Sorry if you’ve already seen these two stories on your social media or TV, but I liked them and we haven’t had an open thread in a long time, so here goes:
THIS WAS THE WEEK THAT
Jack White (White Stripes) Punched Trump & Cheung Back
Item one. You’ve seen all the awful tacky gold decor Trump has stuck all over the Oval Office, nobody but Trump likes it, it’s fucking gross and embarrassing…
And one guy out of thousands who’s criticized it, on his Instagram account because that’s what his generation does, is White Stripes founder/leader/singer/guitarist Jack White, who IG’d:
“Look at how disgusting Trump has transformed the historic White House. It’s now a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy professional wrestler’s dressing room. Can’t wait for the UFC match on the front lawn too, he’s almost fully achieved the movie ‘Idiocracy.’
“Look at his disgusting taste, would you even buy a used car from this conman, let alone give him the nuclear codes? A gold plated Trump bible would look perfect up on that mantle with a pair of Trump shoes on either side wouldn’t it?”
“What an embarrassment to American history,” White added, while also calling Zelenskyy a “REAL leader of a nation.” How DARE this multiple-Grammy-winning musician mouth off like that? Sounds like a job for… White House Communications Director Steven Cheung!
Manatees can walk now? No, silly, its Steven Cheung!
Spat the bizarre-looking Trump flack: “Jack White is a washed up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career. It’s apparent he’s been masquerading as a real artist, because he fails to appreciate, and quite frankly disrespects, the splendor and significance of the Oval Office inside of ‘The People’s House.’”
And do you think the “Seven Nation Army” songwriter took that sitting down? You might guess, not. Here’s Jack White:
“Listen, I’m an artist and not a politician so I’m in no need to give my answer or opinion on anything if I’m not inspired or compelled, but how funny that it wasn’t me calling out trump’s blatant fascist manipulation of government, his gestapo ICE tactics, his racist remarks about Latinos, Native Americans, etc. his ridiculous “wall” construction, his attacks on the disabled, his attempted coup and mob insurrection and destruction of the sacred halls of congress, his disparaging sexist and pedophilic remarks about women, his obvious attempts at distraction about being a close personal friend of Jeffrey Epstein and his inclusion in the Epstein files, his ignorance of the dying children in Sudan, Gaza, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his lack of empathy for military veterans and those struggling with poverty, his attempts to dismantle healthcare, his obvious wimpy and pathetic kowtowing to the dictators Putin and Kim Jong Un, his Nazi like rallies, his attempts to sell merchandise and products like Goya beans through the office of the President, his fake “gunshot to the ear” that he showed no medical records or photographs of, his constant, constant, constant lying to the American people, etc. etc. etc. No, it wasn’t me calling out any of that, it was the fucking DECOR OF THE OVAL OFFICE remarks I made that got them to respond with insults. How petty and pathetic and thin skinned could this administration get? “Masquerading as a real artist”? Thank you for giving me my tombstone engraving! Well here’s my opinion, trump is masquerading as a human being.
“He’s masquerading as a Christian, as a leader, as a person with actual empathy. He’s been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he’s involved in has prospered except by using other people’s money to find loophole after loophole and grift after grift. His staff of professional liar toadies like Steven Cheung and Karoline Leavitt have been covering up and masking his fascism as patriotism and fomenting hatred and division in this country on a daily basis. And I have “ample time on (my) hands”? That orange grifter has spent more tax payer money cheating at golf than helping ANYONE in the country. Improve. Anything. There is no progress with him, only smoke and mirrors and tax breaks for the ultra wealthy. So maga folk, enjoy your concrete paving over of the rose garden, your 200 million dollar ballroom in the White House, and your gaudy ass gold spray painted trinkets from Home Depot, cause he ain’t spending any money on helping YOU unless you fit into his white supremascist country club rich idiot agenda. Wow, he hates who you hate….good for you, be proud of yourselves, how christian of you all.
“The only way you can support this conman is because you are a victim of the 2 party system and you “defend your guy no matter what he does”. No intelligent person can defend this low life fascist. This bankrupter of casinos. This failed seller of trump steaks, trump vodka, trump water, etc. This man and his goon squad have failed upwards for decades and have fleeced the American people over and over. This professional golf cheat, this grifter who has hundreds of thousands of deaths from his inaction of the pandemic on his hands, this man that the majority of the country somehow were fooled into supporting and voting into office (through the flawed electoral college) and their love of reality television stars. Being insulted by the actual White House that this particular conman leads is a badge of honor to me, because anyone who trump supports and likes is a villain who gives nothing to their fellow man, only takes what can benefit themselves.
“And no I’m not a Democrat either, I’m a human being raised in Detroit, I’m an artist who’s owned his own businesses like his own upholstery shop and recording label since he was 21 years old who has enough street sense to know when a 3 card monte dealer is a cheap grifter and a thief.
“Jack White III”
And later, the rock star added:
“I was raised to believe that we defeated fascism in World War II and that we would never allow it again in the world. I don’t always state publicly my political opinions, and like anyone I don’t always know all of the facts, but when it comes to this man and this administration I’m not going to be like one of the silent minority of 1930’s Germany. This man is a danger to not just America but the entire world and that’s not an exaggeration, he’s dismantling democracy and endangering the planet on a daily basis, and we. all. know. it. – JW III…
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” – Theodore Roosevelt.
The Trump Team sure didn’t think Jack was a washed-up has-been loser when they stole this song of his without permission for a campaign ad last year. Jack and his sister sued, warning all their fans not to vote for a “FASCIST,” then later dropped the suit “without prejudice,” so they could re-file at any time. I think they should.
AND
Ana Navarro Made Mincemeat out of Melania!
Who is Ana Navarro anyway? Looks like she is a former Republican political consultant famous as a co-host for The View, a TV show ladies watch every morning. But she really took on First Lady Melania this week over the “performative hypocrisy of a letter Melania “wrote” to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. From Occupy Democrats: . .
The former Republican strategist didn’t hold back: “You all, this falls under the category of stuff that’s so hypocritical you almost can’t believe it. I don’t know if you all heard this, but in the Trump-Putin meeting, Trump delivered a letter to Putin written by his wife Melania, First Lady Melania Trump,” Navarro said in a video posted to Instagram. She’s currently in Greece during The View’s pre-Labor Day hiatus.
“And I’m going to read some of it to you because I think we should think about this, okay?” she continued. “So she writes in this letter, part of it: ‘As leaders, the responsibility to sustain our children extends beyond the comfort of a few. Undeniably, we must strive to paint a dignity filled world for all so that every soul may wake to peace and so that the future itself is perfectly guarded. A simple yet profound concept Mr. Putin as I am sure you agree, is that each generation’s descendants begin their lives with a purity and innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology.”
Ignoring the painfully inept prose of Melania’s letter and the clumsy fumbling for poetic sounding phrases, it has to be pointed out deeply naive this letter was. Putin is a brutal, murderous dictator who has been waging a bloody war of territorial expansion for years now. The idea that he might be swayed by a poorly written letter by a First Lady with no diplomatic experience and no meaningful accomplishments is laughable. This was clearly an attempt by Melania to nab headlines and make herself feel important.
“All right. Now let’s think about those words,” said Navarro. “A right to innocence and purity that stands about government, geography and ideology. And think about what her husband, what Donald Trump is doing to the children of immigrants in America and to U.S. citizen children of immigrants.”
“How many of those children are living with the fear of their parents being dragged through the streets of America, their car windows smashed in, their parents beaten by masked men, and disappeared?” asked Navarro.
“How about the children in the LA school system that have been grabbed by ICE?” she went on. “How about the boy, the Brazilian boy in Massachusetts who was going to soccer practice when he was grabbed by ICE? How about the little girl with cancer, U.S. citizen little girl with cancer, who’s parents were deported and she had to leave, putting in jeopardy her cancer treatment?”
“How about all of the children in America — forget the children of immigrants even though that in itself sticks in my craw — but the children in America who are being denied SNAP benefits?” she asked. “How about the children all over the world who are not receiving U.S. aid because her husband’s government decided that we shouldn’t be feeding starving children all over the world? How about all of those kids?”
“So, yeah, it strikes me as ridiculously hypocritical that Melania Trump is telling Putin to preserve the innocence and purity of Ukrainian children,” said Navarro. “Yay for her! That’s a good thing. But you know maybe she should turn around and say the exact same thing to her husband because there are children in America crying, suffering, going to bed in fear, returning to homes that are abandoned and empty, not knowing where their next meal is coming from because of what her husband is doing.”
“I say to Melania, start a little closer to home girl,” she concluded.
Navarro voiced similar sentiments in the Instagram caption for the video—
“I just can’t with the performative hypocrisy from these people,” she wrote. “Trump and his minions have literally destroyed US aid that could feed starving children, instead of distributing it. They are destroying and separating families. They are taking the safety nets away from poor American children and giving tax-breaks to the ultra wealthy.”
“So when Melania says ‘all’ children deserve dignity and purity and innocence…please spare me,” she added. “I’m not sure how much she -or anybody- can influence Putin. But she sure as hell stands a better chance of influencing Trump.”
Here watch:
Vern here, and I would just have a little quibble with Ana – her critique of the cruelty of the current government’s policy should not be of just Trump, but her entire former political Party. This is REPUBLICAN SHIT. NO Republicans in congress are voting against it or criticizing it, and most of it has been their platform for decades. So FUCK THAT PARTY, Ms. Navarro. It is the CHILDREN-KILLING PARTY. Vern out.
It’s Open Thread Time on the “Orange Douche Blog”
(Greg’s copyright!)
Well to start with. Queue Can “Vitamin C”
https://youtu.be/JXsd5W8ofDw?si=WLsWmLGUPFCIcXXC
Something I wrote in the mid-80s when I was in high school
———————————————————————————
Downtown in the rain during January
5:36 p.m.
Traded cigarettes for directions to Grand Central Market
Walked
Walked
Walkd
Had to ask for directions again –
Broadway not Olive (he need the smokes more than I)
The smell of Samsara (time process) seeped
from the soggy streets
Traffic
close call passing situations
Hustling
hey man, you want to buy some dope?
Corruption
people starving beneath the skyscraped skyline
All maya (illusion)
Death
a city of decay
Rain soaking the brim of my cap
Engulfed by the sound of the fresh oil asphalt
churned like butter wthin the treads
of hydroplaning tires
a river of pollution – sludge!
Promenaded through a silent Pershing Square
east of 6th Street on Broadway
Its a ghost town
Lost souls roaming
Grand Central Market, finally
CERRADO. (that was the man at the passage said.)
I figured it was closed
Ate a sleazy steak burrito outside
the Clark Hotel
Just me standing in the shadows of an era
gone by
Smoked my last smoke
an hour has passed
cold and gray
No different from any other day (even when the sun shines)
Sidewalks become beds when downtown sleeps
the people beneath the soiled bedcovers
live without convenience
the faces with no names have a hard time
looking each other straight, dead in the ey
the street people detached from materiality
too busy, struggling to survive
A peddler with new, squeaky shoes
is the bully of the litter – cashing in on ignorance
Somewhere in this troubled gridiron
someone will sleep with dirty, wet feet
———————————————————————————
Queue The Rolling Stones “Living in a Ghost Town”
https://youtu.be/LNNPNweSbp8?si=ii3SLv529rTlAZa3
I hope that you enjoy my edits to it!
(That’s what you get for treating Open Threads as your own vanity project.)
Since we know Melatonin didn’t write that nonsense herself it begs the question who did write it. Can it be that the Rotting Yam’s White House coterie is so devoid of ability that they can’t tell the difference between good and bad writing? Guess so.
P.S. Mr. White’s takedown of the Yam and his turdish Odd Job henchman is very good.
Amy Coney Barrett is coming to the Nixon library on September 10. Has anyone heard of any planned protests?
The appropriate protest would probably involve shredding copies of the constitution while tolling a bell for each right, liberty, and precedent they have destroyed.
Maybe we could make this go national?
Call it “Build Back, Barrett!”?
Viva la resistencia. Queue patria y vida
https://www.facebook.com/WorldAffairsPGH/videos/patria-y-vida/921196098746073/
See, now this is an example of a good Open Thread contribution. Congrats!
I’m a little leery, though, of giving Trump reason to send the battleships to invade Cuba, though. That would knock Epstein off of the front burned, which would be what matters to him. (On the other hand, maybe they would bomb Palm Beach! Go out with a bang!)
If I were campaigning against Connor Traut I would attack him on OCPA and endorsing Farrah Khan after she threatened that Surf City and the County would pay for withdrawing from the OCPA while Mayor of Irvine during open council meeting immediately before running against Dumb Dumb Donny for District. 3 Supervisor.
Would you trust somebody who endorsed a county supervisor candidate that threatened a county and a city? He is either terribly naive or dangerous, either way he would be a liability as a supervisor to the district he seeks to represent.
https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/local/irvine-votes-to-remain-in-orange-county-power-authority
The O.C. Register reports that the city of Irvine’s decision to remain in OCPA came after almost two hours of debate, with Mayor Farrah Khan saying that Huntington Beach and Orange County will “pay” for pulling out of the agency.
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/05/23/irvine-is-giving-ocpa-another-chance-again/amp/ (Source article)
https://www.farrahnkhan.com/supporters
Andrea Yamasaki-Orange School Board Member
Susan Sonne-Buena Park Councilmember
Connor Traut, Buena Park Mayor
Tiffany Ackley-Aliso Viejo Councilmember
Your jihad is tiresome. I hate that you make me defend her actions.
Farrah’s stance was not reasonable in objective terms — Irvine was not transparent about its ability to accumulate the stock of clean energy that it used to induce other cities to join them — but she was not in a position where her duty was to be objective. She was in a position where she was to uphold Irvine’s interests as it prepared to enter litigation. Giving aid and comfort to the “enemy” in litigation is a breach of duty. As William Strunk Jr. almost wrote: “Omit Needless Admissions.”
If you had any experience as a litigator, you would know that — hey, wait, YOU ARE a litigator! Would you ever advise a client to make needless admissions in the run-up to litigation? No? Well, neither did Farrah! Saying that they will pay does not mean that she intended to hack them to death, it meant that they will lose a lawsuit and … “have to pay” damages and fees!
I don’t know who you think you’re kidding. You have legitimate things to complain about her, but you throw so much extraneous shit at the wall that the good stuff gets lost. And, I should add, I’m no fan of Connor.
Here is a philosophical and political question for you Greg.
Would it be ok for a politician to endorse a known anti-Semite (or Holocaust denier) for election to public office?
Btw DPOC endorsed Traut for district 4 supervisor. But still nothing about Melahatrat.
I really don’t know why you think the DPOC would or should make any kind of statement about Melahat. You think the Republicans are gonna say anything about Do or Sidhu?
Now obviously Fred Jung would be hard pressed to use this line of attack as he is a director on the OCPA board but he could use the “Traut endorsed a know lying racist” attack. But someone like Tim Shaw could have a field day with Connor Traut, Farrah and the OCPA.
I think that people in general are a whole lot less interested in Farrah than you are. And by “in general,” I mean “in aggregate.”
Which lawsuit, counselor? Really? That’s not what she meant. Go to the tape.
https://irvine.granicus.com/player/clip/6160?view_id=68&redirect=true (Queue 3:52:30, she is spewing vitriol and threatening revenge, listen to all of 4.1 and then listen to rabbi dicky give the invocation about the importance of asparagus – not kidding)
Next you are gonna claim she didn’t help concoct the whole grifter operation.
https://voiceofoc.org/2023/02/democratic-consultant-who-admitted-trying-to-bribe-irvine-councilmembers-worked-all-over-orange-county/
https://irvinecommunitynewsandviews.org/the-irvine-cabal/
Eric, have you ever engaged in vitriol and threatening consequences in your legal career as an attorney? It’s so prevalent that it has a name, “toxic lawyering.” Maybe you’re a pussycat in your practice, but based on your tenure here I’d have bet on toxicity. So if what Farrah did was fulminate and threaten, that strikes me as pretty much what her job called for when faced with her city swallowing gigantic debts from other entities cutting bait.
Again: I don’t think she was right on the merits, but she was appropriately acting out her role. I doubt that Irvine’s City Attorney (or its hired litigation counsel) objected, don’t you agree. Or are you just so mad that you can’t see straight?
Which lawsuit?? You shouldn’t talk about being toxic. Your whole approach is based on bluster.
She threatened a result over which she had no control and could only have attempted if she became supervisor.
And the city attorney Melching is a felcher whom is getting his comeuppance over the Oak Creek issue.
Also, she helped created the far fangled OCPA.
You should not say “felcher whom is getting his comeuppance” so glibly.
Lol. Truth hurts. He has been exposed and compromised.
Eric may not know what “felching” is. Don’t tell him.
Sounds to me that she was saying that they were going to lose their case and suffer the economic consequences. A prediction, rather than an outright threat. She had the right to talk trash.
As for comparing us, I will stand on the record before this august blog.
This item from Rachel Maddow eight years ago sheds light on both Artsakh and the phony war with Iran.
https://youtu.be/dy9Qtf3P6Nw
Interesting. Though I saw lots of different stuff from it.
https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2025/08/21/the-new-fears-of-cubans-in-florida
https://www.threads.com/@johnlcorbett/post/DNra3_LWGoc
“Cubans were ‘the darlings of the cold war,’ says Joe Garcia, a Cuban-American and a former Democratic congressman. Now, he says, ‘all of a sudden, we’re just like Mexicans.’”
https://youtu.be/52VV48Vr8Pk (Cubans tipping off ice on fellow immigrants in florida)
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/cuban-exiles-were-shielded-from-deportation-now-trump-is-cracking-down/3622705/?amp=1
“No one could have predicted!”
You should send this to Norberto, who could write a fine piece about it.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-865406
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-865406
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-08-27/ty-article/.premium/for-first-time-netanyahu-explicitly-says-he-recognizes-the-armenian-genocide/00000198-e843-d181-a99b-ed5b1f400000
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413923
The local Turkish community once again displayed one of the masterminds of the genocide open and notoriously in Irvine this Saturday, and the county is a-ok with that right? They even mention him in their social media about the event
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=780383504682769&id=100081333793613
Thank you for the links, although readers should know that only the last Israel-related link does not contain a demand to accept all cookies, with the option of rejecting their “sale,” which is not the only manner of distribution I’d worry about. So congrats on being on their list, Eric!
What I glean from their story is that Netanyahu decided to recognize the Armenian genocide in retaliation for Turkish President Erdogan’s criticism of Israel for its retaliatory massacres of Palestinian. So, in essence, Erdogan has been punished for doing the right thing — probably knowing that it might or would have this effect. I hope that you will join me in thanking Erdogan, of whom I am normally not a fan, for taking this stand despite what he would consider to be an insult to his national honor. I think we agree that Netanyahu is a weasel.
Trolling is the new black.
https://time.com/7312256/gavin-newsom-merchandise-trump-maga-trolling-feud/
My blood brother. He had his last dance with Ms. Brownstone in 2017. An homage to LA like no other.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zoundsposey/id509878939?i=1000111408550
How does displaying the Israeli flag at public schools fight antisemitism? It seems like it promotes racism and discrimination against non Jewish ones especially from the Middle East and it also conflates Judaism with Zionism which is itself anti-Semitic. And, not withstanding, it’s rather unamerican and intimidating. We are with them and not with you. It’s like they are baiting an attack against Jews on campus.
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/losangeles/news/beverly-hills-unified-school-district-fly-israeli-flags-antisemitism/
Beverly Hills Unified School District reverses course and scraps Israeli flag idea after blowback. One of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard at the school district level.
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/video/beverly-hills-unified-scraps-plan-to-raise-the-israeli-flap/
New Neil Young protest song.
https://neilyoungarchives.com/news/1/article?id=Viewpoint%20-%20%20%20BIG%20CRIME%20AT%20CHICAGO%20SOUNDCHECK
Iowa’s own Katie Porter speaketh.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1168206458673725&id=100064531460664
DUI Dave continues trolling Willie the Weenie on his home turf with little to no resistance .
https://x.com/CongressMin/status/1960821224499524027?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Ada goes to Irvine. Mass shooting ensures involving gender confused young male ensues immediately thereafter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DNzHORk2KNE/?ig_mid=7AC2B4FA-ADE7-4F72-9556-1142B358B016&utm_source=igweb
https://www.instagram.com/p/DN5ooTvEVTB/?img_index=2
White House wants to take guns away from transgender individuals on account of them suffering a mental disorder. Red flag alert.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15066989/amp/Pam-Bondi-floats-gun-ban-transgender-people-Minneapolis-shooting.html
“’Individuals within the DOJ are reviewing ways to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell,’ a DOJ source claimed.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/04/politics/transgender-firearms-justice-department-second-amendment
What happened to the Winships?
Yeah good question… I will try e-mailing them, I used to have their phone number but I don’t any more. The Corona Del Mar couple was getting on in age.
*Very eccentric commenters they were. We would emulate them for fun.
https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2012/11/comment-like-the-winships-weekend-open-thread/
Who knew? Beverly Hills has a virulent anti-semitism problem.
But, atleast the black and Latino kids and democrats feel safe.
https://sacobserver.com/2025/02/beverly-hills-faces-two-lawsuits-deluge-of-accusations-alleging-racist-treatment-of-black-residents/
Follow up re Chris Kluwe investigation. ACLU files a federal civil rights lawsuit against Huntington Beach Unified School District which some in the legal community believe to be terribly misguided in form and substance. One of the defendants in his lawsuit is a LA Times columnist whom Kluwe claims portrayed him in false light. Chris Kluwe defender of the gays and the constitution.
https://www.aclusocal.org/en/cases/kluwe-v-huntington-beach-union-high-school-district
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2025-07-28/chris-kluwe-fired-as-football-coach-sues-huntington-beach-union-high-school-district
https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/387116-chris-kluwe-s-losing-first-amendment-lawsuit-isn-t-the-free-speech-fight-we-need
Calling Epting an LA Times columnist is a blatant misrepresentation of what he does. He was a columnist years ago, and now solely does far-right MAGA misinformation and riling up of people.
EPTING??? Did somebody say Epting? That guy is still out there acting a fool?
https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2016/09/chris-epting-sends-suicide-bomber-into-vern-concert/
https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2016/07/chris-epting-saves-huntington-beach-from-cop-killers-snark/
https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2016/02/farce-or-menace-hbs-chris-epting-hooks-up-with-hbs-dave-garofalo/
He must have blocked me on everything nine years ago, I thought he went away. Actually I just remembered, someone told me that his man-crush on John Oates had been replaced with Dan Bongino. Does that mean (what?) about Epting and the Epstein files?
https://www.reddit.com/r/thedoors/comments/msffod/jim_morrison_was_power/#lightbox
Can.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/02/world/video/cuba-government-deport-refugee-flight-trump-oppmann-pkg-latam-intl