Dolly Parton's sister TORCHES Trump

John James — the MAGA congressman and Trump-endorsed candidate for Michigan governor — went on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday and called Trump's trade war with Canada "childish."

He was careful not to name Trump directly, which is its own kind of cowardice, but the message landed: the Lake Ontario rename, the 50% steel tariffs, the collapsed trade talks, and Trump's demand that all Canadian companies doing business in the U.S. relocate "immediately" have become a liability Republicans on the ballot can no longer ignore.

The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that GOP officials are privately worried Trump is souring their midterm chances. That must have taken a lot of investigative journalism.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford — who previously told Trump to kiss his ass — responded to "Lake America" by installing a billboard-sized sign on the lake's shoreline reading "Lake Ontario. Now and Always." Trump responded by posting a video of himself tearing down a digital version of that sign, replacing it with "Lake America," and dancing to YMCA. Yes, really.

The US-Iran war had its worst night in over a month, oil is spiking, and the guy who started it just posted a fake bombing video on his failing social media platform.

On Sunday, the US bombed Iran's Larak Island, claiming Iranian forces were preparing to launch sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Revolutionary Guard called it "a strategic and deadly mistake" and fired back — launching missiles at two US military bases in Jordan and targeting a base in the UAE. Jordan's air defenses intercepted eight missiles. No casualties reported at the bases.

Then Iran shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Trump posted an AI-generated video appearing to show Kharg Island — Iran's main oil export hub — being bombed. He captioned it "Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!!" It was fake.

Oil jumped another 2.8% Sunday night the moment the strikes hit. Gas is still above $4 a gallon nationally — up from under $3 when this war started in February. Talks between Washington and Tehran are officially stalled.

New polling shows James Talarico leading Ken Paxton by 6 percentage points in Senate race.

Among Hispanic voters, the poll has Talarico leading by 17 points, and among Black voters, 65 percentage points. Paxton leads with white voters by 14 percentage points.

Trump even flew out to a private fundraiser for Paxton in perhaps the clearest sign his campaign is in trouble. "I'm going to help Ken Paxton, and I'm going to spend a lot of time in Texas," Trump said.

Paxton, the Texas attorney general who survived impeachment and multiple federal investigations, has landed on his closing argument against Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico: the man eats tofu.

Paxton called him "Tofu Talarico" and the observation that he's "a vegan who thinks God is non-binary." The Guardian's Emma Beddington notes, correctly, that the Catholic catechism describes God as "neither man nor woman" — so Paxton is technically beefing with the Vatican.

Also, for what it’s worth, Talarico is not even vegan.

What this all tells you is that Paxton has nothing real on Talarico. When the most powerful Republican in Texas is reduced to mocking a candidate's diet, the candidate is winning the argument.

Stella Parton, we were not aware of your game.

The day after Dolly’s death, Trump claimed that Parton "really liked” him. He then posted an AI-generated image showing them walking arm-in-arm at the White House — a clearly fake (and pathetic) photo that drew mockery online.

Dolly's sister Stella wasn't having it.

Days earlier, on August 20, she'd already called Trump a "pimple in the White House," presiding over a do-nothing Congress.

”We have a pimple in the White House and the pus in Congress do nothing beneficial for the citizens of this country!” she wrote. “Strutting around with his female assistant carrying his diaper bag and soothing his every desire is gross and pathetic!”

“He is an illegitimate President!” she added.

Then, on the day Dolly's death was announced, she wrote that, “as a natural born citizen of the United States of America, I do not support nor do I agree with Trump or his deranged, ugly, nasty behavior.”

“Many of us are disgusted and feel threatened by his actions and his cabinet, Republican sycophants and the majority of the SCOTUS,” she added.

It was posted shortly before the public learned of Dolly's death, and Stella pulled it down around the time the announcement went out.

Dolly herself had always stayed above the fray, famously saying she had "too many fans on both sides of the fence" to take political stands. But if you know anything about her or her music, she made her stance clear. She was laid to rest in a private funeral this weekend.

The Trump administration is shelving two of three USDA research projects studying cyclospora — a foodborne parasite that has sickened tens of thousands of Americans this summer.

Two projects were defunded by Congress earlier this year; a third is being relocated from Maryland to Iowa as part of a broader USDA reorganization. Politico broke the story Sunday.

The timing — an active outbreak, a gutted research program — is not a coincidence. It is a policy choice, made by people who will never have to worry about where their food comes from.