⭐David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his 'own morality,' brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world. Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: 'Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.' 'I don’t need international law,' he added. 'I’m not looking to hurt people.' When pressed further about whether his administration needed to abide by international law, Mr. Trump said, 'I do.' But he made clear he would be the arbiter when such constraints applied to the United States. 'It depends what your definition of international law is,' he said. Mr. Trump’s assessment of his own freedom to use any instrument of military, economic or political power to cement American supremacy was the most blunt acknowledgment yet of his worldview. At its core is the concept that national strength, rather than laws, treaties and conventions, should be the deciding factor as powers collide.”
⭐This Is Astounding. Anna Griffin, et al., of the New York Times: “Federal agents shot two people in Portland on Thursday during a traffic stop.... A Homeland Security Department spokeswoman said in a statement that U.S. Border Patrol agents were conducting a 'targeted vehicle stop,' and that an agent fired a shot after the driver tried to run them over. The spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, described the agents’ target as an undocumented immigrant and member of Tren de Aragua, a gang with roots in a Venezuelan prison that has been a frequent target of ... [Donald] Trump. She provided no immediate evidence that the person who was targeted was affiliated with the gang. Bob Day, Portland’s police chief, said at an evening news conference that he had no information on the identity of the two people who were shot, a man and a woman. He said that the federal officials involved in the shooting were no longer on the scene when local officers arrived. The police were alerted to the shooting when the injured man called 911, Chief Day said.... Chief Day said local officials knew little about the shooting and that the investigation would be led by the F.B.I. 'We do not know if this is an immigration-related event,' he said. 'We do not know which federal agencies were involved.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Donald Trump has unleashed murdering thugs around the nation and across the hemisphere. There is no one to stop them. None of us is safe from them. We have zipped right past 1984 and moved into the chaotic savagery of Lord of the Flies.
JayDee is on the teevee right now. He is the most obnoxious, pissy, lying punk to walk the face of the Earth. Dan Mangan of CNBC reports on some of the excuses JayDee earlier has proffered for killing a woman in cold blood.
Ten years ago this month, Donald Trump said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Now, one of his thugs has shot somebody in broad daylight on a major street in a major American city with multiple videographers recording the event, and sure enough, Team Trump has arranged to get away with murder: ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: “A top state law enforcement official said Thursday that federal agencies were denying Minnesota investigators access to evidence from a fatal shooting by an immigration enforcement officer the day before, preventing them from participating in the inquiry into an incident that officials have described in starkly different terms. Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said on Thursday that his agency had withdrawn from the investigation of the death of Renee Nicole Good, 37, as a result.... Federal officials, including President Trump, defended the shooting as lawful, saying that the agent who fired his weapon was acting in self defense. City and state officials described those accounts variously as 'propaganda,' 'garbage' and 'bullshit,' with a video analysis showing that the woman’s vehicle appeared to be turning away from the officer as he opened fire.”
Paul Campos in LG&$: "We're finally on our own. The murder of Renee Good was an intentional act in several senses. First, it was a murder in the classic legal sense, in that the ICE agent who shot and killed her was in no danger — the video clearly shows Good trying to drive away as masked armed men shout contradictory orders at her — so the use of deadly force had no justification. Of course the entire right wing is lying about this, recalling a famous quote from 1984: 'The Party told you to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.'... But this was an intentional act in a more abstract and attenuated sense, in that Stephen Miller has created a set of circumstances in which it was inevitable that this sort of murder would happen in this way, so he could pursue his sadistic fantasies of a violent crackdown on protest against the regime (note here that Good wasn’t even protesting...)." Read on. Campos has more to say.
From a New York Times liveblog: “The Senate voted narrowly on Thursday to take up a resolution that would rein in ... [Donald] Trump’s power to use military force in Venezuela, a striking rebuke to the president’s authority. The 52-47 vote, with a few Republicans joining Democrats, begins debate on the resolution invoking the War Powers Act. Another vote would be needed for final passage of the resolution. The move is largely considered symbolic, as it is unclear whether the House will approve it, and Mr. Trump can veto the resolution should it end up on his desk. Mr. Trump immediately attacked the five Republican senators who voted with Democrats to advance the measure, asserting on social media that they were undermining national security. 'Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,' he said in a lengthy post.”
Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services shrank to $29.4 billion in October, down from $48.1 billion the prior month as the Trump administration’s tariffs continued to weigh on trade, data from the Commerce Department showed on Thursday. The figure was the lowest monthly trade deficit recorded since June 2009. But because of a surge in imports earlier this year, the overall trade deficit from January to October was still up 7.7 percent from the previous year. Imports in October fell 3.2 percent to $331.4 billion from the previous month, while exports rose 2.6 percent to $302 billion. Because exports grew more than imports, the U.S. trade deficit shrank, in line with ... [Donald] Trump’s goals.... Economists have said trade patterns have been distorted by businesses’ efforts to avoid paying tariffs, and cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from a few months of data.”
Devon Lum, et al., of the New York Times: analyze video of the murder of Renee Nicole Good from three different cameras. They find that the videos contradict claims by Donald Trump & Kristi Noem and show that the vehicle was turning away from the officer who killed the driver. The vehicle did not hit him or "run over him." Their analysis is consistent with Heather Cox Richardson's narrative, linked below. ~~~
~~~ Aaron Davis & Jonathan Baran of the Washington Post lean toward similar conclusions. MB: However, the Bezos Post says only that the analysis "raises questions" about Trump's & Noem's accounts.
Chris Hippensteel, et al., of the New York Times: “In the last four months alone, immigration officers have fired on at least nine people in five states and Washington, D.C. All of the individuals targeted in those shootings were, like the woman killed on Wednesday, fired on while in their vehicles. In each case, officials have claimed that the agents fired in self-defense, fearing they would be struck by the vehicle. At least one other person died as a result of those shootings.... ICE and the Homeland Security Department’s policy on the use of force says that officers are authorized to use deadly force only if the officer 'has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.' The policy further states that officers should 'avoid intentionally and unreasonably placing themselves in positions in which they have no alternative to using deadly force.'” MB: So there are two common-sense policies right there that the officer who shot Good violated. ~~~
~~~ The AP further describes general & specific law enforcement rules for using deadly force against a driver of a moving vehicle.
Douglas MacMillan of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration says it is focused on protecting unaccompanied migrant children.... But for the past three months, [the Office of Refugee Resettlement] has also locked some teenage migrant boys inside a secure juvenile prison in southeast Pennsylvania with a long and publicly documented history of staff physically and sexually abusing juvenile offenders in its care.... ORR awarded $9 million to Abraxas Alliance in August to hold up to 30 young immigrants deemed a danger to themselves or others in its facility in Morgantown.”
Judd Legum of Popular Information: Trump's plans for Venezuelan oil "could be a financial windfall for Paul Singer, a Trump-supporting billionaire." Singer bought Citgo in a fire sale (which he helped force), and it has refineries on the Gulf of Mexico which "are purpose-built for Venezuelan heavy crude."
~~~~~~~~~~~
A Murder in Minneapolis
Marie: Please read RAS's commentary at the top of today's thread, as RAS probably speaks for many of us who may not articulate our feelings quite as well. Let me just add this bit of advice: keep your phone charged and be ready to take videos because you never know when your recordings may be needed. Some lives have been saved just because the agents realized they had been caught on camera and would have trouble lying their way out of the crimes they were about to commit.
Alex Tabet & Clarissa-Jan Lim of MS NOW: “An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman Wednesday during an operation in Minneapolis, the Department of Homeland Security said.... DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin [said,] '... one of [a number of] violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism.'... McLaughlin said the officer fired in self-defense.... In a post on X, city officials said they were still gathering details but said federal immigration enforcement agents’ presence is 'causing chaos in our city and making our community less safe.' This is a developing story.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Wednesday afternoon, Michael Feinberg, an FBI expert, explained on MS NOW how real federal officers are trained to approach a possible suspect in a vehicle. It left me shaking. If those agents had following normal training procedures, they never would have shot the woman. Never. Hours later, I was still shivering from this brutal, completely unjustified use of force. And it probably isn't entirely the fault of the murderer. Kristi Noem & Donald Trump handed that dumb fuck a gun and sent him out on the street without having any idea how to do his job. ~~~
~~~ Minnesota Public Radio ran live updates Wednesday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ New York Times live updates for Wednesday are here. At the top is the 18-second video of the murder, as taped by a bystander. With audio. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: ABC News plays the murder video at the top of its report, embedded below. It sure looks to me as if the driver was trying to drive away from the scene after a masked officer approaches the car in a menacing way, yelling at the driver to "Get out of the fucking car." He immediately tried to break into her vehicle. The video may not be proof, but it sure doesn't show a "domestic terrorist" trying to run down officers or anyone else. Moreover, I saw video of an eyewitness who confirms what I'm seeing in the video. In addition, CNN reported that ICE officers gave the driver conflicting orders, one of which was to go away. So when she was attempting to drive away, she was following their commands. CNN analyst John Miller said the ICE officer fired the first shot before the vehicle began to move forward.~~~
~~~ As RAS notes in yesterday's Comments, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is a proven liar. Kristi Noem has since come out with the same "domestic terrorism" charge. To be as charitable as possible, neither Noem nor McLaughlin has any idea what happened, and both should have kept their traps shut. Donald Trump has now weighed in with extensive commentary, which he too made up out of whole cloth. They all defame the victim as a terrorist, contrary to the plain evidence: ~~~
~~~ Marie: In a press conference, Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, said that the DHS claim that an ICE officer shot & killed the woman in self-defense was "bullshit." To ICE, he said, "Get the fuck out of Minneapolis."
Heather Cox Richardson has perhaps the best, most truthful, all-in-one-place account of how the murder of Renee Nicole Good went down and how Trump, Noem, et al., are attempting to gaslight us all in the aftermath.
Kelly Cho & Annie Gowen of the Washington Post: The murder victim, Renee Nicole Good, was a mother of three and a poet. She was an American citizen and not the target of the ICE raids.
When Tom Homan Is the Voice of Reason. Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: “Just hours after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Mr. Trump told a group of New York Times reporters that the woman was at fault because she had tried to 'run over' the officer.... As a slow-motion surveillance video of the shooting played on [a] laptop [an aide displayed], we told him that this angle did not appear to show an ICE officer had been run over.... The exchange was a glimpse into Mr. Trump’s reflexive defense of what has become a sometimes violent federal crackdown on immigration.... Speaking at a news conference in Minneapolis, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said that the woman was 'stalking' officers, and that the agent who killed her 'used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues.' But details were in dispute. State and local officials described federal accounts of the shooting with terms like 'propaganda' and 'garbage.'
“Mr. Trump’s willingness to make a near-immediate conclusion about the deadly shooting appeared to be at odds with one of his senior advisers. Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, told CBS News that he would not make a judgement call on video circulating on social media of the shooting. 'Let the investigation play out,' Mr. Homan said, 'and hold people accountable based on the investigation.'”
Emily Davies of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said the 37-year-old woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis 'violently, willfully, and viciously ran over' the agent, who Trump said appeared to shoot her in self-defense. The president made the claim within hours of the shooting Wednesday, before investigators had completed their work.... Democratic state and local officials, citing similar video [to the distant shot Trump relied on], instead saw brazen ICE agents committing an act of violence they had long feared was inevitable in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.”
Jack Date, et al., of ABC News: "Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he has issued an order to prepare the state's National Guard while urging peaceful protest after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in her car during operations in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Walz and the Minneapolis mayor are disputing the government's claims surrounding what led up to the shooting, which killed a 37-year-old woman who has been identified by city council members as Renee Nicole Good, a resident of the city. 'We have someone dead in their car for no reason whatsoever,' Walz said during a news conference, decrying the shooting as 'preventable' and 'unnecessary.'"
Caroline O'Donovan, et al., of the Washington Post: “On social media, some members of Congress described the killing as 'murder' and called for federal officials to be held accountable. Hundreds of people gathered for a vigil at the scene Wednesday evening.... The killing follows a string of chaotic clashes across the country in which federal immigration officers have employed aggressive tactics in service of Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Officers have been involved in at least a dozen shootings in Trump’s second term, according to court records and media reports, and they have tackled immigrants, dragged protesters and used chemical agents on observers. ”
Stephen Neukam, et al., of Axios: "Rank-and-file Democrats are starting to make serious noise about using the threat of a government shutdown to force substantive changes at ICE.... Their anger, after an ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman Wednesday in Minneapolis, sets them on a collision course with party leaders.... 'Democrats cannot vote for a DHS budget that doesn't restrain the growing lawlessness of this agency,' Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on X following the shooting.... "Statements and letters are not enough, and the appropriations process and the CR expiring Jan. 31 is our opportunity," said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.)."
Jacey Fortin of the New York Times takes a witness statement.
Joyce Vance on Substack explains, among other things, why it's unlikely the murderer will be prosecuted.
Joe Heim of the Washington Post: “The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday released a Maryland woman ... Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales, 22 ... who was held for 25 days despite evidence that her lawyers say proves she was born in the United States and is a citizen.” MB: Probable crime: existing while Hispanic. Also, buying tacos.
Marie: In case you think Donald Trump gives a damn about some "conservative principles" or whatever, so he wants Republicans to retain control of the Congress, I'd say that's not true. In keeping with his extreme narcissism, Trump's interest in retaining a Republican-run Congress is more personal: ~~~
~~~ Michelle Stoddart of ABC News: "... Donald Trump warned Republican members of Congress on Tuesday that if they don't win in this year's midterms, then he will 'get impeached.' Trump made the comments during a House GOP retreat at the Kennedy Center, recently renamed to include Trump's name by a board filled with his appointees. 'You got to win the midterms because if we don't win the midterms, it's just going to be -- I mean, they'll find a reason to impeach me. I'll get impeached,' the president said." Now watch this: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Wednesday evening that he expected the United States would be running Venezuela and extracting oil from its huge reserves for years, and insisted that the interim government of the country — all former loyalists to the now-imprisoned Nicolás Maduro — is 'giving us everything that we feel is necessary.'... 'We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,' Mr. Trump said during a nearly two-hour interview. 'We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.' Mr. Trump’s remarks came hours after administration officials said the United States plans to effectively assume control of selling Venezuela’s oil indefinitely, part of a three-phase plan that Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined for members of Congress.”
Paul Krugman: “During his triumphalist press conference after the abduction of Nicolás Maduro, Trump never used the word 'democracy.' He did, however, say 'oil' 27 times, declaring, 'We’re going to take back the oil that, frankly, we should have taken back a long time ago.' Even so, whatever it is we’re doing in Venezuela isn’t really a war for oil. It is, instead, a war for oil fantasies. The vast wealth Trump imagines is waiting there to be taken doesn’t exist.... On Monday Trump suggested that he might reimburse oil companies for investment in the nation he claims — with no basis in reality — to control, reimbursing them for their outlays there. That is, we’ve gone in a matter of days from big talk about huge money-making opportunities to a proposal to, in effect, subsidize oil-industry investments in Venezuela at U.S. taxpayers’ expense.”
Robert Jimison & Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “... Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed lawmakers on a three-phase plan for Venezuela that went far beyond a simple law enforcement matter and included stabilizing and rebuilding Venezuela, taking and selling its oil, and installing a new government there. That suggested a far longer-term and more elaborate strategy than the Trump administration had previously laid out. Republicans emerged from the classified briefings largely praising the military action and embracing the administration’s approach, while Democrats warned that the United States was drifting into an open-ended intervention without clear legal authority or a plan for how and when a democratic transition could take place.... Mr. Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top administration officials briefed lawmakers on Capitol Hill one day before the Senate was set to vote on whether to curtail Mr. Trump’s power to continue using military force against Venezuela without explicit authorization by Congress.”
Konstantin Toropin & Jill Lawless of the AP: “The United States has seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in back-to-back actions in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, officials said Wednesday. U.S. European Command announced the seizure of the merchant vessel Bella 1 for 'violations of U.S. sanctions' in a social media post. The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela. Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed that U.S. forces also took control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean. Noem said in a social media post both ships were 'either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
Eric Schmitt & Gregg Jaffe of the New York Times: Donald “Trump described the operation to capture President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela as a 'perfectly executed' display of American military power. But Mr. Trump’s account of the audacious raid left out key details that underscored the risks U.S. troops faced as they approached Mr. Maduro’s fortified compound and how close the high-stakes operation came to taking a turn for the worse. In the early hours of Saturday morning, U.S. Army helicopters skimmed 100 feet above the sea and then over Caracas..., racing toward their target. Their stealthy pathway had been cleared by an American cyberattack that darkened the city, and by radar-evading U.S. fighter jets that pounded Venezuela’s Russian-built air defenses. Initially, the helicopters, carrying dozens of Army Delta Force commandos, flew undetected. But as they approached Mr. Maduro’s lair, the aircraft came under fire and shot back. The first helicopter in the assault, a giant twin-rotor MH-47 Chinook, was hit but remained flyable. The flight leader, who also planned the mission and was piloting the Chinook, was struck three times in the leg, said current and former U.S. officials.... Mr. Trump’s string of military successes in places like Iran, Syria and now Venezuela, coupled with his tendency to take big risks..., have obscured the downsides of using force in the manner that has increasingly defined his foreign policy.”
James Bikales of Politico: “Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the United States will sell Venezuelan oil 'indefinitely' after completing sales of the crude currently accumulating in storage there. Wright said the proceeds from those sales would be 'deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government' and then 'flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people.' Wright made the statements even as the United States the same morning seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was linked to Venezuela.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Ha Ha. RAS Found This Great Update: ~~~
~~~ It Depends on What the Meaning of “Invade” Is. George Steer & Peter Andringa of the Financial Times: “Polymarket is disputing that the mission to capture Nicolás Maduro constituted an invasion and said it will only settle a prediction contract if the US military takes control of Venezuelan territory. The decision by the prediction market has angered gamblers and added to the controversy surrounding a successful wager on the timing of Maduro’s capture that netted more than $400,000 in winnings for a mystery trader. The dispute over the definition of 'invade' highlights just one of the controversies faced by the mostly unregulated industry. Polymarket — which only recently gained regulatory approval to operate legally in the US — says on its website that it will resolve the 'Will the US invade Venezuela by . . .?' contract if the US 'commences a military offensive intended to establish control over any portion of Venezuela' by one of three dates.” (Also linked yesterday.) Related story linked yesterday.
Connor O'Brien, et al., of Politico: “Top Republicans on Capitol Hill are publicly breaking with ... Donald Trump over his threats to seize Greenland — an unusual show of dissent that underscores how seriously the president’s allies view the situation.... 'This is a topic that should be dropped,' said Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who leads the Senate panel that controls defense spending, took an even more critical tone, arguing it would amount to 'trampling the sovereignty, respect, and trust of our allies.'... The intraparty divide has also flared up with McConnell and other Republican heavyweights opposing administration efforts to pressure Ukraine to cement a peace deal with Russia on terms they fear are too favorable to Moscow.”
Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: “Where many European leaders’ reactions to the Venezuela raid were muted, caveated or outsourced to legal abstractions about the United Nations Charter, European leaders on Tuesday came out with uncommonly forceful rebukes of the Trump administration’s greediness on Greenland.... Trump, posting on Truth Social on Wednesday, seemed to bristle at suggestions that he was endangering NATO.... 'RUSSIA AND CHINA HAVE ZERO FEAR OF NATO WITHOUT THE UNITED STATES, AND I DOUBT NATO WOULD BE THERE FOR US IF WE REALLY NEEDED THEM,” Trump said. “EVERYONE IS LUCKY THAT I REBUILT OUR MILITARY IN MY FIRST TERM, AND CONTINUE TO DO SO. We will always be there for NATO, even if they won’t be there for us.' NATO, in fact, sprang to America’s aid after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, invoking its collective defense mechanism within 24 hours, for the first and only time in its history.”
If there's a chance to do the wrong thing, Trump will jump on it: ~~~
~~~ Trump v. Earth. Somini Sengupta & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing the United States from the bedrock international agreement that forms the basis for countries to rein in climate change. The treaty, which has been in place for 34 years, counts all of the other nations of the world as members. In a social media post, the White House announced that Mr. Trump signed a presidential memorandum that pulled the United States from the climate pact and 65 other international organizations and treaties that 'no longer serve American interests.' About half of those are United Nations organizations. '... what started as a pragmatic framework of international organizations for peace and cooperation has morphed into a sprawling architecture of global governance, often dominated by progressive ideology and detached from national interests,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.” Politico's story is here.
Even when Trump pretends to do the right thing, it doesn't mean much: ~~~
~~~ Maureen Farrell & Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said he wanted Congress to take immediate steps to stop private equity firms and other large investors from buying more single-family homes.... Mr. Trump’s announcement, which he made in a social media post on Wednesday, is aimed at Wall Street-backed firms that for years have bought up homes and rented them out. Critics say this business has driven up prices in some markets and made it hard for first-time buyers to purchase homes.... If the plan that emerges has teeth, it will face stiff resistance from Wall Street and its allies in Congress.... Small investors make up the vast majority of owners of single-family rental properties. It’s estimated that institutional firms own only about 4 percent of the single-family home rental properties in the country.”
Alice Callahan & Dani Blum of the New York Times: “In a striking reversal of past nutrition guidance, the Trump administration released new dietary guidelines on Wednesday that flip the food pyramid on its head, putting steak, cheese and whole milk near the top. The new guidelines urge Americans to prioritize protein and avoid the sugary, processed foods that health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said are poisonous to health.” MB: I guess we're supposed to eat more whale and bear, presuming we can get specimens onto or into our vehicles.
Graham Bowley & Robin Pogrebin of the New York Times: “After a monthslong lull in tensions, the Smithsonian is facing an ultimatum from the White House to comply [by next Tuesday] with a comprehensive review of the institution’s content and plans — or risk potential cuts to its budget. The Trump administration’s campaign to pressure the Smithsonian into presenting a primarily positive view of America has been part of the president’s agenda since last March, when he issued Executive Order 14253, 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.' The urgency of the effort seemed to flag last fall, in part perhaps because Lindsey Halligan, the White House aide tasked with scrutinizing the Smithsonian for 'improper ideology,' was rerouted by Mr. Trump to serve as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. In addition, the Smithsonian acceded to the White House’s demand last summer to begin turning over records about operations at eight of its 21 museums. But the institution ... has produced only part of the lengthy list of requested documents.”
Kevin Freking & Lisa Mascaro of the AP: “Overpowering Speaker Mike Johnson, a bipartisan coalition in the House voted Wednesday to push forward a measure that would revive an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowered health insurance costs for roughly 22 million people, but that had expired last month. The tally of 221-205 was a key test before passage of the bill, which is expected Thursday. And it came about because four GOP centrist lawmakers joined with Democrats in signing a so-called discharge petition to force the vote. After last year’s government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, they said doing nothing was not an option as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums beginning this month.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Maryland Congressional Seat. Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the longest-serving House Democrat who for decades was one of his party’s top leaders, will not seek re-election and plans to retire when his term ends in early 2027, according to a person familiar with his plans.Mr. Hoyer, 86, is expected to announce his plans in a speech on the House floor on Thursday morning. His retirement after 23 terms..., lands at a moment when the Democratic Party is in the middle of a raging debate about the need for generational change in its ranks at a crossroads moment for the country.” A Politico story is here.
Don't know much about history
Don't know much philosophy
Don't know much about a law school book
Don't know much about the notes I took,
But I do know it would be a joke
If they was to try to make me woke.
What a horrible world that would be. ~~~
~~~ Texas Education. Toluwani Osibamow of KERA in Houston Public Media: “Texas is now the first state in the U.S. to eliminate American Bar Association oversight of its law schools, ending the state’s 42-year-long reliance on the national organization. The Texas Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday finalizing a tentative September opinion, asserting the ABA should 'no longer have the final say' on which law school graduates can take the bar exam — a requirement to becoming a licensed lawyer in each state.”
~~~ Whitewashing Plato. Alan Blinder of the New York Times: “Martin Peterson, a philosophy professor at Texas A&M University, was thunderstruck when he was told on Tuesday that he needed to excise some teachings of Plato from his syllabus. It was one way, his department head wrote in an email, that Dr. Peterson’s philosophy class could comply with new policies limiting discussion of race and gender.... 'A philosophy professor who is not allowed to teach Plato?' Dr. Peterson said in an interview on Wednesday. 'What kind of university is that? Is that really what they want?'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Despite its name, Texas A&M is a real university, not merely an ag school where you can learn to breed cattle & grow feed. Most students probably get their undergraduate degrees in the usual specialties and never taken an ag course. Needless to say, students in the liberal arts, particularly, should be exposed to ideas beyond those consistent with right-wing "values."
36 comments:
I'm trying really hard not to say everything on my mind right now. Yesterday made me rationally angry. Seeing such senseless death with such a nonchalant reaction by the murderer boils my blood. And we have had so many scenes of unnecessary violence perpetrated on so many people in this country with no reprecussions. Half the country and half our political leadership not only don't condemn it, but celebrate and propagandize it. How many Republicans will watch what happened in Minnesota and call this vile act what it is? Will any of them confront Trump and Vance and all the other Republicans trying to gaslight and rewrite the facts? Will the legacy media confront these liars with the truth and keep at it until they actually face the facts? This poor woman had to back up to get enough room to get away safely, for all involved, from her armed assailants. If she had wanted to run anyone over she could easily have driven into them and hit them. But these ICE Nazis know how close to get to be able to keep themselves out of harms way while being close enough to pretend that they are at risk of being hit. And the lies after lies after lies even as we can all watch with our own eyes, this time from multiple viewpoints, what really happened. They never get tired of even the most absurd lies. And even when they do it in court under oath they are never punished or barely repremanded. We have seen judges say "I know you are lying to me" in court and still nothing. I'm trying so hard to stay engaged and nurture a sliver of hope that we can all make it out the other side of this intact, but seeing so many guardrails fall so quickly and to see so many in power either knuckle under or put out weak responses with little action following them up is disheartening. But there is no real choice but to continue on and hope. And when we get our chance again in power I hope that we have enough people making sure that our side doesn't forget Renee Good and all the others that have been hurt and will be hurt by this regime. And this time there better not be "let's look forward", but a resounding movement to hold to account all the criminals large and small that have unleashed these horrors on the US and the world. All available options, state, federal, and international, whatever courts have the resources and jurisdictions let the trials comense.
Minneapolis Mayor
"Q: After you told ICE to get the F out, Republicans are criticizing you for escalating tensions
FREY: I'm sorry if I offered [offended] their Disney princess ears, but if we're talking about what's inflammatory, on one hand you got someone who dropped an F bomb & on other you have someone who killed someone"
Daycares and High Schools
That is where ICE was looking for their bad hombres.
"Life Under a Clicktatorship
What happens to government when everything is content?
What I’m arguing is that the Trump administration isn’t just using social media to shape a narrative. Many of its members are deeply addicted to it. We would be concerned if a senior government official was an alcoholic or drug addict, knowing it could impair judgment and decisionmaking. But we should be equally concerned about Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk’s social media compulsions—just as much as their alcohol or ketamine use, respectively.
It’s worth remembering that social media operates like a drug, feeding us dopamine and rewiring our brains’ reward pathways. The fundamentally unhealthy dynamics are worsened by the fact that standing out online often demands being awful—channeling negative emotions like anger and outrage, usually based on misinformation or conspiracy theories."
"Just Comply"
"This video is terrifying, and it’s exactly why “just comply” does not protect you from ICE/Border Patrol agents, even as U.S. citizens, and why you always film them.
In North Carolina, ICE/Border Patrol agents illegally stopped two U.S. citizens. They questioned them without legal cause, took their licenses, and admitted on camera that the men were allowed to record.
And they were still attacked."
Citizens should not know the law and rules better than so called law enforcement. But we have seen time and again that these thugs don't know the law and don't care about the law because it never applies to them.
Rebecca Solnit, in Meditations in an Emergency, writes Notes on Unbearable Stupidity
"Part of the unbearable stupidity of the current administration is its feckless enthusiasm for doing things that seem like manly feats of strength to manosphere idiots and also make this country weaker. So much of the stupid here is also about stupid versions of masculinity, all the way down to the dim bulb that is Pete Hegseth and his belief that pushups are a top military strategy. The Trump Administration is an autoimmune disorder sabotaging the things that actually made America if not great at least powerful: its economy, its higher education system, its international relations, its crucial immigrant workforce, its functioning federal government, its public health systems, the rule of law, and lots of other things like food safety and clean water."
George Packer, in The Atlantic, The Absurdity of T****'s Improv in Venezuela
"Two decades ago, Richard N. Haass, a senior foreign-policy official in the George W. Bush administration, confessed that he would go to his grave not knowing why the United States had invaded Iraq. “A decision was not made,” Haass told me. “A decision happened, and you can’t say when or how.” I thought of this astonishing remark after Saturday’s military action in Caracas. President Donald Trump and his advisers have thrown out numerous justifications for seizing the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife and bringing them to New York for trial. None of them makes sense."
If you're talking violence, murder, and evil, this guy can't be very far from the action:
Time to Ask if Stephen Miller Has Authorized Assault and Murder of Peaceful ICE Observers
"In Greg Bovino’s deposition for the Chicago Book Club lawsuit, plaintiffs counsel Locke Bowman asked whether Kristi Noem gave him direction on the use of force."
Answer: No.
But then Bowman asked about Himmler Miller...The DOJ lawyer jumped in immediately and ordered Bovino not to answer that question. Something about blah, blah, blah, "executive communications" whatever the hell that means.
"Bowman also noted that in a TV appearance, Bovino said he took his instructions from the Executive Branch, whether Trump or Kristi Noem.
The implication is fairly clear: That Stephen Miller is the one instructing him on use of force.
Greg Bovino was present for [yesterday's] shooting [ie, murder, in Minneapolis].
In the wake of the shooting, Tricia McLaughlin, Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, and Donald Trump all have told vicious lies about the shooting; their lies aren’t even consistent with each other, much less the video.
The shooting comes in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that Trump can’t deploy the National Guard to cities unless he has first resorted to active duty troops.
It’s time to ask whether Stephen Miller ordered Greg Bovino to shoot those who document DHS’ invasions."
We have untrained goons with deadly weapons (possibly) given orders "shoot to kill, then pretend you were in fear of your life". The Gnome, sociopathic asshole that she is, is a likely candidate for such and order. Even more likely, the vampiric Nazi fuck, Himmler Miller.
We can, and should, point fingers at the myriad criminals at work in this administration for all the horrible shit they have brought down on this nation--UNNECESSARILY--but the single reason for all of this madness, the source code for the fucked up operating system that constantly destroys every iota of decency, lawfulness, institutional democracy, and basic humanity, the evil, beating heart of hatred, stupidity and greed at the center of this whole insane odyssey we find ourselves on is one Donald J. Fucking Trump.
I know, I know, all kinds of people say, ooooh, it's not Trump, he's just the end result of a lot of other horrible shit, and that is certainly the case, but none of this happens without him. None of it. As Jack Smith said in his testimony, January 6 would never have happened without Trump. Never. He is the catalyst. He is the lit fuse for all of this.
Take him out of the picture and what can the Gnome or the Couch Fucker, or Drunk Pete, or Eva Braun Bondi, or even an evil prick like Miller do? And right next in line for the Heart of Darkness award is John Roberts and his cohort of evil scum suckers on the Supine Court. It's a perfect storm of Republican-MAGA-Autoritarian-white supremacist loathsome ghastliness, irresponsibility and horrific dereliction of duty.
That poor woman in Minneapolis is dead this morning because of Donald Trump. And John Roberts. Period.
RAS,
Well said. We are beset by a congress made up, on one hand, by weak snowflakes beholden to a bumbling moron but apparently unable or unwilling to stand up to him, and on the other by a group of well meaning but too often misguided Democrats who can't seem to make up their mind what they stand for. Add to that a mostly resigned and feeble press, acquiescent when it should be aggressive, stenographic when it should be stentorian. But what we do have is a good number of committed, learned, knowledgeable, and patriotic citizens who are standing up to the evil the greed and the fecklessness. The people who put themselves on the line for being beaten, arrested, or killed for acting on their first amendment rights to confront Fat Hitler's goon squad of murdering shitheads.
If anything good is to come of this latest atrocity, perhaps this will be a George Floyd moment, and faithful Americans can rally around the murder of Renee Nicole Good.
Marie: yeah, but they're all Aggies ... motherlode of Texas jokes.
Wendy,
RE: the George Packer article.
Packer exhibits the kind of head shaking wonder that so many are dealing with in the wake of the most recent excess of stupidity from the Orange Monster. But I maintain, as I mentioned yesterday, that the answer is simple. He sees everything he does through the lens of television ratings. He is the executive producer, the head writer, and the superstar at the center of the never ending reality program that is the Donald Trump Show. Ratings slipping? Time to shake up the story line. Kill a main character, or kidnap a foreign head of state. Anything to stay at the top of the ratings. It really as simple as that. He is a simpleton. He is a creature of television, he would be nothing without TV. NBC executives rescued him from Palookaville and reinvented a failed loser of a narcissistic twit as a genius businessman, a role he loves to play still. He doesn't know shit about policy, domestic or foreign. He knows ratings. And he knows how to con people. And he knows how to pad his pockets. Everything else he leaves to the scum he surrounds himself with. And if people like Renee Nicole Good have to die so that he stays at the top of the TV charts, so be it. Who is she anyway, to get in the way of the Great Donald? Years ago, one of our regular commenters diagnosed this piece of shit with NPD. He was right. He still is.
CYA, Fat Hitler style...
You've heard Fatty's baldfaced lies about how the murdering ICE asshole who shot that poor woman, then casually walked away like some old west sheriff after blasting a bad guy (all we missed was his blowing away the smoke from his gun) was "run down" by Renee Nicole Good. Later DHS reports made a big deal out of saying that the murderer had been taken to a hospital, treated and then released.
Hospital, my ass. They made sure to do that so they could say he had to be "treated" at an ER. If he was treated for anything it must have been for his quick trigger finger. But they make sure to cover their asses. "Hey, pssst...take Wild Bill Hickock to the hospital and make sure to get a video of him being "treated" for wounds he got while that evil bitch ran him over."
Fuckers don't miss a trick.
@Patrick: Uncle! Point taken.
"ICE Releases Maryland US Citizen Held For 25 Days
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday released a Maryland woman who was held for 25 days despite evidence that her lawyers say proves she was born in the United States and is a citizen. Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales, 22, walked out of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center Wednesday afternoon in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Diaz Morales was arrested by ICE agents in Baltimore on Dec. 14 while she was leaving a Taco Bell with her younger sister.
DHS, using a different last name for Diaz Morales, said after her arrest that she was in the U.S. illegally. “Dulce Consuelo Madrigal Diaz is NOT a U.S. citizen — she is an illegal alien from Mexico,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement emailed to The Washington Post in December."
And another example of McLaughlin lying.
Murder is still Murder
"ICE Agents Can Be Charged With Murder
As a killing in Minneapolis is documented, the law clearly stipulates that federal agents do not have universal immunity."
by David Dayen
But...
"FBI pushes Minnesota investigators aside in ICE shooting probe
On Thursday morning, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the FBI had taken over the investigation into the shooting. The BCA said in a statement, “the FBI informed the BCA that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had reversed course: the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI.”"
Anyone trust this FBI to conduct a real investigation?
""They don't even bother to lie badly anymore. I suppose that's the final humiliation." Andor, season 2, episode 7"
If you haven't I would highly recommend checking out the 2 seasons of Andor. A great show that is unfortunately too relevant to today. But "Rebellions are built on hope".
Tom Sullivan echoes a lot of my thoughts and others I've seen here.
More on corporate ownership of rental units. Sources are too scattered for my limited patience to pursue but as the following makes clear 4% may be average but it's much higher in some areas, what's called the Sun Belt leading the list where I've read it's as high as 15%.
https://www.realestatenews.com/2025/12/08/how-much-of-americas-housing-is-owned-by-corporations
More to the real point: The rental trend has been in the corporate direction for a while. Today, 45-50 percent of all people rent, most in apartments, and do not own their own residences.
All an obvious parallel of general wealth concentration. IOW, no surprises here. The Pretender's initiative may sound good to some but its utility is propagandistic at best.
Out with Plato!
I'm guessing the mighty Aggie Lords who are banning Plato haven't read an inch of his stuff. But there is currently a cottage industry in uncovering hidden platitudes connecting a multitude of sources and to the evils of DEI. If you tried hard, you could probably find a way to describe the old Popeye the sailor cartoons as transmitters of DEI, designed to inveigle the kiddies to think in "woke" terms. Let's see....Popeye is half blind, so that includes the disabled (those whom Fatty loves to make fun of), it includes a woman (Olive Oyl) and a kind of homeless, always hungry moocher type, Wimpy, always begging for a hamburger. DEI like you read about. Plus...Popeye is always beating up on that poor Bluto, a blameless white guy just trying to make a buck. How evil!
So...if Popeye is too DEI, what about Plato?
Well, some years back, Plato was marked for excision from college courses as being not a feminist, not very multicultural enough, AND just another dead Eurocentric white guy. Poor Plato, he gets it coming and going. But were that the case, one would think that the Always Trumpers who are now outlawing Plato would WANT his stuff being taught. So what's the problem NOW?
Since not a one of these attacks on so-called woke ideologies and teachings offers a shred of serious evidence beyond "because I say so", I have no clue what has the Texas A&M panties in a bunch, but I'll take a shot at it.
A central element of Plato's philosophy, indeed the primary ontology of his worldview lies in what he refers to as the Good, or sometimes, the Form of the Good. In a nutshell, as Socrates puts it in "The Republic" to a guy named Glaucon (I think Glaucon was in the Republic...it's been a while), the Good informs all other aspects of life, it can be found in any person from any place (oops...there's the DEI) and even worse, at least for Trumpies, the Good acts as the sun. In Socrates' telling, the Good isn't the sun, but like the sun, it illuminates and helps to grow everything on earth, and like the sun, the Good is the origin point for knowledge, for justice and for truth itself.
Holy Stephen Miller, Batman....knowledge, justice, and truth? Away! Away! Run away!
So the Good must get gone, along with knowledge, justice, and truth. Cuz what good are those things to MAGAts?
Just my idea. Also, don't forget, Socrates was put to death for "corrupting the youth", ie, teaching them critical thinking, encouraging them to ask questions, think for themselves. Not a MAGA thing at all, so Plato must be GONE!
And when I refer to a cottage industry in outing Woke Stuff, here's what I mean.
A few years ago, Media Matters compiled a list of 200 plus things that scared the bejesus out of Fox snowflakes as being too WOKE! Aieeeee! The list incudes such obviously (*snicker*) Woke things as...Jefferson's home, Monticello. Notre Dame Cathedral. Facebook, Google, and Twitter. A whole bunch of entire cities and states, and of course horrible stuff like Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Coca-Cola, and Legos. I know...go figure. But like I say, if you can make Popeye Woke, you can do it to a can of Boston Baked Beans (from Boston!!! OH NOES!!!)
This list is a couple of years old. By now, the list must be up to three or four hundred.
Gotta read if quickly though. Snowflakes melt easily.
I'm still trying to figure out why all that oil in Venezuela belongs to the USA. I must
be quite dense.
What about all those trees in Canada? Seeds must have blown north across the
border. We gotta get those trees back. That's millions of board feet of lumber.
Or did no lumber companies give millions of $ to U-Know-Who?
Then there's all those cacti plants in Mexico. We need that tequila for Drunk
Pete. He's probably running low after all that's been going on.
There are so many raw materials we need to grab before the mid-terms when
Donald says he will be impeached if the Dems get control and something,
something about everybody getting a sex change. Don't get that part of
his speech. I'm not looking forward to being a woman. I wouldn't be good
with makeup or especially high heels.
Oh well, it's nap time.
@westcoastman: You provided a hint to the answer to your own question when you mentioned the wind blowing seeds north to Canada.
The reason the U.S. owns Venezuelan oil is that everything flows south. You will recall that earlier this year, Trump had the idea that he could turn on a "very large faucet" in Northern California and use the water to put out the fires in L.A. because all the water would flow down to L.A.
This is similar to one of my favorite snippets ever of a Congressional hearing: Nobel-winning physicist Steven Chu (Obama's Secretary of Energy) explains to Texas Rep. Joe Barton how oil got to Alaska. What makes the testimony even better was that Barton (who got most of his campaign $$ from Texas oil & gas interests) boasted a few days later that he had "stumped" Dr. Chu because obviously liquids like oil can't flow north!
So the reason the U.S. "owns" Venezuelan oil is that the oil under Venezuela is only there because the U.S. sprang a leak and the oil has slowly oozed down from the U.S. to Venezuela. And we want it back!
RAS,
As I indicated yesterday, anyone who thinks Kash and Carry and his Keystone Kops will conduct any sort of investimagation thingie that will contradict the outright lies of his fat boss or Cosplay Kristi are watching too many Efram Zymbalist, Jr reruns of that 70’s FBI show when the actual bad guys were caught. Today’s Feckless Bureau of Incriminations is not in that line of work any longer. Their job is to make sure no one bothers Kash and his girlfriend on their taxpayer jet flight dates and to protect the Orange Monster from any whiny citizens who demand laughable things like Justice and law and order. The murderer will face no charges. Ms. Good will be found guilty of terrorism.
Marie,
After watching the Barton-Chu exchange I think I lost 10 IQ points. Barton is not an example of a stopped clock. He’s a perfect example of a clock with no hands.
But Marie, that gravity thingy doesn't work because the earth is flat. Just
ask any Trump supporter. I tried explaining to one that if the earth is flat
all the oceans would just flow off the sides like a gigantic waterfall.
You just can't get through to some people (actually, a lot of people).
Ah ha, now we see why the Right is getting rid of Plato.. They don't want anyone accidentally explaining what morality is to Dementia Don with his bigly beautiful brain, it might explode if he understood the barest concept of the idea.
"President Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,” brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world.
Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”"
Adam Serwer
"First the Shooting. Then the Lies.
The Trump administration has perfected the smear campaign.
Administration officials’ indifference to facts, to due process, to the dignity of the deceased, and to basic human decency is remarkable. They could have pleaded for patience and said the incident would be investigated—the standard response in such circumstances. They could have even done so while defending the federal agents they have deployed to terrorize areas they perceive as Democratic Party enclaves. Instead, they proceeded to make ostentatiously dishonest statements that they knew would be contradicted by the video evidence available to anyone with eyes to see it. The federal government now speaks with the voice of the right-wing smear machine: partisan, dishonest, and devoted to vilifying Trump’s perceived enemies rather than informing the public. Good’s mother, partner, and children have to cope not only with their unfathomable loss, but with a campaign designed to justify her killing. Their own lives will be subject to invasive scrutiny by the government and its allies, in a search for any derogatory information about Good that might somehow be used to justify her killing."
Wait...his own morality? There is such a thing? I guess it's better than relying on Himmler Miller's "morality". What a joke. "My own morality". Wild animals have a more developed moral core than the Orange Monster. Is it his "own morality" that gives him permission to sexually assault and rape women? To cheat on his wives? To foment the murder of American citizens then blame them for their own death? Is it his "own morality" that allows him to scrape up as many billions as he can, illegally? Was it his "own morality" that allowed him to separate mothers from their babies, perhaps for life? To plan various ways of killing, maiming, and torturing immigrants trying to come here for a better life? Is it his "own morality" that gives him permission to make fun of disabled people?
Sorry. That's not morality. That's the complete lack of morality.
Akhilleus,
And who says the Pretender has who sense of humor?
Shady Vance trying to act tough and manly and calling out everyone for not going along with his lies is just pathetic. These fools get worse by the hour.
Ken,
He's got something. A sense of humor ain't it. Can it please be 2028?
"US Border agents shoot, wound two people in Portland, city officials say"
One of the victims ended up calling 911 himself so that they could get emergency services to treat them and get them to a hospital. Because that is how this is supposed to work. I'm sure it's another "It's coming right for us" with the Feds going to claim another dangerous car that they totally did not put themselves in the way of.
Yeah. The monster in the white house, what's left of it, has all the morality of a bull elephant or a large Florida Everglades giant snake. There is no way that POS even knows what morality is. None of them do, actually, but they are all so smug, so smarmy, so disgusting that you can't even say they are an example of humanity at its most primitive. Annie Oakley Shoot-'Em-Up Dog Killer should never speak to actual people. And Jay Dee, well, Marie, he thinks so much of himself we don't have to, and that is a relief. I would hate to have to treat such a zero shithead with respect. He oozes self-regard. I doubt if even a sofa likes him.
How grand that, fresh after murder in Minneapolis, ICE thugs have done it again in Oregon. There is nothing one can say about the lawless s*** being flung around here.
Just a quick "thank you" for the incredible work you do with this. Wasn't paying enough attention and lost track when you came here (to the blog) but glad to have found you again.
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