Video: Journalist David Shuster touches on needed conversation about Trump and dementia

 

While it's easy for folks to make jokes about the notion of Trump and dementia, journalist David Shuster actually brings up some good points here. 

Settlement gives Maine a victory over Trump Administration in funding fight about trans athletes

In February, Maine Governor Janet Mills told Trump that she would see him in court if his administration tried to freeze federal funds from the state for noncompliance with his executive order against trans athletes.

Trump froze the funds.

Mills and the state of Maine sued. 

On Friday, Mills and the state of Maine won. 

From The Associated Press:

President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday agreed to halt all efforts to freeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program after initially suspending those dollars due to a disagreement between the state and Trump over transgender athletes.

 In response, the state will drop its lawsuit that had been filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey announced. “It’s unfortunate that my office had to resort to federal court just to get USDA to comply with the law and its own regulations," Frey said in a statement. 

"But we are pleased that the lawsuit has now been resolved and that Maine will continue to receive funds as directed by Congress to feed children and vulnerable adults.” An email message seeking comment was sent Friday to the Agriculture Department.

In February during a meeting for the National Governors Association at the White House, Trump and Maine's governor, Janet Mills had a verbal altercation with regards to trans athletes.

During the 2024 election, Trump continuously decried the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports. Since taking office, he has attempted to ban trans athletes from women's sports via an executive order. Many have pointed out that the executive order has no power, but Trump tied it to whether or not states will receive federal funding. 

That was what sparked February exchange: 

 “The NCAA has complied immediately, by the way. That’s good. But I understand Maine – is Maine here? The governor of Maine?" Trump said. 

 “Yeah, I’m here,” responded Mills, a Democrat. Asked by Trump if she would abide by the executive order, Mills responded, “I’m going to comply with state and federal law.”

 “Well, we are the federal law,” the president retorted. “Well, you better do it. You better do it. Because you’re not gonna get any federal funding at all if you don’t.” 

 Trump then boasted about his performance in Maine in the 2024 election while serving a warning to Mills. “And, by the way, you’re population – even though it’s somewhat liberal, although I did very well there – it doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports," he said. “So, you better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.” 

 Mills shot back: “See you in court.” 

Trump welcomed the opportunity. “Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,” the president said, before claiming Mills’ position on trans issues doesn’t bode well for her political future.

Federal funds to Maine which were to go to a child nutrition programs were subsequently frozen. Maine subsequently sued.

 . . . the state's attorneys argued that the child nutrition program received or was due to receive more than $1.8 million for the current fiscal year. Prior year funds that were awarded but are currently inaccessible total more than $900,000, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also said that the program was anticipating about $3 million that is typically awarded every July for summer meal program sponsor administration and meal reimbursement.

Last month, a federal judge handed Maine a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration's actions:

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program that were suspended amid a disagreement between the state and the president over transgender athletes. District Court Judge John Woodcock issued a temporary restraining order on Friday in a case brought by the state of Maine against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 . . . The court’s order came the same day Maine officials said the state would not comply with a ban on transgender athletes in high school sports in the wake of a Trump administration finding that the state violated antidiscrimination laws by allowing the students to participate. The U.S. Education Department said in March that an investigation concluded the Maine Department of Education violated the federal Title IX law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ teams.

 That decision is probably what led the Trump Administration to settle and allow Maine access to the federal funding. 

Mills told The Associated Press in a statement:

“The state of Maine went to court and fought this unlawful attempt to freeze critical funding for our school lunch program – and we won. I applaud the work of Attorney General Frey and his staff in representing the state in this action against USDA, and preserving healthy school meals for 172,000 Maine school children.”

No doubt after the bravado he used to call out Mills in February, this has to be an embarrassing public loss to Trump and his administration. And we know how Trump hates being embarrassed, particularly in public.

'Donald Trump humiliates his cabinet during meeting' & other Wed/Thur news briefs

This picture, while seemingly over the top, is the best way to describe what Trump made members of his cabinet do Wednesday.

12 Most Painfully Sycophantic Comments From Trump’s ‘Kim Jong Il-Style’ Cabinet Meeting - Unbelievably humiliating. Trump holds a cabinet meeting where each member of his cabinet poured praises on him. It just goes to show how low some people will stoop to attain and keep power. Dignity is luxury you have to surrender when you work for Donald Trump. 

For example, this is what Attorney General Pam Bondi said: 

 “President, your first 100 days has far exceeded that of ANY other presidency in this country. Ever. Ever. Never seen anything like it. Thank you.” 

Youngkin calls on gay Va. GOP LG candidate to exit race over alleged ‘porn’ scandal - Well THIS is happening under everyone's nose.

Illinois governor says don’t blame trans kids for losses by ‘do-nothing Democrats’ in fiery speech - THIS is how you do it, Gavin Newsom. 

Democrats reintroduce landmark LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill - It's a nice thought but with Republicans in charge, I fail to see the why and how. 

'Hetero Awesome Fest' planned for Idaho capitol during LGBTQ Pride Month - I'm curious to see just how awful and dull this will be. 

Canadian Transgender People Avoid Crackdowns With Liberal Election Victory - As Canada proved this week, elections matter. Folks need to remember that and not get distracted again.

Poll: Most Americans oppose trans women competing in female sports, including 2 of 3 in Gen Z - Notice how the poll mentions just trans women. Trans men seem to never be talked about with regards to this issue. That's the crux of it all and there needs to be lots of work done to educate people.

Video: Donald Trump's 100 days of disaster. Americans get what they voted for whether they like it or not (they don't like it).

 

The first 100 days of Donald Trump's second term is over. To put it nicely, it's an epic disaster punctuated by rampant chaos, super ineptitude, disturbing levels of corruption no one could have ever imagined possible and lies so egregious that they would make Nixon rise from his grave to slap the shit out of somebody.

During Trump's first term, other countries laughed at us behind our back. After Trump's first 100 days of his second term, they now laugh in our faces.  And when they aren't doing that, they act like the best friend of a reality tv celebrity; the friend whose vocabulary is punctuated by squeals of "oooooh gurl!" while watching the mounting madness of said celebrity's life.

America was warned. Kamala Harris, Black Americans in general, and so many others told the voters that this would happen if Trump was put back in office. Hell, even Trump's first term should have been a warning. 

Too many people got lazy, angry stupid, or forgetful and here we are. 

Presently, Trump is holding a rally in Michigan where he is freely lying in front of an enthusiastic (and highly stupid) audience. But as the videos above and below show, all of the lies in the world can't cover up the truth. And that truth is America's in trouble and voters have no one to blame but themselves.

What the hell were they thinking?

     

 Related posts: 

Trump has lowest 100-day approval rating in 80 years: POLL 

Poll: After 1st 100 days, Trump's approval rating continues to crater as 57% say he's 'gone too far' on tariffs 

Trump's first 100 days are the worst for the stock market since Nixon 

‘A complete disaster for Arizonans:’ Trump’s first 100 days hits employment, healthcare, and education 

‘I didn’t picture it being this bad!’ Non-MAGA voters eviscerate Trump 

‘Trump’s first 100 days have been a disaster‘: Colorado Lawmakers react to President Trump’s term so far 

Trump made good on cruel promises, ruining countless lives. It's made America worse.

'Wolf in the sheep fold - Anti-LGBTQ activist now heads DOJ Civil Rights Division' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

Harmeet Dhillon, who now heads DOJ Civil Rights Division, has a long history of undermining LGBTQ civil rights.

Harmeet Dhillon’s civil rights record raises alarms for LGBTQ+ advocates​ - This is NOT good. It's like a wolf spending years terrorizing the sheep and then is chosen to guard the sheep. 

NYT: Mass Exodus At DOJ’s Civil Rights Division - And here we go. 

Investigation of Dr. Michael Brown Substantiates Reports of Misconduct - Anti-LGBTQ activist Michael Brown is in trouble for ugly sexual misconduct against two women. For the record, I sparred with Brown on more than one occasion about marriage equality. 

North Carolina group changes Pride event name following 'nasty' response - You start it, we finish it. 

I'm proud to be gay. Trump's hate-filled first 100 days won't take that from me. - Preach!!

Log Cabin Republicans group turns its back on LGBTQ families

It turns out that my burst of optimism regarding a recent case argued in front of SCOTUS could have been wrong.

In yesterdays' news briefs, I said that a case of parents demanding opt-out choices with regards to LGBTQ lessons in classrooms won't be a win for said parents because it could cause a lot of chaos. However, court watchers and reporters gave a different opinion. To them, it will probably be another decision in which SCOTUS stretches the definition of religious freedom, while giving us LGBTQ folks another back hand slap.

One national LGBTQ group is hoping that this will be the very outcome. And it's not difficult to guess who. None other than the "House Negroes" of the LGBTQ community - the Log Cabin Republicans

Schools don't have the right to force young children to be exposed to LGBT-centric curriculum without parents' consent.

This case isn't about gay rights. It's about parental rights and religious freedom, a bedrock of our Constitution.

Sounds like SCOTUS sees it the same way. pic.twitter.com/kxnkyqd4zd

— Log Cabin Republicans (@LogCabinGOP) April 23, 2025

This entire case has to do with parents wanting to op-out their kids if lessons encompass LGBTQ people or books containing LGBTQ people are read. It sounds simple, but we all know that simple cases have wide implications. It's not farfetched to point out that an anti-LGBTQ ruling could be used to erase any mentions of LGBTQ people from classrooms, even if children in said classrooms are coming from same-sex households. 

With regard to the Log Cabin Republicans, I don't know what's worse - that the group is repeating the gaslighting phraseology - "forcing young children to be exposed to LGBT-centric curriculum" - or the implications behind the group publicly turning its back on LGBTQ families.

The entire narrative of Log Cabin Republicans is that they are supposedly the "normal gay folks." They like to cast themselves as supposedly being as regular as heterosexual folks while the rest of us in the community are the ones causing the problems by being loud, intolerant, and pushy.  According to them, the basic problem of our community doesn't lie with bigotry or homophobia per se, but with those of us trying so hard to stand out instead of trying to fit in or "assimilate."

But what's more assimilating than LGBTQ people trying to raise children in this society? What's more normal than children attending our schools and being vocal about their families regardless of if they come from a LGBTQ or heterosexual household? 

In the end, these are the ones who could be hurt the most by the latest attempt to gaslight this country into reducing the lives of LGBTQ people (and families) to lascivious caricatures. And they are the ones who the Log Cabin Republicans should be standing with.

Don't be fooled by the fake simplicity of this case or the naked pandering of the Log Cabin Republicans. This is just the latest example of how the conservative right weaponizes faith and Christianity against LGBTQ people. And let's not forget how they are now aided and abetted by a court slowly but steadily pushing the boundaries of religious freedom to the dark area of Christian nationalism, even if they have to misrepresent cases on occasion to accomplish this goal.

'Report claims Trump bragged about using trans people as pawns to fire up his base' & other Tue/Wed news brief

Trump Has Meltdown in Oval Office with NATO Leader - This article was posted on March 13 by Ben Meiselas and Meidas Touch Network, and it details an incredibly insane meeting between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. It's a long article but the part concerning transgender Americans stands out: 

Then, Trump pivoted to his usual bigotry. Instead of talking about defense cooperation or global security, Trump bragged about how he uses transgender people as political pawns to rile up his base before elections — saying Republicans should “bring it up a week before the election” to win votes. In other words, he openly admitted he sees cruelty and manufactured culture war nonsense as a campaign strategy. Despicable.

This shouldn't be a surprised to anyone. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't remind people about this every chance we get. It underscores just what an opportunistic bloodsucker Trump is. 

The fact that the following incident allegedly took place last month and wasn't covered widely says two things and they are both awful:

1. The media doesn't seem to care too much about just how trans people are being used as scapegoats.

2. The Trump Administration's tactic of overwhelming us all with constant bullshittery is real.

Nancy Mace barks anti-trans slur right at college student’s face then whines that she’s the victim - Speaking of opportunistic bloodsuckers, Nancy Mace is the queen. It's beginning to be a routine with her - 1. Publicly say something foul (mostly about trans people) 2. Getting challenged. 3. Posting the video of it all while playing the victim (making sure she says that she's "holding the line) 4. Appearing on Fox News or other right-wing news sources while stretching the victim card wider than a girdle on sale. In this particular case, number four hasn't happened yet. But I'm sure it will. 

Minnesota attorney general files preemptive lawsuit against Trump on transgender sports ban - Good for Mr. Ellison. It's on! 

19 Pictures That Absolutely Scream "Straight People Culture" - Some folks may get offended by this, but it's spot on. 

Gay asylum-seeker's lawyer worries for the makeup artist's safety in Salvadoran ‘hellhole’ prison - It's good that folks are giving Trump hell for Abrego Garcia, but this needs as much attention.

Supreme Court conservatives sympathize with parents objecting to LGBTQ-inclusive books - I hope I'm right when I say I genuinely believe that the court will not rule in favor of the parents. Creating something like this would open a door to demanding opt-out policies for everything in school.