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The Department of Justice and the FBI are showing signs of paranoia. And what is a real part of their fears is that the American people will finally see them for the betrayers of the Constitution that they are.
When the DOJ interprets the number 8647, found spelled out in sea shells on a beach by someone, and photographed by former FBI Director James Comey, as a threat on the President’s life, things are getting out of hand.
For those few who don’t know it by now, ‘86’ is restaurant shorthand for verbally telling the wait staff that the kitchen has run out of an item and not to take orders for it, verbally removing it from the menu, and ’47,’ of course, represents our 47th president.
‘86’ has occasionally been used in movies and TV shows to apply to more than just restaurant menus. And since a paranoid DOJ has made a legal issue of it, politically motivated tee shirts and caps with ‘8647’ on them have appeared.
A critic of President Trump, and there are many of them, might smile at that, seeing it as a clever way of advocating removing the President by some legal means such as impeachment or by the 25th Amendment. Only a DOJ sick with paranoia would see it as a death threat, and will get nowhere with it in a courtroom. The Supreme Court in Watts vs United States in 1969 ruled that kind of ‘political hyperbole’ was permissible under the First Amendment when it was used against President Lyndon Johnson.
Nevertheless, it should be taken as a warning to those critical of President Trump to be careful of the language they use. There might be people somewhere in the Administration maintaining a list of those who criticize the President and feel that some of those at a ‘No Kings’ demonstration, for example, may be thinking in the direction that led to the removal by beheading of France’s King Louis XVI back in 1793. That was really taking ‘No Kings’ to the the max. (or should I say, the ‘ax.’)
I suspect that the DOJ, the FBI, and also the Secret Service will try to keep a watchful eye on the President’s critics, especially since It has been reported that Cole Tomas Allen, now in custody for last Saturday night’s assassination attempt, recently attended such a demonstration. But that will be a big job because most Americans, from what all of the polls show, are included among the President’s many, many millions of critics.
But still, please be careful of what you say or write. Bad people are watching.
JL
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‘Upgrade to Paid’
In searching the internet for information, the three words I dislike the most to encounter are requests to ‘upgrade to paid.’
Some news or opinion sites provide a great amount of useful information before they make that pitch (Professor Richardson’s ‘Letters from an American’ is the best example) but many do not (the Free Press and the Atlantic magazine ask readers to ‘upgrade’ after just one or two brief paragraphs of a tempting article).
Some fall in the middle, combining availabilty of news and opinions with a ‘paywall’ in an inconsistant manner. Economist Paul Krugman’s site as well as Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles are examples of that. On many sites, ‘upgrading’ enables the reader to add their comments.
The only such site (besides my community’s basic cable subscription) that I pay extra for is that of the New York Times, one that usually has a generous amount of free information, but offers a lot more to subscribers.
Also worthy of mention is the heavily opinionated KOS website; it boasts that it does not have a paywall, but asks for donations from those who agree with its usually anti-adminstration and anti-Trump postings.
JL
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About Urgent Care
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| When and When Not to Use! |
And speaking of the New York Times website, it recently provided important information to subscribers regarding Urgent Care centers as compared to visits to hospital Emergency Rooms or visits to one’s primary physician. Try to check it out by copying and pasting https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/well/urgent-care.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20260504&instance_id=175073&nl=the-morning®i_id=78918068&segment_id=219328&user_id=02fa158150d34dc186b01b1b8ec7a224 on your device’s browser line or clicking here. It may or may not work for you. (It may be available only to Times subscribers.)
If it doesn’t work for you, an Artificial Intelligence summary as available on most internet searches, such as Google, will still be helpful. Be sure to mention ‘Urgent Care, Emergency Rooms, and Doctor visits’ in your search, wherever you do it. It is important information, wherever you get it.
JL
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The Words of a President
I do not pay to be able to comment on Professor Heather Cox Richardson’s daily ‘Letters From an American’ site, but if I did, I would have made this comment regarding her May 3 posting:
‘Today’s listing of and the actual quotes from the eleven social media postings made by President Trump on Friday evening can serve as evidence, in his own words, to use to remove him (86?) from office via the 25th Amendment. It appears that he is out of his mind.'
Eleven crazy postings! Check them it our for yourself by copying and pasting https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ on your device’s browser line or by clicking here.
And here’s some more good stuff.
Ooops, I can’t figure out a way of including the ‘Blondie’ comic strip dated May 4, 2026 on Jackspotpourri, which had been my intention. It'll be easy for you to do it though.
View it on your own by using Google or any reliable search engine to access it. I wonder who she and Dagwood were watching on TV? Three guesses.
JL
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A Way Out for Trump is in Iran’s Hands
In an interview with Greg Sargent of The New Republic included in Paul Krugman’s Substack column on May 2, it is acknowledged that Trump has not won his war against Iran. All that the President now requires to end the war he started without any real goals nor Congressional approval is a way to avoid the humiliation that accompanies his not winning it.
Conceivably, Iran can use the cards in its hand that include (1) its control of the Strait of Hormuz (they never had that until Trump shoved it into their hands), (2) its still having a stash of refined uranium, (3) its continued nuclear program deep underneath remote mountains, and (4) its support of terrorist regimes elsewhere, to serve as sufficient leverage to provide some off-ramp for Trump to use.
Even just appearing to give in a bit in one or more of these areas might accomplish that. According to polling, most Americans oppose the war and and would like it ended, if only for relief from the economic distress that has accopanied it. As for Iran, its entire economy is in tatters and it is in financially worse shape than was the now defunct Spirit Airlines.
It would be a clear victory for Iran if the war were to end with that nation merely surviving Trump’s attack on it, while it appears that all the President wants is to avoid the embarassment that comes with not winning it, in effect being a loser, damaging his self-designed imperial image.
But going this route seems to be up to Iran, and is not Trump’s decision. Iran holds most of the cards leaving only empty rhetoric and the threat to blockade Iranian shipping in Trump’s hands. The next move must come from Tehran. I hope, but doubt, that our President understands that.
JL
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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Your comments on this ‘blog’ would be appreciated. My Email address is jacklippman18@gmail.com.
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More on the Sources of Information in Jackspotpourri: The sources of information used by Jackspotpourri include a delivered local daily ‘printed’ newspaper (now the South Florida Sun Sentinel) and what appears in my daily email; that includes the views of many contributors, including the New York Times and other respected journals.
Be aware that when I open that email, I first quickly glance at and screen out those sent to my very old former email address and those considered ‘promotional’ by Gmail’s system as no more than advertisements or requests for donations.
Besides these sources, I also utilize the Google search engine where I can look up any subject I want.
Lately, these search results have been headed by a very generalized summary clearly labeled as being developed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). On occasion I might use such search results, but when I do, I will say that I am doing so. Generally, however, I try not to use such summaries in preparing Jackspotpourri.
Following such ‘AI’ search results, there follows the other results of my search. Unlike the anonymous AI-generated summaries, the sources of these results are clearly indicated, giving them a greater credibility than any AI summary.
It comes down to who YOU want to be in the driver’s seat in seeking information: yourself or something else (Artificial Intelligence), the structure of which somewhere along the way had to have been created by others, with whose identity I am neither familiar nor comfortable. At least when I read a column by Timothy Snyder, for example, I know from where it comes, and to some extent, what to expect.
Caution should be exercised in using Artificial Intelligence. Always!
JL
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