Stephen Groves of the AP: “Former President Bill Clinton distanced himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in closed-door depositions with lawmakers, according to videos that were released Monday by a House committee. The recordings of the depositions, which spanned hours over two days last week, show how Bill Clinton told the committee that he had ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier entered a 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Hillary Clinton told the committee she never even recalled meeting Epstein. Both closed-door interviews before the House Oversight Committee were taken under oath Thursday and Friday. ~~~
~~~ Video of Bill Clinton's full depo is here. Video of Hillary Clinton's full deposition is here. ~~~
~~~ Here's what happened when Hillary Clinton learned Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) had released a photo of her giving testimony, in violation of rules the committee itself had set and imposed: ~~~
>
Marie: Update. If you don't have access to the NYT's liveblog of events related to the U.S.-Israel/Iran war, I've copied many of the reporters' entries just below the break.
Marie: Numerous reporters and commentators noted throughout the weekend that Trump had not appeared in public since he began the war with Iran. Well, he showed in the East Room today with a physical suggestion of why he was in hiding ~~~
~~~ Edith Olmstead of the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: “... Donald Trump appeared to have a large red rash on the back of his neck Monday. While speaking at the White House about his illegal war with Iran, Trump was spotted with a dark red patch of skin peeking out from under his collar. In a photograph taken by AFP photographer Saul Loeb, a large scab is visible.... Possible causes of a red rash could include contact or atopic dermatitis — also known as eczema — psoriasis, or heat rash. It could also be caused by shingles. A statement from Captain Sean Barbarella, a Navy emergency physician serving as the president’s doctor, claimed that Trump was using a 'very common cream on the right side of his neck, which is a preventative skin treatment prescribed by the White House doctor.'... Trump’s right hand also appeared discolored in another photograph by Loeb.” ~~~
~~~ Update. The New York Times picks up the story. ~~~
~~~ MB: I guess Barbarella there wants us to think the treatment caused the rash & scab, but it sure seems more likely that the treatment is meant to, well, treat the rash. I'm a better long-distance doctor than Olmstead; I'm going to guess the cause is syphilis! ~~~
~~~ AND there was this: ~~~
Trump: "Finally, we honor one more American soldier, a fallen warria of world. Of wars. And really, terra.”
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Mar 2, 2026 at 1:37 PM
[image or embed]
Aaron Boxerman, et al., of the New York Times: “Three American jets were shot down over Kuwait during 'an apparent friendly fire incident' while they were taking part in the campaign against Iran, the U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement on Monday. 'During active combat — that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,' the statement said. All six crew members 'ejected safely, have been safely recovered and are in stable condition,' Central Command added, extending its gratitude to Kuwait for participating in the operation against Iran.”
Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Rebecca O'Brien & Evan Gorelick of the New York Times: “The [Education Labor Department]’s inspector general has opened an inquiry into allegations of professional misconduct by [Secretary Lori] Chavez-DeRemer and her closest aides. Investigators have spoken with
several dozen witnesses and reviewed evidence and allegations that the
secretary used department resources for personal trips, that she was
having an affair with a member of her security team and that her aides tried to steer grants to favored political operatives. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s husband has been barred from the department’s headquarters,
after female staff members accused him of making unwanted sexual
advances. His lawyer has said the accusers were working with department
employees, whom he did not name, to force Ms. Chavez-DeRemer out of
office. Police and prosecutors have said they would not bring a case
against her husband. In interviews, more than two dozen current and former department
employees from across the political spectrum described a toxic workplace
characterized by an absentee secretary, hostile aides and a deeply
demoralized staff.” Thanks to Ken W. for the correction.
~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times is liveblogging developments in Day 3 of Trump's latest war. From the pinned item at 4:00 am ET: “Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, traded strikes early Monday after the breakdown of a fragile yearlong truce, with explosions rocking the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, and Israel’s military chief of staff telling residents to prepare for a prolonged conflict. The escalation heightened fears that the spiraling war in the Middle East ... could continue to draw in more countries across the region.... The conflict has now entered its third day with little end in sight. The United States and Israel have conducted thousands of airstrikes across Iran, including the capital of Tehran, while Iran fired drones and missiles at Israel and U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf.” ~~~
“The Iranian Red Crescent said in a statement on social media that the U.S. and Israeli strikes had killed 555 people across Iran....
“Five Iranian medical facilities, including hospitals, have been damaged or partially destroyed in the U.S. and Israeli strikes, according to ... a member of the health commission in Iran’s parliament, in an interview with Iran’s state broadcaster.”
“The death toll from a strike on an elementary school in southern Iran has risen to at least 175, Iranian state media reported on Monday.”
Raja Abdulrahim: “The Israeli military said it had completed a wave of airstrikes across Lebanon, striking senior Hezbollah leaders and dozens of Hezbollah and Iranian command centers.”
“Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region claimed by both India and Pakistan, imposed restrictions on movement a day after protests erupted over the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Police used teargas to disperse protesters, and the region is on high alert, with schools ordered shut for two days. The outpouring of anger reflects Kashmir’s deep historical and cultural ties to Iran.”
Aaron Boxerman: “The Israeli military just said the air force is beginning another wave of attacks on the Iranian capital of Tehran.”
Paul Sonne: “Russia remained in constant contact with the leadership of Iran, and was also in contact with the leaders of the Gulf states, according to the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov. He also expressed 'deep disappointment' that despite the talks between the United States and Iran, brokered by Oman, to avert war, the situation slid into 'outright aggression.'”
“Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, one member of Iran’s three-member Interim Leadership Council, appealed to the Iranian public and sought to convey strength in an interview with Iranian state TV on Monday.”
Raja Abdulrahim“... Nawaf Salam, Lebanon’s prime minister, said the government was banning all military activity by Iran-backed Hezbollah. Hezbollah militants launched rockets from Lebanon into Israel overnight, prompting Israel to bombard the militia’s strongholds on the southern outskirts of Beirut.”
Amelia Nierenberg“A fourth American service member has died, U.S. Central Command said on social media. The person, who was not named, 'was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries,' the statement said.”
Helene Cooper: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth opens the news conference saying that 'we didn’t start this war,' in a reference to the joint U.S. and Israeli war on Iran....
“'To the media outlets and political left screaming “endless wars,” stop. This is not Iraq. This is not endless,' [Hegseth said]....
“The Pentagon news conference, the Trump administration’s first effort at explaining what the United States and its armed forces are doing in this war in Iran, has ended, after around 40 minutes. Neither Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth nor Gen. Dan Caine shed much more light on what the mission in Iran is expected to accomplish.... Hegseth spent much of his time chiding the media for their questions rather than answering them.”
Eric Schmitt: “Hegseth echoes ... [Donald] Trump’s claims that the U.S. attacked Iran because it posed a threat to the United States....
“'We expect to take additional losses [of life],' [Gen. Dan Caine] said.... General Caine said the operation against Iran is in its early stages and that more U.S. forces continue to flow into the Middle East, suggesting an extended campaign.”
Adam Rasgon: “The Israeli military said it had started conducting more strikes against Hezbollah across Lebanon....
“Qatar’s ministry of defense said Monday its Air Force shot down two Su-24 bombers coming from Iran. It also said it intercepted seven ballistic missiles and five drones.”
Stephen Castle: Donald Trump criticized British PM Keir Starmer for taking too long to allow the U.S. to use “Diego Garcia, the site of a British and American military base in the Indian Ocean, to carry out strikes on Iran.”
NYT: “Photographs taken on a media tour organized by the Iranian authorities showed damage inside the Gandhi Hospital in Tehran.... Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization..., reiterated that health facilities are protected under international humanitarian law.”
Erika Solomon: “The wife of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is dead, the country’s state broadcaster reported. Khojasteh Bagherzadeh was injured in the attack that hit her husband and other family members on Saturday, the report said, and had been in coma before her death on Monday.”
Shawn McCreesh: “CNN anchor Jake Tapper says ... that Trump told him [this morning], 'We’re knocking the crap out of them. I think it’s going very well.' Tapper says that Trump also said: 'We haven’t even started hitting them hard, the big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.' [MB: So eloquent. People are dying; Trump says he's knocking the crap out of them.]...
“[Donald ]Trump told the New York Post this morning that he isn’t ruling out boots on the ground in Iran. 'I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, “There will be no boots on the ground.” I don’t say it,' Trump told the tabloid.... [MB: The yips? Really? That's how you talk about putting U.S. troops in harm's way?]
“He took no questions from reporters. ”
Vivian Nereim & Ismaeel Naar: “Iran attacked energy installations on Monday in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both key American allies in the Persian Gulf, ratcheting up its military campaign by targeting critical infrastructure.”
Jason Horowitz: “The Spanish government on Monday said that it had denied the use of its military bases to U.S. forces involved in the attack on Iran, including key refueling aircraft that departed Spain for other countries on Sunday.”
Anton Troianovski: At an event in the East Room, “Trump said one reason for the attack was that Iran 'would have missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America.' American intelligence agencies believe Iran was probably years away from having missiles that can hit the United States....
“Earlier in this speech, Trump enumerated four objectives of the war: destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, 'annihilating' its navy, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and ensuring that 'the Iranian regime' cannot continue to fund regional proxies....
“Trump said the attack could last 'four to five weeks,' but 'we have capability to go far longer than that.' He added: 'I don’t get bored. There’s nothing boring about this.'”
David Sanger: “Trump also discussed, for the first time since the war began, his decision in 2018 to withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord negotiated by President Barack Obama. 'That was a horrible, horrible dangerous document,' he said, that would have given Iran 'nuclear weapons three years ago.' Iran was largely abiding by the agreement until Trump pulled out of it, and though it was under no restrictions after that, it did not manage to produce a weapon.”
Katie Rogers: “Trump, in the middle of a Medal of Honor ceremony where he is explaining his rationale on deposing Iran’s supreme leader, starts talking about his White House ballroom project.” [MB: I saw a clip of his ballroom aside. He went on and on about how Melanie didn't like the noise of jackhammers and about the gold curtains he picked out. Bizarro.]...
“Americans alarmed by the death of four U.S. service members might have been expecting a formal presidential address from the White House. Instead, they are observing a president treating this like every other day: talking about his ballroom, attacking Democrats, bashing the news media.”
Robert Jimison: “Speaking on Capitol Hill ahead of a briefing for congressional leaders, Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued that U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran were to address an 'imminent threat,' but then went on to describe an attack undertaken preemptively to prevent Iran from striking the United States first.... Rubio said there was no diplomatic exchange happening between the United States and Iran....
“... Rubio said during his visit to Capitol Hill that the strikes were intended to prevent Iran from developing long-range missiles that, he argued, would be used to shield its nuclear program.”
Edward Wong: “Rubio is vague today in his definition of an 'imminent threat' from Iran to U.S. interests.”
~~~ The AP's live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ Cara Anna of the AP: “Here's where things stand." (as of 6:32 am ET today)
Sadly there will likely be more [deaths of U.S. troops] before it ends. That’s the way it is. -- Donald Trump, in a recorded 6-minute speech released Sunday
In the speech released Sunday, Trump boasts about the "hundreds of targets" the U.S. hit, about the Iranian leaders the U.S. & Israel killed, but no mention of the victims at the girls' school. Those little girls don't get even a "that's the way it is." -- Marie
He Really Doesn't Know What He's Doing. Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Sunday that the U.S. military intends to sustain its assault on Iran for 'four to five weeks' if necessary, insisting that it 'won’t be difficult' for Israel and the United States to maintain the intensity of the battle even as he warned of the possibility of more American casualties. In a brief telephone interview with The New York Times, Mr. Trump offered several seemingly contradictory visions of how power might be transferred to a new government.... Among the options he suggested was an outcome similar to what he engineered in Venezuela, in which only the top leader was removed ... and much of the rest of the government remained in place, but newly willing to work pragmatically with the United States.... The interview with Mr. Trump seemed to reflect the degree to which his administration remains uncertain about how the next few weeks will unfold, both on the battlefield and in the creation of a replacement government in Tehran.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Greg Miller & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: “Trump’s inclination to bomb first then wash his hands of whatever comes next in Iran has alarmed U.S. allies. Security officials in the Middle East and in Europe have raised concerns that the United States is unleashing forces that could spill across borders, disrupt global trade and lead to asymmetric terror attack reprisals — all with no certainty that the remaining Islamic hardliners won’t ultimately retain their hold on power.... [CIA] analysts concluded that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite armed force that answered directly to the ayatollah, would be best positioned to take power.... The Iranian opposition, which has no clear leader, was seen as less likely to assume control of the government.... Western security officials cited similar projections in interviews Sunday and warned that Iran — a nation the size of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom combined — could face years of infighting....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: The U.S. has a record of failing in its attempts to facilitate Western-style democracies in countries where it has decapitated existing governments. So Trump's "plan" is no plan at all: just kill the leaders and skedaddle. As he so often says when he just does stuff with absence of forethought (his modus operandi), "We'll see what happens." Yes, we will.
Peter Nicholas & Alexander Marquez of NBC News: Donald Trump “told NBC News [Saturday] that a 'large amount' of Iran’s other senior leaders were also killed in the military operation.... In Sunday’s phone call, the president said that the U.S. military operation was 'ahead of schedule' and that 'when we get 48 leaders, that’s a big event.'... The president said 'I don’t know' when asked if he would stop striking Iran amid ongoing negotiations, adding that he would consider it 'if they can satisfy us' but that 'they haven’t been able to.' He said the reason he launched the strikes was 'very simple.... They weren’t willing to stop their nuclear research,' he said, referring to earlier negotiations with U.S. officials. 'They weren’t willing to say they will not have a nuclear weapon.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I know this is the stupidest quibble, but Trump is doing as much to destroy the English language as he is to destroying other countries. A "large amount" of leaders?? People don't come in "amounts." They are individuals -- "units," as the Coneheads might say. They come in "numbers."
Barak Ravid of Axios: Donald "Trump presented on Sunday his case for going to war with Iran and toppling the current regime — and warned more U.S. soldiers will likely die before the operation ends.... Trump is publicly bracing the country for a sustained, costly military campaign, a sign America has entered an open-ended war with a rising human cost.... Trump called on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian military and the Iranian police to lay down their arms and receive full immunity 'or face certain death. It will be certain. Death won't be pretty.'... Trump claimed thousands of Iranian military officers want to surrender and receive immunity. 'They're calling by the thousands,' he said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Really? What number are these thousands of officers calling? The White House? Mar-a-Lardo? The Pentagon? Surrender-USA? I suspect in the original draft of the speech, Trump was to say, "They're calling by thousands. 'Sir, please let us surrender to you, the greatest president* in the world,' they are begging."
Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: “The attacks, in much of the world’s eyes, appeared to short-circuit the Trump administration’s nuclear talks with Iran. It was at least the third time — after his Iran bombings in June and his attack on Venezuela in January — that Mr. Trump deployed heavy force against a country with which he had been negotiating. In so doing, experts say, Mr. Trump may be gaining leverage in the short term but sapping his, and America’s, credibility in ways that could resonate for years to come. 'This is basically abusing diplomacy to cover up a military operation, said [Thomas] Greminger ... [of] the Geneva Center for Security Policy.... There is mounting evidence that the president’s disregard for diplomatic norms is accelerating countries’ efforts to reduce their reliance on the United States.... And analysts predict that more countries will seek nuclear weapons, because they increasingly appear to be the best defense against U.S. overreach.”
Jack Detsch, et al., of Politico: “The Trump administration is making the case that it ordered expansive, deadly strikes to stop an imminent threat from Tehran, but is providing no evidence Iran had such plans. The White House, amid the largest military buildup in the region in decades, has yet to explain to the public or to Congress what Iranian threat prompted the massive attacks that have upended the region and could draw the U.S. into another Middle East war.... The administration’s efforts to construct a case for war only after the shots have started flying has few historical parallels. The Pentagon has held no briefings nearly 36 hours after the U.S. military strikes, bucking a practice of doing so after attacks that goes back to the Vietnam War. And unlike past presidents embarking on major military campaigns, Trump made little effort to drum up support from Congress, U.S. allies or the American people.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: One thing that is consistent with former president's rationales for war: Trump lied, too. ~~
~~~ Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: “Pentagon briefers acknowledged to congressional staff in a briefing Sunday that Iran was not planning to strike US forces or bases in the Middle East unless Israel attacked Iran first, undercutting the administration’s argument Saturday that Tehran was planning to potentially strike the US preemptively and posed an imminent threat, according to multiple people who attended the briefing. Senior administration officials told reporters Saturday that the US chose to attack Iran because it had received indications the regime was planning to launch missile attacks against US bases in the region preemptively and create a mass casualty situation. CNN reported Saturday that sources said there was no intelligence to support the administration’s claim.”
Trump Parties On. ~~~
~~~ Friday. Charlie Spiering of the Daily Mail: "Donald Trump surprised guests at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser just prior to launching top-secret military strikes in Iran. The president made a brief surprise appearance at the Place of Hope's 2026 LEXUS Hope Bash Gala, according to images and video posted on social media, greeting guests and thanking them for coming. As the song 'God Bless the USA' played, the president danced briefly to the song before bidding the guests farewell, telling them he had to go back to work." ~~~
~~~ Saturday. Olivia Salamone of Radar: "... Donald Trump attended a $1 million-per-person fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night as tensions erupted across the Middle East.... Footage shared to Instagram showed Trump welcoming high-dollar guests inside his lavish Palm Beach club while Iran vowed retaliation.... Among those posting from inside the event was Florida vape executive Shlomi Evgi, who shared photos posing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff.... Attendance at the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser reportedly came with a $1 million price tag per guest, The New York Times previously reported. ~~~
~~~ Heather Cox Richardson: “The optics of Trump partying with his rich cronies while American soldiers died is at least partly what is behind the fact that today, '#SendBarron' trended on social media.... Administration officials did not appear on the Sunday talk shows, relying instead on congressional surrogates.... ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl spoke to Trump tonight and posted: 'Pres Trump told me tonight the US had identified possible candidates to take over Iran, but they were killed in the initial attack. “The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,” Trump told me. “It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead.”’” MB: Trump thinks of these assassinations in terms of a beauty contest, where the runners-up are not just losers; they're all dead.
The killing of pupils in a place dedicated to learning constitutes a grave violation of the protection afforded to schools under international humanitarian law. -- UNESCO, in a statement ~~~
~~~ Malachy Browne, et al., of the New York Times: “At least 115 people, most of them likely children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran on Saturday, health officials and Iranian state media said. The search for survivors in the rubble of the Shajarah Tayyebeh school in the southern town of Minab ended Sunday, according to Mohammad Radmehr, the governor of Minab, Iranian state media reported. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in the ongoing American-Israeli bombing campaign. Several videos and images verified by The New York Times showed that at least half of the two-story school was destroyed in the explosion. Emergency workers with the Red Crescent could be seen alongside families desperately combing through the rubble, which was littered with schoolbooks and book bags covered in blood and ashes. Portions of the building jutted out from the rubble, with bits of colorful murals visible on what were once the walls of the school. Desks were piled with debris.... It was not immediately clear why the school had been hit, or which country’s forces had done so.”
Rebecca Elliott of the New York Times: “Oil prices rose nearly 10 percent on Monday, underscoring the economic risks of the widening conflict in the Middle East. The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran could severely restrict supplies from a key oil and gas-producing region. Even if the disruption is brief, it will almost certainly make energy more expensive worldwide. The magnitude of those price increases and how long they last will depend on what the United States and Israel do next — and how Iran responds. International oil prices had already climbed about 20 percent this year. When trading opened on Sunday, they rose as much as 13 percent, briefly crossing $82 a barrel before retreating to around $79 a barrel.”
Marc Elias of Democracy Docket: “At 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Donald Trump posted a video on his social media platform announcing that he had ordered the bombing of Iran. Two hours later, he wrote: 'Iran tried to interfere in the 2020 and 2024 elections to stop Trump and now faces renewed war with the United States.' In that post, he also shared an article from a right-wing news outlet with that claim as its title. These two posts — back-to-back, in the early hours of Saturday morning as U.S. forces were launching a military campaign — are just the latest instance of Trump citing foreign interference as the motivation or justification for unilateral executive action. Trump is setting the stage to claim extraordinary powers to take over the 2026 elections.... All of this will be justified on the grounds of national security, an area where presidents enjoy their broadest powers and typically receive the greatest deference from the courts.” ~~~
~~~ BUT. Trump says it's not gonna happen. Uh-huh. Via Marcie Jones of Wonkette.
Alexander Burns in Politico Magazine: Donald Trump “is burying the 20th Century: Its villains, its alliances, its political norms and ceasefires. And he is unleashing a future of uncertainty and disruption with no new equilibrium in sight. Across both his terms as president, and in so many different areas of policy and governance and culture, his signal achievements have been acts of demolition.... In each case, too, Trump is tearing down old structures and systems without a vision for replacing them. At age 79, Trump is himself a creation of the age he is now unwinding, with a worldview molded in America’s prosperous, socially turbulent decades after World War II. It is not evident that he’s interested in designing the grand policies of the future.”
Reis Thebault of the New York Times: “Some of [Jeffrey Epstein]’s victims have said
they were trafficked [at his New Mexico mansion], famous figures visited, and Mr. Epstein
mused about turning Zorro into a headquarters for outlandish genetic engineering experiments. And
yet, New Mexico leaders say there has never been a thorough
investigation of the criminal activity that may have occurred at the
ranch during the 26 years the convicted sex offender owned it. A
state-led inquiry into Mr. Epstein’s actions was taken over by federal
prosecutors [from the Southern District of New York] in 2019, and then apparently fizzled.... Last
month, lawmakers in New Mexico, spurred by the Justice Department’s
latest release of Epstein documents, voted unanimously to ... [impanel]
a bipartisan four-member 'truth commission' in the State
Legislature, equipped with subpoena power, to probe the sordid history
of Zorro Ranch. The state’s attorney general also announced he would reopen an investigation his office had closed shortly before Mr. Epstein’s death in 2019.
“Since Mr. Epstein’s death, the property has changed hands, potentially complicating the state’s investigation. The new owner, a Dallas real estate magnate and former state senator named Don Huffines, is running for comptroller of Texas, an inopportune moment for investigators, though he has said he would cooperate with law enforcement.” MB: I'd sure like to know why the feds took over the state's inquiry and then dropped it during Trump's first presidency*. That looks mighty fishy to me. (Also linked yesterday.)
Ethan Beck, et al., of the Washington Post: “The San Francisco Ballet has pulled out of its planned run at the Kennedy Center this spring, making it the latest group to cancel performances at the center.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Across the interior of the United States, agents of the federal government — masked, anonymous, armed with military weapons, operating from unmarked vehicles, acting without warrants of any kind — are seizing persons for civil immigration violations and imprisoning them without any semblance of due process.... It is an assault on the constitutional order. -- District Judge Joseph Goodwin, opinion ~~~
~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: “Federal judges in one of the Trumpiest states in the country have suddenly become a firewall against ... Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. District court judges in West Virginia describe rampant lawlessness by masked ICE agents, defiance of court orders and a wanton infliction of fear and intimidation by the federal government after the Trump administration deployed a targeted immigration enforcement operation in the state last month. 'Operation Country Roads,' a partnership with federal and local law enforcement that netted an estimated 650 arrests in January, primarily focused on targeting immigrants driving along the state’s roadways. It has resulted in a flood of lawsuits by people — most without criminal records and with longstanding ties to the U.S. — seeking release from ICE custody.... Four judges in deep-red West Virginia who have been inundated by Country Roads cases are using their rulings to ... warn against a descent into authoritarianism....”
Trump's Goons. Bill Whitaker & Heather Abbott of CBS News: "When the Supreme Court recently struck down ... [Donald] Trump's tariffs, he lashed out at two Justices he had nominated calling them fools and lapdogs. The president has frequently railed against judges when they rule against him. What often happens next is a barrage of violent threats from his followers against those judges. We spoke with 26 federal judges – nine Democratic appointees, 17 Republican, both sitting and retired. The sitting judges told us they feel under siege. Most would not appear on camera, fearful for their safety. Judge John Coughenour – appointed by Ronald Reagan - is one of the few who would. He blocked [Mr.] Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship. He wasn't prepared for what happened next.... The threats poured in.... 'I have never encountered the hostility toward the judiciary that has existed in this country in the, the last year....'" At one point, five deputies showed up at his front door with long guns drawn. They demanded to see Judge Coughenour's wife because they had received a report he had murdered her. ~~~
~~~ Marie: "60 Minutes" used to have its own Webpage, which touted the show. Not anymore, I guess. Anyway, the above is a "60 Minutes" report, and you can watch it here.
Here's what George Carlin had to say about "the Big Club" more than 20 years ago. See if you don't think what he said then is still true (more true?) today: ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Texas. Sonia Rao, et al., of the New York Times: “A shooting early Sunday morning that started at a bar in Austin, Texas, is being investigated by the F.B.I. as a potential act of terrorism, the authorities said.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Roebuck & Molly Hennessey-Fiske of the Washington Post: “Investigators have identified the gunman, who was killed by officers at the scene, as Ndiaga Diagne, a 53-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from Senegal, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. He wore a hoodie that read 'Property of Allah' with an undershirt bearing an Iranian flag design as he opened fire on weekend revelers at Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden, a popular nightspot in Austin’s Sixth Street entertainment district, the people familiar with the matter said. Officers later found a Quran in the SUV he drove to the area.” (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's story is here.
22 comments:
The social media trend '#SendBarron' should know that the military has
a height limit. It's 80 inches.
Barron is 81 inches tall. Maybe that includes those genetic bone spurs,
who knows?
But daddy could have that height limit waived if Barron wanted to join
in and fight daddiys war.
I did not type 'daddiys'. Who did that?
Who says Fat Hitler doesn't think things through, doesn't pay attention to details?
Here we are just three days into the Trump-Epstein-Bibi War and with Iran's Supreme Leader killed, internal conflicts should be hitting the boiling point as the jockeying for control begins.
But never fear, the Dear Leader has it all figgered out. Sort of. He says he had already picked out a few people he wanted to run the country but Oops...they're all dead.
Oh well, shit happens, right. Although I did hear him this morning on the radio going on with his usual ragtime bullshit. Two word things stood out. First, addressing the Iranian people, he says "I did my part. Now the rest is up to you." He left off the "I gotta hit the golf course. This War President business is tiring.
But then I heard him talk about how it's really too bad, but ya know, a bunch of Americans will be killed too. Previously, I had only seen this amazing statement in print, but listening to Von Clownstick saying it is a whole n'other thing. He sounded weak and tired and he just matter of fact says "It's unfortunate, but we'll have a lot more deaths. That's just how it is" as if he has nothing at all to do with it. As if it's all some natural catastrophe like an earthquake or a hurricane. This is sociopathy on a grand scale. This shithead doesn't even qualify as a moral midget. He's a horrible human being.
Three......More.....Years......
Jesus.
And who came up with the alternate name of the Trump-Epstein-Bibi War? "Epic Fury"? Could they get a little more Armageddony? Epic Fury....I guess "Operation Trump is God" didn't make it out of the situation room just off the pool at Marred a Lardo.
And when considering who will be running things in Iran, perhaps Fatty has not gotten the memo that says he doesn't get to decide that. He might think he does, but he's not getting the whole picture. And even if he does, will he understand it? I'm thinking pretty much none of the jabronis sitting around taking turns licking his fat ass have the beginnings of an outline of a clue about Iran's history and current makeup.
"Like Putin, Trump has surrounded himself with 'yes' men and women. He removed anyone and everyone who might have shown independent thought, first from the intelligence services, then the armed forces, and then surrounded himself with Maga fanatics in the Oval Office.
His administration is also deeply affected by evangelical Christian extremists, who have blindly backed Israel’s far-right government through its mass slaughter of the Palestinians in Gaza and its land grabs on the West Bank.
Magical thinking and ideological dogma lead to distortions of reality. Putin learned this when his assumption, based on the intelligence he was fed, was that Kyiv would fall in a few days. He was told what he wanted to hear rather than that Ukrainians would fight for their survival."
And there is a host of competing political forces, some heavily armed, who might want a piece of the action. Remember the enormous upheavals that took place among various ethnic and political factions when the Soviet Union broke up? We saw the same sort of thing in Iraq, and shit got out of control very quickly because the Decider and his band of warlords had no idea what was waiting for them. I recall reading somewhere that Dubya wasn't even aware of the distinction between Shiites and Sunnis. This is like thinking there's no difference between pro-democracy liberals and authoritarian MAGAts in this country. "They're all Americans, right?" And so...
"Iran faces centrifugal forces from armed separatist groups. The Baluch people in the southeast want freedom from Tehran and have weapons and a ferocious reputation for using them.
Iranian Kurds have formed a coalition of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Khabat Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan, and part of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan in opposition to Tehran.
There is also the MEK to contend with. The Mujahedin al Khalq, which was a powerful part of the 1979 revolution, fled to Iraq, fought for Saddam Hussein against Iran, and is now exiled and more of an armed cult than a political movement. Based in Albania, it has had loud advocates, including Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and personal attorney to Donald Trump.
Also called the National Council of Resistance for Iran, it announced it had formed a 'government in exile' and promised democracy for the Iranian people."
And then there's the Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi who is itching to go back and take over. Does anyone think the brain trust surrounding the Fat Fascist has a clue about any of this? Dropping bombs is one thing, but at that point, you break it, you bought it.
And here's another thing. As with Putin thinking he was going to roll into Kyiv in three days with a war that's still going on years later....If the Trump-Epstein-Bibi War is still going on into the fall, how much will you bet me that Fatty will call off the midterm elections? National emergency!!!
Forgot the link to the quotes in that last comment. Here it is.
Fatty dismisses diplomacy. "They haven't be able to satisfy us" he sez. But consider who he sent to to the diplomatic negotiations. 666Jared and CondoMan Witkoff. Are you kidding? These imbeciles are what we have to rely on to negotiate delicate conditions to stop a war? Why not just send one of Douthat's blow up doll girlfriends? No. Diplomacy with these evil pricks is a complete sham. He wanted to drop bombs, not negotiate peace. A peaceful resolution doesn't put the Epstein File on the back burner. Blowing shit up does.
For now.
Don't look now, but with the current vogue for plastering the snarling puss of Fat Hitler on every government building in Washington, the PR geniuses in the Blight House have apparently thrown a bone to the MAGAts.
The Department of Education building in DC is now defaced with a giant banner of Charlie Kirk's face.
This is the same Charlie Kirk who told a 14 year old girl that her only goal in going to college was to find a husband and get busy making babies.
An avatar of education if you ever saw one.
The Guardian
"US moving pregnant immigrant girls to Texas to avoid providing abortions, critics say
Ex-official calls transfer of unaccompanied girls as young as 13, many pregnant due to rape, a human rights violation
Since July, more than a dozen pregnant children have been moved to a single facility in the small town of San Benito, along the south Texas border. The children kept in Texas are as young as 13, and about half are pregnant because of rape, according to a joint investigation by the Texas Newsroom and the California Newsroom. In Texas, abortion is banned in nearly all circumstances, including rape and incest.
The move amplifies existing concerns about reproductive healthcare in immigration detention centers, including allegations over the lack of appropriate healthcare for pregnant people, separation of nursing parents and infants, and forced sterilization in immigration facilities."
Distractions
When you don't coordinate...oops
Kuwait Shoots Down Three US F-15 Jets: “Friendly Fire”
"“At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident,” Central Command said in a statement.
“During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,” it added."
War by the Stupidest
Hegseth: "Israel has clear missions as well for which we are grateful. Capable partners are good partners, unlike so many of our traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force ... no stupid rules of engagement."
The "president of the United States" seems to think that someone else has caused this war, and if it kills our own, plus other people that were just in the way--the school comes to mind-- well, too bad. He is a psychopath, not a sociopath. This is a person with zero (ZERO!!) redeeming value and I am sorry he is not a victim of his own cruelty and violence. There are very few people who didn't at least "love their mothers," but he is in the exclusive club. Maybe he can celebrate his ruthlessness with more losers at Marred Lardo if they can fill his voluminous, stinking pockets.
Greaser Kegsbreath sounds positively gleeful. My mute and change channel buttons are going to wear out from overuse today. And everyone is gathering at the former White House for big smiles and tea and crumpets. Good for you, channels with content chasing managers. We all want to hear and see the worst, stupidest president lording it over the supine military. And I am so sorry that Barron will not be in uniform-- I'm sure he is simply champing at the bit. After all, daddy had five or six deferments and bone spurs, and I'm sure that spooky son of theirs is looking forward to his first war.
Yes, they are not the only happy morons. Apparently the Kuwait airspace is sacred, or something else stupid, and they have shot down two of our planes by accident. I hope Scott the Evil Treasurer will send them a big bill. Kegsbreath reports all pilots ejected safely. Lie or truth? Who knows...
WaterGirl at Balloon Juice has a post that asks
"Several hours after reports of the Supreme Leader’s death in Iran, 500 Shia Muslims stormed the U.S. consulate [in Pakistan].
9 people were killed.
Did this fucked up administration even communicate with any of our embassies that region?"
And highlights
Simon Rosenberg
"I think it’s time to acknowledge that Trump is a sadist. He likes harming people, killing them:
- USAID vaporization, 10m dead
- Killing people on high seas
- ICE terror regime
- Cutting health care, food assistance to tens of millions
- Iran War, backing genocidal Putin"
"Who’s Deciding Where the Bombs Drop in Iran? Maybe Not Even Humans.
Behind last week’s scrum between the Trump administration and Anthropic lies a deeper question of how warfare is conducted—and whether accountability even exists anymore.
There is a phrase that has quietly become one of the most consequential in American national security law, and it appears in no statute, no executive order, no treaty. It is a phrase that the Pentagon began demanding AI companies accept as a condition of doing business with the U.S. military: any lawful use.
To understand what “any lawful use” means in practice, it helps to understand what it is designed to eliminate: the possibility that a private company could tell the U.S. military how its technology may or may not be used. In the Pentagon’s view, once a tool is purchased, the buyer sets the terms of its application. The vendor’s values, safety commitments, and ethical frameworks become, at the moment of transaction, irrelevant. The military has its own lawyers. It has its own review processes. It has its own standards. And given the degradation of legal safeguards and restrictions on the entire executive branch in the last year, almost any act of depravity or mass murder could be ruled “lawful” by a Pentagon that has purged itself of its most moral and ethical lawyers and leaders and a Supreme Court devoted to maximizing Trump’s autocracy."
"America Needs to Prepare for Elon Musk Like He's a State-Sponsored Cyber Attack
What Musk ran in 2024 was a social engineering operation, the kind of thing your IT department sends fake phishing emails to warn you about—not a drill, but the actual threat actor, the APT, the hostile foreign intelligence operation, except it’s domestic, it’s legal-ish, and it’s funded by the richest man on earth."
By erasing actual history in favor of patriotic public relations, our "leaders" have misled themselves into thinking that every hackneyed action they take is original, so not only is research unnecessary before perpetrating such acts, research isn't even pertinent. The unintended consequences of the Menshevik revolution in Russia, the English Civil War, the Reformation in which the body count determined whose deity was supreme, even America's foray into Vietnam to prevent a pinko takeover, produced baleful results that no one could have imagined. Bob McNamara, McGeorge Bundy, and Dean Rusk were smart, well-educated men who still thought they could gainsay the lessons of history. Dick Cheney predicted that the Iraqis would greet us as liberators, while America's kids were blown apart by improvised bombs and Fox News warned us that any criticism of the President during wartime was treasonous. What's coming will only feel new to those who refuse to learn.
What in holy hell has Aunt Pittypat been eating? Or to be more accurate, drinking, and how much?
Pittypat goes from the fainting couch to the cheerleader bench. He's now a full on Imperialistic Fanboi, cheering for the Fat Fascist to destroy Cuba next. "Oh goody! Next we'll do Cuba, and maybe a few more after that! What fun!"
Fatty, of course now sez that maybe, in addition to being president of Venezuela and soon to be Ayatollah Donnie of Iran, he'll also be Dictator of Cuba. So much winning!
But back to Pittypat. I'm trying hard to think of anything this fucking guy has done. EVER. Besides cheer on stupidity. He once said his primary reason for being a senator was so he could BE somebody, and not some nebbish who doesn't get invited to swanky cocktail parties where he can swan around with the swells and the swills and the terminally stoopid. And drink himself into Imperialistic-MAGA bliss.
Mark Twain could have been thinking of Aunt Pittypat when he wrote "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
"Attacking Iran looks like it will cost US consumers about 40 cents/gallon."
I wish I could say that reading Philip Dick stories in the late 1950's had adequately prepared me for the present....but it didn't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Variety#:~:text=%22Second%20Variety%22%20is%20a%20science,with%20illustrations%20by%20Alex%20Ebel.
Richardson quotes DiJiT as saying "... Trump told the reporters he hoped Iran’s military forces would turn over their weapons to the Iranian people. “They would really surrender to the people, if you think about it,” he said. ..."
Actually, Donnie 6, if you think about it (imagine that!), and had you ever been in a place where a set of armed overlords had terrorized all the unarmed peasants for years, you would know that those overlords would try to kill all the peasants before they would "surrender to the people." If they stacked arms and asked the peasants to let bygones be bygones, they would shortly be hanging naked upside down in the town square, suspended by piano wire and pelted with all the stones the peasants could scuff together. Then their cadavers coated with molasses and fed to the pigs.
Such things actually happen. Forgive and forget is much, much rarer.
He is so effing stupid it hurts to be an American now.
Waldman on the war:
https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/what-both-journalists-and-maga-voters?
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