Tomorrow, October 18, is "No Kings Day." Here's the No Kings main page, where you can find events near you.
Michael Birnbaum & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Friday called for Russia and Ukraine to stop fighting at their current positions to settle the bitter war between the two nations — a proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he accepted as a starting point for further talks. The proposal was made during a West Wing meeting between the two leaders where Trump sought to replicate his success earlier this month in halting the fighting between Israel and Hamas. It was the latest effort by the U.S. president to cast himself as a global peacemaker, but his chances of success were far from clear as he gears up to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in coming weeks.”
Here's Another Nice Mess You've Gotten Us Into, Donnie! Eric Schmitt & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The U.S. Navy has rescued two survivors of an American military strike on a semi-submersible vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and is holding them aboard a Navy ship there, two U.S. officials said on Friday. The Navy for now is detaining the two people aboard a warship in international waters, marking the first time the military has found itself holding prisoners from President Trump’s six-week-old campaign of targeting suspected drug runners as if they were combatants in a war. The Trump administration now faces a dilemma about whether to release the two people, claim it can hold them as indefinite wartime detainees, or transfer them to civilian law enforcement officials for prosecution — a major and messy set of new legal and policy problems that could bring judicial scrutiny to the legally contested basis for its unfolding military campaign.” ~~~
~~~ Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “A bipartisan group in the Senate is planning to force a vote on legislation that would bar the United States from engaging in hostilities inside Venezuela without explicit authorization by Congress. The measure faces long odds given the unwillingness of most Republican lawmakers to challenge ... [Donald] Trump, who would be all but certain to veto it. But a vote on the legislation, which is required, would put Congress on the record on whether to rein in Mr. Trump’s escalating and legally questionable military campaign against Venezuela. Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and Adam B. Schiff of California, both Democrats, have teamed with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, on the resolution, worried that the Trump administration’s order of covert C.I.A. action in Venezuela could be the first step toward an all-out war.”
Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee took a victory lap Friday after releasing a transcript of their recent interview with former U.S. attorney Alex Acosta regarding Jeffrey Epstein, saying it provides evidence ... Donald Trump was not involved in the case against the late convicted sex offender. 'Acosta NEVER talked to Trump about Epstein,' the Republican majority of the Oversight Committee said in a post on X, attaching a screenshot of Acosta’s interview from September.... Oversight Democrats, however, had a starkly different takeaway from Acosta’s interview, with Sara Guerrero, a Democratic spokesperson, arguing his remarks suggested a lack of contrition for his part in the case.“The transcripts of Alex Acosta’s interview confirm what we’ve known all along: he has no remorse for his mishandling of the Epstein case,' Guerrero said in a statement.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: So, as I understand it, the Republicans argument is, "The cops never interrogated the suspect, so he can't be guilty."
Mark Berman & Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a lower-court ruling and allow ... Donald Trump to deploy troops in Illinois, ramping up federal efforts to send the National Guard into the Chicago area. Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a filing with the high court that Trump officials wanted 700 troops to protect immigration authorities in Chicago.”
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “The University of Virginia became the fifth school to rebuff a White House proposal to give universities preferential treatment if they uphold a set of White House demands. The White House offered the proposal to nine universities last week, asking them to sign on to a list of requirements laid out in a 10-page document in exchange for funds. In declining to sign on to the agreement, Paul G. Mahoney, Virginia’s interim president, said that while the university agreed with many principles outlined in the proposal, it wanted 'no special treatment' in funding.”
The Royal Duke of York Turns in His Coronet. Caroline Davies of the Guardian: “Prince Andrew has agreed to give up his use of the Duke of York title, he said in a statement released through Buckingham Palace. He will also give up use of his honours as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, meaning his only remaining title will be that of prince, which cannot be removed as he was born the son of a queen.... Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, will also not use her title and be known simply as Sarah Ferguson. The titles of their two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will remain unaffected. The agreement was made after high-level meetings at Buckingham Palace as aides were said to have finally reached a 'tipping point'.” Thanks to akaWendy for the link. The Washington Post's story is here.
Quote o'the Week: The Democrat Party's main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals. -- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, yesterday (thanks to RAS for the link)
~~~ Doktor Zoom of Wonkette: “... after ignoring months of protests against Dipshit Hitler’s authoritarian takeover, Republicans are finally noticing how little Americans want the whole 'Trump can do anything he wants' thing. That’s why they’re doing their damnedest to portray the nationwide No Kings rallies planned for Saturday as a terrible threat, a scary gathering of 'antifa' radicals who all hate America.... One of the stupidest talking points the administration has been pushing — not simply about No Kings, but about all protests against Trump — is the notion that some malign shadowy hand is behind Americans’ discontent with Trump. Americans could never object to what he’s doing unless some sinister bad guy — usually George Soros, but often just 'they' — led them astray.... It’s really quite impressive how many impossible things you have to believe before breakfast in order for any of this Trumped up 'antifa is planning a Hate America rally this weekend' to make sense — and even then, it still makes no sense.” Includes list! (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying the state’s National Guard to Austin ahead of this weekend’s planned No Kings rally in the Texas capital, he announced Thursday, as top Republicans around the country vilify the protests as Antifa-linked and led by the radical flank of the Democratic Party.... In addition to the National Guard, Abbott is surging Texas Rangers, state troopers and Department of Public Safety personnel to Austin, whom he said would be 'supported by aircraft and other tactical assets.'... 'Sending armed soldiers to suppress peaceful protests is what kings and dictators do — and Greg Abbott just proved he’s one of them,' Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a statement.... The first wave of No Kings protests in June was overwhelmingly peaceful and went on almost entirely without incident.” ~~~
~~~ Here's the KXAN (Austin) report, which akaWendy linked yesterday. She wonders why Abbott has targeted Austin: "Weird, especially that the 4 other Texas cities have larger populations than Austin and will likely have comparable turnouts."
Marie: It seems we're having a quasi-Nixonian moment. Remember that infamous 18+ minutes gap in the Nixon tapes? Well, now we have a one-minute-plus gap in the Trump Hungry Man tape. ~~~
~~~ First, there's this story in which Republican National Committee chair Joe Gruters tells a podcaster about a plane trip he took with Donald Trump: “He had hot fries waiting for him from McDonald’s [when boarded the plane.] ... And then he had a Filet-O-Fish, a Quarter Pounder, and a Big Mac, and I think he combined two of them." Gruters explains how amazed he was that Trump could eat so much in one sitting -- along with downing some kind of orange soda. But Then. Maybe Gruters' revelation embarrassed the Fat Fascist, because this guy says the original podcast "mysteriously disappeared from the Internet." The podcast has been completely removed from some sites. In other cases, the podcast is available, but the part where Gruber discusses Trump's Happy Happy Happy Meal has been deleted. (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday refiled his defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and several of its reporters, again accusing the news organization of seeking to undermine his 2024 candidacy and disparage his reputation as a businessman. Last month, Judge Steven D. Merryday, of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, threw out the president’s original 85-page complaint, saying it was unnecessarily discursive, laden with 'florid and enervating' prose, and took too long to lodge formal allegations of defamation. 'A complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective,' Judge Merryday wrote at the time. He gave the president’s lawyers 28 days to refile an amended complaint. Mr. Trump’s revised legal filing on Thursday evening was 40 pages long.... Many of the original complaint’s lengthy tributes to Mr. Trump, like a sentence that described his 2024 election victory as 'the greatest personal and political achievement in American history,' are no longer present. As in the original filing, the amended complaint asks for $15 billion in damages.”
Michael Birnbaum & Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Budapest within weeks to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, Trump said Thursday, declaring progress toward peace after a 'productive' call with his Russian counterpart. Trump is seeking another diplomatic breakthrough days after brokering a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The call came ahead of a Oval Office meeting Friday between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been urging Washington to sell Ukraine Tomahawk missiles that would strike deep into Russian territory.... After the call [between Trump and Putin], Trump expressed skepticism about selling the Tomahawks to Ukraine saying 'we need Tomahawks for the United States of America, too.' Zelensky, hours before his meeting with Trump, tweeted from the U.S. that despite the call 'nothing has changed for Russia — it is still terrorizing life in Ukraine,' pointing to the swarm of Russian drones that struck his hometown of Kryvyi Rih overnight.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Isn't it adorable how a confused old man -- and the Washington Post -- think Trump brokered the deal between Israel & Hamas & now can settle the differences between Russia's dictator & Ukraine's democratically-elected president? Oh. Not adorable? Trump doesn't negotiate anything. He sends greedy, ignorant Steve Witkoff around to scrounge up business opportunities, and the local sheiks & emirs bribe the two of them into agreeing to some kind of Middle East standoff. Then everybody says, "Oh, we hope Donald the Great wins the Nobel Peace Prize."
Jeff Cox of CNBC: "... Donald Trump’s tariffs will cost global businesses upward of $1.2 trillion in 2025, with most of the cost being passed onto consumers, according to a new analysis from S&P Global. In a white paper released Thursday, the firm said its estimate of additional expenses for companies is probably conservative. The price tag comes from information provided by some 15,000 sell-side analysts across 9,000 companies who contribute to S&P and its proprietary research indexes.... The S&P analysis ... says that just one-third [of the tax] will be borne by companies, with the rest falling on the shoulders of consumers, under conservative estimates.... 'With real output declining, consumers are paying more for less, suggesting that this two-thirds share represents a lower bound on their true burden,' said [one the study's authors]." ~~~
~~~ Marie: My guess is that consumers will pay a larger share of the tariff than the analysts estimate. Of course companies are going to tell them that they will eat as much of the cost of the tariff as possible. But the opposite is more likely true: companies will pass on to consumers as much of the burden as the market allows.
Catie Edmondson & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “Long before Republicans and Democrats reached the stalemate that has shut down the government..., [Donald] Trump made it clear that he was willing to ignore Congress’s constitutional power to allocate federal spending.... So as the shutdown enters its third week..., it has become increasingly evident to lawmakers in both parties that one serious obstacle to striking a spending deal to reopen the government is the possibility — maybe even certainty — that Mr. Trump will simply turn around and ignore it, as he has repeatedly ignored Congress’s will on spending this year.... Democrats are effectively being asked to sign onto a deal that they know can be unilaterally undone by a defiant president and a compliant Republican majority.... Democrats have said that any deal to resolve the impasse should include legislation barring the White House from pursuing rescissions and requiring the administration to spend money as Congress directs.” ~~~
~~~ Heather Cox Richardson: "Trump’s assumption of power over the government’s purse is a profound attack on the principles on which the Founders justified independence from King George III in 1776. The Founders stood firm on the principle articulated all the way back to the Magna Carta in 1215 that the government could not spend money without consulting those putting up that money by paying taxes....When leaders from the former colonies wrote the U.S. Constitution in 1787, they made sure the people retained control over the nation’s finances in order to guarantee that a demagogue could not use tax money to concentrate power in his own hands.... Trump’s declaration that he will ignore the laws Congress passed and take it upon himself to spend money as he wishes undermines not just the Antideficiency Act but also the fundamental principle that the American people must have control over their own finances." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Would that Richardson could get this across to the "originalists" on the the Supreme Court, who, for instance, have allowed Trump to withhold billions of dollars in the foreign aid funds Congress had appropriated. I mean, Sam, look at that! The Magna Effing Carta! It's as old as or older than some of the medieval "experts" you cited as justification for overturning Roe.
Eric Schmitt & Tyler Pager of the New York Times: “The military commander overseeing the Pentagon’s escalating attacks against boats in the Caribbean Sea that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs is stepping down, three U.S. officials said on Thursday. The officer, Adm. Alvin Holsey, is leaving his job as head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees all operations in Central and South America, even as the Pentagon has rapidly built up some 10,000 forces in the region in what it says is a major counterdrug and counterterrorism mission. It was unclear why Admiral Holsey is leaving now, less than a year into his tenure, and in the midst of the biggest operation in his 37-year career. But one of the U.S. officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said that Admiral Holsey had raised concerns about the mission and the attacks on the alleged drug boats.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Cheryl Rofer of LG&$: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in his impeccable professional manner, announced the retirement in a post on Elon Musk Social. It’s clear that destroying these boats is illegal both nationally and internationally. We don’t know how the Trump administration is justifying these actions, or who within the administration is justifying them. We don’t know what discussions Admiral Holsey was party to." ~~~
~~~ Prior Beharry & Frances Robles of the New York Times: “The U.S. military has destroyed five boats it has alleged were ferrying drugs into the United States, killing 27 people. And despite the mounting death toll, no authority has come forward to publicly release the names of any of the dead.... [The family of] Chad Joseph, a 26-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago who had been living in Venezuela in recent months..., is believed to be the first to publicly say they believe a relative is among those killed on one of the targeted boats. Mr. Joseph’s neighbor, known by his last name Samaroo, was on the same boat and is also missing, Mr. Joseph’s aunt, Lynette Burnley said.” ~~~
~~~ Natricia Duncan & Kejan Haynes of the Guardian: “Family members and neighbours have identified two men from Trinidad and Tobago who are believed to be among six people killed in a US airstrike on a boat allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela. Without providing evidence, Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the strike in international waters had killed six 'narcoterrorists' and claimed that 'intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics' and it was 'associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks'. Trinidad police said they were still confirming whether Trinidadians were among the dead, but residents of the north coast fishing village of Las Cuevas told the Guardian that two locals, Chad 'Charpo' Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, were on the sunken vessel. Samaroo was released from prison in 2021 after serving time for his role in a 2009 murder of a street vendor.”
Mark Berman of the Washington Post: “A federal appeals court on Thursday said that it would not let ... Donald Trump deploy troops in Illinois for now, leaving in place a judge’s ruling that blocked the administration from placing the National Guard in the Chicago area. National Guard troops can remain under federal control, but the Trump administration cannot deploy them anywhere in Illinois, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit wrote in an opinion.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Mattathias Schwartz & Roberto Chiarito of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Chicago said on Thursday that she was 'profoundly concerned' that federal agents might have violated a court order that she had issued setting strict limits on their use of tear gas and requiring them to give protesters warnings to disperse. During a 55-minute hearing, Judge Sara L. Ellis of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said she would order the director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Chicago field office to appear in her courtroom on Monday morning. She also said she would broaden her initial order, issued last week, to require federal agents to wear body cameras.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Nicole Foy of ProPublica: “When the Supreme Court recently allowed immigration agents in the Los Angeles area to take race into consideration during sweeps, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that citizens shouldn’t be concerned. 'If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States,' Kavanaugh wrote, 'they promptly let the individual go.' But that is far from the reality many citizens have experienced. Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. One of those women had already had the door of her home blown off while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watched. About two dozen Americans have said they were held for more than a day without being able to phone lawyers or loved ones.” ProPublica has found more than 170 U.S. citizens whom federal agents have detained. (Also linked yesterday.)
Sophie Sherry of the Chicago Sun-Times: “Federal immigration agents have arrested a Hanover Park police officer they claim overstayed a tourism visa, but village officials say the arrest contradicts the information they had received from the federal government earlier this year. Radule Bojovic, a native of Montenegro, was 'encountered during a targeted enforcement action,' according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He remained in immigration detention as of late Thursday in the Clay County Justice Center in Indiana, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainee locator. According to the Village of Hanover Park, Bojovic presented a valid and recently renewed work authorization card when he was hired back in January. The department also conducted a full background check with Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Hanover Park is a Chicago suburb. ~~~
~~~ Here's DHS's press release about Bojovic & horrible Governor JB Pritzker. MB: I've linked it for its comic value. It's possible Bojovic is lying about his status; it's possible village officials are lying, too. But it seems more likely to me that DHS is full of it.
Pirro Fail. Dave Jamieson of the Huffington Post: “A Washington, D.C., woman accused of assaulting a federal agent was found not guilty by a jury on Thursday, the latest embarrassment for Jeanine Pirro..., Donald Trump’s U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Prosecutors had alleged Sidney Lori Reid kicked a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent during an altercation outside the D.C. Jail in July. Reid had been filming Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers while they were detaining a man who’d just been released from the jail. Pirro’s office tried three times to indict Reid on a felony assault charge, but D.C. grand juries declined to return an indictmenthttps://www.wonkette.com/p/us-attorney-boxwine-cant-convict each time — a highly unusual occurrence that suggested the flimsiness of the government’s case. After whiffing on the felony counts, prosecutors ended up trying Reid on a misdemeanor charge of assaulting or impeding a federal agent — but they couldn’t even win that case. The jury deliberated for less than two hours on Thursday before returning the verdict of not guilty, WUSA9 reported.” ~~~
~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "This was a case that should never have been charged, one of at least dozens just like it. Pirro and her prosecutors have been damaged over and over in trying to bring it to trial.... We will see many more bullshit cases in months ahead. But this acquittal matters just as much as the flashier cases, because until the government stops trying to prosecute people because thuggish cops beat them up, this will keep happening." A WUSA story is here. MB: Read both Wheeler & the WUSA report for some of the spectacular prosecutorial & evidentiary screw-ups. Ordinary jurors -- plus a couple of D.C. public defenders -- are a lot smarter than Jeanine Boxwine & her crew. ~~~
~~~ Evan Hurst of Wonkette publishes the full statements of Reid & her attorneys on the outcome of the case. Fairly awesome.
Matthew Davisson of CBS News: "Federal prosecutors have charged two North Texas men accused of helping orchestrate a violent July 4 attack on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Alvarado, [Texas,] alleging the pair were part of an 'Antifa cell' that plotted to target law enforcement officers with gunfire and explosives. Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts were federally charged with providing material support to terrorists, attempted murder of officers and employees of the U.S., and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, according to the indictment from the Department of Justice. The charges come after ... Donald Trump signed an executive order labeling antifa a 'domestic terrorist organization.'... [A] Congressional Research Service ... report describes antifa as 'decentralized' and lacking a 'unifying organizational structure or detailed ideology,' consisting of 'independent, radical, like-minded groups and individuals' who largely support principles of anarchism, socialism and communism.'" An Axios story, which RAS linked yesterday, is here.
Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: “A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore nearly $34 million in antiterrorism and security funding for the New York City subway and regional railroads that he said had been withheld illegally. In August, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would receive the money. Less than two months later, without explanation or any note to the authority, FEMA cut the award to zero. The agency said later that it had done so because New York City is a so-called sanctuary city for undocumented people, the judge noted. On Sept. 30, New York State sued to regain the money, which, the judge said, was needed to protect the daily riders of the subways, commuter trains and buses and users of the bridges and tunnels. 'The withholding of these funds is arbitrary, capricious and a blatant violation of the law,' wrote the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, of Federal District Court. He said he was granting a permanent injunction requiring the government to grant the funding to the authority.”
Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP: “Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton was charged Thursday in a federal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.... Though the investigation that produced the indictment began before Trump’s second term, the case will unfold against the backdrop of broader concerns that his Justice Department is being weaponized to go after his political adversaries.” MB: This, of course, is just what Trump himself was indicted for. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post story, by Perry Stein & others, is here: “The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Greenbelt, Maryland, alleges Bolton shared with two relatives hundreds of pages of “diary-like” updates detailing his sensitive work between 2018 and 2019. It also accuses Bolton of printing and storing many of those records at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, which FBI agents searched earlier this year.... Unlike ... cases ... pursued by Trump’s handpicked U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia over the objections of career staff members, the indictment against Bolton was signed by Kelly O. Hayes, a respected veteran prosecutor appointed in February to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland. Tom Sullivan, a career prosecutor who heads the office’s national security division, presented the case to the grand jury and also signed the document.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ A pdf copy of the indictment, via the courts, is here. Via Politico. ~~~
~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The indictment on Thursday of John R. Bolton..., [Donald] Trump’s former national security adviser turned critic, over his handling of classified information invites comparison to Mr. Trump’s own indictment on similar charges.... Here is a closer look at how the two cases compare.... Both men were accused of not taking the proper precautions to secure classified information.... Both men were charged with multiple counts of unauthorized retention of national defense information under Section 793(e) of Title 10 of the United States Code, part of a law known as the Espionage Act.... The indictments against both men cited their own public statements criticizing others for mishandling classified information, to underscore that they knew what they were doing was wrong.... Only Trump was charged with obstruction offenses.... Only Bolton was charged with transmission offenses.” The link is a gift link.
Paul Krugman: “... the Argentina debacle is getting a lot of public attention, for good reason: It’s a teachable moment, a naked demonstration of the administration’s hypocrisy and incompetence. [Argentine President Javier] Milei and [U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent remain in the grip of magical thinking about what right-wing economics or a bailout by the US Treasury can achieve. Incredibly, Trump’s recent announcements have made the situation even worse. By declaring that U.S. economic support will only continue if Milei wins at the polls, he has galvanized the Argentine opposition to Milei, thus leading to more capital flight and skyrocketing interest rates. Trump clearly inhabits his own magical kingdom, unaware of how unpopular his bullying of other countries is. It now appears likely that Milei will suffer an even bigger loss in this month’s elections than he would have without Trump’s 'help'. However..., at least one set of enablers of this financial fiasco will be helped: hedge funds [-- some of whom have ties to Bessent --] who bet on Milei. They can use the artificial propping up of the peso to get their money out. For this is the real lesson of Argentina: 'American First' really means 'Billionaire Buddies First.'” ~~~
~~~ Maybe This is Worse. Marcie Jones of Wonkette: "Every day gets a little more fascist-scented around here, with the regime using every tool in its bag of tricks to go after anyone exercising their First Amendment right to decline to smooch Donald Trump’s droopy behind.... And now Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are installing a Bessent adviser/buddy, Gary Shapley, to weaponize the IRS. Shapley is perhaps best known for claiming HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP COVERUP, and he was acting IRS commissioner for an entire 48 hours in April — one of three acting commissioners in one week — until Elon Musk complained about him and then Bessent and Musk got into a whole screeching catfight about it that reportedly came to body blows. Whatever Shapley’s deal is, grown men sure are passionate about him! And now Shapley’s back, like herpes." Shapley had told folks he will be heading up an investigative unit; he already has compiled a list of targets; i.e., people on Donald Trump's enemies list.
Are You Being Served? Not if You Live in Southern Arizona. Claudia Grisales of NPR: "More than three weeks after winning her congressional race, Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva [D-Az.] has keys to her office, but not much else. 'I have no staff ... The phones don't work. There's no computer,' Grijalva says from her sparsely furnished office on Capitol Hill. 'We don't have a government email.'... House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says he won't swear in Grijalva until the government shutdown is over.... Johnson ... has previously sworn in new members from both parties within days of winning their races.... Johnson is facing accusations from both sides of the aisle that he's trying to avoid a vote to compel the release of files from the Justice Department's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.... The standoff could be inching its way toward the courts. On Tuesday, after the state certified Grijalva's election results, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatened legal action to try to force the oath of office." MB: Never mind the Epstein matter; if Grijalva's office in unstaffed & nonfunctional, she is not able to serve her constituents. There's no excuse for Bible Mike's discrimination against Southern Arizonans.
Benjamin Oreskes & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: “After racist texts among members of the New York State Young Republicans were made public, the party’s state leaders were slated to meet Friday and vote to disband the group, three people familiar with the matter said. The planned vote comes days after Politico disclosed how leaders of Young Republican groups across the country exchanged messages that included racist and antisemitic comments, with some participants’ discourse including comments about raping their political enemies and placing them in gas chambers. Several members of the New York State Young Republicans — including a recent chair and vice chair — were part of the chat and made offensive comments sent over Telegram. One state Republican official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the effort to disband the group, which was first reported by Newsday, would allow for a fresh start. By eliminating the group’s charter, the official said, Republican officials can reconstitute it and then bring in new leadership.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Gosh, such a blow to Sofa Surfer JayDee, who thinks racist, misogynistic, xenophobic & homophobic remarks are to be expected and ignored, as long as the "kids" making them are less than 41 years old. ~~~
~~~ It Depends on How Discerning the “Naked Eye” Is. Samuel Benson of Politico: “Several Republican Hill offices received American flags bearing 'obscured' swastika symbols, Rep. Dave Taylor said a day after an image surfaced of one hanging in his office. Taylor, an Ohio Republican, said in a statement Thursday that it was part of an orchestrated campaign. 'Numerous Republican offices have confirmed that they were targeted by an unidentified group or individual who distributed American flags bearing a similar symbol, which were initially indistinguishable from an ordinary American flag to the naked eye,' he said.... In February, similar flags were delivered via the United States Postal Service 'to multiple congressional offices,' a GOP Hill staffer, not from Taylor’s office, told Politico. An image obtained by Politico of one of those flags appears to be similar to the one displayed in Taylor’s office, showing a U.S. flag apparently altered with a red marker and whiteout to form the shape of a swastika.... 'It was plainly obvious to us that there was a swastika on the flag with the naked eye,' the staffer said. There was no investigation, and the flag was thrown away, 'like we would hate mail,' the staffer said.”
Business Before Morals. Heather Knight of the New York Times: “Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce, shocked San Franciscans last week when he said that he 'fully supports' ... [Donald] Trump and wants National Guard troops deployed to their city. But his allegiance to Mr. Trump goes much further. Screenshots of internal documents and communications obtained by The New York Times show that Salesforce has pitched Immigration and Customs Enforcement on using the company’s artificial intelligence capabilities to help ICE staff up as Mr. Trump expands immigration raids and deportations around the country. Mr. Benioff’s support of the National Guard ran counter to the city’s famously liberal underpinnings and to his own reputation as a benefactor of progressive causes.... The internal documents include a five-page memo sent on Aug. 26 that explained how Salesforce is best suited to help the agency with 'talent acquisition' to achieve its goal 'to nearly triple its work force by hiring 10,000 new officers and agents expeditiously.' The company ... had hoped to land a paid contract....” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Morals Before Business. Heather Knight of the New York Times: “A prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist -- Ron Conway -- resigned on Thursday from the board of Salesforce’s philanthropic arm after the company’s chief executive, Marc Benioff, said last week that he fully supported ... [Donald] Trump and wanted the National Guard to come to San Francisco.... Mr. Conway had been a member of the Salesforce Foundation board for a decade. He told Mr. Benioff on Thursday in a fiery email ... that their values were no longer aligned and that he was resigning as a director. Mr. Conway has been a close friend of Mr. Benioff for more than 25 years. Mr. Conway said in the email that he resigned because Mr. Benioff told The New York Times last week that he backed [Mr.] Trump and thought National Guard troops should be deployed in San Francisco, where Salesforce is based, to help prevent crime. The comments by Mr. Benioff, a billionaire who had been considered Silicon Valley’s rare progressive tech titan, enraged leaders in the liberal city.” The link is a gift link.
Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: “Susan Stamberg, a warm and familiar voice on NPR for over 50 years who in 1972 became the first woman to anchor a national evening news broadcast, “All Things Considered,” bringing an earthy informality to her pointed questioning of newsmakers, died on Thursday. She was 87.... Ms. Stamberg retired in September from the public broadcaster, where her last assignment had been special correspondent covering the arts. She served as host of 'All Things Considered,' the weekday program of news, analysis and interviews, for 14 years, through 1986, and during that time it became NPR’s marquee broadcast, bringing prestige and seriousness to the network as it quickly grew beyond its original 63 member stations. Along with Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer and Cokie Roberts, Ms. Stamberg was known in-house as one of NPR’s 'founding mothers,' journalists who brought their distinctive female voices to public radio.” ~~~
~~~ Susan Stamberg's NPR obituary, by David Folkenflik, is here.
~~~~~~~~~~~
New York City Mayoral Race. Emma Fitzsimmons & Michael Gold of the New York Times: “The first debate in the general election of the New York City mayor’s race was a bitter and combative affair, with the three candidates trading personal attacks, disagreeing fiercely over the Israel-Hamas war and questioning their rivals’ credentials. Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic front-runner, took an aggressive stance toward his main opponent, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, as well as toward ... [Donald] Trump — seeking to project strength and to make the case that he would stand up to Mr. Trump while Mr. Cuomo was beholden to the president. Mr. Cuomo, 67, who is in second place in the polls, had a more difficult job: to land a meaningful punch against Mr. Mamdani, 33, and cast himself as a common-sense, experienced alternative. Curtis Sliwa, 71, the Republican candidate, fought for speaking time, lashing out at both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Cuomo. Here are seven takeaways from the debate.” ~~~
~~~ Nick Reisman of Politico: “Zohran Mamdani did not make any major or minor mistakes. He was calm, smiled and made his points over attacks from rivals Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani dominated most of the two-hour debate against his more experienced opponents.... Cuomo needed a major moment this evening to trip up Mamdani in order to evaporate Mamdani’s double-digit polling lead. The former governor simply did not get that this evening. Mamdani also sought to moderate many of his hard-left views, insisting he would not defund the New York City Police Department.... Because of his ability to stay on message, remain calm and make clear cost-of-living points, Zohran Mamdani won the debate.”
Virginia AG Race. Erin Cox, et al., of the Washington Post: “A texting scandal and ... Donald Trump’s policies dominated Thursday night’s debate between Republican Jason S. Miyares and Democrat Jay Jones in Virginia’s attorney general race. Miyares, the incumbent, hammered Jones on recently leaked text messages from 2022 in which Jones mused about shooting another political opponent in the head. 'If you’re really sorry, you wouldn’t be running,' Miyares said during the first and only debate of the contest. Jones apologized for 'very grave mistakes.' And then he tried to change the subject, shoehorning Trump into nearly every topic. He promised to fight the president’s policies in court and used Trump’s name 37 times during the 60-minute debate.”
29 comments:
Aside from the irony noted above that Bolton is being accused of the same thing his former boss did (though I don't think Bolton stored boxes of classified material in his bathroom), I see another similarity.
Both Bolton and his former boss are arrogant pricks, which makes it hard for me to sympathize Bolton, for whom I have very different feelings than I do for Comey and James. I don't think it's just the differing politics of the accused, but I'm not sure I trust myself enough to be sure.
Still, even with Bolton, a vindictive prosecution, sure enough.
Re: The Dumbbell (NO) Peace Prize
First, Steve Witkoff is an idiot. You may recall one of his trips to Moscow to meet with Putin during which he brought no translator and had to rely on a Putin stooge to know what was going on. Also, there was no record made of what was discussed, likely because a lot of the interaction had to do with getting Fat Hitler a hotel in that city. Also Witkoff was probably trying to get Vlad interested in a condo on the upper east side.
Second, the ceasefire occurred only because enough Arab leaders got together to lean on Hamas to knock that shit off. It was also important that they had a crooked grifter in the Oval Office who could be bribed to give them special treatment for doing so. Fatty gets his money, Arab leaders lean on Hamas, and, as part of his bribery deal, Fatty tells Bibi to cut the shit (which he could have done on day one of his latest regime, but there was nothing in it for him at that point).
Once he got his payoffs, things could proceed. Also, little Jared had to weasel his way in to get his cut as well. I'm surprise Stoopid Eric and EightBall Junior didn't try to get a piece of the action, although their end might be down the line when the Trump Crime Family tries to build out their Riviera vision of Gaza. Bibi has already decimated the population (67,000 dead is the official Israeli count, but other more accurate estimates put the death toll at almost ten times that number) so there will be fewer former residents to shuttle off to some desert sand dune later on.
And another thing... there is no official peace yet. Bibi is still shooting at Palestinians, AND there is no agreement on the most important part of any real peace, a two state solution, which Bibi and his far-right supporters will never agree to. Ending a war is hard work, lots of details to be worked out. Fatty only cares about showing up to take the bows and be lauded as a great man.
Dumbbell Piece (of the action) Prize for that fat fuck.
More "Facts" from Roadkill Bob
RFKJ, brain eaten away by a worm and years of heroin addiction, is now having a sad about teenage sperm count.
Right. If your reaction was the same as mine (head shaking, eye rolls), you're probably thinking "How does he know this?"
Years ago, when my brother was just out of college, he was sending out resumes to dozens of places. A mutual friend saw the list and asked "Where did you get all these names?" My answer: "He made 'em up". Well, he didn't, but that's exactly how things work in the Fat Hitler bubble. You have an odd obsession (sperm count??) and you want a little ink spilled to rally support for your, um, obsession (sperm count), so you call a press conference and....you make shit up.
No studies, no facts, no expert analysis, and no solution to his made up problem. I mean, if you're gonna call a press conference and announce something like, um, low sperm count (and not just a little lower, but 50% lower than Roadkill Bob, who goes out of his way to brag about his own, um, sperm count--seven children...) and you're claiming a national emergency, and existential crisis, AND you're the guy in charge, shouldn't you, ya know, offer a solution of sorts?
It's like I call a press conference and announce "Water is 50% less wet than it was when I was a kid. National Emergency!" then....I go back home and take a nap.
But this idiot is running our healthcare. Holy peer reviewed studies, Batman
Ken,
I'm with you on the Bolton mess. First, it's the height of hysterics that Fatty is going after this guy for something he himself did, on a much larger scale (boxes and boxes of classified documents). He's also going after Tish James for something he himself was successfully prosecuted for and found guilty of, fraud, only, again, on a much larger, epic scale (decades of fraud worth tens of millions of dollars vs a single instance of "maybe" a mortgage screw up).
Second, Bolton is an asshole. That's not a reason for him to be indicted (were that the case, think of the overload in the courts! A single room in the Blight House has got to have scores of assholes in residence). He's been a prick for years, so I'm not crying any rivers for that guy, AND, in this case, he might actually be guilty, he's just that arrogant. But as they say in realpolitick circles and street fights, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
But only temporarily.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/16/tom-homan-50k-sting-operation-00611219
All in Homan's chain of command say he took no bribe.
None says he didn't accept $50K from the FBI. Even under oath, Bondi and Patel dodged the Q.
Even
Even under oath,
Get them under oath?
@Patrick: But, but, it isn't a lie. It's semantics!
Homan says, “I didn’t take $50,000 from anybody.” Okay, fine, maybe the FBI shorted him a few bills, so it was $49,700. And a number of stories have reported that it wouldn't technically be a "bribe" until Homan performed the "quo." So there again, the crime under investigation didn't happen. However, Homan may have committed another crime -- not declaring the $50K (or whatever!) on his 2024 tax returns.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, BTW, is not giving up just become Pam Blondie gave him the finger. Here he is, a day or two ago, explaining why the FBI is required to answer the Democrats' questions.
Patrick,
There are oaths....and there are oaths.
The oaths the Pretender and his flunkies took to uphold the Constitution clearly mean nothing to them, nor to the law.
In the Mueller investigation, the case that resulted in felony conviction for the Felon in Chief, and the NY reals estate case with the fluctuating values that has the Pretender so pissed at Ms. James,, I believe he avoided testifying under oath. He left the lying to the lawyers.
Oaths taken in depositions or in courts might still mean something. Kinda hard to tell.
Homan just picked up a paper Cava bag from FBI agents. The paper sack was all he really wanted. That there was $50k in it was secondary and unimportant. I mean according to JD getting $50k is a common occurrence that happens all the time to people, especially Tom.
I'm sure the media is going to be up in arms any minute now...
Leavitt: "The Democrat Party's main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals."
Round 2
"US Plans Another $20 Billion In Argentina “Support”
The Trump administration is working on an additional $20 billion support package for Argentina. If completed, it would bring the total price tag of a U.S. backstop plan for Buenos Aires to $40 billion. “It is a private-sector solution to Argentina’s coming debt payments,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said of the latest round of funding.
Bessent said the United States would arrange funding commitments from banks and sovereign wealth funds to cover the second $20 billion tranche."
Schrodinger's Leftist
Nothing Fat Hitler does is original, even his authoritarianism is copied off the paper written by the dictator sitting at the desk next to his in the School for Tyrannical Assholes. As has been pointed out, the primary features of his dictatorship come straight out of Tyrants 101.
One of the most prodigious of that breed was the first emperor of Rome, Gaius Octavius, better known as Augustus. This guy pretty much wrote the book on tyrants, and a guy who wrote the book on Augustus was the historian Tacitus. Although I had read snippets of his histories, it wasn’t until I read Clive James’ essay on Tacitus in his wonderful book “Cultural Amnesia”, that I went back and made a more serious study of his Annals. Funnily enough, our old pal Thomas Jefferson did so as well.
Another superlative historian, Garry Wills, in his book on the Declaration of Independence, points out Jefferson’s great affinity for Tacitus, whose ideas on tyranny are clearly echoed in that document, and reverberate right down to Fat Hitler’s siccing the military on American citizens this very day.
Clive James describes Tacitus as “an analyst of the totalitarian mentality”. In his Annals, he traces the Julian line from Tiberius to Nero, so he had more than sufficient examples of the pull of authoritarianism. His famous line “Solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant. They make a desert and they call it peace” must have rung a bell for Jefferson who had firsthand experience of an authoritarian king. Also the line about how attractive that state can be for inveigling others to just give up and go along, something we see every day under the dictatorship of the Fat Fascist: “But in Rome, the consuls, the Senate, the knights, rushed headlong into servitude.” They still do. Just look at the list of corrupt and cowardly schmucks who genuflected before the Orange Blob at that party for the gaudy saloon he’s building attached to the White House.
Elsewhere in the Annals, Tacitus mentions how those connived or bought into cooperation and outright collaboration do so because of a feeling that it’s better to stick to the “safety of the present”, an idea Jefferson recalled with this line from the Declaration: “…that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed”.
But in the very next sentence, Jefferson writes that at some point, when people have had enough of that dictator-king crap, it “...it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security”. Our current safeguards are all but useless.
Farther down, Jefferson gets into the details and begins his famous list of kingly abuses, nearly all of which you cannot honestly read without thinking of what Fat Hitler has been about, one of which is that he has “excited domestic insurrections amongst us” and has declared many of us “...out of his Protection and [is] waging War against us.
Tacitus would have no problem recognizing the signs. Neither would Jefferson, and so it behooves us to agree with both: No kings! Tomorrow, kids.
RAS,
Very clever, but in the famous thought experiment, Schrödinger's cat, the cat is both dead and alive. Pretty sure the MAGAts wish for only one of those states for all of us.
@Ken Winkes & @Akhilleus: As Ken says, Trump and Bolton are both "arrogant pricks." That is precisely the reason they committed the particular crimes (related to document retention) they (allegedly!) did. They are shocked, shocked when someone else does something similar -- especially if that someone else is a Democrat -- but they don't think the law applies to them.
I scanned the charging document, and if the government can prove up its case, I'd say Bolton should be checking out the Club Feds in hopes of getting membership in the "best" one. (Individuals 1 & 2, BTW, are Bolton's wife and daughter.) Bolton was just passing around this top secret stuff and writing it up into notes he shared with the wife & daughter. He was storing the stuff in his home -- in printed form -- and on his personal computers. It seems clear from the snippets of conversations the indictment includes that the wife & daughter were helping Bolton gather material for his memoir -- material that included classified information.
When you think about it, someone in Bolton's position has no business writing a memoir in the first place -- unless he leaves it under lock-and-key to be published in 50 years or something. He should find some other way to preserve his memories because so many of those memories cannot be shared in the short term.
Liberal Currents
"The Politics of Fear in American History
The precedents for the violence and overt use of state power we are now experiencing can be found in the 1910s and 1920s rather than the 1930s and 1940s."
Guillaume A. W. Attia
In a guest essay in The New York Times, Jacob Silverman, author of Gilded Rage, asserts that Teapot Done and Watergate are nothing compared to the crypto grift
"With World Liberty, Trump has created a powerful vehicle for those seeking influence. Anyone — you, me, an Emirati prince — can put money in his pocket by simply buying the tokens the company issues. The key is the convenience factor. For influence peddlers, bags of cash and Swiss bank accounts have been replaced by crypto tokens that can be quickly shuttled between digital wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges. Savvier crypto users — nation-states, hacker groups, money launderers — can use digital “mixers” and other tools to obfuscate their trail."
Homan must be taking notes for next time.
Bessent will arrange funding for Argentina from "sovereign wealth funds?"
US ain't got one.
So the US Treasury is going to solicit (Saudis? Qataris? Singaporeans?) to underwrite the Argentina peso?
And what would those countries want from us in order to prop up that shortfall bait?
This is really dangerous.
Should be "shortsell bait." Spellcheck yech.
Babbling Donnie meets Rambling Putie
Youse guys may remember that so-called "summit" meeting in Alaska where Fat Hitler rolled out the red carpet for war criminal Vlad the Impaler, then rolled over on his back hoping for a belly scratch from his Russian handler, you know, that meeting that was put together faster than you could order burger at a drive through.
Well, it appears that Fatty almost lost it when he was forced to sit and listen to a lengthy lecture on Vladified Russian medieval history that Putin apparently trots out to prove that he should own Ukraine.
Pretty funny tasting of one's own medicine, in'it? Here's bumbling, stumbling Fatty, whose stream of unconscious babbling bullshit can veer for hours on end across subjects as varied (and stupid) as batteries and sharks, and how no one knows why we had a Civil War, and how he was better than Charlie Kirk cuz he was smart enough to move when the bullet came near him and ol' Charlie wasn't (a story he related at Kirk's memorial birthday thing--seriously!), now having to sit there and listen to Putin's plodding history lesson.
"Well! I never! I came here to win a Nobel Prize. I'm not listening to this crap!" (Hey, Donnie, we know the feeling...) He apparently was on the verge of walking out, and this ordeal, it appears, has played a role in his about face on his former love interest, Vladdie Daddie.
Haha! What, you mean you weren't entranced by listening to tales of Rurik of Novgorod, Yaroslav the Wise, and Ignatz Radskywadsky, the famous medieval Russian testicle juggler?
Poor Fatty. International relations is hard work!
Marie,
Hey, you're famous, girl!
Check out today's No More Mister Nice Blog page. Look over on the right. There's a list of notable blogs of interest among which is listed Reality Chex, except they linked the old RC page from August, before you moved to our new neighborhood. They need an updated address. Anyway, you're now listed alongside Crooks and Liars, Digby, Driftglass, and Lawyers, Guns, and Money blogs.
Pretty cool.
So the White House press secretary says the Democratic Party is made up
of Hamas Terrorists, Illegal Aliens and Violent Criminals.
I've pondered this for an hour or so and just cannot for the life of me
figure which of those categories I fit into.
I can't be a Hamas Terrorist since I hardly know what they are, and I
don't own a gun but I guess I could terrorize someone with a Trump
wig and fake face.
Not an Illegal Alien, cause I was born in this country and am not brown
or black or yellow, although some people would say that being born
in Texas would make one an Alien.
So that leaves Violent Criminal. I did yell at someone last month.
She was riding a bicycle on the sidewalk and yelled at me to get
out of the way you nasty old fart. I kinda had to reply.
So it looks like Secretary what her name needs more categories.
I'll be waiting for that info.
Will we ever experience our own tipping point?
Caroline Davies, in The Guardian, reports Prince Andrew gives up royal titles including Duke of York
"The agreement was made after high-level meetings at Buckingham Palace as aides were said to have finally reached a “tipping point”.
There was understood to be “concern” and “anxiety” within the royal household about the continual headlines causing serious reputational risk to the monarchy.
Allegations about Andrew concern his relationship with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and recent details of his relationship with a prominent figure involved in the China spying case."
With respect to Putin's case that Ukraine is part of Russia:
1. Since the early 16th century, Russians have considered Ukraine part of Russia (i.e., "owned").
2. Since forever, Ukrainians have thought of themselves as "not part of Russia."
Part of this difference arises from names. Before there was a "Russia", there was a "Kievan Rus". It did not contain lands or people that later became "Russia", but it did have that name, "Rus." (pron. roose like moose). Let's ignore slogging through the real history of the formation of Muscovy and its claim to inheriting the assets of Byzantium after the Turks took most of that empire over, and Muscovy's claim to have it's political roots in Kiev. It is true that the religion and slavic cultures of the Muscovites and Kievans share roots, but the political sovereignties of the two are not common. You could say that our (US) sovereignty has a similar relationship with the roots of democracy in Pericles' Athens. It's a nice historical thought, but it doesn't mean that today's Greece has any claim to an inch of US soil.
Muscovite historians and propagandists have pushed the party line, under Czars and commissars, that Ukraine is Russia, since at least the 16th century. But it has always been in service of imperial expansion, not of facts. Ukrainians have in past centuries bowed under force, but have never considered themselves Russians.
George Packer, in The Atlantic, on The Depth of MAGA's Moral Collapse
"For Vance, ethical judgment has become a pure matter of partisanship, to the point of overcoming his most personal bonds. When a DOGE member was revealed to have posted “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity” and “Normalize Indian hate,” Vance—married to an Indian American—scoffed at the ensuing outrage and demanded that the offender be rehired. But when private citizens anywhere said something ugly about Charlie Kirk, the vice president went after their livelihood. Once morality is rotted out by partisan relativism, the floor gives way and the fall into nihilism is swift."
@westcoastman: I was wondering the same thing about myself. I am sort of in the same situation you are; I don't fit into any of Leavitt's categories. I was born at an Army Air Force base hospital in Florida, and my mother said I was the only White baby on the ward -- that all the others were Hispanic. So maybe I can pretend I'm an honorary "illegal alien." I'll take it.
So here's our Colander in Chief (many holes in the tin head) lecturing President Zelensky as to why he's not giving him Tomahawk missiles. "Well, Tomahawks are a big deal...they’re a very powerful weapon... a lot of bad things can happen.”
Bad things? Yeah, moron, bad things happening is the whole idea. They're fucking MISSILES! Of COURSE bad things are gonna happen. That's the goal.
We all know how stupid this idiot is, but finger wagging a real president who is in a life and death struggle with Fatty's former boyfriend about how missiles are dangerous almost takes the cake. The quote that does take the cake is him assuring everyone that Putin wants this war to end.
No. He doesn't. Are you daft? He spent half an hour lecturing your stupid ass about the medieval history that proves he should own Ukraine. He bombs Ukrainian cities every day and night. He STARTED this war, but according to Fatty he definitely wants it to end? Sure he does. With Zelensky's head on a pike at the gates of Kyiv and everyone in the country back in harness working for the glory of Tsar Vladimir.
Delusional is one thing. Delusional and stupid is another.
Wendy,
I like George Packer as a writer and reporter on foreign policy, but I have a bit of a quibble about his suggestion that MAGA is suffering a moral collapse. When. pray tell, was MAGA's moral stature any higher than the gutter? Pretty hard to collapse when you start from a moral hole that threatens the Mariana Trench for abyssal records.
Hang on...lemme get this straight. Fat Hitler signs a something, something, something order thingie, which he turns into a big fat public announcement for COVERT CIA actions in Venezuela.
Gee whiz, I thought COVERT meant "secret, hidden, concealed and not easily seen or found out". Silly me, I guess it really means "HEY, I'M SENDING SPIES TO YOUR COUNTRY TO FUCK WITH YOU!!!!"
The Venezuelans, naturally, will be on the lookout for fat guys wearing red MAGA hats, cuz Fatty will want to make sure those nasty Venezuelan people know what's what.
This is like bank robbers calling the bank manager to say "We're coming to get your money. Monday, sometime around 2:45. And we'll be covert. So pretend you don't see us."
Possible practice for a WAPO obit?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2025/06/21/the-washington-post-is-running-out-of-readers-willing-to-pay/?
Post a Comment