The Morning Sixpack - September 8, 2025
Trump threatens Chicago with Department of War, Trump’s FBI past (LOL), Gaza “final warning,” Japan PM quits post-tariff deal, Pentagon boots trans troops, Guard eyed for more cities.
Trump’s “Department of WAR” Fantasy Hits Chicago Streets
Trump says he’s not going to war with U.S. cities—he just wants to “clean them up.” That’s the sales pitch he gave reporters after protesters in Chicago pushed back against his threat to send the Department of War and National Guard troops into Democratic strongholds.
On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Chicago was “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” a reference to his stunt renaming of the Defense Department. He even dressed himself up online as a character from Apocalypse Now. Because nothing screams “law and order” like bad AI/Photoshop cosplay.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker fired back, calling Trump a “wannabe dictator” and warning, “This is not a joke. This is not normal.” Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, added that Trump’s threats were “beneath the honor of our nation” and accused him of trying to “occupy our city and break our Constitution.”
The problem for Trump? Crime in Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans—all on his target list—is actually down. But why let facts get in the way of good campaign theater? Even federal judges have ruled against his unauthorized use of troops, most recently slapping him for violating the Posse Comitatus Act in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, demonstrators in Chicago marched past Trump Tower chanting “No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here.” As one protester put it, “We’re here. We’re not going away. No matter what threat, no matter what president is in office—we’re not going away.”
Source: NPR
Remember when rightwingnutjobs went ballistic during both the Obama and Biden administrations about their use of the military in domestic law enforcement activities?
Republicans Loved the Posse Comitatus Act—Until They Didn’t
For almost a century and a half, the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA) has been the American “don’t bring troops into civilian life” rule of thumb. Born in 1878 after the end of Reconstruction, it drew a hard line: The federal military doesn’t enforce domestic law unless Congress or the Constitution clearly says it can. Over time, Congress updated the edges—add…
Trump Turns the National Guard Into His Personal Police Force
Trump is using the U.S. military as his own domestic law enforcement squad, and Congress is letting him get away with it. National Guard troops are now patrolling American cities, military aircraft are being used for deportations, and Trump is openly threatening to send soldiers to Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans—whether governors like it or not.
Republican lawmakers aren’t just tolerating it; they’re cheering. Sen. Roger Wicker said big-city Democrats are “tone deaf,” while Louisiana’s Mike Johnson and John Kennedy welcomed troops marching into New Orleans. The political calculus is clear: Crime polls well as a fear button even if the stats show crime is actually trending down nationwide.
What makes this moment different is that Trump isn’t responding to an emergency. He’s deploying soldiers not for riots, disasters, or civil rights enforcement, but to carry out his own domestic policies.
As Brennan Center attorney Joseph Nunn put it, “All of these things indicate an administration that is making a broad, concerted effort to insert the military into civilian law enforcement in a way and on a scale that has no precedent in American history.”
Courts are the only real check so far. Just last week, a federal judge ruled Trump “willfully” broke the Posse Comitatus Act by sending Guard troops to Los Angeles after immigration protests, warning that Trump is effectively “creating a national police force with the President as its chief.” That’s exactly the scenario America’s founders tried to prevent after fighting off the British military occupation.
Nake no mistake: This is Trump brazenly making the armed forces into an armed goon squad ready to crack Americans’ heads on command.
Source: AP News
The irony here? Trump’s base claims to fear “big government tyranny,” yet they’re applauding while he builds one of the most centralized shows of force in modern history.
Guess it’s only tyranny when the other team does it.
Trump’s “Final Warning” To Hamas: Ceasefire Claim Meets Reality Check
Trump says a Gaza ceasefire is within reach—and gives Hamas a “final warning”—but Israel hasn’t confirmed anything. That’s the headline version: The White House is selling imminent peace while Jerusalem keeps signaling the war machine is still in gear.
Trump says Israel accepted his terms, Hamas must now choose, and the clock is supposedly ticking.
Pressure on Netanyahu is real. With an estimated 20 hostages left alive—“and it could be even lower because they ‘tend to die,’” Trump said—the political calculus inside Israel is getting uglier by the day. If you’re counting on public opinion to force a deal, this is the lever.
Then there’s the moral ledger. Israel’s Supreme Court just ruled that Palestinian prisoners aren’t receiving adequate food or care and are often beaten—an extraordinary judicial rebuke that undercuts the government’s wartime posture. You can’t preach “most moral army” while your own high court documents the opposite.
Diplomatically, we’ve been here before. Washington touts a framework; Israeli leaders vow to keep pushing until Hamas is “eradicated.”
Translation: Ceasefire talk is leverage, not gospel. Until Hamas publicly takes a deal and Israel formally signs off—on paper, with timelines—this is theater with missiles.
My read: Trump’s threat language is designed to look tough at zero cost, a domestic politics play masquerading as shuttle diplomacy. If he lands an actual deal, I’ll tip the cap. Until then, call me when both sides stop posturing and start implementing.
Source: Semafor
Nothing says “deal is close” like…no deal. Wake me when the hostage math stops changing and the statements come with signatures, not slogans.
Japan’s PM Quits Days After Tariff Truce—Deal Done, Leader Done
Shigeru Ishiba secured a tariff reprieve with Washington and then got shown the door by his own party.
The LDP’s patience ran out after election losses, and Ishiba fell on his sword to avoid an ugly internal knife fight. It’s the same story playing out across democracies: Mainstream parties bleeding to online-fed populists while voters choke on inflation and stagnant wages. Winning a tariff deal wasn’t a shield; it was the last item on his to-do list before the trapdoor opened.
The pact itself is big: Trump cut most tariffs on Japanese imports to 15% while Tokyo pledged to buy more U.S. rice, soy, planes, and weapons—and to channel ~$550 billion into U.S. semis and infrastructure. Nice headline for both sides, but let’s be adults about the risk. As one analyst put it, “Trump is Tariff Man and he can change his mind quickly. There is always that risk out there.”
Now comes the scramble. The LDP no longer commands outright majorities, meaning the next leader—likely Sanae Takaichi or Shinjiro Koizumi—still has to clear the Diet (Japan’s parliament). Cue the possibilities: A month of intraparty drama, a confidence stumble, or even snap elections. Tokyo wanted stability; it ordered a sampler platter of volatility instead.
Geopolitically, the alliance endures, but the math is unforgiving: U.S. tariff whims, pressure to spend more on defense, and Japan’s own growth funk. Or as Ishiba himself implied while insisting he stayed to close the deal, step away too soon and no one negotiates with you; step away too late and your own party replaces you anyway.
Source: WSJ (gift article)
Scoreboard update: Tariffs—temporarily tamed; Japanese politics—still a blender set to “pulse.”
Pentagon’s New Ban Turns Trans Service Records Into Exit Papers
The same doctor’s note that once kept Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland in uniform is now being used to kick him out. That’s the brutal twist in the Pentagon’s expanded ban on transgender troops: A required diagnosis of gender dysphoria has become the smoking gun for discharge, with no real chance to fight it.
This policy goes even further than Trump’s first ban. Back then, trans service members could stay if they had a diagnosis. Now, that diagnosis is automatic grounds for removal—no appeals, no peer review boards, no recordings of hearings. As one attorney put it, “the outcome will be predetermined.”
Translation: The Pentagon built the list, and now it’s checking it twice.
The fallout isn’t just careers cut short—it’s benefits gutted. The Air Force has revoked early retirement packages, leaving long-serving trans members with the choice of a lump-sum payout (basically an interest-free loan against their future disability pay) or nothing at all. That’s not just cruel; it’s a broken promise. “Promises made, promises kept?”
As veterans’ advocate Mick Wagoner said, “It is a fundamental break with the quid pro quo promise… you serve, there’s some benefits on the end of that.”
Even the military’s own priorities get undercut here. Experts argue that booting skilled, decorated trans troops hurts readiness far more than it helps. The ban wipes out decades of experience from people who’ve fought in Fallujah, deployed worldwide, and proven themselves again and again—all while meeting or exceeding standards. This isn’t about “lethality” or “meritocracy.” It’s about politics dressed up as policy.
For Ireland, who gave 15 years to the Air Force, this is more than a career change—it’s a gut punch to his identity. “I look around my house, I look at the tattoos on my arms and my heart just breaks,” he said. “It breaks because I gave so much of my life to the service. It’s a core part of who I am.”
Source: NPR
The military claims this is about “readiness,” but readiness apparently means purging proven warriors because of paperwork. That’s not readiness—it’s willful self-sabotage.
And it’s fucking cruel.
Mike Johnson Floats Trump as an FBI Informant in the Epstein Saga
House Speaker Mike Johnson casually claimed Donald Trump once served as an FBI informant against Jeffrey Epstein.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, you read that right—the same Trump who’s now calling the whole Epstein files controversy a “hoax” allegedly worked with the feds to “take this stuff down,” according to Johnson.
Pressed by reporters, Johnson doubled down: “He’s not saying that what Epstein did is a hoax. It’s a terrible, unspeakable evil… He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.”
That little bombshell has yet to be confirmed, but it immediately raised eyebrows given Trump’s long, complicated history with Epstein.
There is some precedent for Trump cozying up to the FBI. A 1981 memo shows he pledged to “fully cooperate,” and reports from the 1980s and 2010s detailed how he welcomed agents into his casinos and offices while organized crime investigations swirled.
If Johnson’s claim is true, it would mean Trump flipped on Epstein somewhere around their 2004–2005 fallout over that $41 million Palm Beach mansion.
But the timeline gets messy. Trump says he cut ties when Epstein “stole” Virginia Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago in 2000, yet records show Epstein kept a paid membership at the resort until at least 2007—well after his first arrest. That alone casts doubt on the clean-break narrative. Add in Trump’s own habit of rewriting history, and Johnson’s version of events starts looking more like convenient myth-making than gospel truth.
So was Trump really an informant or is this just another Beltway attempt to reframe his messy Epstein ties? Until documents surface, all we have are claims, contradictions, and one very strange “what if.”
Source: My Daily Grind News
If Trump really was the FBI’s guy on Epstein, let’s just say they didn’t exactly pick a model witness. You don’t hire the arsonist to run the fire brigade.
It's so fucking obvious the orange clowns name is all over in those docs. His extreme actions right in front of us all tell the damn story! IF those docs are ever released they will be the rewrites of history. Deemed Not Credible! I want the "SURVIVORS" to make their own tell all list. The right wing regime will deem as not credible.