Many of the stormtroopers that cleared Lafayette park the other evening to make a path for Trump to do his photo op in front of St. John’s Church were wearing tactical gear, but no badges, ID plates or insignia.  The press immediately noticed and began investigating.  The Washington Post got to the bottom of it this week – they’re from the federal Bureau of Prisons, called up personally by Bill Barr.  The BOP confirmed this shocking news and lied that they weren’t wearing BOP insignia or identification because they were being used “in a broader mission.”  NO, they wore no insignia to make it harder to figure out who to hold accountable for police violence.

Adding to his mountain of lies, Bill Barr actually denied ordering the BOP officers and others to clear Lafayette Park to give Trump a clear lane to carry out his stunt for the photo op. He said that park police were already clearing the park when he arrived. That assertion doesn’t pass the straight faced test, and that wasn’t the question.  The question is, did he give the order to clear the park so Trump could safely strut over to the church?  Of course he did, and while they were at it, cordoned off the park with heavy security fencing to permanently distance the White House from Americans Trump is hiding from.  And he did all that with his employees from his prisons in unmarked uniforms to conceal their identities.  This is the exact same tactic that Putin used when he deployed “little green men” into Ukraine in 2014 in his attempt to take over that country and Crimea.  The Russian government later admitted that those soldiers were indeed Russian military.

Welcome to the new normal of Trump’s America.

Yesterday, Bill Barr ordered Lafayetter Square and the grounds of St. John’s Episcopal Church cleared of peaceful Americans by force using teargas and flash bang grenades so Trump could pose in front of the church with his unread Bible.  The shots are being used in Trump campaign commercials.  Well, he did it again today, this time taking over the St. John Paul II shrine in Washington for another photo op with the nude model from Slovenia First Lady.  Apparently, he left the unread Bible at the house, probably already back in its storage box, but he did have someone place a wreath at the statue of John Paul with a card that said “Mr. President”.

They then went into the chapel there, kneeling and pretending to pray at the altar.

Apparently, Trump’s advanced team left out one detail for this photo op, asking the diocese for permission.  The archbishop had some choice words for Trump, to wit:

“I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people, even those with whom we might disagree.  Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth.  He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.”

Oh, and here was Trump’s security on these jaunts for photo ops:

Now, that’s not something you see every day on the streets of DC.

As we talked about earlier, Trump posed with an unread Bible in front of St. John’s Chapel this evening.  He did that after directing DC police and military to gas peaceful protestors so he could pose for the cameras.

Fuck you, Don.

If there was any one photo that spoke a thousand words of Trump’s infestation, it is this one:

During the demonstrations at the WH gate, all the lights were turned off as Trump hid in his bunker, not knowing what to do or say.

Well, he just couldn’t stand it.  Unable to control his congenital obsession with jumping in front of any television camera he can reach, Trump came to the Kennedy Space Center for the second time this week to watch the first launch of Americans from American soil in 9 years.  He posed with Pence and Mother to watch the launch, and then did what Trump does.  He opened his mouth, taking credit for what GWB started in 2006 and Obama continued throughout his two terms – to retire the super expensive space shuttle and replace it with more commercial spaceflight alternatives.  Characteristically, Trump actually didn’t do shit to get us to what we, as the United States accomplished except for maybe not screwing it up before SpaceX and Nasa could get it off the ground.

The live feed of the launch was inspiring.  From the countdown to orbit was perfect, all live beamed to 10 million homes around the world.  The entire operation was flawless, that is, until Trumpian NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, did a live interview after the Crew Dragon had made orbit.  It made me want to puke.  He went on and on about how Trump was committed to space and how the last 3 1/2 years was so important to building back the manned space program.  He even said that Trump “took a big risk” to even be there to watch the launch.  The ass kissing was disgusting, but especially disappointing as Bridenstine had actually morphed over the last couple of years from climate denying mouth breathing congressman from Oklahoma to actual human being after being exposed to undeniable science after being named Trump’s overseer at the agency.  That transformation went right down the drain today pandering to his spray painted boss.

Then it happened.  Both Pence AND Trump spoke at the famous vehicle assembly building taking full credit for the last 15 years of  planning and development of a commercial manned space program.  In full Blatant Lie Mode, Trump declared that HE saved the space program by simply not shipwrecking what Bush II and Obama had put in motion.  Yes, I turned it off.

The conclusion from today?  You can’t get away from the cretin anywhere, not even in space.

Dana Boente, 38 year veteran of the FBI and its top lawyer was fired yesterday after he was criticized by Trump Toad Lou Dobbs on Fox News.  The order to fire him came from a “high level”, and not FBI director Christopher Wray.  Boente led the investigation of Russian colluder Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI  about his role with the Russians.

The firing happened on the same day that a new transcript of Flynn’s conversation with Sergey Kislyak was released by the White House that showed he actually WAS colluding with the Russians.

You just can’t make this up.