The Conversation -- April 21, 2025
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “Harvard, the world’s wealthiest university, sued the Trump administration on Monday, fighting back against its threats to slash billions of dollars from the school’s research funding as part of a crusade against the nation’s top colleges.... The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, accuses the government of unleashing a broad attack as 'leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard.' It also references other major universities that have faced abrupt funding cuts. The lawsuit names as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary; Linda M. McMahon, the education secretary; Stephen Ehikian, acting administrator of the General Services Administration; Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi; and several other administration officials.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yeah, well, I feel like suing Donald Trump personally. I'm pretty sure that sumbitch's latest thumb farts & tariffing just transformed me from a middle-class old codger to a poor coot. For no reason. Othe than pure assholery. ~~~
~~~ Dippity-Doo-Dah. Danielle Kaye & Kevin Granville of the New York Times: “Stocks slumped, bonds sold off and the U.S. dollar continued to lose ground on Monday as ... [Donald] Trump renewed his attacks on Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, unnerving already-anxious investors who see the independence of the central bank as critical to the health of the American economy. Wall Street began the day with a slump, but the sell-off gained steam after Mr. Trump targeted Mr. Powell in a social media post, calling him “a major loser” and urging the Fed to cut interest rates. Mr. Trump also suggested that an economic slowdown would be Mr. Powell’s fault. After a late recovery, the S&P 500 dropped 2.4 percent for the day. All of the major sectors in the index fell, with the technology, energy and consumer discretionary sectors hardest hit.”
Oh, Lordy, how can gun-totin' Kristi keep us secure when she can't even secure her own handbag stuffed with cash? ~~~
~~~ Erin Doherty of CNBC: "A thief stole Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse while she was dining at a restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C., on Sunday night, two law enforcement sources confirmed to CNBC. Noem’s bag contained roughly $3,000 in cash, which she had withdrawn to treat her family to dinner and Easter gifts and activities, a DHS spokesperson said Monday. The bag also contained Noem’s passport, makeup, blank checks, her driver’s license, keys and medication, according to CNN, which first reported the theft. The U.S. Secret Service has reviewed security footage that shows an unidentified white male, who wore a medical mask, snatching the bag, CNN reported." The New York Times report is here.
Joe Gould, et al., of Politico: “... Donald Trump 'stands strongly behind Pete Hegseth,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday morning, defending the scandal-plagued Defense secretary against escalating criticism from Democrats and former senior officials. Hegseth 'is doing phenomenal leading the Pentagon,' Leavitt said in a 'Fox & Friends' appearance. 'This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement.' Her comments came a day after The New York Times reported that Hegseth shared sensitive information about military operations in Yemen in a private chat on the Signal app that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer — the second reported instance of the secretary sharing operational plans in an unclassified chat.... 'We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. 'But Trump is still too weak to fire him.'”
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Supreme Court on Monday to broaden its extraordinary weekend order that temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using a wartime power to deport dozens of alleged gang members detained in Texas. Lawyers for the Venezuelan migrants say the Trump administration is not complying with an earlier Supreme Court directive to provide detainees with a real opportunity to challenge their planned deportations to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador. They want the Supreme Court to take up the broader question of whether the Trump administration can lawfully invoke the Alien Enemies Act when they say the United States is not actually at war with the targeted Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua.”
Guns 4 Kidz. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Monday turned down an opportunity to weigh in on whether the government may restrict 18- to 20-year-olds from buying or carrying guns, a question that has divided the lower courts. The case concerned a Minnesota law that makes it a crime for people under 21 to carry guns in public. Last year, the Eighth Circuit struck down the law, ruling that the Second Amendment required letting those as young as 18 be armed. 'The Second Amendment’s plain text does not have an age limit,' wrote Judge Duane Benton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.”
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Via LG&$.
⭐ ~~~ Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat. Some of those people said that the information Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen — essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate Signal chat the same day that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic. Mr. Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, is not a Defense Department employee, but she has traveled with him overseas and drawn criticism for accompanying her husband to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders. Mr. Hegseth’s brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, who continues to serve as his personal lawyer, both have jobs in the Pentagon, but it is not clear why either would need to know about upcoming military strikes aimed at the Houthis in Yemen....
“Unlike the chat in which The Atlantic was mistakenly included, the newly revealed one was created by Mr. Hegseth. It included his wife and about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle in January, before his confirmation as defense secretary, and was named 'Defense | Team Huddle,' the people familiar with the chat said. He used his private phone, rather than his government one, to access the Signal chat.” MB: Let's hope loose lips sink Pete. It isn't often that the drunk at the end of the bar is passing around military plans. ~~~
~~~ Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: “The revelation comes as some of Hegseth’s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary’s judgment, including his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three former senior officials Hegseth fired last week — his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense.” ~~~
~~~ Former Spokesman Turns on Drunk Pete. John Ullyot, in a Politico Magazine essay: “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership.... Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer. The latest flashpoint is a near collapse inside the Pentagon’s top ranks. On Friday, Hegseth fired three of his most loyal senior staffers — senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Defense. In the aftermath, Defense Department officials working for Hegseth tried to smear the aides anonymously to reporters, claiming they were fired for leaking sensitive information as part of an investigation ordered earlier this month. Yet none of this is true.”
Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: “Government officials under both Joe Biden and Donald Trump improperly shared sensitive documents with thousands of federal workers, including potentially classified floor plans of the White House, according to internal records reviewed by The Washington Post. Career employees at the General Services Administration, which provides administrative and technological support for much of the federal bureaucracy and manages the government’s real estate portfolio, were responsible for the oversharing, which spurred a cybersecurity incident report and investigation last week. The records show that the employees inadvertently shared a Google Drive folder containing the sensitive documents with the entire GSA staff, which totals more than 11,200 people, according to the agency’s online directory.”
Annie Correal & Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times: “El Salvador’s president proposed on Sunday repatriating Venezuelan detainees sent to his country from the United States in exchange for the release of prisoners by Venezuela, including key figures in the Venezuelan opposition. 'I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100 percent of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold,' President Nayib Bukele wrote in an X post directed at President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.... Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, demanded the immediate release of the Venezuelans held in El Salvador late Sunday in a statement responding to Mr. Bukele. Mr. Saab didn’t say whether the Venezuelan government would consider the proposal.”
Vaughn Hillyard, et al., of NBC News: “Video from Friday night shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement buses full of Venezuelan migrants headed toward an airport in North Texas before abruptly turning around before the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must, for now, refrain from deporting Venezuelan men based in the state under the Alien Enemies Act. At least 28 detainees — most, if not all, understood to be Venezuelan nationals — were placed on buses Friday evening at ICE’s Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, and then driven toward Abilene Airport about 30 miles away. The motorcade — including at least 18 squad cars from various law enforcement agencies with flashing lights along the north Texas highways — left the ICE facility, with some men on board being told they were being deported to El Salvador and some told they were headed to Venezuela.... As the motorcade was headed for the airport, [District Judge James Boasberg was holding] a last-minute federal hearing on the matter.... 'We hear they are on buses on the way to the airport,' said Lee Gelernt, the lawyer for the ACLU ... [told Judge Boasberg].... Boasberg [then] asked Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign to make calls to ensure there were no flights deporting immigrants from Bluebonnet under the Alien Enemies Act on Friday night.... The Supreme Court heard the case overnight, after Boasberg declined to rule [on the case].” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: As Mark Stern of Slate (linked yesterday) noted, "... it is plain as day that the Supreme Court simply did not trust the Trump administration’s claims that it would not deport migrants over the weekend without due process." Clearly, the Supremes were right not to trust the Trump mob. One of them, however, did his best to aid and abet Trump's unlawful action: ~~~
~~~ Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “In his five-page dissent released on Saturday shortly before midnight, Justice Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote that in his view, the court’s decision to intervene overnight was not 'necessary or appropriate.'... The order [to which Alito dissented] suggested a deep skepticism on the court about whether the Trump administration could be trusted to live up to the key part of an earlier ruling that said detainees were entitled to be notified if the government intended to deport them under the law, 'within a reasonable time,' and in a way that would allow the deportees to challenge the move.” MB: Moreover, Alito, who is the justice assigned to oversee the Fifth Circuit, which includes Texas, had earlier declined to issue a stay and did not bring up the matter to the full Court. The ACLU had to go begging in the middle of the night. Clearly the Court's intervention was “necessary and appropriate.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Robert Jimison & Annie Correal of the New York Times: “Four Democratic lawmakers have arrived in El Salvador, where they intend to continue pressing for the release of a Maryland resident who was wrongly deported to a prison in the Central American country. Representatives Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine E. Dexter of Oregon landed on Sunday. They are hoping their trip will focus more attention on the Trump administration’s lack of action after the Supreme Court ordered the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.”
Sen. Foghorn Leghorn Breaks with Trump. Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: “Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said on Sunday he does not think the law would allow ... [Donald] Trump to send United States citizens convicted of violent crimes to Salvadoran prisons, despite the president’s suggestion that he might be open to that possibility. 'No, ma’am. Nor should it be considered appropriate or moral,' Kennedy told NBC News’s Kristen Welker when asked on 'Meet the Press' whether he thinks such a move would be legal.''We have our own laws,' he continued. 'We have the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. We shouldn’t send prisoners to foreign countries in my judgment.'” MB: The way Fortinsky presents the exchange, it's not clear whether Leghorn is talking about any criminals or only U.S. citizens. However, I listened to the tape, and it does appear Leghorn is speaking only of U.S. citizens. That is, it sounds very much as if Foghorn Leghorn thinks noncitizens do not have the same rights of due process & humane treatment that U.S. citizens do.
Yesterday, the story was about a young U.S. citizen with an Hispanic name whom ICE detained near the U.S.-Mexico border. Today's story is about an older Wisconsin man with a Germanic?? name who says he is a natural-born U.S. citizen. Nevertheless, the Department Homeland Security sent him a threatening email warning him he must self-deport "immediately" or law enforcement "potentially" would "remove" him from the U.S.:
~~~ If Sam Alito & Clarence Thomas had their way, Mr. Franck might be headed for El Salvador. And so might you or I.
You may not be able to see it at home as yet, but the U.S. is rapidly becoming a scary, third-world country. Here's more evidence: ~~~
~~~ Douglas MacMillan of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s efforts to boost deportations has increased the number of immigrant detainees so quickly that the government is failing to provide basic necessities, including beds and medical care, for some of them. Nearly half the people currently detained by ICE or Customs and Border Protection have no criminal charges, federal data show, yet some are being held in conditions that would be unacceptable in high-security prisons. At the same time, the administration has eliminated two oversight bodies that ensured that facilities met health and safety requirements.... The number of detainees is growing because of increased arrests and because ICE authorities are not exercising their discretion to release people who would normally qualify for bond or parole — those with medical conditions or who present no threat to the community, for example — said Eunice Cho, an [ACLU] attorney.... 'This is a crisis entirely manufactured by ICE,' Cho said.”
Quiz Question of the Day. Marie: Oh, let's see if you can figure out what's driving this pair of seemingly antithetical Trump plans. On the one hand, Trump has ordered an end to "birthright citizenship," as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment. Birthright citizenship of course increases the number of young Americans. On the other hand, as Caroline Kitchener of the New York Times reports, "The White House has been hearing out a chorus of ideas in recent weeks for persuading Americans to get married and have more children, an early sign that the Trump administration will embrace a new cultural agenda pushed by many of its allies on the right to reverse declining birthrates and push conservative family values." This is, Trump wants to increase the number of young Americans.
Dhruv Patel of the Harvard Crimson: “The Trump administration plans to slash another $1 billion in federal grants and contracts for health research to Harvard, on top of an existing $2.2 billion cut, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The new cut comes after [Harvard President Alan] Garber decided to publicly reject the revised — and more aggressive — set of demands that the White House issued to Harvard last Friday as part of his message to Harvard affiliates on Monday. Garber’s rejection sparked the federal government’s first funding freeze. Citing the two anonymous sources, the Journal reported that the Trump administration saw the release as a breach of a confidential negotiation process. Harvard had not agreed to keep the demands private, according to the Journal, but its public release is now being touted by some in the White House as a reason to take a more aggressive approach to Harvard’s funding.”
Tobi Raji & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: “Members of the U.S. DOGE Service met with National Gallery of Art leadership Thursday, museum and administration officials confirmed, signaling that cuts or other changes may be on the horizon for the Washington institution that makes its world-class art collection freely accessible to roughly 6 million visitors a year.... Thursday’s visit comes as the administration has sought to assert more control over federally funded art initiatives and overhaul the nation’s most renowned museums, including the separate Smithsonian Institution. While DOGE is nominally a cost-cutting operation led by the billionaire Elon Musk, it has drafted detailed plans to purge employees and programs that it associates with diversity initiatives from the federal government. In recent years, the NGA has worked to diversify its art, holding its first exhibition of Native American artists in decades and adding works by Haitian artists to its permanent collection, among other work created by artists from marginalized communities.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: You and I may not agree on what art is, and we may not think the National Gallery gets it right, either. But we can agree, I suspect, that we don't want Big Balls & Little Musk deciding what the National Gallery can collect & display.
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is reconsidering the legal basis for White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s conviction for criminal contempt of Congress, according to court filings, a step that could lead to voiding his case.... Navarro, 75, served a four-month sentence last year after being found guilty in September 2023 of ignoring subpoenas for records and testimony by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.... In a two-page motion filed April 4, the office of U.S. Attorney Ed Martin of the District of Columbia, which prosecuted Navarro, asked a court to delay oral arguments scheduled for Thursday 'to enable the Department of Justice to reexamine its position on the executive-privilege issues implicated in this appeal.'... Martin, a pro-Trump 'Stop the Steal' organizer who helped plan Jan. 6 events and later blamed Democrats using the online hashtag #CapitolInsurrectionHoax, has hosted Navarro on his podcast since 2020 and condemned his prosecution, saying early last year that he was a 'political hostage' and 'shouldn’t go to jail for a day.' .” However, the decision over Navarro’s case is likely to rest with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.”
⭐⭐ Jason Horowitz & Jim Yardley of the New York Times: “Pope Francis, who rose from modest means in Argentina to become the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, who clashed bitterly with traditionalists in his push for a more inclusive Roman Catholic Church, and who spoke out tirelessly for migrants, the marginalized and the health of the planet, died on Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. He was 88. The pope’s death was announced by the Vatican in a statement on X, a day after Francis appeared in his wheelchair to bless the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday. Throughout his 12-year papacy, Francis was a change agent, having inherited a Vatican in disarray in 2013 after the stunning resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a standard-bearer of Roman Catholic conservatism.” ~~~
~~~ Here's a New York Times liveblog, related to Francis' death. ~~~
~~~ The AP's obituary is here. The AP has live updates here.
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South Carolina. Kipp Jones of Mediaite: “On Saturday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) posted a video to her social media accounts showing a heated encounter with a constituent who asked her about holding a town hall meeting in her district which resulted in her yelling, 'Fuck you!'” MB: I would not publicize a video in which I lost it with someone I was supposed to be serving. Or one in which I was dressed like a hooker in skinny jeans & spike heels. Apparently Mace thinks all publicity is good publicity.
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Reader Comments (10)
The Pope is dead? Wait…he dies just after meeting with that sneaky bastard Shady Vance?
Shady slipped him a Mickey!
Either that or the Pope thought “Fuck me. If fat boy dies we’re gonna get that little creep? Father Angelino caught him defiling a 16th century settee owned by the Medicis. I’m oughta here.”
Look for Fat Hitler to demand that the Church elect a pro-MAGA pope who sides with his many hatreds. The last guy pissed me off.
“People are saying I’m better than Jesus. Those monkeys in the red dresses (are they gay?) better make me happy.”
Natch!
So I’m listening to our local NPR station carrying news about the Pope’s death. Several commentators talked about his concern for the poor and his insistence on welcoming immigrants and treating them as human beings, with respect and decency.
This report is followed immediately by a story about the MAGA controlled Tennessee legislature which passed a bill making it a crime to help immigrants.
One legislator was quoted as saying they’re trying to be more in line with what Fat Hitler wants.
I’m sure they were all praising Jesus just yesterday at Easter services. As soon as that’s over they get in the car and think “How can I be an even bigger asshole today? I know! We’ll stick it to anyone helping dirty immigrants! Lock ‘em up! Bwah-ha-ha!”
So to hell with Jesus. Praise Trump!
Reports of complete chaos at the Pentagon will likely be decried as fake news by Fatty and the MAGA media in the wake of the latest Drunk Pete scandals (plural), but what do you expect when you stick a supremely unqualified, drunken, misogynistic Fox TV shouter with anger issues and white Christian nationalist tattoos all over his body to run the entire armed forces of the United States.
I can’t imagine what high ranking Pentagon officials who spent decades climbing the ladder, including multiple combat commands and years of military training and experience must think of this embarrassing jabroni being handed the reins by a fat draft dodger who thinks they’re all suckers and losers.
@Akhilleus: Looks as if we have a classic Trumpish chicken-and-egg problem here: does Drunk Pete continually screw up because he's always drunk or does Pete get drunk because he continually screws up?
Life just presents one quandary after another, dunnit?
Are you a member of the MAGA cult??
Marie,
I’m thinking he was a drunk first. But with all these screw ups, he may need to switch to fentanyl. Wait..can the Sec Def get grandfathered in so’s he can still get fentanyl, what with these tariffs and such? Let’s set up a Signal chat with Canadian fentanyl dealers. Moscow…can you hear us? That’s fine. Now about that fentanyl…just send it air mail to Pete at the Pentagon…Christ! I need a DRINK!!
Paul Waldman on why the Pretender hates J. Powell.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-161821874
As usual, well done, this time with a bonus contribution from Otto that made me smile...
Declared the Winner
Noem, Hegseth, RFKJ, the wrestling lady, Navarro, that real estate guy Fatty sent to deal with Putin (like sending the house cat out to scare off a grizzly), they’re all incompetent clowns. Then you have astonishing hypocritical ball lickers like Rubio, and those conspiracy mongering nut jobs at the FBI working as Trump’s personal Gestapo.
And who walks around with $3,000 in cash and keeps their passport in a pocketbook? Sounds more like someone’s making a run for it. She said she had the three grand to take her family out for dinner? Where? An order of ambrosia and nectar of the gods on Mount Olympus?
And why the passport? Clusterfucks all around.
But everything is just perfect.