THE NEW CASH COMMENTARY FOR JUNE 19th, 2025

                                    

                                                               CASH MICHAELS

                                    GREAT JOB AMERICA, HOWEVER…

                                                    by Cash Michaels

I may be the last to say it, but to the millions of bold Americans who peacefully took to the streets and roads of where you live in this country to defiantly proclaim “NO Kings” on June 14th, a heartfelt congratulations. All of you collectively made your point about no longer putting up with the daily madness coming from the Trump Administration.

You came out in strong numbers, perhaps the largest day of mass protests in American history, and your turnout was so impressive, so pronounced, that it clearly overshadowed that $45 million, poorly organized, sparsely attended, so-called military “birthday party” for King TACO.

It was so poorly attended, with so much empty space, especially near the Washington Monument, late night comedian Stephen Colbert renamed it “MAGA - Make America Grass Again.” Colbert also pointed out how our troops were forced to march past empty bleachers. And with so few people there, there was no cheering, making the squeaky tanks from a museum quite noticeable.

In short, there was more yawning, than people, which was a shame.

Rolling Stone magazine called Trump’s ego-driven debacle a “gross failure,” and from what I heard and saw, that was high praise.

King TACO was even photographed grim-faced, and falling asleep. As far as our troops involved in the parade was concerned, there was no goose stepping! Why? Because this is America, NOT North Korea or NAZI Germany!

And get this, the damn thing had commercial sponsors, who interrupted the slow proceedings to sell their stuff! What a grift.

The Independent reported:

The darker military parades that have become synonymous with tyrannical regimes around the world don’t take breaks for corporate sponsors, nor do they sell pretzels, or have cooling tents.

One lady told The Independent,“It sickens me that we're putting on this display just for one man's ego. I have no problems with the Army having a celebration. What I do have a problem with is the implication that this is more about Trump and military might, than it is about the 250th anniversary of people who fought and died for our country.”

        Well said, my patriotic sister.

No offense to our brave men and women of the U.S. Army who proudly marched primarily to pay tribute to the great legacy of their important branch of our powerful military services, and also to honor their fallen brothers and sisters from wars and conflicts past, but there’s a reason why this country hasn’t had a military parade through the streets of our nation’s capitol since June, 1991 and our victory in the Gulf War.

Because there was no unifying event for every American to celebrate and be proud of. 

        Sure the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army was important, but without a hard-fought victory to justify the display, it was really just a couple of hours watching Trump dribble on himself while soldier after soldier, squeaky tank after squeaky tank, and armored vehicle after armored vehicle, passed in front of him and his “DUI” hire, the oft times, utterly non-brilliant Fox News reject, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Everybody knew what the real deal was, King TACO’s 79th birthday, and it BORED them to death. As well it should.

But back to the peaceful NO Kings demonstrations, officially estimated at over 5 million people across about 2,100 communities in the United States.

As promised, folks showed up, and showed out, with some of the sassiest, snarkiest, and pointedly on point protest signs this side of a King TACO birthday party!

Here are just some of the best of the best:

IF YOU'RE NOT RESISTING, YOU'RE ASSISTING!

(MAGA) MONSTERS ARE GOVERNING AMERICA!

        IF THERE’S MONEY FOR A PARADE, THERE’S MONEY FOR MEDICAID!

HATE NEVER MADE AMERICA GREAT!

        ALEXA, CHANGE THE PRESIDENT, PLEASE!

And the one that had me helplessly chuckling for hours…

UNPAID PROTESTER - I HATE HIS ASS FOR FREE!!

Mind you, all of these brilliant signs were just from the Triangle. I’m certain there were tons more cutting pieces of wisdom at the other over 2,000 NO Kings demonstrations across the nation.

So you did well, America! Just like I said you would.

        So well that the corrupt White House we're all forced to live with couldn't bare the No Kings Day success, and falsely claimed afterwards that it was a "complete and utter failure."

        The fact that the White House, which also fraudulently estimated their crappola King TACO birthday bash drew 250,000, is lying through their collective teeth, means that after the success of NO Kings Day, they're scared.

        Well guess what, scared, corrupt White House. NO Kings was such an "utter failure" that organizers have already planned to do it again on July 17th. The next one will take a page from the words of the late, but still great Congressman John Lewis, and will be called, according to spokesperson Barbara Arnwine with Transformative Justice Coalition, "Good Trouble Lives On - a national day of action." " We're going to make good trouble because good trouble lives on and we will not stop until we win: no kings, no tyrants, no despots," she proclaimed.

        I can't wait!

However…

…amidst Kim Jong Don’s birthday parade buffoonery, and the nation’s strong demonstration of disgust over it, comes the frightening realization that all of that flexing of military muscle last week in Los Angeles to put down anti-immigration enforcement protests, shameful political posturing in front of our troops at Fort Bragg here in North Carolina, getting deeply involved in the Israel-Iran military conflict (that is ohhh so close to all out war, with Trump running his mouth about killing Iranian leaders and "there's no place to hide") and finally the parading of military might for the world to see last Saturday, is the realization that Trump has now become way too comfortable not only with the idea, but the practice of wielding the United States military against its own citizens and elsewhere at the drop of a MAGA Hat.

Add to that, according to a recent piece in The Atlantic magazine, is that the American military may eventually embrace the idea of being Trump’s personal fighting muscle to do whatever, wherever, and the very thought of all of that should scare the life out of all of us who hold freedom dear.

This edited excerpt from the Radio Atlantic podcast, and its recent episode featuring hostess Hanna Rosin, and staff writer Tom Nichols:

NICHOLS - He very much wants those soldiers to [hear], “Remember, I am your only defender. I am the strong man who loves you. America hates you.” And that is poisonous. It is a repudiation of everything that people from George Washington to George Marshall to Brent Scowcroft to others have always stood for in serving this country, either in civilian roles or as military leaders.

That’s how other countries fall into civil war and chaos and mayhem, is that the military becomes—when you politicize the military, the military becomes an independent actor. And it says, There’s Republicans. There’s Democrats. There’s rural. There’s city. And there’s us. And we are an interest group. And we are an independent group with an independent say in who runs this country. And you don’t want the military saying, Oh, the election next year? That’ll be interesting, but we get a veto.

Trump and his people want to acclimate Americans to the sight of the U.S. military in their streets, which is one of the most un-American things, going all the way back to the Founders, who had a deep suspicion of a standing army.

We honor the people who serve in our military. We value them. We cherish them. But no, we don’t want them driving Humvees, you know, through the streets of D.C. every day.

ROSIN - Governor Gavin Newsom says he didn’t ask for help [when Trump sent in thousands of National Guard and Marines] and said the L.A. police could handle [the ICE raid protests]. Why do you think [Trump] sent the troops then?

NICHOLS: Specifically to show that Gavin Newsom is not in charge of the state of California, and that [Mayor]Karen Bass is not in charge of the city of Los Angeles. It’s a very dramatic way of saying, All power in this country belongs to me, Donald Trump, and if I see something in Los Angeles I don’t like, I don’t care who the people of California elected—they mean nothing—I’m going to call out the Army because I can, and I want to establish that I can.

Folks, we’re seriously down the rabbit hole here looking up. We have a madman at the wheel who is not worried about the next presidential election, because there will be no “next” presidential election if he and his maniacal henchmen follow-through with what they’re planning.

If you’re Trump, 79 years of age and in power, you’re scheming to stay in power for the rest of your life. Not just a measly three years. And if Trump physically is unable to stay in power in the next three years when he's age 82, he’s already set it up for someone just as maniacal as he is to takeover then.

That means the U.S. military has to know who its daddy is between now and then. As you know, there’s already talk of Trump taking Greenland by force, turning Gaza into a rich man’s paradise, and maybe Canada. Lord knows what else is coming down the pike.

But for all of this to work, Trump has to start tuning up the military….OUR military….NOW, so that it’s reoriented and ready to be his personal military force.

Trump has loyalists running the Dept. of Justice, Dept. of Defense, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Dept of Health and Human Services, to name a few, ALL doing his bidding no matter what the courts say. Please don’t think that what I’ve posited here is beyond possibility.

Indeed, it’s happening as you read this!

        Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), who was manhandled by thug ICE agents at a press conference because he just wanted to ask a question of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, warns that the nation is "on the path towards fascism."

        Only time will tell.

So great job last weekend, America, however, I hope and pray that you’re getting ready to fight for the very soul of your country!

For your children’s sake, you better be!!!

        As the NO Kings demonstrator's dead-on sign said, IF YOU'RE NOT RESISTING, YOU'RE ASSISTING!!!

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THE CASH STUFF FOR JUNE 19TH, 2025

                                       NAACP PRES./CEO DERRICK JOHNSON

NAACP NOT INVITING TRUMP

TO NATIONAL CONVENTION

IN CHARLOTTE NEXT MONTH

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

For the first time in its 116th year history, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the NAACP) is not inviting the sitting president of the United States to speak at its national convention, this year being held in Charlotte July 12th - 16th.

NAACP Pres./CEO Derrick Johnson made the announcement Monday afternoon during a press conference in the Queen City.

In a written statement, Johnson said:

"For 116 years, the NAACP has invited the sitting president of the United States to address the NAACP National Convention — regardless of their political party. There is a rich history of both Republicans and Democrats attending our convention — from Harry Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and beyond. We're nonpartisan and always welcome those who believe in democracy and the Constitution.

"But right now, it's clear — Donald Trump is attacking our democracy and our civil rights. He believes more in the fascist playbook than in the U.S. Constitution. This playbook is radical and un-American. The president has signed unconstitutional executive orders to oppress voters and undo federal civil rights protections; he has illegally turned the military on our communities, and he continually undermines every pillar of our democracy to make himself more powerful and to personally benefit from the U.S. government.

"The NAACP Convention has always been a place where people across the country come together to map out our advocacy and mobilization strategies to advance civil rights and democracy for all. Our annual convention is meant to be a safe space for all people — regardless of political ideology — who believe in multiracial democracy and the ideal of building a more perfect union.

"To that end, the NAACP has made the decision to break with tradition and not invite Donald Trump or J.D. Vance this year. This administration does not respect the Constitution or the rule of law. It would be a waste of our time and energy to give a platform to fascism, which would be unacceptable."

Next month’s national NAACP Convention will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center. The theme of this year’s convention is “The Fierce Urgency of Now!”

According to Charlotte Mayor Vy Lyles, thousands of members and delegates from across the country are expected to attend.

Pres. Trump was invited to speak when the NAACP last held its national convention in Las Vegas, Nev. during his first term, but he declined to appear.

The last time the NAACP held its national convention in Charlotte was in 1996. The NAACP Board had planned to hold its convention in Charlotte in 2021, but those plans were dropped because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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REDISTRICTING TRIAL CONTINUES 

THIS WEEK IN WINSTON-SALEM

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

A federal trial concerning whether congressional and legislative voting districts drawn by the Republican-led NC General Assembly diminishes  Black voting strength, got underway this week in Winston-Salem before a three-judge panel.

The trial addresses two consolidated federal lawsuits, filed originally in December 2023, that challenged redistricting maps then, but were allowed by judges to be used in the 2024 general election. 

Plaintiffs argued that the maps were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.

If the court ultimately agrees with black plaintiffs, in addition to the state NAACP and Common Cause, that six of 14 congressional districts, nine of 120 state House districts, and five of 50 NC Senate districts were redrawn so that black voters were eliminated or shifted in order to increase the likelihood of more Republicans being elected, then the three-judge panel could order the NC General Assembly  to redraw the voting maps for the 2026 elections.

In the legislative case, some plaintiffs’ claims were thrown out of court in an April ruling, specifically dealing with NC Senate districts in Mecklenburg and New Hanover counties, along with state House districts in Wake and Forsyth counties, but the rest of the plaintiffs’ claims were allowed to proceed.

Republicans “unlawfully diluted the power of black voters on account of race in North Carolina’s historic Black Belt Senate Districts 1 and 2 in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” alleged the plaintiff’s brief.

The NC NAACP also alleged in its lawsuit that the racial gerrymandering was “intentional” discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. 

Per the congressional district map, plaintiffs allege the map “eliminates two Black opportunity districts by cracking and packing Black voters in the Piedmont Triad and in Mecklenburg County.” Plaintiffs further charge that this too constituted Republican lawmakers’ actions “intentionally discriminatory under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).”

“…[R]ace was a motivating factor in creating the 2023 Congressional Plan (‘2023 Plan’)…,” plaintiffs claimed, “… and in the decisions to move Black voters into and out of former Congressional Districts 6, 12, and 14, which dilutes their voting power and cannot be explained by purely partisan goals.” 

But Republican legislative leaders, in their legal briefs to the court, maintained as they always have that race was never a dominate factor in their redrawing the voting maps, calling that argument “implausible.”

Citing a 2019 US Supreme Court decision, Rucho v. Common Cause, attorneys for Republican legislative leaders replied that plaintiffs would “…‘repackage a partisan-gerrymandering claim as a racial-gerrymandering claim by exploiting the tight link between race and political preference’ and thereby ‘sidestep [the] holding in Rucho that partisan-gerrymandering claims are not justiciable, To prevent this, the Court held that racial-intent claims will typically require direct evidence of racial motive and that claims based on circumstantial evidence cannot succeed unless the challenger is able ‘to disentangle race from politics.”

“The General Assembly ‘made the laudable effort to disregard race altogether in the redistricting process, GOP legislative leaders continued. “Plaintiffs cannot prove a motive that did not exist.”

If the three-judge federal panel does ultimately side with the plaintiffs and orders the redistricting maps redrawn for the 2026 legislative races, it will have to mindful of the upcoming election calendar deadlines.

Candidate filing for statewide primary elections begins on December 1st, ending on December 19th. Absentee ballots will be sent out beginning Jan. 13, 2026 for the March 3rd, 2026 primaries.

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FIRST THE STATE HIGHWAY PATROL,

NOW BLACK VICTIM’S MOTHER

INTENDS TO SUE RALEIGH POLICE

By Cash Michaels

contributing writer

Last month, attorneys for the mother of 31-year-old Tyrone Mason, announced that they were suing two NC state Highway Patrol troopers for their alleged roles in the black motorist’s October 2024 death, after he fatally crashed his vehicle in Raleigh subsequent to  being chased.

Bodycam footage proved that one trooper was instructed to lie to Raleigh police by the other state trooper, his supervisor. Both troopers still have their jobs, but have been placed on administrative leave since the incident, and ordered by the Wake County district attorney never to patrol in the county again.

The Wake D.A. refused to file criminal charges, but did drop almost 200 previous cases the two troopers made arrests in, citing their dishonesty.

Last week, attorneys for Mason’s mother, Bakari Sellers, Benjamin Crump and Raleigh attorney Sean Cecil, announced that they are suing the Raleigh Police Dept. (RPD), and specifically Raleigh Police Officer K.S. Spaulding, for his alleged role in covering up the truth about Tyrone Mason’s death.

Mason’s mother, Henrietta Mason, alleges that Investigator Spaulding misled her for months about how her son died because of the state trooper’s chase. The attorneys charge that because of that, she suffered emotional and mental strain that required counseling.

The attorneys have filed a notice of claim against Officer Spaulding and the RPD, in effect, confirming that a lawsuit is coming.

Last week, the Raleigh Police Dept. issued the following response to the impending lawsuit:

"The Raleigh Police Department is aware of the Notice of Claim filed by the Tyrone Mason Family, consistent with our established practice, the department does not comment on pending or threatened litigation.” 

Now that the RPD has been notified that a lawsuit is pending, it can either settle with Henrietta Mason or go to court to contest it.

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THE CASH STUFF FOR JUNE 12, 2025

                                                                     DEVIN BUTTS

FAMILY SUES NCCU IN 

DEATH OF EAGLES

BASKETBALL PLAYER

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

The family of a deceased former North Carolina Central University Eagles basketball player is suing the school for his 2023 wrongful death, citing negligence.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed with the NC Industrial Commission, charges that 22-year-old Devin Butts died of cardiac arrest during an offseason late night workout with three teammates in the school’s McDougald-McLendon Arena in Durham, a workout that was supposed to have been prohibited in the facility after hours.

NCCU allowed Basketball Coach LeVelle Moton and staff to disregard school policy by “allowing athletes to work out unsupervised after hours…” the lawsuit maintains. Accordingly, NCCU administrators “created and/or allowed to exist a culture among the athletic department, particularly the men’s basketball team” that violated school policies and NCAA limitations on athletic activities.”

Allegedly, on the night of April 30, 2023, Devin Butts was able to join three of his teammates for an unsupervised one-on-one workout in the facility through an unlocked side door that had been propped open.

It was around 12:30 a.m. May 1, 2023 when Butts was felled by a cardiac event and fell to the court. His teammates called 911 at 12:35 a.m., records show, but it would be 18 minutes before Durham County emergency medical personnel responded on-site restart Devin’s heart.

The Butts family lawsuit also maintained that emergency medical response to help transport Devin to a nearby hospital was too slow, adding that in the meantime, because of the slow EMT response, Devin’s brain was deprived of needed oxygen for a prolonged period.

He died four days later, on May 3rd, 2023 at Duke University Hospital.

The Butts family suit alleges that there was no life-saving equipment available on-site that could have helped save the young man’s life. The only automated external defibrillator (AED) available was locked away in a trainer’s office in a different part of the building.

“Devin was denied essential, life-saving medical treatment that more likely than not would have restored his heart beat to a normal sinus rhythm and mitigated consequences of his cardiac event,” the lawsuit states.

Devin Butts was a 6-5 forward for NCCU’s Eagles Men’s Basketball team, and a native of Macon Georgia.

His family is seeking monetary damages for pain and suffering, in addition to medical expenses associated with the emergency, and punitive damages.

        NCCU has not responded to press inquiries for a response to the lawsuit.

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ST. AUG ORDERED TO PAY 

MILLIONS TO WIRELESS CO.

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

A judge has ordered beleaguered St. Augustine’s University (SAU) in Raleigh to pay two wireless companies in excess of $20 million for breach of contract, in addition to thousands more in attorney’s fees and interest.

This was just one of many lawsuits from vendors filed against the small, private Episcopalian HBCU (historically Black college/university) in past years, in addition to pending lawsuits from former employees. 

And this judgement comes as SAU is fighting for its very future in the aftermath of being denied permanent renewal of its academic accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges last March.

The school is currently in arbitration over that decision, a hearing for which is scheduled on June 26th. SAU was able to be granted temporary accreditation status in order for its class of 2025 to graduate last May.

But it’s this most recent order by a Wake County judge that may make SAU’s difficult climb back to solvency that much harder.

According to court documents dated May 16th, an entry of default was certified against SAU ordering it to pay SBA Connect,LLC $20,324,78530 plus interest.

The Florida-based company, along with Avaria, an IT company based in Raleigh, had alleged that SAU defaulted in paying for contracted services. So both firms gave the school the option of paying an early termination fee. SAU was also ordered to pay $11,551.23 in attorney’s fees, along with any other court costs assessed.

Reportedly, because SAU decided not to defend itself against the lawsuit, the default judgement was rendered.

SAU officials have not issued any public statements regarding the court ruling.

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