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Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

Collins: Trump is bad for water and puppies

In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on the Federal budget in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. For the past eight years, thousands of conservative activists have descended on Washington each spring with dreams of putting a Republican in the White House. This year, they're learning reality can be complicated. With Trump's presidential victory, the future of the conservative movement has become entwined with an unconventional New York businessman better known for his deal-making than any ideological principles. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on the Federal budget in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. For the past eight years, thousands of conservative activists have descended on Washington each spring with dreams of putting a Republican in the White House. This year, they're learning reality can be complicated. With Trump's presidential victory, the future of the conservative movement has become entwined with an unconventional New York businessman better known for his deal-making than any ideological principles. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) In this Feb. 22, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on the Federal budget in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. For the past eight years, thousands of conservative activists have descended on Washington each spring with dreams of putting a Republican in the White House. This year, they're learning reality can be complicated. With Trump's presidential victory, the future of the conservative movement has become entwined with an unconventional New York businessman better known for his deal-making than any ideological principles. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

And now, things that are Really Happening in the world of Donald Trump.

We bring you this list as a public service. It’s easy to be distracted by all the strange/contradictory/awful things the president says. For instance, a lot of people were stunned when he responded to a question about anti-Semitic attacks in the United States by citing his winning numbers in the Electoral College.

Much, much later, Trump did read a statement denouncing racism and anti-Semitism. But even that seemed worrisome. It’s not just that an elected official should know how to answer that question without a lot of prep work. Everybody should know how to answer that question. Your 3-year-old nephew. Your Uber driver. Uncle Fred who gets drunk at Thanksgiving. Nobody gets to ask for a script.

However, some little gremlins have been busy on the government websites, clearing out unpleasant information. The Department of Agriculture has taken down its list of violators of the Animal Welfare Act, including “puppy mills” rife with dangerous and unsanitary conditions.

The justification for that one seemed to involve concern that the list violated the privacy of people who are terrible to little dogs. It’s hard to say for sure, since no one is picking up the phone at the headless Department of Agriculture. But if you’ve got a Republican member of Congress, be sure to go to the next town meeting and yell, “What about the puppies?”