Tomorrow USA

Mitch McConnell has not been seen in weeks. There are rumors about him being brain dead or worse.

So there's speculation about what might happen to his Senate seat if he dies or resigns.

McConnell is a lame duck. He's not running for re-election. So his term ends in early January.

Kentucky has a Democratic governor named Andy Beshear. Noting McConnell's age, the GOP Kentucky legislature took away the governor's right to appoint an interim successor. The result is a mess which could result in McConnell's old seat remaining vacant for months.

WCPO talked with Shauna Reilly, a professor of political science at Northern Kentucky University, about what would happen if McConnell couldn't complete his final term. She pointed to the Kentucky Legislature's successful 2024 effort to strip Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's ability to appoint an interim senator to fill McConnell's seat. "It says the governor has to call a special election," Reilly said. Beshear would have 30 days to call an election, and prospective candidates would then have 49 days to consider running and file. "In the meantime, it will remain vacant," Reilly said.

If Gov. Beshear waits until the 30th day, that would mean 79 days until the vacancy is even on its way to being filled. As of July 10th, there are just 177 days left in ol' Mitch's term.

Reilly said the timing of the seat becoming vacant could become problematic, given that timeline, around August 3 and later, because the special election could conflict with the already scheduled November midterm elections. She said that if that happens, it could create a question for courts to resolve. Another question for the courts would arise if Beshear decides to challenge the 2024 law in court. "This would be the first time we're testing the law, if you will, so I think there are some pieces that are a little less clear in the law," Reilly said.

Yep, Andy Beshear could drag this out in court. So that would narrow the US Senate makeup indefinitely to 52 Republicans – 47 Democrats. And with the Senate YOLO Republicans who have been alienated by Trump, that could put some Republican bills or Trump nominations in danger.

Of course Kentucky will elect a replacement for lame duck Mitch in the midterms. That will almost certainly be a Republican.

The Iran war is the most glaring public example of Trump having strayed from reality.

If Donald Trump ever had any control over the war he started with Iran, he’s lost it. The Iranians are now setting the terms of this conflict and are routinely humiliating the American president. The “cease-fire” Trump declared last month—a move probably meant to both soothe international markets and avert legislative action from the United States Congress—never really existed, because neither side ever ceased firing.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) seems to exist only in the minds of Trump and his administration minions.

The MOU was practically an instrument of American capitulation that the Iranians could have drafted themselves, but Trump wanted to get out of the war, and so he signed it—appropriately enough, at Versailles. The Iranians have made clear that they don’t care about the MOU or, for that matter, what Trump thinks or wants. They are willing to inflict more damage on the Gulf States, and they’re willing to accept damage in return. These are signs of a state directing a war rather than reacting to one. Iran is measuring costs and risks. It is pursuing the achievable goals of regime survival, control of the strait, and preservation of its nuclear program. The Trump administration, for its part, bumbled into this war without a strategy. Instead, it relied on bad assumptions, outdated information, and the president’s gut feelings. I

When Trump has a "gut feeling" he should take Pepcid or TUMS instead of starting another war.

Speaking of ailments, Trump's dementia was on full display at the NATO summit in Ankara.

Even by his usual standards, Trump has been incoherent in Ankara, Turkey, where he’s attending a NATO summit. Over the course of 24 hours, he has renewed his demands for the United States to own Greenland; confused Iran with Japan; and confused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also noted that his videos are popular on “Tic Tac.” He meant “TikTok.” Little wonder, then, that he seems unable to give sensible answers to questions about the renewed hostilities.

Republicans know Trump is nuts but refuse to do anything about it – but that's another story.

Tom Nichols, who wrote the linked article, taught at the US Naval War College for years. He describes how Trump's actions make absolutely no military sense.

One good guideline, however, is to avoid threatening your enemy and then immediately announcing that you really have no stomach for a fight. Strong leaders keep their own counsel and let their actions speak for them; weak leaders make threats and then broadcast how much they don’t want to carry them out.

Today is the last day you can visit Trump's "Great American State Fair".

At least it's less crowded than the Fyre Festival.

These crowd control barriers probably got a lot of use. 😜

Visit your own state's REAL state fair. At least half of them have schedules which include some portion of August; though Florida's is held during the winter. If your own state's is already past or at an inconvenient time, visit one in a neighboring state. Even the most boring one is likely to be better than the Trump fair. Because agriculture is usually a considerable part of these fairs, food is often plentiful.

State Fairs by State 2026

Nigel Farage, leader of the far right Reform UK party, is resigning his seat in Parliament because he failed to declare donations to his 2024 campaign. But he is eligible to run again in the resultant by-election in his constituency of Clacton – presuming he does make all his campaign donations known.

The other major parties have said that they won't contest the Clacton by-election because they consider his resignation a stunt to gain publicity.

However there is an eccentric independent who calls himself Count Binface who will go up against Farage.

Count Binface had been looking forward to a relaxing journey back to his home planet of Sigma IX when Nigel Farage dropped a political bombshell on Tuesday. Instead, Britain’s hottest new political property said he was left with no choice but to perform a swift intergalactic handbrake turn when news broke that Farage had resigned as MP for Clacton, triggering the possibility of a byelection in the English coastal constituency he has represented since 2024. Farage, the leader of the rightwing populist Reform UK party, has been accused of using the poll to shake off a deepening scandal over financial gifts he has received. But the plan appears to have backfired after his main rivals announced they would boycott the byelection. The Clacton byelection is now likely to be a two-man race between the Reform leader and Binface.

Count Binface styles himself as an extraterrestrial noble who wears a garbage can over his head.

“I didn’t know old Farage was going to self detonate … did I?” said Binface, a veteran of British elections, where the parody candidate is something of a mainstay.The 5,900-year-old leader of the Recyclons is the creation of Jon Harvey, a comedian from Lewisham in south-east London, who has run against former prime ministers including Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, as well as Theresa May in his previous incarnation as Lord Buckethead.

In his career as a perennial hobby candidate, the Count generally accrues vote percentages in the low single digits. If he's Farage's only opponent, his percentage in the Clacton by-election will likely skyrocket. If supporters of non-contesting parties turn out in large numbers and vote for him, he could theoretically win.

He said that he had been inundated over the past 48 hours with emails and messages from Binface activists offering to knock on doors and deliver leaflets on his behalf in what could yet emerge as an electoral shock on a par with when Hartlepool United’s mascot, H’Angus the Monkey, was elected as mayor of the northern English town. [ ... ] In a sign that he is at least treating the campaign with some seriousness, the count has launched a Ko-Fi donation page, asking people to donate.

Clacton is a seaside constituency in Essex – in case you happen to know voters in the area. 🙂

At the Makerfield by-election last month, Count Binface (real name: Jonathan David Harvey) is seen with winner Andy Burnham and with animal rights candidate Rob Pownall.

During the authoritarian Orbán régime, Hungarian public media became a mouthpiece for rightwing and pro-Putin propaganda. Three months after Orbán's trouncing defeat by Péter Magyar, Hungary's public broadcaster is apologizing for over a decade of virulent disinformation.

The disinformation that public service media in Hungary broadcast during the 16 years of Viktor Orban's rule was one of a kind in the EU. No other public service media in the EU published lies, hate and propaganda on this scale in recent decades. Some content was reminiscent of the fascist, antisemitic propaganda of the period between the two world wars; other content was similar to the output of Russian state media. To give but a few examples: Criminal Arab and African migrants who rape defenseless Hungarian girls; a US billionaire with Jewish Hungarian roots who is destroying Hungary's Christian identity; the EU's indoctrination of children with "LGBTQ propaganda;" a Ukrainian mafia state that wants to sacrifice Hungary's younger generation in the war and rob millions of Hungarian pensioners.

Another way of putting it, it was like a Hungarian version of Fox News at its worst.

At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the news channel M1 broadcast a black screen with the following message: "Public media should not lie. We are sorry for doing it for so long. Public media will now be reformed so they will be independent and trustworthy. Our news service is currently suspended. Stay tuned!" All news bulletins and political programs broadcast by Hungary's public television and radio channels were replaced by the same apology/announcement. Only the website of the news agency MTI, which is also part of the public media holding MTVA, went on posting political news.

Here is the message on the black screen which Hungarians saw for several hours. The English translation is highlighted in an above paragraph.

Just under four hours after the black screen appeared, M1 began broadcasting again at exactly 7:56 p.m. The choice of time (19:56 CET) was no coincidence. It was a nod to the anti-Communist, anti-Soviet revolution of 1956 that was brutally crushed by Soviet troops. [ ... ] The radical overhaul of Hungary's public service media system was one of Peter Magyar's central campaign promises in the runup to the election on April 12. Even after his Tisza party's historic landslide victory, hardly a day passed without Magyar attacking the public service broadcasters, calling them a "factory of lies." And for good reason, too: The story of how his predecessor, Viktor Orban, reshaped Hungary's public-service media — and indeed most of the country's privately owned media, too — and got them to toe the government line, is one of the darkest chapters of his rule.

— Jen Psaki on MS NOW.

Donald Trump is apparently the only elected official who is defending Graham Platner any more. Platner suspended his campaign for US Senate from Maine in the wake of new sexual assault allegations. So along comes Trump who tries to throw cold water on those allegations.

Wednesday was not a great day for Trump and allegations of sex abuse.

Democrats are targeting the annoyance economy and unnecessary fees as part of their economic program if they win the 2028 election. Some are calling this Project 2029. It's basically a collection of economic and economic-adjacent policies which can be implemented fairly quickly.

Imagine no more annoying robocalls. No more spam texts. No more hidden fees. No more jumping through hoops to cancel subscriptions or file an insurance claim. A group of Democratic policy veterans believes that daily annoyances like these have become a real economic problem. They even have a name for it: "the annoyance economy." Taking it on is one plank in a broader governing agenda they're assembling for a future Democratic president. They're calling it "Project 2029." [ ... ] Project 2029 is still in its early stages. They'll be releasing proposals on a rolling basis over the next year or so. Much of what they've previewed so far is what you'd probably expect from Democrats in today's economy: ideas to lower child care costs, make health care and housing more affordable, reduce energy bills, protect kids online. But the Project 2029 proposal that immediately caught our attention was the one to take on the annoyance economy. The annoyance economy is a catch-all term referring to a slew of frustrating business practices that waste our time and money. Think hidden fees that appear only at checkout. Jumping through hoops to cancel a subscription. Mind-numbing insurance paperwork to get your health insurer to pay a claim. Waiting on hold for an hour. Robocalls. Spam texts. Feckless AI phone agents who make you miss even the rudest human support agents. [ ... ] They propose. for example, creating a standardized claims system to make it easier for Americans to file insurance claims online. They also want to end the widespread use of "prior authorization" — when insurance companies require patients to receive company approval before getting certain tests, prescriptions, and procedures.

This is a lot more than just getting rid of robocalls. The simplification of insurance claims will remove an unnecessary burden when you're already not very well. Bureaucracy needs to be slashed for homebuyers as well.

This is a WIP and is still being put together.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants Russia to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. As we know from FIFA trying to placate Donald Trump, international sporting organizations have gotten as corrupt as fuck.

Russia could compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after the International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted on Tuesday the suspension imposed in October 2023. Russian athletes were banned from participating in official Olympic team competitions in February 2022, and the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended the following October. “The International Olympic Committee Executive Board has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee,” said the IOC in a statement. According to the sports governing body, the decision followed confirmation that the ROC “no longer includes as its members any regional sports organisations in territories falling under the jurisdiction” of Ukraine’s Olympic Committee and had pledged not to conduct activities there.

Of course the IOC had no problem holding the Olympics in Nazi Germany in 1936. And Juan Antonio Samaranch who headed the IOC from 1980 to 2001 served in the government of the fascist Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. So Putin is no big deal for them.

Crypto is crap and it's a useful tool for scammers. Why else would you think Trump has become so fond of it?

Everybody in the Trump crime family seems to have their own meme coin. They have made $3.1 billion while MAGA dupes have lost $7 billion on Trump crypto.

As head of his own cult, Trump knows his cult members are suckers for whatever he does. He doesn't give a shit about them personally but he does covet their wealth.

Trump and his family make money off of meme coins even if the price collapses. As Dan Alexander explained to Erin Brunett, the Trumps make money just by people trading their meme coins.

^^^ In the long run, history holds all the cards.

Here are words of wisdom from a real Nobel Peace Prize winner...

Despite Trump's blatant attempt to interfere, the US team lost bigtime to Belgium and has been eliminated from the 2026 World Cup.

Trump's inappropriate intervention had the opposite effect that he intended.

'Overturn this' – Belgium taunt US and say Trump move fired them up

[D]espite the American's star striker being cleared to play and starting the match, Belgium convincingly beat the tournament co-hosts 4-1. "A lot has happened off the pitch over the last two days,"said Belgium and Rangers midfielder Raskin. "There was a sense of injustice within the squad, and we were determined to respond on the field." Belgium captain Youri Tielemans insisted the affair had boosted his side. "We told ourselves we had to respond on the pitch. That's what we did," he said.

Right after the final goal, the Belgians mocked Trump by imitating that goofy little "dance" he sometime does.

After Belgium scored their fourth goal several of their players were pictured dancing in a style similar to the 'Trump dance' - where he rocks his hips and slowly pumps his arms - which gained notoriety during the 2024 US presidential campaign.

Trump's corruption is so blatant and extreme that it easily falls into the category of impeachable offencss.

Ari Melber mentions a Democratic former senator who is now serving time in federal prison for accepting gold bars. Donald Trump accepted gold bars from foreign nationals and he is still in office.

CNN published a major article on the extent of Trump corruption which fits in well with the vid above.

^^^ Of course in real baseball, teams don't pick their own umpires.

John Roberts has had a longtime bias against voting rights. He's about as neutral as Mussolini was during World War II.

Chief Justice Roberts’s Vendetta Against the Voting Rights Act

An American team member named Folarin Balogun was given a red card in a World Cup match against Bosnia-Hercegovina. Trump then called his old buddy Gianni Infantino, the FIFA head who awarded Trump the nonexistent "FIFA Peace Prize", and got the red card suspended. So Balogun, who is ironically a birthright citizen, will be able to play in the upcoming match against Belgium today. Many people aren't happy with Trump's interference and Infantino's kowtowing.

‘Shameful’ Trump act slammed after US star’s ban overturned

Gianni Infantino is as corrupt as Trump – though less orange. The two of them are kindred spirits. An already expensive and dodgy World Cup just got more wack.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave a marvelous speech to mark the holiday.

There had been some recent reporting, accurate or not, about the retirement of Justice Samuel Alito from the US Supreme Court.

That has led to speculation about who Trump might appoint to replace him. The names that have popped up make Alito look like Earl Warren or Thurgood Marshall.

I added bold type to the names of potential Trump appointees to SCOTUS.

It’s tough to imagine a Supreme Court with justices worse than the current crop of conservatives, but the folks who are currently vying to replace whichever justice steps down first are definitively, openly, gleefully much more terrible.  [ ... ] Judge James Ho is arguably the worst judge on the worst federal appeals court, the Fifth Circuit. Ho has genuinely lost the plot, arguing that the Supreme Court is not there to “check the excesses of other branches.” Perhaps being a fancy federal appeals judge and a former clerk to Justice Thomas rots your brain and sense of civic duty, because being a check on the excesses of other branches is kind of the whole job description for the Supreme Court. [ ... ] Another Trump appointee to the Fifth Circuit, Andrew Oldham, is also busy treating his current position as a way to show Trump that he has no intention of ever ruling against him. According to Judge Oldham, a former Alito clerk, if Trump declares that there is a terrible invasion by Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, no court can ever review it, and Trump can therefore deport all Venezuelan citizens.  [ ... ] Judge Neomi Rao has made sure to let her colleagues know how incandescently angry she was when they didn’t treat a Supreme Court shadow docket ruling as a permission slip for Trump to fire whoever he wants.  There’s also Gregory Katsas, who believes that courts cannot impose any consequences on Trump or the executive branch. [ ... ] Over in the Second Circuit, Judge Steven Menashi is showing what a loyal justice he would be by haranguing his colleagues about Trump’s attempt to throw out the jury verdict finding him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll. Katsas whined about how unfair the lower court was in not letting Trump provide evidence that he believed her lawsuit was “concocted by his political opposition” and therefore he could not have defamed her. [ ... ] Emil Bove, formerly one of many personal attorneys who represented Trump in criminal cases, was rewarded for his efforts with an appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. You would think that normally, being the subject of multiple whistleblower complaints about refusing to follow court orders would be a bit of a hindrance to a lifetime seat, but for Trump, Bove’s actions were a feature, not a bug.  And then there’s U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon’s efforts at protecting Trump from any criminal consequences are truly unparalleled. She didn’t just throw out the criminal case over Trump’s retention of top secret documents after he left office, documents which he stashed in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago. She also came up with a very … unique theory that former Special Counsel Jack Smith could never release the report of his investigation and that even writing up the investigation was somehow illegal.

Those people shouldn't be on the federal bench in the first place. They probably shouldn't even have been accepted at law school.

They are federal judges because the Republican-controlled Senate in 2017-2021 and 2025-2026 confirmed these Trump lickspittles.

If for no other reason, we need to flip the Senate to prevent additional Trump SCOTUS pics from being confirmed.

THIS YEAR'S SENATE BATTLEGROUND STATES:

1] Seats currently held by Republicans...

Texas

Maine

Ohio

Alaska

Iowa

North Carolina

2] Seats currently held by Democrats which need to be shored up...

Michigan

New Hampshire

3] GOP seats which could be vulnerable in a wave election...

Florida

Nebraska

South Carolina

The obsequious Lindsey Graham is only 3 points ahead in a June poll in the South Carolina US Senate race. In a deep red state like SC, an incumbent GOP senator should be way ahead.