Purple and Black
Taking Independent and Unofficial Back

t0000 2.0, aka 47

Here’s an important one from Anthony Davis. He focuses on an interview t0000 granted to a CBS journalist, Terry Moran, and describes his takeaways from that interview.

The link to the 29 minute episode is way down in this post! Skip to that if you want to omit all this stuff about Garcia’s finger tattoos! The podcast covers a lot more.

One particular part of the interview stood out, it involves a photo of the hand of the deported individual, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia - father of an autistic son, married to a U.S. citizen, with no criminal record.

I had seen a video of that portion of the interview in a Rachel Maddow Show episode. The photo t0000 and Moran discuss is of the tattoos on Garcia’s fingers.

Just for context, here’s a description of the photo from the publication Al Jazeera:

“The image shows a left hand with four tattoos, one on each finger: a marijuana leaf, a smiley face with the letter X for eyes, a cross, and a skull. It also displays an “M”, “S”, “1”, and a “3” in a printed font above these tattoos. The words describing the pictorial tattoos also appear below each one in a small, printed typeface.”

quoted from:
www.aljazeera.com

Does Abrego Garcia have âMS-13â tattooed on his knuckles, as Trump claims?

US president has insisted tattoos prove MS-13 ties, but experts and photos contradict the claim in Abrego Garciaâs case.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com

Does Abrego Garcia have ‘MS-13’ tattooed on his knuckles, as Trump claims? [Al Jazeera;4.30.25]

Sub-title: “US president has insisted tattoos prove MS-13 ties, but experts and photos contradict the claim in Abrego Garcia’s case.”

All that is necessary context but the point really is about the exchange that occurs in the Oval Office between t0000 and Terry Moran and Davis’ interpretation of what that portion and what the whole interview says about t0000’s state of mind and the t0000 administration as a whole.

Check out Davis’s podcast episode to get the complete review.

podcasts.apple.com

Trump appears confused in ABC News interview, failing basic civics questions.

Podcast Episode · FIVE MINUTE NEWS · 05/02/2025 · 29m
podcasts.apple.com podcasts.apple.com

Trump appears cofused in ABC News interview, failing basic civics questions [Five Minute News with Anthony Davis;5.2.25]

Blurb: “Donald Trump exposed as aged and abused by his enablers in the latest ABC News interview. His understanding of due process and U.S. law is severely compromised, leading to the creation of his authoritarian regime. Join this channel for exclusive access and bonus content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkbwLFZhawBqK2b9gW08z3g/join Five Minute News is an Evergreen Podcast, covering politics, inequality, health and climate - delivering independent, unbiased and essential news for the US and across the world. Visit us online at http://www.fiveminute.news Follow us on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/fiveminutenews.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram http://instagram.com/fiveminnews Support us on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/fiveminutenews You can subscribe to Five Minute News with your preferred podcast app, ask your smart speaker, or enable Five Minute News as your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing skill. Please subscribe HERE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkbwLFZhawBqK2b9gW08z3g?sub_confirmation=1 CONTENT DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed on this channel are those of the guests and authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Anthony Davis or Five Minute News LLC. Any content provided by our hosts, guests or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything, in line with the First Amendment right to free and protected speech.”

I only needed the first 6 lines of that! Maybe some of the link that followed are useful.

I partially agree with the written blurb. In the podcast Davis refers to what is hapoening in the t0000 administration as ‘elder abuse’. That may partially reflect the situation but I think t0000 has more agency and presence of mind than that implies.

De-dang-de-dang-dang. I just spent time trying to add some good content from The Nicole Sandler Show and couldn’t save . . . I’ll re-do an abbreviated version. I agree with this person’s interpretation of what happened in this part of the interview >>> (1) this is a technique t0000 uses w journalists - force them to accept his version of reality (i.e. the’alternative facts’ (aka lies) version). t0000 starts by wheedling and cajoling Terry Moran in the CBS interview and then, when that doesn’t work, he humiliates and demeans him.

In the following clip from The Nicole Sandler Show there’s a pretty plausible suggestion as to what is really going on - basically covering his arse.


20250502 Emptywheel Friday & RIP Jill Sobule - The Nicole Sandler Show [S2, 025 E502]

Empty Wheel’s take is that there’s been a whole lot of lying going on to justify using the Alien Enemies Act . . . You’ll have to give it a listen for the complete explanation.
 
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talkingpointsmemo.com

A Judge Finally Rules Trump Can’t Apply Alien Enemies Act To Alleged Gang Members In The First Place

Despite the reams of documents, hours of hearings and the unlawful expulsion...
talkingpointsmemo.com

A Judge Finally Rules Trump Can’t Apply Alien Enemies Act To Alleged Gang Members In The First Place [Talking Points Memo;5.1.25]

From the article:
“Despite the reams of documents, hours of hearings and the unlawful expulsion of Venezuelan detainees, no judge had ruled on whether the Trump administration can even apply the Alien Enemies Act to these alleged gang members — until Thursday.

“U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee in the Southern District of Texas, ruled that the administration’s contortion of the law — meant to spring to life when a “foreign nation or government” is carrying out an “invasion or predatory incursion” into the United States — went far beyond its scope. The Trump administration has argued that the Venezuelan government, through alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua, is “invading” the United States.”
 

Is Trump Losing It? | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich [5.3.25]

Blurb: “Trump is losing it.His “two doll” trade war is cratering the economy.And national pushback against his agenda is growing — both in the courts and on the streets.What does it all mean? We discuss this and more on a new Coffee Klatch.”

Here’s Robert Reich speaking 3 months ago:


HOPE in Spite of Trump | Robert Reich [3 months ago, 1.20.2025]]

Blurb: “If you’re feeling despair today, I completely understand.But Trump’s second term will expose a reality that has been hidden from many Americans: the raw, stinking power of the American oligarchy.I’m hopeful that America will see this reality for what it is and respond to it.”

Gratitude to Robert Reich and the Coffee Klatch. That’s some prescience right there. Reich reminds us of who we are.
 
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Here’s Rachel Maddow talking about t0000’s first 100 days. She also follows up on a story about a mother and 2 daughters, US citizens, who had their house invaded, ransacked, and broken into in the middle of the night by federal agents. To hear the whole account, go to Maddow’s previous episode.


'Historic debacle': Trump sets new standard for poor presidential performance; Americans displeased [The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC;5.1.25]

Blurb: “Rachel Maddow reviews the many ways in which Donald Trump has made history with the first 100 days of his second term, though none of these achievements are anything to be proud of, and Americans are growing increasingly vocal about their displeasure.”

I’ll run off and try to find the full account of the house invasion.


Victims of Trump's irresponsible anti-immigrant crusade include American citizens [The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC;4.30.25]

Blurb: “Rachel Maddow reports on examples of American citizens caught up in Donald Trump's attacks on immigrants in the U.S., some by accident, some by malicious negligence, some by fierce incompetence and some apparently targeted on purpose.”
 
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Adam Schiff remarks on the SCOTUS decision, made in the fall of 2024, conferring vast new powers to the President and draws attention to the warmth and gratitude t0000 showed Chief Justice John Roberts when he passed him in the crowd at the State of the Union address in February (i can’t recall the exact date).

open.substack.com

The Thing Donald Trump Won't Forget

The most important thing Donald Trump said in the last few weeks wasn't during a speech or a press conference. In fact, it was hardly caught on camera. Let's talk about it.
open.substack.com open.substack.com

The Thing Donald Trump Won’t Forget [Schiff Notes (on Substack); 3.15.2025]

Sub-title: “The most important thing Donald Trump said or did in the last few weeks wasn’t during a speech or press conference. In fact, it was hardly caught on camera. Let’s talk about it.”
 
Okay. I admit I’m only 7 minutes in on an hour long podcast. I got a hunch this is going to be a good one when I burst out laughing. Since it’s late and I want to go to bed, I’m running with it. I hope it’s good!


We’re Watching the American Empire ROT (w/ Jonathan V. Last) [The Bulwark with Tim Miller;5.6.25]

Yeah. The title isn’t funny.

Here’s the blurb: “Because Donald Trump's stupid trade embargo has us reading shipping charts, we now know that 40% of containership traffic between Asia and the U.S. has been canceled. That means a shortage of consumer goods, which will push prices higher. At the same time, the business environment is too unpredictable for companies to plan. Meanwhile, Trump is reorienting the American economy to a corrupt oligarchy—as he rakes in billions in bribes off his crypto. Plus, Hegseth wants to clear out a chunk of the top brass, U.S. attorney nominee Ed Martin forgot to say he's been on Russian-state media outlets more than 150 times, and the DNC absolutely should not be posting about Kamala at the Met Gala.

JVL joins Tim Miller.Show

Notes
The NYT on Trump family business deals https://www.nytimes.co...

HuffPost on the trucking company buying Trump's crypto coin https://www.huffpost.c...

JVL on the Ashli Babbitt payout https://www.thebulwark...
 
I thought I wouldn’t post the Coffee Klatch this week but then I started listening. Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse’s straight-ahead talk refreshes me and leads up and out of the fetid swamp where t0000 and friends wend their way in grimy medieval carts along a mucky, dark and dangerous track.

I feel uplifted and enlightened.


The Constitution, The Conclave, and the Conman | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich [Robert Reich;5.10.25]

Blurb: “While the world's eyes were glued to the conclave, the con-man-in-chief took his blatant self-dealing to staggering new heights. On today's Coffee Klatch, Heather and I discuss the unprecedented scale of crypto corruption in Trump's swamp.We also speak with Emily Feiner, who was forcibly removed from Republican Mike Lawler's town hall last week for asking what it would take for the so-called "moderate" to stand up to Trump.”

Here’s one I hadn’t heard: t0000 has invited the very wealthy, if they’ve invested in the $t0000 meme coin (i.e. put briefcases full of cash straight into his pocket), to a lavish dinner at the White House. Yes, the queen is in the counting house, counting out the money, t0000 is in the parlor eating bread and honey with his bought-and-paid-for buddies and we get to pay for it!
 
This one holds a microscope up to the Alien Enemies Act [AEA] invocation. Before t0000, the AEA had been invoked 3 times in the nation’s history: the War of 1812, WWI, and WWII, when the U.S. was actually at war.

t0000’s use of the AEA rests on the notion that we are at war with or being invaded by Venezuela.

The following sheds light on the questionable claims.

The IC (with an Assist from Journalism) Liberates the IC's Debunking of Trump's Alien Enemies Act - emptywheel

Spooks keep finding way to debunk the core lie on which Stephen Miller has launched an effort to chip away at due process.
www.emptywheel.net www.emptywheel.net

THE IC (WITH AN ASSIST FROM JOURNALISM) LIBERATES THE IC’S DEBUNKING OF TRUMP’S ALIEN ENEMIES ACT [Empty Wheel;5.6.25]
 
Here’s one of Anne Applebaum’s Substack entries from her blog callled ‘Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum’.

open.substack.com

The American Pope

plus two excellent conversations about Kleptocracy, Inc
open.substack.com open.substack.com

The American Pope [Open Letters from Anne Applebaum;5.9.25]

Sub-title: “plus two excellent conversations about Kleptocracy, Inc.”

Plus a section near the end of the post called ‘Kleptocracy Tracker,’ which lists the most recent examples from t0000, his ‘friends,’ and family.
 
Carrying on. Here’s one from The Bradcast with Brad Friedman. While there’s a ton of noise elsewhere right now [tariff trouble, Pakistan-India agreement to end hostilities, $400 million dollar Qatari gift of a jet to djt0000, etc], the Bradcast hones in on the proposed Big Beautiful bill (aka republican tax cut) taking shape in the US House and Senate, which cuts $600 billion from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program [CHIP] ( of which the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP] is a part). It would kick millions off their health insurance and take away food from hungry children. It would raise household electricity costs and trap most middle class and poor students in greater student loan debt to afford a higher education and it would make all of these changes as a means to partially offset tax breaks that disproportionately go to the richest Americans, giving the top 0.1% a multi-hundred thousand dollar tax breaks, on average, while increasing deficits by trillions of dollars.

All the above quotes directly (roughly) from the beginning of the Bradcast. To hear more, check out the link below or find the same on the platform you use.

podcasts.apple.com

'BradCast' 5/13/2025 (Guest: Former White House budget adviser Bobby Kogan on House GOP's 'profoundly evil' cuts to Medicaid)

Podcast Episode · The BradCast w/ Brad Friedman · 05/14/2025 · 58m
podcasts.apple.com podcasts.apple.com

‘Bradcast’ 5/13/2025 (Guest: Former White House budget adviser Bobby Kogan on House GOP’s ‘profoundly evil’ cuts to Medicaid)

The Bradcast's motto: 'Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com'

As I often do, I’ve posted this after only after listening to the first few minutes. I think it will be a good one. Congress' decision on a budget plan is usually a long negotiating process. What is discussed here is the starting point, what GOP house leaders really, really want. It's revealing and important for that. There will be compromises ultimately, so this is just the starting snapshot.

Add from 6:28 . .
 
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Here are Ron Filipowski and Anthony Davis of ‘Uncovered’ podcast talking about the Qatari jet gift or, as Filipowski suggests we calll it, Palace in the Sky (gold! Oh, so much gold), t0000’s Middle East trip and lifting sanctions on Syria. I’m about half way through. They also talk about the U.S. media and t0000’s popularity or lack thereof. So far, so good.

I’ve been listening to the podcast but I’m posting the YT version, which I hope, has footage of Palace in the Sky.


LIVE: MAGA gets UNCOVERED with Massive Trump CORRUPTION Tour [MTN;5.14.2025]

Blurb: “On today’s UNCOVERED Ron and Anthony follow Trump to the Middle East for his corruption tour, accepting a Saudi jet and cozying up to dictators. Plus, Trump’s China tariff surrender, RFK Jr insanity, Afrikaan refugees, surrendering to Syria and much much more!”

Anthony Davis talks about the Democrats’ dilemma and their very limited power in Congress right now, especially given the cult-like atmosphere of the GOP. He refers to how the media gives Democrats very little air time. In that light, he chose to air a speech Chris Murphy (CT-D) gave in Congress recently. It received virtually no media attention. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m adding it since Davis says he’s received thanks from viewers who’ve remarked they had seen it nowhere else. It’s from his ‘Five Minute News’ show.


Trump's Saudi corruption exposed by U.S. Senator who brings receipts. [Five Minute News;5.14.2025]

Blurb: “U.S. Senator Chris Murphy delivers a blistering condemnation of Trump’s foreign policy corruption, highlighting his use of the office to enrich himself while putting U.S. national security at risk. Murphy called out Trump’s brazen willingness to accept luxury gifts and bribes from foreign governments like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, blasting the president for openly prioritizing his own profits over the well-being of American families.”
 
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Schiff Takes To Senate Floor to Lay Out Trump's 10 Most Corrupt Acts So Far [Sen. Adam Schiff;5.14.2025]

10. Tesla showroom on the South Lawn at the White House.
Donald t0000 then received $100 million from Elon Musk to his political operation.

9.You’re paying for t0000 to go golfing. Taxpayers pay the tab for t0000’s trips to his golf courses to the tune of $30 million in the first 100 days. 25 of those days have been on the golf course. Your tax dollars are going directly to t0000’s golf courses, hotels, etc to pay for this. And, as a side grift, you can pay $1 million or more to join his golf club and a chance to hobknob with the president).

8. Melania t0000’s mysterious Amazon documentary: What we know. Amazon is paying $40 million for Melania’s vanity doc. Amazon is paying $40 million to the t0000 family to license the film. In addition, Melania’s agent has been requesting sponsorships of the film to corporate CEOs and billionaires who were at the inauguration for $100 million. In return, buyers would be thanked at the end of the credits and be invited to the premiere.

7. The Club. t0000-aligned club for the ultra-rich launches in Washington. It will be called The Executive Branch and will serve as a gathering place for t0000-world and a place to pay homage to the president in the form of champagne and caviar. For a cool $500,000, you too can engage in wheeling and dealing with the president. It’s an invite-only club, sending a message that, if you want to be with t0000, you have to pay the cover charge.

6. t0000 Tower Dubai. ‘New Mideast Project Is Latest t0000-Company Deal Tied to a Foreign Government’

5. . . . Oh. Right. Must go to sleep. To be continued tomorrow, Or, just watch the YT clip above
 
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There are many articles in the NYTimes I’d like to share. I’m limited to 10 per month. I usually wait till the last day of the month so I can pick from among my favorites. Something comes up and at 5 minutes past midnight, “D’oh!!! I missed the deadline, again!”

Last month, April 2025, I’d picked out a whole cryptocurrency series. Sure enough midnight 30 April came and went. I’d missed the deadline, again. Oh, well. Now, in the video above, Schiff chose t0000’s cryptocurrency scheme as the numero uno(!) grift. The worst by far.

Check out that video to uncover a dizzying conglomeration of self-dealing. For t0000, it’s obvious his main objective as potus is padding his pocketbook. But there are other actors involved in his administration that seem hellbent on total destruction of the U.S. t0000 is their willing foil. For example, what of this article I’m posting here? It’s just one of many.


Trump Is Destroying a Core American Value. The World Will Notice. [Guest Essay, NYTimes Opinion;5.18.2025]

By Michael Posner, who the NYTimes describes: “Mr. Posner is a lawyer and human rights advocate who was assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor from 2009-2013.”

From the article:
“The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor was created with bipartisan congressional support in 1977, a time when lawmakers sought greater influence over foreign policy in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and America’s support for authoritarian regimes in countries like Chile and South Korea. President Jimmy Carter’s religious convictions and deep commitment to human rights gave the fledgling bureau early momentum. Still, its purpose was always practical: to ensure U.S. foreign aid and trade decisions were informed by credible assessments of human rights conditions around the world. That’s why every year, the bureau prepares congressionally mandated human rights reports.”

My comment: The opinion piece does refer to the US’ many bad actions over the years, just to let you know. Posner doesn’t sugarcoat that fact.

The whole article is good. Have a read while you can. I’ve discovered the ‘gift article’ has a term limit. I’m not sure when it expires.

More from the article:

“In the late 1980s, Joseph Nye, the Harvard political scientist who died this month, developed the concept of “soft power.” His central premise, that the United States enhances its global influence by promoting values like human rights and democracy, has guided U.S. foreign policy for decades across both Republican and Democratic administrations.

“Donald Trump has made clear that he fundamentally rejects this vision. As president, he has ordered a sweeping overhaul of the State Department that will cripple its capacity to promote American values abroad. At the center of this effort are drastic cuts to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor — the State Department’s core institution for advancing soft power, which I led under President Barack Obama. Unless Congress intervenes, the debasement of the bureau’s role will impair America’s ability to challenge authoritarianism, support democratic movements and provide independent analysis to inform U.S. foreign policy. The long-term result will be a United States that is weaker, less principled and increasingly sidelined as authoritarian powers like Russia and China offer their own transactional models of global engagement.”

Any one thing the t0000 administration does may not raise alarms overmuch. All the cuts and eliminations are cloaked in the mantle of government efficiency. However, the cumulative effect of across the board cuts (excepting defense) suggests a collection of unscrupulous motives beneath.

How’re y’all feeling?
 
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Here’s a great one. It weaves together a lot of loose threads into an almost coherent whole. And touches on a bunch of stuff mentioned here in the last several posts.

[1 hr 24 min 46 s]

LIVE: Clinical Psychologist makes LIVE DIAGNOSIS of Trump Mental Illness | The Weekend Show [Meidas Touch;5.18.25]

The Weekend Show is one of Anthony Davis’ shows. It’s nearly always worth a listen.

Blurb: “As Donald Trump’s mental acuity continues to decline, Dr John Gartner joins Anthony Davis to discuss the senile dementia, mental health and personality issues that the President clearly presents, and how his verbal gibberish is ignored by the corporate media who refuse to acknowledge the danger of his decision making - only on The Weekend Show. ”

The show is about so much more than the dementia. But okay.
 
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Here's Tim Miller's show on the Bulwark and his regular (weekly?) episode with Bill Kristol. The Bulwark are a group of former republicans (commentators, influencers, opinion lenderss) who left the party.
I like this one because Miller and Kristol touch on a bunch of issues I've been interested in but not heard many podcasts address. The Qatari plane, palace-in-the-sky, has had a lot of press, but these 2 give a slightly different interpretation - that it was more a shakedown than a gift.
They speak about the oddness of El Chapo's family walking across the Mexico - US border with suitcases. Who ordered this and why? How can this be happening at the same time that we are deporting Venezuelans, some here under legal protection, to a prison in El Salvador where they may never be heard from again, disappeared to a place where they may spend the rest of their lives.
They speak about Joe Biden releasing news of his cancer diagnosis.
They touch on a 'deal' in the Middle East regarding artificial intelligence, involving construction of infrastructure/ data centers (is that the term?) including our best technology (high tech Nvidia chips). Kristol and Miller question how reliably we can trust these middle eastern countries, which already have strong ties with China, Hamas, etc. It's a risky proposition and exports these essential centers, along with all the jobs they entail, to locations outside of the US. I've heard the incentive is to give us a foothold in other parts of the world and also because the US does not have the electrical infrastructure to support these hugely energy-intensive operations.
Anyway . . . blah blah blah by me. There's more in this video. On the downside, it's a long one [58 m 58 s], again. It can be a challenge to find the time to listen to any one video but I'll lay it out here because I've appreciated it and you might, too.


Trump's OUTRAGEOUS Deal to Protect El Chapo’s Family! (w/ Bill Kristol) [The Bulwark podcast with Tim Miller;5.19.25]

Blurb: "No, the Trump administration is not focused on the forgotten man or bringing industrial jobs back. Instead, the real estate developer is handing out threats left and right—fresh off his Middle East trip, where he scored numerous deals with Islamofascists for himself, his family, and his cronies. And no matter what he says, the 'Palace in the Sky' is for him, once taxpayers pony up all the funds for retrofitting. Meanwhile, House Republicans are attempting to ram through their reconciliation bill—which is a huge debt bomb and is a big reason why Moody's downgraded the credit rating of the United States. Plus, Biden's cancer diagnosis, Epstein's 'absolutely crystal-clear' suicide, Trump proves Springsteen's point, and the administration gladly takes some of Mexico's worst. Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.Show
Notes
Jonathan Cohn on the reconciliation bill's Medicaid cuts https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-to-t...
El Chapo's ex-wife and extended family at the US Southern border https://images.app.goo.gl/qbDDYqLheo1...
Springsteen in Manchester commenting on the current administration • Land of Hope and Dreams
Become a Bulwark Youtube Plus Member here - / @bulwarkmedia
0:00 Ode to Aaron Gordon
5:57 Biden’s cancer diagnosis
15:22 Trump on Disney
21:22 DeleteMe
23:41 Qatar, UAE and Chips
36:03 Tax bill
43:57 Sinaloa cartel deal
47:32 Kash & Bongnio on conspiracies
 
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