV and brags about the criminal illegal immigrants that she’s going after her. And all the criminals are the worst of the worst, and that’s actually a quote. She said, that was the worst of the worst, and that’s absolutely not true. I’ve got four or five cases that my wife’s in detention with that aren’t the worst of the worst as well. And it’s just ridiculous what they’re doing with innocent people that should not be in jail at all.”

Back in March, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was one of the first to be arrested and deported. Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem said at the time that he would never set foot on US soil again. But Garcia was released the same day that Noem was taken down at those congressional oversight hearings.

We are beginning to wake up to the fact that ICE isn’t just rounding up dangerous criminals. It’s detaining, imprisoning and deporting veterans, ignoring judges, and terrorizing communities.

Even some churches are depicting the ICE thugs as evil villains in their manger displays.

Portland’s frogs couldn’t be happier!

Music out:

“Together we are Strong”

I’m Mike Turner,

Thank you for listening.