Coffee Talk with Tiff

September 22, 2025 12:18 pm EDT Tiff Coffee Talk with Tiff 0
Coffee. Photo by Jonathan Thursfield.

It’s Monday…

President Shitshow’s public schedule for…

09/22/2025:

The big announcement on “Significant Medical and Scientific Findings for America’s Children” is about autism. According to multiple outlets, the admin plans to blame women who took acetaminophen during pregnancy for their kids having autism — and then swoop in claiming they’ve discovered a lesser-known drug, leucovorin, as a possible “treatment.”

President Donald Trump plans to announce Monday that using Tylenol during pregnancy could contribute to autism risk and will advise pregnant women only to use it, or generic acetaminophen, for high fevers, two senior administration officials told POLITICO.

The officials, granted anonymity to share details of the announcement in advance, said Trump would also highlight leucovorin, a cancer and anemia drug, as a potential therapy for people with autism.

[snip]

Kennedy and other senior leaders from the government’s health agencies are expected to participate in the announcement, one of the senior administration officials said, adding that officials were divided about the handling of the autism issue and that Kennedy — even though he believes there might be a link between acetaminophen use by pregnant women and autism — had been reluctant to warn the public.

The administration is still preparing a broader autism initiative: About a dozen working groups are slated to examine about 30 hypotheses about potential causes. A literature review intended to underpin that work isn’t finished and won’t be released Monday.

When Kennedy said he would have answers about autism’s cause by September, researchers who work on the condition said it would be unrealistic. By summer, the National Institutes of Health, which Kennedy tasked with carrying out the search for the cause, had already pushed back expectations, saying new grants would be awarded and work would begin in September, with updates likely next year.

POLITICO. 09/21/2025.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the admin planned to pin autism risk on women who took Tylenol (or its generic) for the usual pregnancy aches, pains, and fevers — rolling it out in the form of a shiny new “report.” One small catch, as an official told POLITICO: that report doesn’t actually exist.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the Department of Health and Human Services planned to link autism to Tylenol use in pregnancy and to deficiencies in some women in folate, a vitamin, and that HHS might point to leucovorin as a therapy in some cases.

Specifically, the newspaper reported that the administration planned to publish these claims in an unspecified “report”; such a report does not, however, currently exist, one of the officials told POLITICO.

POLITICO. 09/21/2025.

On Saturday, President Sucks at All Things hyped a “frankly big” announcement and reassured pregnant women and children with autism that if it’s wrong, “it’s not gonna be wrong” — but even if it is, “it’s fine.”

President If it’s wrong it’s fine: And I think we have — frankly, that’s a big announcement. I think we have a bigger announcement coming. I hope on Monday, Marty. It’s enough. We have to announce. We have to make the announcement. It’s so big. We can’t let people keep doing this. It’s — I don’t wanna wait any longer. We don’t need anything more. And if it’s wrong, it’s right. It’s not gonna be wrong. But if it is wrong, it’s — it’s fine. We have to do it. Because we’re gonna have an announcement on autism on Monday. Gotta be Monday. I don’t wanna do it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And I think it’s gonna be a very important announcement. I think it’s gonna be one of the most important things that we will do.

Yeah, who cares if the treatment guidance is wrong. Who cares if pregnant women ditch Tylenol for a high fever — the kind that can actually threaten her health and the fetus’s. Don’t worry, it’ll all be “fine.” After all, what’s a little preventable brain damage compared to a presidential soundbite?

At what was supposed to be a memorial for Charlie Kirk — murdered while hosting an event in Utah — President That-Makes-It-All-About-Him couldn’t resist turning grief into a campaign stop. He slipped into rally mode, hyping his autism “announcement” once again, the same issue he shrugged off on Saturday with “if it’s wrong, it’s fine.” Nothing like hijacking a eulogy to remind us that even life-and-death moments are just props in his endless sideshow.

President That-Makes-It-All-About-Him: It was Charlie who helped unite MAGA. And you know what M-A-H-A is? That’s right: make America healthy again. And tomorrow, we’re gonna have one of the biggest announcement really medically, I think, in the history of our country. We’re gonna be doing it with Bobby and Oz and all of the professionals. I think you’re gonna find it to be amazing. I think we found an answer to autism. How about that? Autism. Tomorrow, we’re gonna be talking in the Oval Office, in the White House about autism, how it happens, so we won’t let it happen anymore. And how to get at least somewhat better when you have it, so that parents can help their child, their beautiful child. That’s a big one. I’ve been, I’ve been bugging everybody over there, get the answer to that. You know, uh, 20 years ago, 1 in 10,000 were born with autism, 20 years ago. The most recent survey says 1 in 12. How bad is that?

Ann-Tiff-A says: Trump’s administration doesn’t care about outcomes — short-term, long-term, or global. They care about looking busy while playing at power. That’s why autism becomes a press stunt and deportations turn into a theater of intimidation: results are optional, lawsuits are irrelevant, and reality is just a minor inconvenience. What matters is the show, the smoke and mirrors, the illusion of competence — because if it looks scary or impressive enough, who cares what actually happens?

For another example:

The Pentagon said Friday it would impose new restrictions on reporters covering the Department of Defense, requiring them to pledge not to gather or use any information that had not been formally authorized for release or risk losing their credentials to cover the military.

The new mandate, described in a memorandum circulated to the press on Friday, was the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration to limit the ability of the media to cover the federal government without interference.

The Department of Defense said in the 17-page memo that it “remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust.” But it added that “information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”

In addition, the document constrains the movements of the media within the Pentagon itself, designating large areas of the building off limits without escorts for the roughly 90 reporters credentialed to cover the agency. Although many offices and meeting rooms in the Pentagon are restricted, the Pentagon press corps had previously been given unescorted access throughout much of the building and its hallways.

New York Times. 09/19/2025.

Speaking of ICE…

On Saturday…

In an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan, now the White House border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration, according to multiple people familiar with the probe and internal documents reviewed by MSNBC.

The FBI and the Justice Department planned to wait to see whether Homan would deliver on his alleged promise once he became the nation’s top immigration official. But the case indefinitely stalled soon after Donald Trump became president again in January, according to six sources familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, Trump appointees officially closed the investigation, after FBI Director Kash Patel requested a status update on the case, two of the people said.

It’s unclear what reasons FBI and Justice Department officials gave for shutting down the investigation. But a Trump Justice Department appointee called the case a “deep state” probe in early 2025 and no further investigative steps were taken, the sources say.

The federal investigation was launched in western Texas in the summer of 2024 after a subject in a separate investigation claimed Homan was soliciting payments in exchange for awarding contracts should Trump win the presidential election, according to an internal Justice Department summary of the probe reviewed by MSNBC and people familiar with the case. The U.S. Attorney’s office in the Western District of Texas, working with the FBI, asked the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section to join its ongoing probe “into the Border Czar and former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan and others based on evidence of payment from FBI undercover agents in exchange for facilitating future contracts related to border enforcement.”

MSNBC. 09/20/2025.

The Washington Post (gift link) reported on Sunday on the investigation with the usual suspects saying this was just more evidence that President Biden weaponized the Justice Department for political gain.

The Justice Department, in the final months of the Biden administration, launched a bribery investigation into Homan, but the Trump administration shut it down this year, citing a lack of “credible evidence” and calling it a “political investigation.”

“This blatantly political investigation, which found no evidence of illegal activity, is yet another example of how the Biden Department of Justice was using its resources to target President Trump’s allies rather than investigate real criminals and the millions of illegal aliens who flooded our country,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “Tom Homan has not been involved with any contract award decisions. He is a career law enforcement officer and lifelong public servant who is doing a phenomenal job on behalf of President Trump and the country.”

The case was launched in the Western District of Texas, but the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section — which has historically overseen cases involving public officials and potential voting crimes — became involved in November, one of the people said.

“This matter originated under the previous administration and was subjected to a full review by FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.”

Because Homan was not yet a government official at the time he accepted the money and Trump had not yet been elected, it could have been tricky to bring bribery charges, though at least some people in the government felt that there was adequate evidence showing Homan would be getting a powerful job in the incoming administration to bring such charges, according to the people familiar with the matter.

The Washington Post (gift link). 09/21/2025.

Speaking of Weaponizing the Justice Department…

Randomly on Saturday, President Who-Governors-by-Social-Media posted “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW” in all caps… because apparently diplomacy and nuance are optional when you can scream at the internet instead.

After yelling “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” on “Lies Social”, he followed up with a rambling “Pam:” post that reads like a meltdown DM, name-dropping lawyers, railing at “Woke RINOs,” and insisting the case is “GREAT” — because credibility apparently hinges on his personal freakout

The text:

Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT

About an hour later, he sent a follow-up to his follow-up text to his bestie Pam — because one meltdown clearly isn’t enough.

The text:

Pam Bondi is doing a GREAT job as Attorney General of the United States. She is very careful, very smart, loves our Country, but needs a tough prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, like my recommendation, Lindsey Halligan, to get things moving. What we don’t need is a Democrat Endorsed “Republican.” I will be nominating Lindsey Halligan to be the United States Attorney in this very important part of our Great Country. She will be Fair, Smart, and will provide, desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!

President All-About-Corruption insisted Sunday that he’s not weaponizing the Justice Department — conveniently ignoring his own social media feed, which reads like a step-by-step guide on exactly how to do it.

President Who Pressures the DOJ to Go After His Enemies: No, I — she’s doing a great job, Pam Bondi is doing a great job. I think Pam Bondi is gonna go down as one of the best Attorney Generals of the ages. No, I don’t do that, I don’t do that. I mean I look at the facts like everybody else, you read the facts, and to me she looks terrible, she looks like she’s very guilty, but that’s gonna be up to the DOJ.

At the Kirk memorial, which predictably morphed into a self-congratulatory rally, President Subtle-He-Is-Not reminded everyone that while Kirk didn’t hate his opponents, President Hater makes a full-time job out of it.

President Hater: In that private moment on his dying day, we find everything we need to know about who Charlie Kirk truly was. He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose. He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry Erika, but now Erika can talk to me and the whole group and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right. But I can’t stand my opponent.

Thank you, President Capital Obvious…

This is an open thread

PS.

In Blender community news, with permission, I have been asked to share that our own Lady Snark has suffered a blow. Her husband, Chuck, has been diagnosed with brain cancer.

Here are some posts from her Facebook.

Her update on the surgery.

Update 8:

Update 10:

Update 12:

We at the Blender wish Chuck and Lady Snark the very best on this journey.

Cancer sucks.

About the opinions in this article…

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About Tiff 3303 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.