Yes, he actually said it.  In a combative appearance before the press in Cheeto Tower, Trump blew a head gasket and said some REALLY inflammatory and false things.  He got so heated up that I thought his combover was going to self combust.  A few gems:

“You had a group on one side and you had a group on the other and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch. But there is another side. There was a group on this side — you can call them the left, you just called them the left — that came violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want, but that’s the way it is.”

“I think there’s blame on both sides. I don’t have any doubt about it and you don’t have any doubt it either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say it.”

“George Washington was a slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? So will George Washington now lose his status? …Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson? What do you think of Thomas Jefferson? You like him? OK, good. Are we going to take down his statue, because he was a major slave owner. Now we’re going to take down his statue. So you know what? It’s fine. You’re changing history, you’re changing culture, and you had people — and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally — but you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, OK? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly.”

Best quote of the day, though?  From Chuck Todd.  Quoting Trump, he said, “The press has been unfair to White Nationalists and neo-Nazis.  We’ll let that sink in while we go to commercial break.”

Jesus, what a day.  Again.

Any reasonable educated American supports removing Confederate monuments that celebrate one of the darkest chapters in our history.  Only bigots support status quo because…you know, heritage; but in 2015, everything changed when the mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston by a white supremacists shook the nation, and the monuments started coming down.  The riots in Charlottesville Virginia this weekend that resulted in the deaths of one counter-protestor and two state troopers were propagated by the announcement of the removal of the statute of Robert E. Lee in a city park.  You know, that statue was really important to our “heritage” and it’s just natural to just start beating and running over people with cars if someone wants to take it down, right?  Of course.

The backlash of this weekend’s  violence has been swift and loud.  White supremacist demonstrators are being outed by activists and some fired by their employers for being racist assholes.  Trump has once again been humiliated for being, you know, a racist asshole.  Frustrated human rights advocates have taken matters into their own hands, and today toppled a confederate statue in Durham North Carolina:

Among some of my circle of friends, though they would like to see monuments like this gone from our city parks and streets, they disagree that they should be toppled by activists.  I’ll admit I’m torn and wonder what others might think about this issue.  Before you answer, look at these images:

The first image was taken in Berlin after it fell to the allies in WWII.  Today, Berlin has been scrubbed clean of all Nazi monuments and even doing the Nazi salute is illegal.  The second image is the famous photo of Saddam’s statue glorifying himself being destroyed after US troops entered Bagdad. I don’t think anyone would disagree with either of these actions.  Why would destruction of monuments that glorify the oppressors of millions of human beings be treated any differently?

It’s not an easy question, and I have to say there was a certain satisfaction in watching that stature being pulled over on its head today by ordinary Americans.  Do you agree?

Yes?  No?

You’ve seen the stories, right?  Cheeto Jesus blocks everyone on Twitter who disagrees with him.  That happen to you?  How about Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, Sid Miller, and many other social conservatives?  If they don’t like you calling their BS on social media BS on social media, they just block you.  You can’t respond beyond screaming at your screen.

Welp, kids, those days are now coming to an end.  The federal court in the District of Eastern Virginia ruled this week that elected officials who use their social media accounts for governmental purposes (announcements, constituent services, ranting against opponents, etc.) then that social media page becomes an official government form of communication.  If that elected official, or his staff, blocks you for criticizing that elected official, your free speech rights have been violated.  The case, Davison v. Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, involves the chair of the board who uses Facebook to communicate to people in the county and is also administered by her chief of staff.  One of the chair’s critics, who had accused her of corruption, was banned from her Facebook page for saying so.  The banned person, Brian Davison, sued, claiming infringement of his First Amendment right to free speech, and has now won at the federal level.  More importantly, the court also found that, by condoning the use of Facebook for official county government communications, that the county government entity is also liable.  This ruling establishes a precedent and is HHHUUUUGGGGEE.

So, has Deep Fryer Sid banned you from his Facebook page for mocking his silly (or hateful) posts?  You can now go after him and demand reinstatement.  Cheeto Jesus has banned thousands of critics.  Under this new ruling, he must reinstate those people back to his Twitter account.  If he doesn’t, the US Government is responsible for protecting your First Amendment rights that he, as an elected official, has infringed.

The old axiom, “Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword”, comes to mind here.  If elected officials choose to use social media to communicate directly to constituents, then they can no longer dictate who’s allowed to respond, at least according to this ruling, which has established a precedent for free speech.  Will this go to the Supreme Court?  Maybe, and we’ll see what happens; but in the meantime, start demanding reinstatement by politicians who don’t want to hear from you.

You know what to do next.

As JJ has already reported, attorney for former Trump advisor, Mike Flynn, is trying to trade his testimony for immunity.  As a reminder where this guy came from, I’ll just leave this right here:

https://youtu.be/R-UCb5rOGXo

Karma is a B*tch (Sorry Momma).

Today, Susan Q. Yates, an Obama administration holdover until Cheeto Jesus gets a new bigot attorney general confirmed, announced that the Justice Department would not defend the new Bannon Muslim Ban enacted last Friday.  CJ promptly fired her, accusing her of “betraying” the administration.  Yes.  She certainly “betrayed” the administration by upholding her sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. Yates, a 27 year veteran of the Justice Department is well regarded in legal circles.  So, obviously, she has to go from the worst presidential administration since Richard Nixon or Andrew Jackson.  Your choice.

Steve Bannon – white supremacist, anti-Semite.  Professional alt-right propagandist and liar. Permanent member of the National Security Council.

I’m so proud.  Aren’t you?