The Dog Days of American Summer
Life During Trumptime 6/29/26 - 7/5/26
It’s too hot.
It’s too hot to write, too hot to move, too hot to even think. We are in the dog days of summer, that long period in July and August when the days are long and the air is thick. In Sweden, this is called rötmånaden, “rot month,” and I’ve always felt a kinship with that term. It feels like there’s nothing to do but stay as still as possible and wait for the sun’s eldritch gaze to pass us by while we slowly roast and decay.
It’s bad in the American south but it was much worse before central air. Monied slave-holders in South Carolina built redoubts in northern climes with names like “Summerville” and would retreat to them for several months of the year. Others would haul all the way to hated Yankeedom and spend the dog days in New York City. In the years before the Civil War, this mix of southern Democrats and northern Republicans on the streets of Manhattan led to fierce political debates and, sometimes, violence. The heat, you see, makes us quick to anger. The sweat gets in our eyes and tempers are hard to control.
While we suffer this horrid heat let us take comfort in these photos of Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev staying cool in the stifling heat.
6/29/26
It was a week of historic rulings at the Supreme Court as America braced itself to see how the country would change. In two rulings on Monday, SCOTUS said the President could fire independent government regulators at will. The ruling came in 6 - 3.
“BIG WIN just moments ago at the Supreme Court, in the Slaughter Case, confirming Presidential Power in our Country to remove Executive Branch Officers and Agency Appointees, or Representatives, under Article II. This Decision [sic] was long sought by United States Presidents, dating all the way back to the 1930s. It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump didn’t like the results of the court’s next ruling. In a 5 - 4 decision, the Justices ruled that states could continue to count late arriving mail-in ballots. Trump appointed Justice Amy Comey Barrett wrote the majority opinion. “The election-day statutes do not set a deadline for ballot receipt, so they do not prevent Mississippi from counting ballots postmarked before election day yet received afterward,” she said.
On Truth Social, Trump used the loss to stump for his much derided SAVE AMERICA ACT.
1. ALL VOTERS MUST SHOW PHOTO I.D. (IDENTIFICATION!).
2. ALL VOTERS MUST SHOW PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP.
3. NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS (EXCEPT FOR ILLNESS, DISABILITY, MILITARY DEPLOYMENT, OR TRAVEL!).
There is no excuse for a politician, or otherwise, to be against the above three requirements. There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!
The Trump administration wants a master list of spies, suspected spies, and potential foreign asset recruits. According to The New York Times, this list would help America’s intelligence agencies work together. America’s spooks are skeptical, however.
Some current and former intelligence officials fear that assembling identifying details about some of the most sensitive cases may fatally compromise long-running intelligence investigations and operations. The identities of those targets are carefully protected secrets, walled off from most personnel even inside their own agencies.
Asked for comment, an F.B.I. spokesman said the bureau was working with other intelligence agencies “to open the books for the American people in historic ways,” part of what he characterized as a broader push for transparency under its director, Kash Patel.
The C.I.A. declined to comment. An official from Mr. Pulte’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that it was simply following a directive President Trump had issued in his first term, National Security Presidential Memorandum 7. The effort to oversee collaboration and information sharing, the official said, is mandated by the law that created the office and will improve intelligence work.
6/30/26
The Justices ruled 6 - 3 to strike down a 2025 Trump executive order that was meant to end Birthright Citizenship. “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the decision.
The Air Force has confirmed that Airman trainee Keon McDaniel died as a result of the flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. “This is a tragedy that could have been prevented were it not for the reckless actions of Secretary Hegseth,” Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas said in a press release about the death. Castro and fellow Representative Chrissy Houlahan have introduced legislation to reinstate a mandatory flu vaccine for service
7/1/26
Trump traveled to Medora, North Dakota to attend the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. One of the exhibits is an AI Teddy that will take questions from guests from behind a replica of his office. The AI gave Trump some words of encouragement, presidenting being a difficult job.
“Well I appreciate those words. Those words are fantastic,” Trump said.
Trump then asked the AI if Roosevelt considered the building of the Panama Canal his greatest achievement. “Greatness is a strange thing. It isn’t always the biggest or boldest job that matters most,” the AI said. “I measure my greatest work by the lives improved. “Parks set aside. Food and drugs made safe. A square deal given to all, not just a few.”
Parks and food safety are two areas Trump has made worse in his second term. Public lands are being sold off to private industry at a shocking pace and the administration has stripped many public parks of basic federal protections. Under RFK Jr, the various organizations that keep food from poisoning Americans have also seen heavy cuts. Raw milk is poisoning people in Idaho and dozens of other states are dealing with outbreaks of explosive diarrhea caused by foodborne illnesses.
After he left the library, Trump gave a speech and mentioned that he’d just spoken with Teddy Roosevelt. He decried communism and accused the Democrats of selling the Panama Canal for $1.
7/2/26
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced felony charges against 67 year old Olympian David Hearn. According to Pirro, Hearn allegedly vandalized the Reflecting Pool in Washington DC by ripping up the lining.
“Our evidence [...] shows that National Parks Service employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands. According to witnesses, Hearn damaged approximately two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool,” she said at a press conference announcing the charges. “A Parks employee actually told Hearn to stop, to stop his behavior and stop what he was doing. Hearn reacted by shouting at that Parks employee, saying that she cared too much about the Reflecting Pool.”
7/3/26
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte purged dozens of intelligence officials according to MS NOW. An anonymous intelligence official speaking told the publication Pulte was doing this in an attempt to rid the administration of “deep state” operatives.
US Capitol Police arrested Air Force officer Maj. Jason Watson on the steps of the capitol. Watson, who is on active duty, called for the impeachment and investigation of Trump and JD Vance for violating their oaths of office and the constitution.
“Congress remains unconvinced of the urgency and necessity for them to honor their oath. So we must persuade them, with our unrelenting, uncompromising civil resistance. I am calling on average Americans everywhere to peacefully exercise their first amendment rights en masse, every day, until this administration is removed and our democratic republic is restored.”
Capitol police turned Watson over to the Air Force where a case against him is under review. A member of the military is not barred from having or expressing political views, but they are barred from attending political events while on active duty and in uniform.
7/4/26
America’s 250th anniversary passed with much fanfare and reverie across the country. Despite our recent troubles, it remains a beautiful place to live. It was not, however, beautiful at the capitol where a heat wave and inclement weather made it difficult to enjoy the holiday.
Journalist Laura Jedeed’s social media thread captured the chaos and surreality of the Fourth of July celebration in Washington DC.
Trump delivered a speech after a long delay that focused on how America had defeated communism. All these talks from the communists, they haven’t got a chance. Not even a chance. We don’t want communists in our country. Never worked. And it never will work. Americans must never forget that we are a historic and heroic people, with a heroic spirit and a heroic purpose on this beautiful earth of ours,” he said.
Photographer Kent Nishimura captured a strange moment for Getty where Trump blinked during the fireworks show, rendering the President as an ailing emperor on a throne wreathed in smoke.
7/5/26
In Iran, thousands of people flooded the streets of Tehran on the second day of official mourning for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.