The Iran Deal Wobbles, Obama's Library Opens, OMG The Reflecting Pool, Inspiration From Juneteenth, And Slava Ukraini!!!!!!!

The US Men's soccer team plays Australia at 3pm ET today - be sure to watch and cheer them on!

Greetings all. The big blubbery baby man’s rollicking shambolic sh-tshow rollicks on this morning…..

Let’s start with some breaking news - the ridiculous “peace deal” is already falling apart:

This ridiculous deal is also already running into intense opposition on the Hill. Here’s a new report from the Washington Post. These are very, very strong condemnations of the deal:

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was concerned that “certain aspects of this deal are a step in the wrong direction.”

Cotton criticized lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, which he estimated would allow the country to bring in between $4.5 billion and $6 billion a month.

“That’s a lot of money,” Cotton said Thursday on Fox News. “And we know that this terrorist revolutionary regime is not going to spend that money on day care or on hospitals. They’re going to use it to rebuild their drone stockpiles, their missiles, to fund Hamas and fund Hezbollah.”

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, lambasted the $300 billion fund. While the administration has said it will be funded by other countries in the region rather than the United States, Wicker said it makes the $1.7 billion that the Obama administration sent to Iran as part of a 2015 nuclear deal “look like a pittance by comparison.”

Wicker also raised concerns about the agreement’s declaration that all military operations would cease in Lebanon, which Israel has occupied as part of its campaign against Hezbollah, the militant group allied with Iran. Israel was not involved in negotiating the agreement, and many Israelis have denounced it.

“I also oppose the U.S. lifting any sanctions on Iran, or unfreezing Iranian funds, in exchange for Iran’s mere agreement to negotiate for another 60 days,” Wicker said in a statement. “The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel.’ The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”

The pushback was notable because neither Cotton nor Wicker are frequent critics of the administration.

After looking like an addled, sundowning fool at the G7 Trump has now further embarrassed and weakened himself on the global stage today. From The Guardian:

Meanwhile, a new transatlantic drama is emerging in Italy, after US president Donald Trump told an Italian broadcaster that prime minister Giorgia Meloni “begged” him for a picture on the sidelines of the G7 summit earlier this week.

Talking to the La7 broadcaster, Trump reportedly said:

“She begged me to take a picture with her! She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”

Extraordinarily, Meloni immediately took to social media to respond, posting a short video clip and saying “neither I nor Italy ever beg” anyone for anything.

The Italian PM said she was “astonished” by “completely made up” claims by Trump.

“I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: it is not the first time. I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the ⁠West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far ​greater indulgence.”

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani also cancelled his planned trip to the US in response.

“The serious and offensive words of president Trump towards prime minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy. For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June,” he said on X.

The algae filled Reflecting Pool has now turned into an international symbol of Trump’s corruption, incompetence and vainglory. For the fun never stops in DC these days yesterday the new blue bottom started coming apart. Here’s an underwater video from DC freelance photographer Andrew Leyden showing the shocking deterioration:

The NYT has a story this morning about the contractor who got the no-bid contract for turning the Reflecting Pool blue and shocking! - he has a home right next to Mar-a-Lago and is a long time Trump supporter. Here he is, John J. Cafaro. This ain’t a joke:

Yes, this has really happened:

From the NYT:

A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials said.

The outbreak at the base in San Antonio raced through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables.

A trainee in his sixth week of basic training died after falling ill on Friday and being taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, the Air Force said in a news release. It was not immediately clear whether the death of the trainee, Keon McDaniel, was related to the flu outbreak.

As our addled, sundowning ridiculous leader retreats, stumbles, and surrenders Zelenskyy and Ukraine continue to show strength, ingenuity, and unceasing courage. Yesterday Ukraine successfully executed a major attack on Moscow’s largest oil facility. Watch these videos to get a sense of the shock Russians must have felt:

Speaking of strong and inspiring leaders here is former President Barack Obama’s speech at the opening of his Obama Presidential Center yesterday. Be sure to get to it this weekend!

And yes let us close out this post today with a moment to reflect on the deep sense of pain, of suffering, of resilience, of triumph, of inspiration, and of the reminder of the work yet to be done that this national holiday brings……

Now, Let’s Get To Work, People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Things To Call Congress About This Week

• Yes to making American oligarchs pay for Trump’s failed Iran war - not every day Americans

• Yes to the Ukraine Support Act, get it passed through the Senate and to the President’s desk

• No to the ballroom, the Arch, the gilded statues, the slush fund, the corruption, self-enrichment……

• hell no to Todd Blanche as Attorney General, and yes to very tough questioning of the new DNI nominee, Jay Clayton

• Hell hell no to the new OMB regs that will destroy government-funded science in America. Join the new Stand Up For Science campaign to Stop Vought. Save Science today.

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