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Above and below are some drawings I did yesterday while waiting in a coffee shop. Then this morning, I did more drawings while on a boring and incomprehensible zoom meeting (not sure why I was there, tbh). I like drawing in this little journal, I hope you enjoy.
It seems really odd that the mainstream press repeatedly treats Trump as normal—actually, I’m looking at the NY Times. Their opinion writers are great, but I keep feeling the headlines are wishy washy. The president said this, he said that, he did this, he canceled that, he spends this, he spends that.
Last night, Trump said that he would pause his day-old U.S. effort to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. He called it “Project Freedom,” and said it had made “great progress” toward a peace agreement with Iran. Oil prices plunged further after news reports on Wednesday that the Trump administration had made another proposal to end the war.
More than two months into the war, around 1,600 ships remain stranded in dangerous conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, with roughly 20,000 seafarers on board.
His other “operation,” i.e. the war in Iran, is apparently over, according to Marco Rubio. They hope to push this narrative to end the biggest mistake of his presidency. But missles are still flying.
“The Operation Epic Fury is concluded,” Rubio said yesterday. “We achieved the objective of that operation.” The effort to reopen the strait is entirely a “defensive and humanitarian operation that would result in direct military exchanges with the Iranians only if U.S. ships came under fire.”
This is madness. Why shouldn’t we see a headline saying, “Trump is bonkers, the world is at risk, let’s collectively figure out how to stop the madness.”
US media is busy handing out Pulitzers, which I am sure are well deserved, but meanwhile the world is on fire.
Unfortunately, the Indiana GOP has decided to stick with Trump. Yesterday’s primaries in local legislative races backed the Trump-endorsed candidates. At least five of the seven anti-redistricting Republicans facing Trump-backed challengers lost, indicating Trump’s continuing sway over Republican voters in that state, and his continued capacity to successfully threaten Republicans who have a backbone and are willing to go against him (btw, here is how the NY Times puts it: “his ability to enforce political consequences for Republican officeholders who defy him”).
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Trump keeps shifting the cost of his beloved (obnoxious) ballroom. He originally said he and his friends would pay for it; now it apparently will cost taxpayers, although it’s unclear how much. There is a proposal by Senate Republicans to give $1 billion in taxpayer funding to the Secret Service this year for security upgrades, including the White House ballroom. It will cost $400 million, not the $200 million originally stated.
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Epstein: Trump’s commerce secretary Howard Lutnik is testifying today about his involvement with Epstein. He has been caught lying about how close he was to the sex predator. Lutnick is one of the highest-profile cabinet members to come under scrutiny; his name appeared in more than 250 documents in the Epstein files. Pam Bondi, former attorney general was supoenaed about the lack of release of files, and redactions, but she was let go from her position before she testifyed. Congress still can demand her to appear and since she did not, she has been held in contempt of court. This horrible mess keeps dragging on; my guess is it will take the Dems winning in the midterms for much of consequence to happen.
Yesterday, I gained a lot more new paid subscribers! Thank you all so very much, I can’t tell you how much it helps. Here below, on Deeper Seeing for paid subscribers, are the rest of my drawings. Thes