Remember Leona Helmsley, and her infamous statement that “the rules are for the little people”? The Trump administration clearly follows her philosophy, crafting rules that are intended to apply only to “those” people.
The Guardian has reported on a June 11th Justice Department directive that would allow authorities to strip naturalized Americans of their citizenship for certain “criminal offenses.” And what are those criminal offenses? Murder? Theft? Arson? Probably not. According to the memo, attorneys in the department can institute proceedings to revoke someone’s United States citizenship if it can be demonstrated that the individual “illegally procured” naturalization, or procured naturalization by “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”
Evidently, failure to completely answer questions (“completely” can be in the eye of the beholder) during the naturalization process is sufficiently criminal to justify revocation of a person’s citizenship. (The article did make me think: if a factual omission is a crime serious enough to strip someone of citizenship, wouldn’t being convicted of, say, 32 felonies also be enough? But I digress.)
The directive creates a process that significantly lightens the burden on the prosecutor. According to the memo, the proceedings are civil, so it emphasizes that the accused would not be entitled to an attorney. Also, since the proceedings are civil, the government has a lighter burden of proof than it would in criminal cases.
The overblown rhetoric of the proposal says prosecutors will focus on people involved “in the commission of war crimes, extrajudicial killings, or other serious human rights abuses … [and] naturalized criminals, gang members, or, indeed, any individuals convicted of crimes who pose an ongoing threat to the US”. But justice department attorneys are given wide discretion on when to pursue denaturalization; the directive specifically includes instances of lying on immigration forms.
The justice department’s civil rights division has been placed at the forefront of Trump’s policy objectives, including ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs within the government as well as ending transgender treatments, among other initiatives.
Well, as long as lying qualifies, let’s look at a couple of high-profile people who should be ripe for denaturalization. For example Vox has identified some questionable aspects of Melania Trump’s immigration process.
The article reported that Melania broke immigration law when she first came to the U.S. in 1996. She entered the country on a tourist visa and then worked as a professional model–work that violated the terms of that visa. Perhaps she didn’t know better, but–as the Vox article notes–it is also entirely “possible that Melania knowingly committed visa fraud; that, in fact, she lied to US immigration officials when entering the country in August 1996 about her intentions to work while in the US. That’s not just an immigration violation but an outright federal crime.”
Either way, in order for Melania to have gotten a green card and then US citizenship, she would have had to attest that she hadn’t violated immigration law before — something that now appears to be untrue.
And speaking of “ongoing threats to the U.S.,” what about Donald’s no longer-BFF, Elon Musk? According to Forbes,
Long before he became one of Donald Trump’s biggest donors and campaign surrogates, South African-born Elon Musk worked illegally in the United States as he launched his entrepreneurial career after ditching a graduate studies program in California, according to former business associates, court records and company documents obtained by The Washington Post,” reported Maria Sacchetti, Faiz Siddiqui and Nick Miroff.
The reporters found Musk “did not have the legal right to work” when he founded and attracted investment with his brother Kimbal for a company later named Zip2. Kimbal Musk has long been open about their lack of legal status, even explaining in a video interview that he lied when crossing the U.S.-Canadian border so he could attend a business meeting in Silicon Valley. Immigration attorney Ira Kurzban said, “That’s fraud on entry.” He noted that Elon Musk’s brother could have been permanently barred from the United States. Instead, he became CEO of Musk’s first company.
“(Elon) Musk arrived in Palo Alto in 1995 for a graduate degree program at Stanford University but never enrolled in courses, working instead on his startup,” according to the Washington Post. That means Musk committed at least two immigration violations. First, by failing to take courses, he violated his student status. Second, he did not have authorization to work legally in the United States.
Somehow, I doubt the Justice Department’s new directive will cause trouble for these particular scofflaw’s. After all, they’re White–and the Trump administration is all about selective enforcement of those pesky rules.
I doubt being white will protect anyone who falls out of favor with Trump. Just last week he threatened to denaturalize Musk, and denaturalization and deportation would surely be much cheaper than divorce when he’s done with Melania. If ICE can detain and deport anyone without due process, ICE can arrest and remove anyone. And once he abolishes birthright citizenship, Trump will reserve denaturalization for those he wishes to shame publicly.
Before the post mentioned Melania, she was the first person who came to mind while reading Sheila’s article. Also, while she was illegally modeling, she became friends of the Epstein/Maxwell pimps. They introduced Melania to Donald. I’ve always wondered if Melania was a Mossad asset, but I digress.
As for Musk, he is most definitely a CIA asset. His mentor comes from the CIA’s joint venture fund, In-Q-Tel. That mentor helped arrange funding for many of Silicon Valley’s most notable startup companies. When Elon reached the age of mandatory military service in South Africa, his mother moved him to live with her parents in Canada. Like Donny, he’s a draft dodger who survives on the government teat.
Peter Thiel also received substantial funding from the CIA, and his business model, Palantir, was based on a CIA and military model, which Congress subsequently defunded due to legal concerns. The CIA found a willing partner in Thiel to resurrect the program. Thiel has funded JD Vance’s career, private and political. Just a side note, Thiel is openly gay and is married with children, but has side lovers.
Ironically, Donald ran on “draining the swamp,” but he ultimately was funded and surrounded himself with swamp creatures who are connected with the Intelligentsia. I keep bringing up the obvious that Trump ran with Epstein for decades, and Epstein was a Mossad/CIA asset. Before Ghislaine found Jeffrey, she worked for her daddy, Robert, who was a Mossad asset and died a mysterious death. And next to Musk, Miriam Adelson is Trump’s biggest supporter. Her late hubby worked for Israel and helped convince Lenin Moreno (now in hiding) to violate Julian Assange’s rights in the Ecuador embassy in London.
There are no such things as coincidences. When Trump authored the Big Turd of a bill and SCOTUS gave him rights to deport anyone apparently, didn’t they worry that the next POTUS could turn on them specifically. Once again, either they are ignorant of the repercussions or are confident that the next POTUS won’t turn on them. 😉
“The Guardian has reported on a June 11th Justice Department directive that would allow authorities to strip naturalized Americans of their citizenship for certain “criminal offenses.The Guardian has reported on a June 11th Justice Department directive that would allow authorities to strip naturalized Americans of their citizenship for certain “criminal offenses.”
Yesterday I posted the comment, “Too bad we don’t have a Department of Constitutional Enforcement (DOCE) to counteract South African immigrant Musk’s DOGE.” Sharon replied that it is called the Justice Department…apparently controlled by Trump and Peg replied in theory it is called the Supreme Court. Will this information be written in future history books?
The DOJ is now Trump’s personal gofer staff who seek out non-white brown-skinned peoples to deny birthright citizenship and deport to the worst places on earth and the Supreme Court has given him immunity on all criminal actions against democracy, Rule of Law and tearing down the Constitution. I recently caught the end of a news item stating the birthright citizenship denial began long ago regarding Blacks when slavery ended; once he has satisfied his lust to remove all brown-skinned immigrants and legal citizens of his choosing to inhumane prison situations and warring nations, will he return to the issue of Blacks, many of whose ancestors were brought here illegally in the hulls of slave ships, producing millions of members of generations whose parentage were not declared rightful citizenship status. Trump’s family of immigrant offspring producing naturalized citizens are apparently covered by Trump’s Supreme Court immunity and they are rightful citizens by birthright citizenship’s royalty parentage of Trump’s dynasty of criminals.
“Somehow, I doubt the Justice Department’s new directive will cause trouble for these particular scofflaw’s. After all, they’re White–and the Trump administration is all about selective enforcement of those pesky rules.Somehow, I doubt the Justice Department’s new directive will cause trouble for these particular scofflaw’s. After all, they’re White–and the Trump administration is all about selective enforcement of those pesky rules.”
I sit here, an old WHITE woman, becoming devoid of rights which should rightfully be accorded me due to the color of my skin; but Trump doesn’t find me worthy of any rights and is working on ending my rightful income source. Now, the South African immigrant Musk is planning the creation of a third party to override Trump’s MAGAs who added to his billions before declaring him the leader of DOGE to chose whose rights to deny, who will not qualify for employment in government buildings being put up for sale. Poor Texans whose lives were washed away in the flood, with more rain predicted, when they apply to the MAGA version of FEMA for disaster assistance which currently includes white Texan citizens lives being washed away.
WHERE THE HELL IS ALL OF THAT SAVED MONEY VIA MUSK’S DOGE THAT RENDERED OUR NATION IN NEED OF HIGHER TAXES ON WORKING CLASS AMERICANS AND LOWERING TAXES ON THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE WEALTHY BY THE WORKING CLASS?
Just askin’…I’ll wait…
JoAnn… “I sit here, an old WHITE woman, becoming devoid of rights which should rightfully be accorded me due to the color of my skin; but Trump doesn’t find me worthy of any rights and is working on ending my rightful income source.”
You’re in very good company. Plus, my heritage is Jewish, and they definitely know how I voted… how long before people like me are locked up for one or the other? My guess is it’s quite a ways off – many others would go first – but if something isn’t done to stop the process, eventually all but white republicans will be considered fair game.
I, for sure, have been in a privileged class since birth. I have no idea how many open doors I have walked through due to that status.
I have never been afraid to compete to allow as many others through those doors with a welcoming,’
‘Hi, how’s it going?’
In fact, after 83 years of that, I wonder why people like me are so exclusionary in their thinking? What are they so afraid of?
“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” he – Musk – wrote on Twitter. I can’t wait.
The lack of dignity of the Oval Office of President of the United States is again evidenced in the many appearances of the man in the silly red baseball hat; the indignation of his gutter level rallies and exaggerated signing of Executive Orders will be much more difficult, if not impossible, to erase than washing off the ketchup he threw on those walls. The stain of Trump will be permanent and unforgotten as proof that money CAN buy happiness, if only for one man in U.S. history. Not even Hitler purchased the nation of Germany and those nations he invaded; but his blot on Germany’s escutcheon remains and has its followers, one of whom sits in our Oval Office in that silly red baseball cap.
I have often said that draining the swamp just leaves a lot of angry alligators, crocodiles, and some really scary snakes.
I’m another old white woman and I’m going to keep on protesting until we get some official opposition to the Administration. Los Angeles was the test case. Could he put troops on the streets without damage to the base? It seems he can, so any protests must non violent. We may not have another election in my life time. If we don’t, I won’t be quiet and I invite all of the old white women and men on this blog to join me on the streets.
Republicans believe Trump’sk Big Beautiful Con Job has given him all our power. He needs to be taught a lesson.
Our teaching work has begun, and the finish line is Election Day 2026. Our focus should be on that, not the daily Trump Big Show.
Turn off your TV and talk instead to family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Spread the following AI thoughts in your words and lets get ‘er done next year.
“The Path to a “Blue” (Democratic-controlled) Congress in 2026:
House of Representatives:
Democrats need a net gain of three seats to take back control of the House.
They are focusing on 35 Republican-held seats, including some that former President Trump won by wide margins.
While some polls suggest a potential GOP advantage, others indicate Democrats could gain a dozen or more seats.
A key strategy involves effectively tying House Republicans to the President’s decisions.
The historically narrow Republican majority in the House makes flipping control a “plausible chance” for Democrats.
Senate:
Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
Republicans are defending more seats (22 out of 35) than Democrats in 2026, which is a strong predictor of seat swing in forecasting models.
Democrats face a “daunting” Senate map with limited opportunities for gains.
However, forecasting models suggest a potential Democratic gain of five seats, enough to retake control.
Democrats are actively working to expand their reach, recruiting candidates in red states.
Some analysts are doubtful that the current Democratic party will nominate candidates with moderate positions on issues like border security. Key target states for Democrats include Maine and North Carolina, with a long-shot goal in Alaska.
Other factors:
Candidate quality and resources are crucial for winning elections.
Voter enthusiasm and turnout, especially among Democratic voters, will be important.
The national political environment can significantly influence the outcome.
Historically, the president’s party often loses seats in midterm elections.
The state of the economy and public perception of the president will likely play a role.
Demographic shifts and voter participation rates can also impact results.
In summary, while the path to a Democratic-controlled Congress in 2026 presents challenges, particularly in the Senate, recent reports suggest a significant opportunity to retake the House of Representatives and a plausible path to a Senate majority if favorable conditions emerge.
To get more AI working on the return to power for the people, I asked MS Co-pilot this:
It’s essential to restore the power of the people election day 2026 starting with Congress. It’s a safe bet Steven Miller et al knows that too and competition with them will be fierce.
What are the Democrat counter strategies to take the majority back next year?
What it returned:
Democrats are gearing up for a competitive 2026 election with several key strategies to regain the majority in Congress:
Targeting Vulnerable Seats: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has identified nearly three dozen GOP-held House seats to flip, including those in traditionally Republican territories 1. They are focusing on districts where Republicans have lost trust due to economic issues and cuts to social programs 1.
Highlighting Unpopular Legislation: Democrats plan to make President Trump’s recent “big, beautiful bill” a central issue. This bill, which extends tax cuts and allocates funds for border security while cutting Medicaid and clean energy subsidies, is seen as deeply unpopular 2. Democrats aim to communicate the negative impacts of this bill to voters continuously until the election 2.
Polling and Public Opinion: Leveraging polling data that shows dissatisfaction with GOP policies, Democrats are confident that highlighting these issues will resonate with voters in key swing districts 2.
Expanding the Battlefield: Democrats are optimistic about their chances in traditionally Republican areas, buoyed by strong showings in recent elections in states like Florida and Wisconsin 1. They believe the current political environment will allow them to compete even in heavily Republican territories 1.
Strategic Messaging: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has emphasized the importance of keeping pressure on Republican extremists and communicating the harm caused by their policies 2.
These strategies reflect a comprehensive approach to winning back the majority by addressing voter concerns and targeting vulnerable districts. How do you feel about these tactics?
Peg and Peggy; this backslidden old white woman sits proudly with you and the others who will not stay quiet and keep protesting. What I will not do is send any more money to those who wasted the money from my Social Security checks the past ten years when I fear every month will be my last month to receive my Social Security check. The Indiana Republican Legislature has been screwing with my Public Employee Retiree Fund since 2018; the approximately 30 years of every Indiana government employee paying into the fund is getting shorted. The majority of the retirees in this Republican state are old, disabled Republicans. I worked 1972-1994 as an Independent voter; loyally and responsibly performer my jobs, usually more and more responsibility because I did serve to the best of my ability.
they are deporting some,who are legal and vote. step it up,and theres a big dent in voting mass. now hold over your head the new guestapo(ice) are getting funds well beyong need. news media picks over the needs of the admin and nov/26 comes and 11 million dont show,or we dont get to vote again. imagine this owned roberts court being summond to decide if all the loses are legit. the republicans are liars, all lawyers with corp intrests. no other faction will allow them to lose again..-
bumper sticker:
tax the rich
deport musk.
Pete:
i get the dccc dnc mail, survey,needless really, and they all get sent back
with go left or go home…
im not much for surveys..
If the Supremes don’t finally knock down Trump’s “What 14th Amendment” fiat, perhaps the next Democratic President can add lying to Congress (“Roe is settled law. I will abide by Stare Decisis”) and violating their oath to uphold the constitution to the list of offenses. 8)>
With this expanded list we could send a whole bunch of them to South Sudan — or on a Space X ship to Mars. The when POTUS says they can’t be brought back, they won’t be lying.
Oh and let’s not forget Mitch McConnell who made up Senate rules to help overthrow our nation.
The semi-addeled child who would be King marches on. I just hope we survive him.
Off topic thought – why is it that every pundit (MSNBC or otherwise) talks about the deficit as a need to decide we (the geese) need to “do with less”, rather than the rich (the ganders) have to pay more taxes and do with one less private jet. Back when I had my blog I bemoaned the fact that we “enable” the rich in their addiction to tax cuts. It seems to me that most of our huge deficit was due to under taxing (cuts by Reagan, Bush, Trump) and not over spending – sorry for the digression – just read another article about the importance of curiosity-driven scientific research, which we are losing.
Leona Helmsley, and her inheriting dog, were quite a pair. Ok, so the dog was just there by accident. But Leona had the essence of GOPIGGIE thinking down to a single line! The Republicans never had anything in mind but control and money, and Trump is not the first of their criminal, traitorous, presidents.
If Trump deports Musk, it will be only for a bully’s show of intimidation, nought else.
It’s just fascinating that they are both draft dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
How long do you think it will be before expats and overseas military personnel will either be told that they can no longer vote in Congressional elections because they don’t actually live in the district or that the military will have their votes delivered by the officer corps, most of whom have been nominated to the academies by Republicans. Any means to shrink the voting population or make voting as difficult as possible for women and minorities will continue the suppression. Think about the fact that the majority of states are controlled by Republicans due mostly to gerrymander and those governors run the elections.
Not a happy thought when we have a corrupt SCOTUS declaring every action legal.
RESIST in any way you can.
Well, the OBBB is extractive, like all the bills before it, which were meant to enrich the wealthiest 1%. Musk was supposed to offset the bill with a trillion dollars in savings. While his actual production was around $110 billion, firing employees may cost over $200 billion, so he accomplished nothing. Therefore, we’ll have to borrow the money to pay our bills, including the interest on our $34 trillion deficit.
The extraction from the middle class, working poor, and poor Americans hasn’t begun, but it’s coming to a city and county near you. Indiana is going to lose around $24 billion in federal funding. So, what will Braun do?
Better yet, when local towns and counties realize they don’t have enough money to operate local government, what will they do?
If Americans weren’t suffering from ignorance and denial, they would feel buyer’s remorse for their Trump vote. The videos already being shared across social media contrast with what Trump and many Republican politicians said about the social safety net, and what they just did. You can either admit you got conned by these liars or bury your head in the sand. 😉
Who is paying the cost for the sauce? Everyone who is not wealthy or connected or lurking in the reeds of power.
Those who claim to be woke, were asleep at the switch! They ceded their possibility of being the Boss by their dalliance with the dillydaliers. The inability to foresee consequences, to extrapolate various pathways to prevent what’s happening now.
Capitulating with every single supposed liberal and woke hardliners, and therefore freezing the entire probability of resistance to what’s happening today.
So who is actually the Boss who paid the Cost for the Sauce? Well, it was all those who thought it was time for every single canoodle they had in their brain, and made sure there could be no natural agreement to anything except their rigid expectations. So those who paid, were actually those who claim to represent all of us! Therefore we ceded The Boss, and accepted the cost of the sauce! How intellectual is that? Yeah, pretty stupid! And yet, so many sit around waiting for those who played the violin while society was being burnt to the ground and expect them to have answers?
So many opportunities to change the trajectory just in the past year, and it was like everyone standing on the dock waving bon voyage to those opportunities. Because that’s exactly what happened.
The incapability of actual foresight, proves that those individuals cannot direct their own steps. They are frozen in a stupor unable to actually believe in their incompetence.
There’s a possibility of a backlash by the people, but it is not going to end up being what everyone hopes it will be. Because no one learns their lesson when it comes to politics. Those laying in the reeds or the weeds, will always sabotage and redirect any possible progress to normalcy and fairness. It’s easier to loot the treasure that way. What happens when the blind lead the blind? They all fall into the pit.
“GOPIGGIE thinking” has a nice ring to it.
Or maybe 34 felonies.
There’s another layer. Trump and his deputy chief of staff Steve Miller want to negate birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants. That could mean that Trump’s children by his first and third wife could not be US. citizens since they were born to foreign born, immigrant mothers – the second of whom reportedly violated immigration laws by working here without a work permit when she first came to the U.S.
But as Leona Helmsley said, in their world, rules are for other people – those without money and connections.