I’ll just leave this right here.  Enjoy.

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.

Long before Cheeto Jesus became active in politics, I believed he was nothing but a snake oil salesman.  His reputation as a fraud in business, a lecher with women, a crass carnival barker and shameless promoter were well known.  I refused to watch his silly scripted “reality” shows, would change the channel when he was a guest on talk shows, and certainly wouldn’t frequent any of his businesses when in New York.  His campaign, and his subsequent infestation of the White House were and are simply appalling.  But yesterday?  In front of FORTY THOUSAND young boys at the Boy Scout Jamboree?  Donald Trump’s behavior was simply unacceptable.  Foul language, sarcastic, self-serving rhetoric, political and personal attacks were infused throughout his shameful performance.  My God, it was simply the worst of the worst.  How do you teach your child to be loyal, trustworthy, and honest when the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES exhibited NONE of these qualities?

For months I have tried to come up with a one word descriptor for this, this, thing.  The only word that comes to mind is shitbag. (Sorry, Momma)  This word is short and unambiguous.  I know it’s offensive to some, but I couldn’t be more offended than I am now.  New York Magazine has just posted a really good summary of the 14 inappropriate things Trump said in front of our nation’s youth.  It’s hard to read, but you need to do it.

The Washington Post is reporting this morning that several sources have said that Trump and his attorneys are investigating his powers to pardon his staff, his family, and even himself.  That’s right, folks, the President of the United States, SIX MONTHS INTO HIS TERM, is already trying to figure out how to get out of criminal charges that are surely forthcoming.  At the same time, his talking heads, lead by his Chief Bloviator, Newt Gingrich, are already trying to discredit special prosecutor Bob Mueller and his team of high powered lawyers.

Now, I understand that I’m just a dumb bread baker and beer brewer from Way-the-Hell-Down-in-Texas, but I’m just recalling what my Old Man taught me when I was a mere sprite working with him in his wood shop – he said to me, “Those who scream the loudest are the most guilty.” – or at least something like that.  That lesson certainly applies here.  Trump who is a career huckster and liar knows deep-down that there is one truth…he and his family are guilty as hell, and he KNOWS he’s going to get caught – Bigly.

In May, two days before trial, Jeff Session’s DOJ abruptly settled a $230 million Russian money laundering case for a measly $6 million.  The case, United States v. Prevezon Holdings Ltd, alleged that Russians were using New York real estate to launder Russian money into the US.  To add just a little intrigue, the Russian attorney who discovered the fraud, Sergei Magnitsky, died in a Russian prison under mysterious circumstances.  Even more important, though, was that one of the attorneys representing Prevezon in the case was none other than Natalia Veselnitskaya…that’s right, that Natalia Veselnitskaya, who met with DJT Jr last summer promising dirt on Hillary.

But that’s not all.  The US attorney in New York who was going after Prevezon?  Correct. Preet Bharara, who Trump summarily fired earlier this year.  In describing the case before he was fired, Bharara said,

In 2007, a Russian criminal organization engaged in an elaborate tax refund fraud scheme resulting in a fraudulently-obtained tax refund of approximately $230 million  from the Russian treasury….

Members of the criminal organization, and associates of those members, have also engaged in a broad pattern of money laundering in order to conceal the proceeds of the fraud scheme. In a complex series of transfers through shell corporations, the $230 million from the Russian treasury was laundered into numerous accounts in Russia and other countries ….

PREVEZON HOLDINGS laundered these fraud proceeds into its real estate holdings, including investment in multiple units of high-end commercial space and luxury apartments in Manhattan, and created multiple other corporations, also subject to the forfeiture action, to hold these properties.

Why was Bharara fired?  We’ll never really know, but he was hot after Trump’s Russia connections and other cases involving him and his companies.

This case received little attention in May when the settlement happened, but in the wake of the firestorm around DJT Jr’s emails and meeting with Veselnitskaya last summer, Democrats in Congress are beginning to connect the dots and have now demanded disclosure from Jeff Sessions about this case and its connections to both Trump and DJT Jr.  Are all of these Trump/Russia intersections simply coinkidink?  I think not, but it will take persistence of the press and honest prosecutors to uncover it, for sure.

Drip, drip, drip.