By Jackie Botts, CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Antoinette Martinez does her weekly grocery shopping at FoodMaxx, and worries that new proposed Trump administration cuts to food stamp eligibility will make it harder for her to stretch her food budget. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

August 1, 2019 (San Diego) - When Antoinette Martinez rolls her cart through the produce section of the FoodMaxx in Watsonville, her 5-year-old son Caden often asks for strawberries and blueberries. 

Sometimes Martinez bends, but usually she sticks to the produce on sale: Roma tomatoes for 69 cents a pound, cucumbers at three-for-99 cents. And banana bunches are relatively cheap.

 East County News Service

July 5, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – During a Fourth of July Salute to America in Washington D.C. yesterday featuring fireworks, tanks and a flyover by military planes, President Donald Trump made a statement filled with historical gaffes, prompting wits to take to Twitter in response.

While speaking of the Revolutionary War in 1775 that resulted in American independence from Britain, Trump stated, “The Continental Army suffered a bitter winter in Valley Forge, found glory across the waters of the Delaware and seized victory from Cornwallis of Yorktown. Our army manned the airports, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory.” View video.

The first reported airplane flight wasn’t until 1903 with the Wright Brothers,  long after both the Revolutionary War and the later War of 1812 at which Fort McHenry was bombarded by British ships, not America’s army. 

The White House has blamed a teleprompter that failed for the President’s ad libbed inaccuracies.

Wits promptly took to Twitter with the hashtags #RevolutionaryWarAirports and #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories.

Here are a few humorous highlights:

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2019 (Washington D.C.)—Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long awaiting report has been submitted to the Justice Department.  A summary written by newly appointed Attorney General William Barr has been made public, but thus far, Congress and the media have not seen the full report.

According to Barr’s summary, Mueller’s two-year investigation did not find evidence of a conspiracy involving President Donald Trump and Russia to tamper with the 2016 election despite “multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.  But as for whether Trump committed the crime of obstructing justice, Barr states that while Mueller’s report does not recommend prosecution of Trump for obstruction of justice, “it also does not exonerate him.”

Trump called the report “a complete and total exoneration” based on Barr’s summary.

But that’s not fully accurate. The Justice Department has long held that it does not have the power to indict a sitting president, deferring investigation of presidential actions to Congress, which has the power to impeach under the Constitution. Without reading Mueller’s full report it is difficult to speculate on the Special Counsel’s intent, but Mueller could have intended for Congress to weigh any evidence his investigators found with regard to obstruction of justice.

The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, by Andrew G. McCabe (St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2019, 274 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

March 18, 2019 (San Diego) - Andrew G. McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI, has written an incisive and titillating story of America at the crossroads of history, an America that seems to be under siege by the President himself. To put this book in historical perspective, McCabe states: “The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s official mission is ‘to protect the American people and support the Constitution of the United States.”’

To read this book, it does not seem as if the mission statement of the FBI is being allowed. The author lays that at the feet of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

By Miriam Raftery

February 6, 2019 (Santee) -- During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump spoke on issues ranging from the economy to immigration, also honoring the upcoming 75^th anniversary of D-Day.  Joseph Reilly of Santee, a D-Day paratrooper, was among three World War II veterans whom Trump praised as “incredible heroes.”

Trump took credit for an improving economy and urged “unity” to avoid a future shutdown. He called for an end to “foolish wars” and what he called “partisan investigations” of his administration amid the special prosecutor’s investigation. 

Despite calls for unity, his speech repeatedly argued for funding for a border wall. He cited San Diego, calling for a ““smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier — not just a simple concrete wall.” The president has threatened to invoke a national emergency to build the border wall in order to keep out migrant caravans of immigrants seeking asylum.

“To threaten federal disaster funding is a grave insult to our fire-scarred region and a slap in the face of our brave firefighters. The President and the Governor need to work together and put the public’s safety over politics. I know the county will do its part by continuing to make major investments to improve firefighting and fire prevention.” – Supervisor Dianne Jacob

By Miriam Raftery

January 10, 2019 (San Diego) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday stating that he has ordered a halt to Federal Emergency Management Act (FEMA) funds for California wildfire survivors. His threat has drawn sharp bipartisan criticism from leaders ranging from California’s new Governor to East County’s Supervisor Dianne Jacoband conservative legislators representing fire-ravaged communities.

Update December 20, 2018:  President Trump has signed the Farm Bill into law.

By Miriam Raftery

December 15, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Senate has passed a farm bill that now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature.  The final version stripped out efforts by House Republicans, who had sought to imposeharsher work requirements on millions of food stamp recipients. The House version would have dropped about 1.5 million low-income people off the program.

“The decision to release this damning report when families are beginning to celebrate the holidays and newsrooms are short-staffed is a brazen attempt to bury the truth.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer, Common Dreams

November 25, 2018 (San Diego) - In a move environmentalists and journalists denounced as a blatant effort to bury facts that conflict with the president's denialism and pro-fossil fuel agenda, the Trump administration used the Friday after Thanksgiving to quietly release Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), which warned "Earth's climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization" and concluded that "greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the only factors that can account" for planet-threatening warming.

East County News Service

Photos: Pittsburgh memorial to slain synagogue victims, White House flag at half mast, Eifel Tower in Paris dark in commemoration, Pittsburgh Steelers logo with star of David.

November 1, 2018 (San Diego) – Around the world and locally, the world grieves the slaughter of 11 Jewish people during a worship service and baby-naming ceremony at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week.   

In San Diego, people of all faiths came together to show solidarity in the face of the attack by an avowed anti-Semitic mass shooter.  Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego), who is Jewish,  posted on social media, “An overflowing and diverse crowd of thousands brought love and resolve to Temple Beth Israel - demonstrating how strongly San Diegans reject hate and division. So proud of everyone who stood up and said: Not Here! Not Anywhere!”

Congressman Duncan D. Hunter (R-Alpine) has been silent on the issue on his social media. 

His opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, issued this statement: “I am horrified by the heinous attack,” adding, “There are no words to fully convey our sadness and horror at the murder of Jewish people who were worshipping with their community on Shabbat."

By Miriam Raftery

September 3, 2018 (Washington D.C.) -- President Donald Trump started the Labor Day weekend by issuing an executive order cancelling a modest 2.1% pay raise for federal workers, and ended the weekend Monday by denouncing Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor union.

The President did Tweet, “The Worker in America is doing better than ever before. Celebrate Labor Day!” But his administration has taken a string of  actions to undermine the wellbeing of workers taken since Trump took office.

By Ricken Patel, Avaaz

July 21, 2018 (San Diego) - It’s now shockingly clear that Donald Trump is Putin’s poodle.

But we need the world to understand why, before it’s too late…

Trump's businesses went bankrupt so many times in the 1990s that many legitimate banks wouldn’t lend to him anymore. He turned to Russian oligarchs -- Putin’s ruling clique -- to bankroll his projects, and launder their dirty money for them. This was, and continues to be, a huge part of his business. He’s a Russian money launderer.

Critics denounce plant to incarcerate entire families

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Protester outside immigrant child detention facility in El Cajon

June 20, 2018 (Washington D.C.) -- President Donald Trump today announced that he has signed an executive order to end the controversial separation of children and parents at the border. The Trump administration now plans to detain parents and their kids together for the foreseeable future, the New York Times reports.

By Miriam Raftery

June 9, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – The Trump administration is asking a court to strike down a provision in the Affordable Care Act which requires insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions, the Los Angeles Times reports.