Rick Vilardell

Retired Audio Video Production Teacher at the Career Center @ Riverside High School, El Paso, TX. Thirty three years of TV & Radio broadcast experience at NC9.

[Jo @JoJoFromJerz]

Dear Ma & Pa MAGA,

You say that Donald Trump “loves our troops.”
So, once again, I want to know why that is.

Is it because he received 5 deferments (for a fake medical condition) from the draft during the Vietnam War?

Is it because he demeaned a POW, attacked a Gold Star family and told a military widow that her deceased husband “knew what he had signed up for.”

Was it the time he downplayed the traumatic head injuries suffered by our troops after a missile attack as “not real” because they weren’t ‘missing hands and limbs.’

Is it the time he said he didn’t want to be seen with war-wounded amputees and to keep them forever out of his sight, or the time he called our fallen heroes of war “suckers” and “losers”?

Was it the time he skipped an event in France honoring our Marines because it was raining?

Is it the all the times he called our military leaders “dumb” and “overrated” while calling terrorists like the Taliban & Hezbollah “very smart”?

Was it the time he demanded the flags after McCain’s death be returned to full mast, or the time he demanded that a ship bearing his name be blocked from view?

Was it when he suggested that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff deserved to be executed?

Maybe it was when he asked Gen. John Kelly (who lost his son in combat), why anyone would sign up for service because as far as he saw it, there was “nothing in it for them.”

Perhaps it was hearing him say that as President he would allow our adversary to attack the same allies this county’s Greatest Generation fought beside and died defending?

Or was it when he insulted Nikki Haley’s husband for currently serving our country overseas?

Was it when he said the Medal of Freedom he gave to his rich donors was “much better” than the Medal of Honor because the recipients of that honor are “in bad shape or dead.”

Was it when he insisted on using the sacred shrine that is Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for more than 400,000 veterans and their families, as a photo op for his campaign despite the fact that he wasn’t allowed to do so and officials there were attacked by his staff for trying to stop him?

Was it when he decimated the VA and gutted a suicide prevention hotline meant to help our veterans in their darkest hour?

Is it the fact that he’s fired more of our veterans than any other president in our history?

Or was it when he skipped the dignified transfer of the four soldiers who died in Lithuania so he could host a glittery gala at his gilded golf motel for the folks who funded 9/11?

Which of those things makes you believe he loves our troops?
Which one?
Because for the life of me, I can’t figure it out, and I’d really, really love to know.

[Veronica Escobar @vgescobar]

Next time a republican tells you they support legal immigration, people who do it “the right way” and “get in line,” show them this.

Then ask if they will speak out against Donald Trump’s deportations of legal immigrants w/ no criminal record.

Their silence will speak volumes.

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

BREAKING: Trump is once again at his golf course on the Taxpayers’ dime.

This trip will cost us $2.9 million. Thus far taxpayers have spent $26 million in 2025 so that the president can golf and spend time outside the Whitehouse.

ALERTING @DOGE on this flagrant inefficiency.

(Video from last week’s outing).

[Jason YYC @Jason___YYC]

He went to Greenland and didn’t even have the decency to wear a suit and say thank you.

[Veronica Escobar @vgescobar]

What MAGA promised:
Low grocery costs, lower gas prices, no taxes on tips or overtime.

What MAGA delivered:
Cut Medicaid, cut nutrition programs, higher unemployment, higher costs, general chaos.

What Democrats warned about:
(See: "What MAGA delivered")

[Rick Vilardell @RickVilardell]

@jamestalarico @GregAbbott_TX If you must have vouchers, then flip the conditions around. Let the public schools have the $10k per student with no attendance accountability and have the private vouchers be $6500 based on verifiable attendance.

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

If you’re still on the fence about voting in this election, think about what really matters – about the values we were taught, the kind of country we want to be, and how this is a moment when your vote really does count. 

Your vote could determine the fate of our republic – the world that our children and grandchildren will inherit. It’s an awesome responsibility. But what an extraordinary privilege it is to live in a democracy that gives each of us the opportunity to make our voices heard.

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

Let’s set the record straight: Trump is not a “successful businessman.” He is, objectively, a business failure.

[Rick Steves @RickSteves]

America could wake up on Wednesday with all three branches of our government — the — Executive, Legislative, and Judicial — Trumpist.

With this clip, take five minutes to ponder Germany’s memorials and the price that nation paid for being bamboozled by a bombastic autocrat. Listen to the heartfelt message of my German tour guides, for whom these memorials are like ghosts of mistakes made and evils allowed… ghosts that haunt their society still. These are the same guides who clink glasses in the beer halls and yodel from the hilltops with our American tour members. They admire America. They love America. And they are worried for America.

If we vote for fascism, it’ll likely be won by one or two percent (or even less)…and perhaps just a few stadiums of people will tip the balance. And history has taught my European friends that the cost of a course correction is infinitely more heartbreaking after a wannabe dictator wins an election than before. We are all participants, we are all responsible, and we will all bear the consequences of our collective choice.

[Just saying @kangaroos991]

Both sides are NOT the same! #VoteBlue 💙

[Dana Goldberg @DGComedy]

If you plan on voting for Jill Stein or Trump because of the war in the Middle East, please watch and reconsider. It’s just 6 minutes and it’s worth the watch.

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

BREAKING: @PsychoPAC24 just released their last ad featuring Trump’s sexual assault victims telling their stories.

Please share far and wide!

[Pete Buttigieg @PeteButtigieg]

A vote for @KamalaHarris is a vote to get politics out of everyone’s face - and maybe even start to see a normal Republican Party reemerge.

[Pete Buttigieg @PeteButtigieg]

Kamala Harris believes those who disagree with her should be at the table.

Her opponent calls Americans who criticize him “the enemy.”

[Polly Kane ☘️🇺🇳💃🏻🇺🇳 @PollyKaneig]

Texas is a glutton for punishment

[Rick Vilardell @RickVilardell]

Are you voting for Trump? Ready to have JD Vance for president? Vance sees this opportunity to be president as Trump shows signs of cognitive decline. Vance may not wait long to implement the 25th Amendment & claim the presidency. Once critical of Trump, now he supports him. Why?

[TrumpsTaxes (@trumpstaxes.com on bsky) @TrumpsTaxes]

Omg they did a male version of the ‘secret vote’ ad and it’s even better than the female version.

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

Our closing ad

“We believe in each other. We’re not falling for these folks who are trying to divide us.”

🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

[Surfer Dude 🏄‍♂️ @dudeonthebay]

If you’re still an undecided voter you should listen to Bill Maher’s closing tonight

[The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln]

The award-winning cast of The West Wing reunited to endorse VP Kamala Harris for President in a new ad created in partnership with the Lincoln Project.

Martin Sheen
Bradley Whitford
@AllisonBJanney
@DuleHill
@JoshMalina
@NellyMoloney
@MaryCMcCormack
@Richard_Schiff