We start today with some good news, for a change. The first is time-sensitive, so check it out now -- a livestream of workers removing Donald Trump's name from the outside wall of what will once again be known as simply The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts. As of this writing, the scaffolding has been set up, but nobody's on top of it and Trump's name still appears. By judicial order, Trump's name must be removed today, so take a look, maybe you'll get to see them prying letters off the building! They've already removed the odious new name from their website, but removing it from the building will be more satisfying to see.

The second piece of good news is more momentous. Are you sitting down? For once, Donald Trump apparently was not lying about a deal to end his Iran war of choice being finalized. No, really! CNN recently tallied it up and found that, previous to the last few days, Trump had lied about it a whopping 38 times, so it is definitely shocking that this time around the blind pig actually found an acorn!

We supposed we shouldn't be so snarky about something as serious as the end of a war, but after 38 times, we had to express our amazement (and frustration) somehow.

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As the Beatles sagely put it, a very long time ago: "I don't care too much for money / Money can't buy me love." Tom Steyer just found this out, for the second time. Or perhaps we should look to Silicon Valley, which adopted a slogan from the advertising industry a while back: "It doesn't matter how good your dog food advertising campaign is, if the dogs won't eat the dog food."

I glibly say all of this because Steyer just dropped over $200 million of his own money in his campaign to become governor of California -- which set a new record. But even after spending this mountain of cash, Steyer only came in third (which was not good enough for him to advance to the general election). This isn't Steyer's first rodeo, either -- in 2020 he spent almost $350 million on a failed bid for president.

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Donald Trump just can't help himself, it seems. He keeps right on providing prime fodder for Democratic campaign ads in the midterms. Today was no different. After the official inflation rate was revealed today to have shot up to 4.2 percent, Trump was asked about it by a reporter. Here's what he had to say: "No, I love it, the numbers were great. I love the inflation."

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There's a political cartoon out there just waiting to be drawn. Picture a coat-check window, with a line of people in front of it. But instead of coats, the sign says "Spinal Check." The person behind the counter is handing the person they're waiting on a full spine, while saying: "Here you go, Senator! Once you get it reinstalled, you'll find it's really liberating to get your spine back!" ...or something along those lines. The people in line would (if the cartoonist was good enough) resemble prominent Republicans who are now increasingly breaking with Donald Trump's agenda, of course.

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It's an old joke, but it's still funny: "The Republicans are revolting!"

Amusing wordplay aside, it is rather shocking (and heartening) to see how at least some Republicans in Congress are increasingly in open revolt against Donald Trump's agenda. At first a few cracks appeared in the dam, but it's now looking like that dam could be on the brink of just bursting wide open. One can only hope, at any rate.

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The Washington Post ran a rather extraordinary exclusive report today, under the headline: "Netanyahu Backs GOP Effort To End U.S. Military Aid To Israel." On the face of it, this is big news. Israel currently receives something like $3.8 billion in U.S. money each year as military aid -- money that (mostly) turns right around and is spent back here at home on American military weapons and weapons systems (which boosts the American economy while giving Israel a whole bunch of free weapons each and every year). But this aid has become increasingly problematic because Americans' views of Israel have turned startlingly negative, ever since the war with Hamas in Gaza started.

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Every so often a political proposal comes along that makes me sit up and take notice, because not only is it a great idea but it's also one that is simple. In fact, this one is so simple it is pathetically easy to fully describe: anyone who works overtime at their job should get double-time pay, not just time-and-a-half. Or, in even fewer words: Double-time for overtime.

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Welcome back, to this weeklong edition of "Deal, Or No Deal?" We're all anxiously awaiting word whether a short-term deal will be agreed to by both Donald Trump and the leaders of Iran, while the world's economy hangs in the balance. Will Trump agree? Will his own hawkish Republicans go ballistic when they find out what's in it? What is in it? Are any of the leaked clues as to what it contains accurate? Or will there be some doozies in there that nobody is expecting?

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Does the emerging Senate "YOLO caucus" now have a new member? For those of you too out-of-touch to know, "YOLO" stands for "You Only Live Once." It is a slogan designed to urge people to do things they maybe normally wouldn't (for whatever reason). But now the term has been applied to a certain group of senators, and that group just might have picked up a new member.

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The most startling development in the political world this week was that Republicans in Congress (some of them, at least) seem to be waking up to the fact that Donald Trump's poll numbers are sinking like a stone and that the only thing he cares about is building his palatial ballroom and wreaking vengeance on anyone who annoys him (including plenty of Republicans).

Is this the beginning of a wider break from Trump for Republicans deeply worried about their prospects in the midterm elections? Only time will tell, but it's rather astonishing how fast things seem to be shifting. And this pushback is happening not just on one issue, but on a whole range of them.

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