Cartoons Saturday!

Plus Trump's cage match and Textoning with Carla Olson.

May 30, 2026

Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy.

Judge says Congress enacted a statute to name Kennedy Center to honor President Kennedy, and only Congress can change the name. Trump’s name must come down in 14 days.

Meanwhile. via Heather Cox Richardson:

As Americans sour on Trump’s economy, lawmakers are backing away from his self-aggrandizing plans for a new $250 bill with his face on it for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. While the administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is touting the plan, Scott MacFarlane of MeidasTouch notes that the necessary congressional approval is not forthcoming as lawmakers recognize that releasing a $250 bill raises images of gilded ballrooms and extravagance at a time when Americans are having trouble paying for gas and groceries….
Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton of the Washington Post reported today that Trump is working hard for a certain kind of vibe at another Freedom 250 event: his Ultimate Fighting Championship matches at the White House for his 80th birthday on June 14. They reported that the Pentagon is trying to recruit hundreds of troops to show up to watch the matches in their uniforms. In addition to paying for their own travel, those military personnel must meet height and weight requirements.

NY Times on Trump’s latest doctor “checkup”: oh, it’s just the aspirin:

Mr. Trump, who will turn 80 on June 14, has faced public scrutiny over his health, with growing signs of fatigue and a lack of clarity from his doctors and aides on details of the president’s health.
Mr. Trump has, for example, been seen with frequent visible bruises on his hands. When the bruises appeared on his right hand, White House officials said it was caused by his handshake, and Mr. Trump began masking the bruises with makeup. When a bruise then appeared on his left hand, Mr. Trump said it was because he had hit it on a table and was taking aspirin. Dr. Barbabella included both explanations in his report, saying that the bruises were “a common and benign effect of aspirin therapy.”

Music Picks

The great Carla Olson will be performing at the screening of my upcoming PBS film “Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad Today” at the Autry Museum in L.A., where I will also appear. Her band The Textones, with Carla as singer, writer, and guitarist recorded one of the best 1980s albums, “Midnight Mission,” and she’s had a string of fine solo albums since, an acclaimed collaboration with Gene Clark, and one with Rolling Stones legend Mick Taylor. We’ll feature some of this in coming weeks, but for today, a classic off the Textones lp, with Ry Cooder guesting (she later performed it with Gene Clark), “Number One Is to Survive.”