King Donald's War, Part 10. "If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied." Donald Trump, the killer edition.

July 21, 2026.

If any question why we died, 

Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Kipling. 

Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, age 19, killed in Jordan. 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan also died.  Both were assigned to Air Defense Artillery units.

Just 19 years old. She died, not so that Iran would not have a nuclear weapon, not for liberal democracy in Iran, but because a demented old narcassist duped by a prime minister of a desperately minoritarian regime in the Middle East could spill her blood for its purposes.*

Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and every American supporting this war has blood on their hands.

And not just hers.

Isabella Gonzales.  A life cut short, and a life taken on behalf a regime that would likely send her to Mexico on the basis that she has a Spanish last name, if it could, for a war that most Americans don't want, and which is being fought for Israel.

I'm not, as I've noted before, in favor of women in combat.  Pvt. Gonzales left a few social media type posts of herself, in uniform, acting very cute, and very feminine.  She did not deserve this.  It sounds brutal to say this, but this is a man's role.

But more than that, this is a role that should be filled, if it had to be, by those who brought it about.  Why are the Trumps not in action? 

Why have they never been?

A person who did.

1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, 25 years of age.

The classic look of a lieutenant.  Too bad he died for utterly nothing.  He deserved better.

A third serviceman was killed but has yet to be identified.  It taking this long probably says something about the nature of his wartime death, a war that we're waging and which we're waging illegally, with no declaration of war.

Not one prominent MAGA, we'd note, has stepped up to the plate.  Barron, Eric, Donald Trump Jr.,.Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump.  Won't you?  You can join Pete Hegseth in our new colonial escapade, and;

Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go send your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need*

Nah, that's not going to happen.

Most days now, it won't even be the main headline.  Troops will go on killing and dying, and for what?  A goal never clearly expressed, and which cannot be obtained without massive loss of life.

July 22, 2026

The third soldier:

Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, age 28.

And killed elsewhere in Iraq.

Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, age 30.

I suppose their faces look like America as it is. . . but not really the America that people like some in the Trump seem to want it to look like.

CST  headline:

Well, like they say, freedom isn't free, and apparently giving up your freedoms for a demented narcissist isn't either.

The Houthis are threatening to close the Red Sea.

July 24, 2026

From the CST:

Waist deep in the big muddy.

July 26, 2026

The Houthis hit oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia yesterday.

News reports hold that the administration has put on hold an escalation of the war due to a shortage of air defense munitions.  Savvy analysts, including yours truly, have been warning about that occurring for months, and not it's here.

So, in keeping with that, a prediction.

This is also likely a moment that Putin and Xi have been waiting for as well.  Our weapons stockpile has been built up over years, and now we've wasted it on a war fought for Israel and Trump's vanity.  Both Putin and Xi know that the next President, assuming at Trump 2028 coup to be unsuccessful, and assuming that we don't have another President before 2028, is much less likely to be a complete patsy and geopolitical dimwit.  

For Russia, that means Russia needs to fight on in hopes it can win before the next administration comes on.  For Xi, that means the time to invade Taiwan is. . . now.

July 27, 2026

We're really back to, if not surpassing, the Vietnam War era administration fibbing levels.

Pentagon reveals hundreds of new Iran war casualties

More than 600 troops have been wounded in the Iran war, officials disclosed Saturday, almost 200 more than previously known.

July 29, 2026

Trump openly showed frustration with Netanyahu who was in town for Lindsey Graham's funeral as Bibi announced ahead of time that he wanted to share Israeli intelligence on Pickaxe Mountain. 

That intelligence would reportedly show that the Iranians are reconstituting their nuclear program there and have no plans to give it up, which is obvious.  That frustrates Donny, however, who was basically suckered into the war by Bibi and now can't find a way out.  Bibi is trying to keep him focused and involved.

Iran launched a series of missile strikes on US targets yesterday.  The missiles were reportedly alls hot down, but they cause the US to burn through it's depleting anti missile supply.

July 30, 2026

Well worth reading.  We're not only losing, recent actions have made us even weaker than we were before.

Midweek Update #21: Iran Is Toying With The USA

Plus: Iranian Strategy; How Does This End?

We really have a evered amateurs at war problem going on.  Hegseth apparently just feels that bombing wins wars, which has never worked.  Trumps managed to go from having a horror of war into being nearly bloodthirsty, at least in his rhetoric.  We're depleting weapons like crazy when we're already broke.

The war not only will have a losing result, but this is going to have a severely bad end for the country.

July 31, 2026

The U.S. resumed strikes on Iran yesterday.  A drone strike on gas vessels in Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta occurred which is fairly clearly linked to the war, but the details have yet to be developed.

As an aside, I've already noted that the recent dead are half female and 3/4s minorities.  It's also the case that one, Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, was  lesbian in a same gender union.

I'm noting that as the dead do not line up with Pete Hegseth's and MAGAs world view of who are Americans, yet they're the ones dying.

Iran has conducted a cyber attack on the Minnesota public water systems.

Cont:

The dipshit in the Oval Office blamed Minnesota for the Iranian attack on that state's public water systems.

He really doesn't care about you folks.

August 1, 2026

The illegitimate Trump Administration is meeting at Camp David today to discuss the illegal war it started.

August 3, 2026

Trump called off attacks and promised not to resume if a deal could be reached quickly.

It's won't be.

Iran and Oman are apparently in separate discussions on the Strait of Hormuz.

August 4, 2026

Trump claimed yesterday that talks were "underway".  Iran denied that any were going on.

In fact, last night, Iran has launched a drone attack on a U.S. military base in Kuwait. and Iran struck a cargo vessel off the coast of Oman, all after King Donny  claimed the U.S. and Iran have resumed negotiations.

Nobody knows for sure what the story is here, but we all know that Trump is an outrageous liar.

Trump is showing signs of getting increasingly frustrated with the war and clearly doesn't have any idea what to do.  Iran knows that and has zero incentive in working with him on anything.  More likely than not this is going to drag on for many more months.

The critical breaking point may prove to be a military one.  The US cannot sustain the war and it's now very clear that's the case.  Every single day of active fighting in the Middle East brings war with China, now inevitable in my view, closer.

"Amateurs talk tactics, professionals study logistics" is the phrase that come to mind.  Trump isn't a student of either.  Neither is Hegseth, by observation . Trump listened to armature hawks like Hegseth whose war philosophy seemed boil down to "make big boom, kill people, opponents surrender" which would demonstrate that he wasn't much of a student of history.

The U.S. Army has used up most of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles in the war.

Footnotes:

*“The White Man’s Burden" by Kipling, quote in part. 

I don't admire the sentiments in this poem at all.  It's racist.  But it expresses the type of WASP colonialism, sans the Protestantism which at least moderated it a bit, of the colonial 19th Century, that the US is now experiencing under Donald Trump.

Related threads:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 8. Donald Trump, China's (and Russia's) greatest ally edition.

Last edition:

King Donald's War, Part 9. The paper tiger edition.

Labels: 2020s, 2025 Israel v. Iran War, 2026, Barbary Pirates, Donald Trump, Gaza, Iran, Israel, King Donald's War, Rudyard Kipling, Straits of Hormuz, Stupidity, The Second Trump Administration, United States

Why Won’t America’s Aging Elite Retire? | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat or Russ Douthat and his guest discover what I've been saying for years.

 

I've been shouted down for saying that the elderly Baby Boom generation needs to yield, often by Boomers themselves.

Well, it's a good interview.  A lot of this is exactly what I've said here.  The one thing I adamantly disagree with is his endorsement of euthanasia.  That is completely immoral.

I've noted this enough here that it might be one of the most common, or at least reoccuring, themes of this blog.  As noted, when I've brought it up, I often get shouted down.  Now we see a law professor in his 50s bringing it up, and noting that he's a victim of the situation himself.

He's a Gen Xer.

The 2026 Election, 14th Edition. The “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor" edition.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

Desmond Tutu

 

June 26, 2026

The candidate running against Bob Ide:

Lisa Engebretsen: Protect Wyoming’s Public Lands and Reject the Seminoe Dam Project

Getting rid of Bob Ide should be an absolute priority for anyone who cares about: 1) Wyoming's wildlands, and 2) anyone who is not a multimillionaire. A diehard MAGA/WFC who was in Washington D.C. at the time of the January 6 insurrection (he did not take part in it), his "less government, more freedom" is an absolute joke.  He's a major Natrona County landlord whose very livelihood depends on the government protecting his rental lands property rights, which only exist due to the government.  He is apparently unaware of the hypocrisy.  

He's been amongst the most extreme members of the WFC.

June 30, 2026

'Common Sense Republicans' Declare War On Wyoming Freedom Caucus 

The carpetbaggers of the WFC immediately resorted to name calling, of course.  Everyone who opposes them is "left wing", even if they aren't.

In Alaska there will be two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, one an incumbent and some other guy.

July 1, 2026

They sow the wind  and reap the whirlwind.

Hosea 8:7*

Well, everyone should have known this was coming.

For decades I've warned, in a somewhat different context, about self confident far right views being a mere fuze to ignite a left wing reaction.  In my case, the warning came in the context of local politics, both in ranching and oil and gas, where people confidently boast some local view not realizing there's a lot more of them, then us.

As some people have been warning, maps don't vote.

And now MAGA has poked the bear.

From the primary in Colorado, yesterday:

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros poised to become the first Gen Z woman in Congress

Now what's going to happen is some in Trump's orbit will attempt to make hay on this.  It's already happening. Donald Trump is warning everyone that there are Communists hiding in your Wheaties.  Little Mike Johnson is acting like a crying twat waffle.  Johnson is warning that people will go to jail.

People need to go to jail.

Now, I'm not a Socialist of any kind (I'm a distributist).  But this reaction is a real one, and running around doing the classic "when in trouble, or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout" isn't going to do anything.  And on top of it, a lot of pundits who are arguing the Democrats better not turn far left are going to be proven to be way out to sea.

Now, by and large, most of the Democrats aren't far left.  But the fact that the GOP has become outright Francoist and doesn't stand for conservatism means that for those who are, there's no argument here.  And, moreover, some of the same demographic that voted for right wing populist will vote for left wing ones. This is well established.  Quite a few Nazis had been Communists.  Lots of former Nazis became East German Communists.  One plate of fanaticism tastes a lot like another, and for that matter, people who are drawn to fanatic policies will be 1) drawn to ones that seem like they might work, and 2) recoil from attacks on themselves.

Trump's policies aren't working.  The poor sots who voted for MAGA are worse off than they were before.  Hispanics have been targeted by MAGA racism.  Palestinians and other Arab Americans watched their votes translate into support for more egregious Israeli attacks in Gaza and a full scale war, that we can't win, against Iran.  Those votes are gone, as the recent election in New York has shown.

And now Melat Kiros, a 29 year old Notre Dame educated lawyer who was born in Ethiopia has beat a sitting Democrat for Colorado's 1st Congressional District.  That's Denver proper.  She has the courage of her convictions, having lost a job with a New York City law firm for criticizing law firms for being opposed to pro Palestinian protestors.

She's going to win in the general election.

This will not mean that the seat she'll be taking, like her fellow Democratic Socialist from New York, will go to a Democrat where they had been occupied by a Republican.  What it means is that there will be voices in the Democratic party that are much younger, and have a much different view, on some issues than the Democratic mainstream.  And her election makes the election of old geezer MAGA's like Harriet Hageman of Wyoming look absolutely absurd in comparison.

This will end up tilting the meter on some things a bit to the left in the 120th Congress, and that's going to matter, for instance, when the next Speaker of the House is chosen and Mike Johnson goes into the dustbin of history.  

Trump can and will yell about it.  But on the eve of the 250th anniversary of American independence, his big fete, the big "state fair".  Nobody is going.  That's pretty telling.

Well, again, sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.

July 2, 2026

Out-Of-State Campaign Fliers Launch Attacks On Wyoming Candidates

July 3, 2026

Gabriel Green has sued the State over residency requirements.  A long time Wyoming resident, he recently resided in Arizona so the Secretary of State, properly in my view, found he did not meet the residency requirements.

The Secretary of State's office faces two other election related legal actions at the presen ttime.

With this, we'll close out this edition.

July 7, 2026

WyoFile

ELECTION GUIDE 2026

Wyoming's candidates for federal, statewide and legislative offices.

Maine's Graham Platner has been accused by former girlfriend Jenny Racicot of sexual assault.  Politico broke the story.  Racicot made the comment:

One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person, I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.

That doesn't quite make sense, frankly but the article in Politico is pretty detailed and the accusations are hard to discount.  Platner absolutely denies theme.

There have been calls, including from inside of Maine's Democratic Party, for him to withdraw from the race.  It's interesting for a variety of reasons, one being in any former era the candidate would either have to flat out attack the accuser back, or withdraw.  In the current Donald "grab them by the pussy" Trump era, for the GOP sexual assault has nearly been a "m'eh" type of thing.  It'll be hard for the Democrats to retain the high ground at this point if Platner stays in the race.

Of course, false claims of sexual assault against men do occur, although this does not read like one.  The curious thing would be why, if a person is guilty of the things she accuses him of, he'd risk running.  Having said that, we've seen a whole host of really vile behavior from GOP candidates who not only were willing to run or run for reelection, but have brushed their gross behavior off.

Platner looked to have a pretty good chance of booting ancient waffling Susan Collins out of the Senate.  Those chances appear to be really diminished now, which provides a nother reason for Platner to drop out.

July 8, 2026

GOP hypocrisy on Platner is just laughably stunning.

If he's guilty of what he's accused of, it's horrible and people should not vote for him, but reactions by people like Sen. Tom Cotton are really something.  He first claimed that when people who were similarly accused came up on the GOP side, Republicans wouldn't vote for them.

Then they said they only are dumping him, now that he's apparently ejecting from the campaign, as he can't beat Susan Collins.

Eh?

What about Donald "Grab them by the Pussy" Trump?  He's a serial polygamist who has bragged about seeing naked teenagers in a pageant dressing room and who hung out with two, not one, rich man who had a strong attraction to teenage girls, one of whom was a rapist of teenage girls. And Trump himself has been accused of raping teenage girls through his association with Epstein.  I don't know if he did it or not, and there's certainly credible reason to doubt it, but there's also some reason to believe the claims as well.  In other words, a person can rationally have his doubts about Trump, who if nothing else drew a drawing of what appears to be a young naked teenage girl in a birthday card to his pal, Epstein.

And then there's Matt Gaetz, who was creepy.

And then there's at least one GOP Congressman who hung on to the bitter end after his staffer with whom he had an affair self immolated.

And then there's Ken Paxton who has recently been running around the UK with his mistress, and who has a host of other past picadillos.

And then there's Pete Hegseth, who granted wasn't elected, but still.

Oh brother.

And, by the way, what President that Donny doesn't like didn't have  their (third) wife sprawled out nude in a seductive ad and didn't go to Epstein Island?  Biden, Bush, Obama. . . 

Geez.

Locally, Chuck Gray, picking up on the GOP flavor of the month, issued an angry screed in the form of a reel about needing to make the non problem of birthright citizenship illegal.  The latest "hoards of aliens are boarding jets to have babies in airports" thing is really not a problem, but the GOP has to have some way to explain really being ineffective and just spending all its time kissing Trump's ass and achieving nothing, so that as a scare tactic is in vogue.

July 9, 2026

At least as of this morning, Platner remained in the race while Democrats openly are trying to figure out who to replace him.

They have a great alternative, but so far she won't.

Republicans have tried to make hay on the Platner disaster, but so far they really haven't been able to. The principal reason is that the GOP is such a complete and utter moral sewer in the era of "Grab them by the Pussy Trump that they really can't, and they have to be careful about that before they look just completely absurd.

Right now, they look completely absurd.

Trump, of course, hung out with John Casablancas, which raises its own questions, before he hung out with Epstein, which re-raises them.  Even dismissing most of the Epstein claims, you have a conviction for sexual misbehavior that's just been back in the news, and you have what seems to be Carol Alt's credible claim that he outright groped her boobs when she was Epstein's girlfriend, and right in front of Epstein.  He definitely went to Epstein Island and he gave Epstein a birthday card of a nude illustration he did, and what appears to be a rather young nude at that.

And we won't even get to the host of other sexual creeps that are in the GOP right now.

All that makes efforts by people like Tom Cotton to say, "look a Democratic monkey is throwing pooh" rather absurd, as he's sitting in a pile of thrown pooh.

Anyhow, Platner has one defender of national renown. . . Donald Trump.  About Platner Trump stated:

It’s really a question of whether or not you believe the woman. A lot of people say big falsehoods,” 

He’s in a bind.

Trump's mind is mush, but I'll give him credit on this one, Platner is in a bind.

And Trump is right, it is a question of whether you believe the woman.

In recent years we've been publicly schooled to always believe the woman, but as odd as it may seem, women do lie about rape.  This doesn't seem like a lie, however.  For that matter, Alt's claims about Trump don't seem like a lie either.

It's pretty hard to know how often that really occurs, however.  What's much more clear is that a huge percentage of women who are sexually assaulted, and the estimates are that 1 in 4 women are in some fashion, don't report anything.  In Platner's case, it's hard to believe that the women aren't telling the truth. They have nothing to gain by lying at all, not even notoriety, which they do not seem to be seeking.

I guess that takes us back to Trump.  Alt, who is already famous, had nothing to gain either.  There's enough smoke out there, additionally, to believe that some sort of fire is burning in Trump tower.  It's clear, however, that he's going to die of old age before that smoke clears and the truth is discovered.  My guess is that it'll have some sort of accelerated JFK like timeline.  JFK, as we'll recall, was a sexual creep, which a lot of insiders knew at the time, but didn't reveal until decades later.  My guess is that a lot of that sort of stuff will start to come out regarding Trump's behavior, at least his known behavior, in the decade following his death.

Heather Cox Richardson has been mentioned as a replacement for Platner. 

Richardson is in the public eye a lot, or at least in the punditry class that's read by folks like me.  She's never run for anything and describes herself as a "Lincoln Republican". She's married to a Maine lobsterman.  So far she's declined.

That's really inexcusable.  Being a critic is fine, but if you are a critic and then called to serve, you better serve, or you have lost all credibility.

Cont:

And Platner is out.

Richardson, put up or shut up.

July 10, 2026

Another Day, Another Huge Endorsement For U.S. House Candidate David Giralt

M'eh.  Giralt is still in the kiss Donald Trump's ass category.

Hageman Demands Answers From Zuckerberg About Cheyenne Data Center Contamination

Funny how activist politicians get at the local level.

And with this, we will end this edition.

Model, 1911, in cowgirl costume

Footnotes:

The full quote is: 

“They sow the wind

    and reap the whirlwind.

The stalk has no head;

    it will produce no flour.

Were it to yield grain,

    foreigners would swallow it up.

Last edition:

The 2026 Election, 13th Edition. The choosing lanes edition.

Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, Become Peacemakers, Democratic Party, Democratic Socialist, New York, Reid Rasner, Republican Party, Tom Lubnau, University of Wyoming, Wyoming, Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Court Watch Part VII. When the last law was down.

Lawyer, St. Thomas More, who was executed for his adherence to his faith. 

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons: A Play in Two Acts

The Justice Department is going after James Comey for posting a photo of seashells arranged to spell "8647" on a beach somewhere, asserting it was a death threat on President Trump.  Apparently this is due to the old use of the term "86" to do away with and "47" for Donald Trump's completely illegitimate but widely accepted illegal claim to be President.

It wasn't.

This prosecution will go nowhere whatsoever, but it is more evidence that everyone in the Trump Administration is essentially a fascist with no regard for reality or the rule of law right now.  We are in monumentally dangerous territory.  It's 1534 in the United States with Donald Trump our King Henry VIII.

And the spirt of the age has spread:

Wyoming AG Says Gray Doesn't Have To Reveal Advice On Giving Voter Info To Feds

What Gray did was flat out illegal.  Gray is relying, in essence, on the advice of the Attorney General and when that's a defense, the attorney client privilege is waived.  The AG's office knows that, but it has to defend the privilege  It's being pretty assertive about it.

Gray needs to suffer the penalty of the law here.

After Abortion Ruling, Powell City Councilman Calls For 'Hanging Bad Judges'

Nobody is more opposed to abortion than I am.  I wouldn't allow for the largely bogus "rape and incest" exceptions that many people will.  But this is really beyond the Pale.  Powell should be ashamed of itself for even appoint this guy to its city council.

Elsewhere, in a nation where we brought a modern justice system, it's still functioning.

South Korean court extends prison sentence for wife of ousted president 

May 5, 2026

Headline in the CST:

Judges reject Trump push to obtain state voter rolls

But of course our Secretary of State, Chuck "If you disagree with me you are a radical communist, fascist, monarchist, podiatrist" Gray just handed Wyoming's over.

May 16, 2026

Judges Dismiss Nine Felony Cases, Including Murder, Over Darin Smith Misconduct

Smith hasn't been confirmed as US Attorney for Wyoming yet.

Wyoming Lawyer Not Liable For Embarrassing Claims In Trans Sorority Member Lawsuit

May 21, 2026

It appears that Trump's settlement deal in his IRS suit may actually prove to be a bridge too far for Senate Republicans.  

The deal, which frankly is the epitome of corruption, would create a slush fund to pay pardoned January 6 criminals for their inconvenience in being prosecuted as traitors to their country.  That's what they are, and they should not have been pardoned, but Trump sought to go one step beyond that and reward the pack of Horst Wessels.  Frankly, as soon as possible, the pardons should be unrung as illegitimate (Trump isn't a legitimate President and can't pardon anyone).  Anyhow, Republicans are openly balking on the slush fund, amazingly.  It must be really angering constituents, or just too much to stomach.

Indeed, they not only are balking, they sidetracked the ICE funding bill, showing that they're actually willing to do something that is guaranteed to send the Orange Mussolini into a screaming fit, but the fit will pit Trump's ICE demands up against his now open and obvious corruption and the hemorrhaging of the US budget.  It'll be interesting to see where this goes, as once they break with Trump, their relationship with Trump is broken, and if he doesn't come to heel, they can't.

By way of an analogous example, Massie wouldn't come to heel on the Epstein files, but he was one man.  Once it's a pack, it tends to grow.

So, a match is on.

May 29, 2026

A court ruled that Trump's adding his name to the Kennedy Center was illegal and ordered it removed within two weeks.

A different judge enjoined the IRS settlement slush fund from going forward.

June 2, 2026

Trump's insurrectionist slush fund seemed to be getting questioned by the court and now the Attorney General is saying it won't occur.

While Wyoming's Congressional delegation didn't protest it, a lot of Republicans in Congress were finding it to be a bridge too far.

June 3, 2026

Lawyers ask Wyoming Supreme Court to intervene in Gray voter data complaint

Attorney Asks Wyoming Supreme Court For Special Prosecutor To Investigate Chuck Gray

June 4, 2026

A Wyoming district court held that the whiney fascist crybabies leading the GOP have to follow state law and seat elected Republican precinct members, something another court did two years ago. The state central committee didn't want to do so as that keeps it from picking fascists.  

It argues that its a private entity and doesn't have to follow state law. . . except of course when it comes to getting preferential places on ballots, having the state run party elections for it, and getting to pick members of certain offices when they become vacant. It's fine with all of that.

Satire aside, this would have been an opportunity for the Court to wipe all of that out, and it should have.

June 5, 2026

Wyoming GOP sues state, challenges constitutionality of ban on pre-primary candidate endorsements

All they really have to do is to quit having state funded primaries.

Cheyenne Artificial Intelligence Candidate Sues For Spot On The Ballot

June 15, 2026

Last Friday retired Judge Campbell struck down a series of provisions regarding abortion.  There was some chance that these would survive challenge, as they did not directly restrict abortion, such as there being a time delay after seeking one, an ultrasound, etc., but he ruled that the Wyoming Supreme Court's earlier decision meant that these were in the nature of health care and could not stand.

I disagree with him on that, but given the absurd Wyoming constitutional provision on health care I've addressed here before, and the S.Ct. decision, it's an understandable result.  It'll go on to be challenged at the Wyoming Supreme Court level, probably.

I keep wondering if anyone has argued the true existential aspect of the questions.  I don't know if that's been done or not.

On the nature of things, one of the local news outlets has had photos of a woman protesting holding a sign that says "Forced Birth = Violence".

Almost all abortions in the US are due to people who just had sex, and then sex resulted in what it results in. That's not forced birth, that's nature.  The common "well what about ten year olds" and the like brings up a case scenario that's exceedingly rare.  The reply to that would be to ask that person if they're opposed to all other abortions, which they are not.

Even at that, however, killing is killing.  It would be just as logical to go out and determine every living American who came about due to rape or tike and shoot them dead now.  Yes, rape and incest are horrible.  Murder is probably the ultimate horrible, however.

Apparently the S.Ct asked, in its opinion, why those challenging abortion in Wyoming don't seek to amend the constitution.  It was a constitutional amendment that got us here, so that makes sense.  So far nobody's lifted a finger to do that.  The likely reason is that they know that amending the provision to allow for making abortions illegal won't pass in the state.  Instead, they feel their odds are better litigating about it, or complaining about it.

On other matters, the case challenging the primary system filed by Skovgaard is a pro se case, as I suspected, meaning it has about zero chance of actually succeeding.

June 18, 2026

Gordon sues Board of Equalization, asks court to enforce property tax cap

The governor filed suit against the 3-member board he appointed after it said it could not certify non-uniform residential property tax assessments.

In other news, some members of the WFC are criticizing Wyoming courts as "activist", an absolutely absurd accusation, for not upholding the most recent abortion laws when the legislature itself is completely responsible for the constitutional amendment that causes those laws to do down in defeat.

The legislature could forward a repeal of that amendment, but it won't, as it's afraid that would go down in defeat.  The whole thing is an example of playing a stupid game and winning a stupid prize.

June 19, 2026

Court sides with challenger to law banning drug users from possessing guns

What could go wrong?

On the topic mentioned above, we'll note that that you heard it here first, but now the drumbeat pointing out the hypocrisy is getting pretty loud:

Tom Lubnau: Sure, Pass Unconstitutional Bills And Blame 'Activist Judges'

Lubnau really throws the gauntlet down, stating:

The fix is simple. Pass a proposed constitutional amendment. I'll draft it for them: Article I, §38 is amended to add subsection (e): Abortion is not healthcare for purposes of this Article. 

Come on Sanchez-Williams.  Come on Bear.  But your legislating where you claimed values are. 

June 29, 2026

A good result:

Court prevents Trump from firing Fed governor

A 5 to 4 decision, with Thomas writing the dissent.

A bad result:

Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner and overturns major restraint on presidential power

A great result, but again 5 to 4:

Justices uphold state law allowing for late-arriving mail-in ballots

Trump's already bitching about this one, complaining that this provides why the SAVE Act needs to be passed.

And another good result:

Supreme Court will not consider $5 million verdict against Trump

Cont:

Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship

Yikes, that was the right result, but razor thin.

Cont:

And a bad one:

Justices strike down campaign finance law

Cont:

And a correct one:

Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams

July 3, 2025

A former Olympian has been falsely charged with vandalizing Donald Trump's Rhino Lined Algae pond as Trump is a baby and can't handle the truth.

These charges will fail, will result in a civil suit against the government which the government will ultimately settle for millions.

We've crossed the edge into the early stages of a fascist police state.

Gabriel Green has sued the State over residency requirements.  A long time Wyoming resident, he recently resided in Arizona so the Secretary of State, properly in my view, found he did not meet the residency requirements.

The Secretary of State's office faces two other election related legal actions at the presen ttime.

With this, we'll close out this edition.

Last edition:

Ballroom Batshit. A demented president goes full bonkers. The 25th Amendment Watch List Fifteenth Edition and Court Watch Part VI.

Labels: 2025 White House Vandalization, 25th Amendment Watch List, Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump, Court Watch, Ignorance, The Madness of King Donald