The Conversation -- March 22, 2025
Trump Names New Fighter Jet After ... Trump. Connor Stringer of the Telegraph, republished by Yahoo! News: “Donald Trump appears to have named America’s next-generation fighter jet in tribute to himself. Mr Trump, America’s 47th president, announced Boeing had been awarded the contract to build the air force’s new F-47 fighter jet. The jets will be built as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program which will replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor. The F-47 will be a crewed aircraft built to enter combat alongside drones.... Despite online chatter that the president named the plane after himself, he told the press conference: 'It will be known as the F-47s, the generals picked that title.'” Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump's claim is unlikely. Trump seems to be so out of it that he probably doesn't remember that he named the F-47 for himself. As RAS pointed out elsewhere in today's thread, on the same day he "forgot" he named a fighter jet for himself, he also claimed he didn't sign a significant anti-immigrant proclamation which he did indeed sign, AND he claimed he knew nothing about a highly-irregular Pentagon war-plans briefing for his top donor Elon Musk. Save to your "Trump -- 25th Amendment" file.
Stephen Simpson of the Texas Tribune: "With its measles outbreak spreading to two additional states, Texas is on track to becoming the cause of a national epidemic if it doesn’t start vaccinating more people, according to public health experts. Measles, a highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, has made a resurgence in West Texas communities, jumping hundreds of miles to the northern border of the Panhandle and East Texas, and invading bordering states of New Mexico and Oklahoma. Based on the rapid spread of cases statewide — more than 200 over 50 days — public health officials predict that it could take Texas a year to contain the spread. With cases continuously rising and the rest of the country’s unvaccinated population at the outbreak’s mercy, Texas must create stricter quarantine requirements, increase the vaccine rate, and improve contact tracing to address this measles epidemic before it becomes a nationwide problem, warn infectious disease experts and officials in other states." ~~~
~~~ Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. Akhilleus also gives a shoutout to Bobby Castor-Oil Kennedy for the pivotal role he has played in bringing measles back to the U.S.A.
~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, let's start with a bit of good news: ~~~
~~~ Buffalo Bernie & Annie Ocasio Star in a Wild West Show. Stephen Fowler of NPR: "Sen. Bernie Sanders has emerged as a leading voice for voters opposed to ... [Donald] Trump's rapid push to dismantle the federal government — and frustrated with the Democratic Party's response.... Thursday, Sanders kicked off a western swing of his 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour with rallies in Las Vegas and Tempe, Ariz. joined by New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The pair spoke to an overflow crowd of thousands inside and outside the Mullett Arena at Arizona State University [in Tempe] about the threat they say Trump and his allies pose to American voters and the government.... Friday, Sanders' communications director said more than 30,000 people showed up in Denver, Colo. to hear him speak, a larger crowd than any event during his two presidential runs."
Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s revenge tour continues. Late Friday night, he issued a memo rescinding security clearances and access to classified information for a slew of erstwhile opponents including Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and 'any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family.'... Mr. Biden had done the same to him after he left office in the days after the Jan 6. attack on the U.S. Capitol. A variety of figures who’ve tangled with Mr. Trump at one point or another were named in Friday’s memo. Some [of the people Trump named Friday] had already been mentioned by Trump officials as people who would soon have their security clearances revoked. But taken together, the catalog of names read like an enemies list.” They include New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, impeachment figures Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman and Norman Eisen, January 6 committee members Liz Cheney and Adam Kinsinger, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken & former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (Trump also previously named the last two). The NBC News story is here.
Giselle Ewing of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Friday suggested that recent attacks on Tesla cars and property have been more harmful than the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, emphasizing that the alleged Tesla attackers should be considered 'terrorists.' Protesters across the country have made their outrage known against Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn efforts to shrink the federal government in recent weeks, targeting the electric car company, of which he remains CEO. While many of the protests at Tesla showrooms have remained peaceful, some have involved instances of vandalism and arson, including setting cars alight.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Obviously vandalism and arson are wrongful acts, but -- so far -- they have cause only property destruction, crimes that are not nearly as serious as unprovoked physical attacks on police officers committed during an attempt to overturn the results of a federal election. I hope most people are smart enough to figure that out. ~~~
~~~ Chris Cameron of the New York Times: Donald “Trump escalated his threats against people who vandalize Tesla cars, musing in a social media post on Friday that those convicted of damaging or destroying the vehicles — including U.S. citizens — could be sent to notorious prison complexes in El Salvador. 'I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20-year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,' Mr. Trump said, adding, 'Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!'... Analysts say it is unlikely that a plan to detain U.S. citizens overseas would hold up in court.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: What this tells us is that Trump knows he is sending people (the supposed gang member deportees) to a dangerous prison in a foreign country, people who have not been convicted of any crime nor received due process. ~~~
~~~ Kevin Collier & Michael Kosnar of NBC News: "Law enforcement officials and domestic extremism experts say they have found no evidence that a series of attacks on Tesla vehicles and dealerships are coordinated despite such claims from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and ... Donald Trump. At least 10 Tesla dealerships, charging stations and facilities have been hit by vandals, many of whom have lit cars on fire, while a growing collection of videos posted to social media have shown people defacing and damaging Tesla vehicles. One website appeared to encourage people to target Tesla vehicles, publishing a map with the information of dozens of Tesla owners and Tesla facilities. It’s unknown who started the site."
Trump Reins in Musk. Maggie Haberman & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Friday rejected the notion that the billionaire Elon Musk should be given access to top-secret U.S. plans for a potential military conflict with China, even as he denied a report that such a briefing had been planned to be held at the Pentagon. 'We don’t want to have a potential war with China, but I can tell you, if we did, we’re very well equipped to handle it,' Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'But I don’t want to show that to anybody, but certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much.' Mr. Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla and a part-time government staff member, visited the Pentagon on Friday and met privately with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Mr. Musk was originally going to visit the Tank, a secure conference room at the building, for a briefing with top military leaders about the China war plan, according to two U.S. officials. The top-secret briefing was to include Adm. Christopher W. Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, the head of the military’s Indo-Pacific Command; and Mr. Hegseth....
“But the Tank visit was called off after The Times’s report on the visit, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Instead, Mr. Musk, who has extensive business interests in China, met with Mr. Hegseth and Admiral Grady in the defense secretary’s office.... Mr. Trump made clear he had been caught by surprise by The Times’s report, saying he called his White House chief of staff and Mr. Hegseth to ask about it; he said they said it was 'ridiculous.' But he also said that Mr. Musk — who has extensive business in China — should not be made aware of such sensitive information. It was one of the first specific statements from the president about what he would consider a bridge too far for Mr. Musk, who has expansive potential conflicts of interest....” (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Rachel Maddow isn't sure if this briefing was Trump's idea and he called if off when the New York Times outted the plan or if Trump is telling the truth when he said he didn't know about it, so Musk arranged the briefing. Either way, I'd say it looks as if Drunk Pete thought it was a fine idea. ~~~
~~~ Marie: As for the leakers, I'd say good on them. ~~~
I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. -- Elon Musk, on X, Friday
... one cannot 'leak' a false story. -- Heather Cox Richardson, noting that Musk's claim instead confirm the veracity of the NYT story ~~~
~~~ Sophia Cai, et al., of Politico: “The pervasive fear and anger that have been rippling through federal agencies over Elon Musk’s slashing approach to shrinking government deepened even further on Friday over the billionaire tech mogul’s threat to root out and punish anyone who is leaking to the media.... Following Thursday’s New York Times report that Musk was set to receive a Pentagon briefing about a confidential contingency plan for a war with China, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted on ... X that leakers 'will be found' and, he intimated, punished. 'I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT,' Musk wrote in his post. But Musk’s post is not having the chilling effect on leakers he’d intended.... 'We are public servants, not Elon’s servants,' said one Food and Drug Administration employee.... 'Leakers are patriots,' said one Agriculture Department employee.... 'He IS A LEAKER,' one senior Federal Aviation Administration official said of Musk in a Signal message. 'When you put hard drives on data systems at government agencies you are creating the biggest security breaches we have seen in years and years. Possibly ever.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Robyn Pennacchia of Wonkette: Elon Musk tells Sean Hannity that left-wing people hate him because they are “bad people” who suffer from “mental illness,” probably caused by a “woke parasite,” and “They basically want to kill me because I'm stopping their fraud....” Pennacchia has other ideas.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration fired nearly the entire civil rights branch of the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, gutting a government office responsible for conducting oversight of ... [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown. The more than 100 staff members were told on Friday they would be put on leave for 60 days to find another job in the administration or be fired in May, according to five current and former government officials. Mr. Trump also closed the ombudsman for Citizenship and Immigration Services, another office responsible for scrutinizing the administration’s legal immigration policies. The moves were the latest attempt by Mr. Trump to root out civil rights divisions and oversight mechanisms across government agencies. But the shuttering of the Homeland Security Department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties was particularly notable given the lack of transparency over the administration’s immigration crackdown.” (Also linked yesterday.)
This Is So-o-o Stupid. Andrew Freedman of Axios: "The National Weather Service is reducing weather balloon launches at six more locations in the U.S. and temporarily suspending them at two more places due to staffing shortages, the agency announced Thursday afternoon.... Weather balloons, typically launched twice per day at NWS local forecast offices, provide crucial data for weather forecasting.... The weather agency, which is part of the Department of Commerce, announced it is suspending weather balloon launches at Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, 'due to a lack of Weather Forecast Office (WFO) staffing.' The agency is also reducing the frequency of weather balloon launches at six other locations in the West, Midwest and Plains states due to lack of staffing."
[The Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants with legal status runs] contrary to what the First Amendment is all about.... When the justification is ‘you’re a threat to national security’ and it’s like one individual, I mean come on.... Let’s be real. -- Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ~~~
~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has opened a new phase in its immigration agenda, one that goes well beyond the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.U.S. border officials are using more aggressive tactics, which the administration calls 'enhanced vetting,' at ports of entry to the United States, prompting American allies like Germany to update their travel advisories. At the same time, the administration is targeting legal immigrants who have expressed views that the government believes threaten national security and undermine foreign policy. The tactics have unnerved foreign tourists and sent a chill through immigrant communities in the United States, who say they are being targeted for speech — not for breaking any laws.... To deport people living in the United States with green cards or valid visas, the Trump administration has invoked a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives the secretary of state sweeping power to expel foreigners who are seen as a threat to the country’s foreign policy interests.” ~~~
~~~ Robert Tait of the Guardian: “A string of high-profile arrests and detentions of travellers is likely to cause a major downturn in tourism to the US, with latest figures already showing a serious drop-off, tourist experts said. Several western travellers have recently been rejected at the US border on increasingly flimsy grounds under Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, some of them shackled and held in detention centers in poor conditions for weeks. Germany updated travel guidance for travelling to the US, warning that breaking entry rules could lead not just to a rejection as before, but arrest or even detention.... The UK Foreign Office, too, has bolstered its advice to warn of a risk of arrest after Becky Burke, a tourist from Wales..., was stopped at the border with Canada and held for three weeks in a detention facility.... This week ... Denmark and Finland issued cautionary advice to transgender travellers, following US state department rule changes spurred by the Trump administration decree that it would recognise only two genders. The Danish foreign ministry advised travellers who use the gender designation 'X' on their passport to contact the US embassy before travelling, while Finland cautioned travellers whose gender had changed that they might not gain entry.” ~~~
~~~ Not a Nice Place to Visit, and You Wouldn't Wanna Live There. Doktor Zoom of Wonkette: "As more people vanish into the maw of the Trump administration’s lawless detention and deportation apparatus, being disappeared for weeks or possibly for life, other countries are warning their citizens to be aware that even having all their papers in order may not protect them when visiting the US. These warnings follow an already well-documented trend of international travelers choosing to avoid visiting the USA, which could mean $64 billion in lost business for the US tourism industry. Canadians are usually the biggest contingent of foreign visitors..., and they accounted for $20.5 billion in spending last year. Thanks largely to Trump’s trade war and his weird delusion that Canada wants to be us, Canadians are now staying away in droves."
Justin Jouvenal, et al., of the Washington Post: “A federal judge sharply grilled a government attorney Friday about the Trump administration’s apparent disregard of his order to return deportation flights to the United States, a dispute that has sparked a high-profile showdown this week between the president and the judiciary. Before deputy assistant attorney general Drew Ensign even had a chance to address the court at a hearing, James E. Boasberg, chief justice for the U.S. District Court in D.C., dramatically scolded him over the government’s conduct in the case. Boasberg accused Ensign of using 'intemperate and disrespectful language that I can’t remember seeing from the United States' in court filings and questioned whether the attorney failed to show for a hearing Monday because he knew he had knowingly violated Boasberg’s order about getting the flights back.... Boasberg will have difficult choices to make if he decides to take a tougher line against the government. If the judge feels officials are continuing to disregard his orders, he could find them in contempt of court, but that’s a step federal judges rarely take against the executive branch.” (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's story is here. ~~~
Why was this proclamation essentially signed in the dark on Friday … and then these people rushed onto planes?.... It seems to me the only reason to do that is if you know it’s a problem and you want to get them out of the country before there are suits file. -- Judge James Boasberg, during Friday's hearing ~~~
~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: “U.S. District Judge James Boasberg vowed Friday to determine whether the Trump administration defied his command to turn around planes bound for El Salvador carrying Venezuelan immigrants Trump claimed were members of a terrorist gang. 'The government’s not being terribly cooperative,' the judge said during an afternoon hearing, before making it clear that he was not dropping his quest to establish whether his Saturday directive was ignored or deliberately breached. 'I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order, who ordered this and what the consequences will be.'”
~~~ SO THEN. Trump Denied He Signed the Order He Signed. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: Friday afternoon, “Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked the president for his reaction to comments by [Judge James] Boasberg in a hearing just hours earlier, where the judge said, 'The policy ramifications of this [use of the Alien Enemies Act] are incredibly troublesome and problematic and concerning.'... 'It ... sound[s] like this judge ... wants to know why the proclamation was signed “in the dark” – his words – and why people were rushed onto planes,' Doocy said. [Trump replied,] '... I don’t know when it was signed because I didn’t sign it. Other people handled it. But [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio’s done a great job and he wanted them out. And we go along with that. We want to get criminals out of our country.' Later, CNN’s Erin Burnett ... held up a copy of the order. 'He said he didn’t sign it,' she said. 'I’m sorry, that is his signature, right?'” ~~~
Maanvi Singh of the Guardian: “The Trump administration has flown 238 Venezuelans to an El Salvador prison that human rights groups say is designed to disappear people. Despite a judge’s order temporarily blocking the move, the US government flew more than 200 men that it had accused of gang membership to the 'Terrorism Confinement Center', or Cecot – a draconian mega-prison that has become central to the promise of the Salvadorian president, Nayib Bukele, promise to rid his country of crime. The prison ... can hold up to 40,000 people.... Now, Venezuelan immigrants to the US, many of whom are also suspected of gang affiliation without apparent evidence, have joined Salvadorian prisoners in the Americas’ largest – and one of its cruelest – prison systems.” The Guardian interviewed Mneesha Gellman, a political scientist at Emerson College who researches human rights and violence, about the conditions at Cecot.
Get Out! Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News: "The Trump administration will be revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Latin American and Haitian migrants welcomed into the U.S. under a Biden-era sponsorship process, urging them to self-deport or face arrest and removal by deportation agents. The termination of their work permits and deportation protections under an immigration authority known as parole will take effect in late April, 30 days after March 25, according to a notice posted by the federal government. The move will affect immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who flew to the U.S. under a Biden administration program, known as CHNV, that was designed to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border by giving would-be migrants legal migration avenues. A total of 532,000 migrants entered the U.S. under that policy, which was paused soon after ... [Donald] Trump took office...."
Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: “The Trump administration notified aid organizations across the country on Friday that it would cancel a contract that funds the legal representation of more than 25,000 children who entered the United States alone, a decision that leaves them vulnerable to swift deportation.... The government instructed more than 100 nonprofits to immediately cease their work representing the minors. It terminated a contract that was up for renewal on March 29. Advocates said ... many [of the children] would be left without counsel in adversarial immigration proceedings. Children as young as 2 who are survivors of trafficking, trauma and abuse, and who are often too young to understand their legal rights, would be returned to countries where they could face harm, the advocates said.... The decision on Friday to halt funding to these organizations comes amid reports that the Trump administration intends to track down unaccompanied migrant children to ensure they appear in immigration court or are deported, if there is a final order of removal.... Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, the government is required, to the 'greatest extent practicable,' to provide legal representation to minors.... The Biden administration had increased access to legal services for unaccompanied minors.” The AP story is here.
Lisa Rein & Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “Acting Social Security commissioner Leland Dudek threatened Thursday evening to bar Social Security Administration employees from accessing its computer systems in response to a judge’s order blocking the U.S. DOGE Service from accessing sensitive taxpayer data. Less than 24 hours later — after the judge rejected his argument and the White House intervened — Dudek is saying he was 'out of line.' Dudek initially told news outlets ... that the judge’s decision to bar sensitive data access to 'DOGE affiliates' was overly broad and that to comply, he might have to block virtually all SSA employees from accessing the agency’s computer systems. But Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, who issued the order, said in a letter that Dudek’s assertions 'were inaccurate.'... In response to Hollander’s letter, Dudek said in a statement that the court clarified its guidance and 'therefore, I am not shutting down the agency.'” ~~~
~~~ Yes, but not making Social Security payments is a good thing, an easy way to root out fraudsters: ~~~
~~~ Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo! News: “Howard Lutnick, Donald Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary, suggested on a podcast this week that missing Social Security checks aren’t a big deal, and that only a 'fraudster' would actually complain if their monthly benefit didn’t come in the mail.... 'Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month,' Lutnick said on the All-In podcast. 'My mother-in-law is 94. She wouldn’t call and complain. She just wouldn’t. She would think something got messed up and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise screaming, yelling, and complaining.... The easiest way to find a fraudster is to stop payments and listen,' he [said]. 'Whoever screamed is the one stealing.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm just going to guess that the mother-in-law there has some other sources of income. See also Akhilleus's commentary below. He is right about Lutnick's decisions after 9/11. I see that NOAA is part of the Commerce Department. I wonder if Secretary Lutnick's dear old mother-in-law would complain if she got stuck outside in the rain without an umbrella because the National Weather Service is no longer providing accurate forecasts in her area? (Story linked above.)
David Folkenflik of NPR: "Six Voice of America journalists sued Kari Lake and the Trump administration on Friday, alleging their moves to shut down the U.S.-funded network were unlawful and unconstitutional. The journalists say that the government's acts violate their First Amendment rights on free speech grounds and usurp the U.S. Congress's control of the power of the federal purse. More than 900 full-time network employees were placed on indefinite leave last weekend; 550 contractors were terminated from their jobs. Most employees at the federal parent, U.S. Agency for Global Media, were also placed on indefinite leave."
Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: “... the 'Department of Government Efficiency' [is making] the federal government almost comically inefficient.... Routine tasks take longer to complete, grinding down worker productivity. DOGE is also bogging down employees with meaningless busywork, which sets them up to be punished for neglecting their actual duties. For example, many have been diverted away from their usual responsibilities in order to scrub forbidden words from agency documents, as part of Trump’s crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.... What counts as DEI wrongthink also changes almost daily, meaning employees must perform the same word-cleansing tasks repeatedly.... At the IRS, employees spend Mondays queued up at shared computers to submit their DOGE-mandated “five things I did last week” emails.... Meanwhile, some federal payments have stopped. Credit cards used for routine purchases have been canceled or had their limits shrunk to $1.... But there are costs to, say, not feeding the Transportation Security Administration’s bomb-sniffing dogs.”
Taylor Telford of the Washington Post: “The Federal Communications Commission is prepared to block mergers and acquisitions involving companies that continue promoting diversity, equity and inclusion policies, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Friday.... 'Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination,' Carr said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday. He specifically cited Paramount’s planned merger with Skydance Media and Verizon’s deal to acquire Frontier Communications.... Last month, Carr said the agency would investigate Comcast and NBCUniversal over their DEI policies. PBS, which is facing an FCC investigation and threats to its federal funding over other matters, closed its DEI office in February to comply with a Trump executive order.” MB: One really does not want minorities and women showing up on one's teevee in one's very own home, much less running behind-the-scenes ops. More action shows featuring all white male casts, please. And make sure the actors are Christian. And straight.
Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “For the second time in a week, the Trump administration is taking the unusual step of seeking to disqualify a veteran judge in Washington from overseeing a legal challenge to a White House executive action. The Justice Department’s filing Friday afternoon accuses U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell and her court of being 'insufficiently impartial' and said she has not kept her 'disdain for President Trump secret.' Judges are very infrequently booted from cases, and there is a high legal threshold to warrant such a recusal. Making such requests also can backfire, since the decision of whether to recuse is up to the judges themselves. The Supreme Court has said that 'only in the rarest of cases' can a judge be forced to recuse based on their opinions. In rare situations, an appeals court can remove a judge from a case.... Howell is overseeing the legal proceedings surrounding a Trump executive order that levied costly punishments on the large international law firm Perkins Coie.... Last week, Howell ruled in favor of Perkins Coie to at least temporarily halt the unprecedented penalties....”
Cowardly Cavers
First he came for the minorities
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a minority
Then he came for the bureaucrats
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a bureaucrat
Then he came for the universitiess
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a professor
Then he came for the lawyers
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a lawyer
Then he came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
Troy Closson of the New York Times: “Columbia University agreed on Friday to overhaul its protest policies, security practices and Middle Eastern studies department in a remarkable concession to the Trump administration, which has refused to consider restoring $400 million in federal funds without major changes. The agreement, which stunned and dismayed many members of the faculty, could signal a new stage in the administration’s escalating clash with elite colleges and universities. Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan and dozens of other schools face federal inquiries and fear similar penalties, and college administrators have said Columbia’s response to the White House’s demands may set a dangerous precedent. This week, the University of Pennsylvania was also explicitly targeted by the Trump administration, which said it would cancel $175 million in federal funding, at least partly because the university had let a transgender woman participate on a women’s swim team. Columbia, facing the loss of government grants and contracts over what the administration said was a systemic failure to protect students and faculty members “from antisemitic violence and harassment,' opted to yield to many of the administration’s most substantial demands.” ~~~
~~~ Josh Marcus of the Independent: “The university will give police new powers to arrest students, partially ban face masks, and appoint a university official to oversee changes at a suite of university departments.... The agreement includes the university hiring 36 'special police officers' who “will have the ability to remove individuals from campus and/or arrest them when appropriate,' according to the document.” MB: Yeah, I'll bet those officers will be mighty “special.” Read on. Columbia has abandoned the concept of academic freedom and has forgotten the First Amendment. ~~~
Higher education reform shouldn’t resemble a shakedown.... Colleges and universities shouldn’t be bullied into accepting speech-restrictive demands because the government dangles a $400 million check over an institution’s head. Any changes made as a result of this flawed process are inherently suspect. -- Tyler Coward of FIRE, a free-speech advocacy group
This attempt to discipline and control a university campus is a transparent hallmark of authoritarian rule and harshly violates the central mission of education: teaching, research, and service to the broader society for the public good. We also believe it to be illegal. -- American Association of University Professors ~~~
~~~ Matthew Haag & Katherine Rosman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump was demanding $400 million from Columbia University. When he did not get his way, he stormed out of a meeting with university trustees and later publicly castigated the university president as 'a dummy' and 'a total moron.'... That drama dates back 25 years.... It was over a lucrative real estate deal.... Some former university officials are quietly wondering whether the ultimately unsuccessful property transaction sowed the seeds of Mr. Trump’s current focus on Columbia.” Laura h. isn't wondering. She wrote yesterday, 'of course there is a revenge angle!”
Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: “Since ... [Donald] Trump’s first term, Brad S. Karp, the chairman of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, championed himself as a bulwark against what he saw as an unlawful and unpredictable presidency. But on Wednesday, Mr. Karp ... [left] behind the adversarial approach [and met with Mr. Trump in the White House].... A day later, Mr. Trump announced that Mr. Karp had agreed to pledge $40 million in pro bono legal services to issues the president has championed.... The White House said the firm had committed to stop using diversity, equity and inclusion policies. And Mr. Trump said Mr. Karp had acknowledged to him that a former partner of the firm who had worked as a prosecutor in Manhattan and had pushed for Mr. Trump to be charged criminally had committed 'wrongdoing.' These assertions appear inconsistent with a copy of the statement that Mr. Karp shared with his firm. In deciding to bend to Mr. Trump, Mr. Karp likely saved his law firm, which had $2.63 billion in revenue last year..., from hemorrhaging clients and lawyers.
But in doing so, Mr. Karp, who had positioned himself as a spokesman and advocate for the legal profession, left other firms even more vulnerable to Mr. Trump’s retribution campaign by demonstrating that his intimidation tactics could lead even a powerhouse like Paul Weiss to make public concessions.... In fact, a White House official said on Friday that despite the deal reached with Paul Weiss, Mr. Trump would continue to target law firms with executive orders.... The deal, while supported by the vast majority of the firm’s partners [and some top clients], also drew swift condemnation from lawyers outside the firm and critics of Mr. Trump.” The reporters go on to detail how Karp decided to make a deal with the devil. ~~~
~~~ Danielle Kaye, et al., of the New York Times: “Lawyers at firms both large and small took to social media to denounce [Paul, Weiss].... Many large firms..., said [Leslie Levin of U.Conn Law], are struggling with how to respond to pressure from the Trump administration. But basing decisions on concern about harm to their business goes against key tenets of the legal profession, she said. 'Lawyers are supposed to stand up to the government when there’s an abuse of power, and a firm like Paul Weiss has the capacity to do that,' Ms. Levin said.... Hundreds of associates at leading corporate law firms have signed an open letter calling on their employers to speak out against the Trump administration’s moves.... The American Bar Association released a statement this month condemning the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine major law firms, stating that these actions by the White House 'deny clients access to justice and betray our fundamental values.' The association declined to comment on Friday on Paul Weiss’s arrangement with the White House.... ome lawyers supported Paul Weiss’s decision to settle....” An NBC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ New York Times Editors: “... criticizing a judge’s decision can be entirely reasonable. Joe Biden, Mr. Obama, Mr. Bush and other presidents inveighed against rulings. The Constitution establishes the judiciary as equal to the executive and legislative branches, not dominant over them.... Yet Mr. Trump’s efforts at judicial intimidation are of a different scale. As president, he is encouraging a campaign of menace. In case after case, he argues that the only reasonable result is a victory for his side — and that he alone can determine what is legal and what is not. His allies then try to dehumanize the judges with whom they disagree and make them fear for their safety. Mr. Trump’s efforts to subdue law firms may seem separate, but they are connected. He has issued three executive orders removing the security clearances of lawyers at three large firms: Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie and Paul, Weiss. In each case, the motivation is political. The firms have employed lawyers who represented Democrats, investigated Mr. Trump and sued Jan. 6 rioters.... These orders ... are attempts to undermine the legal system and freedom of speech.... The initial response from many law firms has been a disappointing mixture of silence and capitulation.”
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Minnesota. Frances Vinall of the Washington Post: “Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn (R) has resigned following his arrest earlier this week on a charge of soliciting prostitution from a 17-year-old girl, who turned out to be a police detective engaged in a sting operation.... The former lawmaker is alleged to have sent messages to someone who appeared to be a teenage girl in response to an online ad posted this month. When he arrived at a spot where he had arranged to pay the girl for sex, he was met instead by police, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.”
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Reader Comments (13)
Hang on…
According to billionaire Howard Lutnick, no one should complain if they don’t get their social security check, they should just shut up, and maybe they’ll get one next month. People who loudly complain are clearly “fraudsters”.
Huh.
I guess if I were a billionaire I wouldn’t complain either, but millions of Americans rely on these checks as the only income they have, to pay bills, get their medications, and EAT!
Just imagine the apoplectic outrage had a Democratic cabinet Secretary told MAGAts to shut up, and called them fraudsters if they complained about not getting their money. Fox studios would melt down.
But to be clear, the people I hear doing the most complaining lately, are Trump, Musk, and privileged whiners like Lutnick.
Fraudsters all.
And yet more evidence of the extreme disconnect between this government by and for billionaires, and average Americans.
Oh, and this isn’t the first time Lutnick told people who didn’t get a check to shut up and go away. As chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, an international investment company that suffered the destruction of its New York offices in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, Lutnick refused to send out checks to the families of the 600 plus employees who were killed, demanding instead that the Red Cross take care of them. Public outrage fueled by furious family members forced him to finally pay up.
Fraudster? Maybe. More like greedy sociopathic asshole. A perfect fit for the Fat Hitler administration.
The Border
"A small town in southern Quebec says American authorities have decided to close the Canadian access to an historic library that sits on the border between the two countries. Inside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House there is a worn strip of black tape on the floor marking the U.S. and Canadian border. For decades Canadians have been able to access the library without a passport or visa by entering the Canadian side of the building.
The Town of Stanstead said in a news release late Thursday evening that U.S. officials have made a “unilateral decision” to close access on the Canadian side."
I'm guessing that Trump might be lying about not signing that immigration order, though maybe he just forgot because he is so busy working on his golf game. But if he didn't sign it he better find out who did since that would be kind of big deal for people to be forging his name on official documents. Kind of like someone setting up a top secret security briefing behind his back for the for his top donor.
I see where that MAGA pervert in Minnesota, Justin Eichorn somebody (R-natch), has resigned after being nabbed thinking he was going to have right-wing sexy time with a 17 year old girl. I guess sex with an adult police detective wasn’t what this family values PoT scumbag was angling for.
There goes his “Trump Derangement Syndrome” bill. If he hadn’t retired, maybe he could have filed a “MAGA victim protection” bill. These assholes love to portray themselves as the victims anytime they get caught doing something immoral or illegal (usually both), cuz of course, an underage girl he thought he was finagling into a sexual encounter wouldn’t have been a victim at all, right?
Like his idol, he probably figured she’d be thrilled. When you’re a MAGAt, they let you do it. You can do whatever you want.
I guess now he’ll be all for defunding the police.
RAS,
It must have been signed using autopen. Fatty loves to claim that everything Biden signed was done by underlings using the autopen device, because Biden was too weak minded and addled.
Hmmm…A) weak minded and addled? Or B) off playing golf?
Which is more accurate?
I choose C) All of the above.
More Vanity Projects. Put his name on it and suddenly money is not a problem.
"The Department of the Air Force announced today the contract award for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform, marking a major milestone in the advancement of air superiority. The contract, awarded to Boeing, will lead to the development of the F-47, the world’s first sixth-generation fighter aircraft."
When uninformed personal opinion idiocy replaces science…you know you’re in MAGA World.
The exact kind of vaccine disinformation being peddled by Polio Bob is set to trigger a National epidemic .
“With its measles outbreak spreading to two additional states, Texas is on track to becoming the cause of a national epidemic if it doesn’t start vaccinating more people, according to public health experts.
Measles, a highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, has made a resurgence in West Texas communities, jumping hundreds of miles to the northern border of the Panhandle and East Texas, and invading bordering states of New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Based on the rapid spread of cases statewide — more than 200 over 50 days — public health officials predict that it could take Texas a year to contain the spread. With cases continuously rising and the rest of the country’s unvaccinated population at the outbreak’s mercy, Texas must create stricter quarantine requirements, increase the vaccine rate, and improve contact tracing to address this measles epidemic before it becomes a nationwide problem, warn infectious disease experts and officials in other states.”
But will they? Fat Hitler’s half brained Juju guy in charge of the health of hundreds of millions of Americans sez “No biggie. Try castor oil!”
What’s a matter, bleach no good this time?
And get this…
According to nature.com,
“Measles is the most contagious disease that is transmitted directly between people. Epidemiologists use a metric called R0 to indicate how many people, on average, one person with a given illness is expected to infect. The R0 for measles is a whopping 12–18. By comparison, the R0 for COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic was estimated to be about 1.4–2.5, and the R0 for influenza is about 1–2.”
Almost 20X more contagious than influenza, and 10X more contagious than Covid-19, which killed a million Americans while Fatty was off playing golf telling everyone not to worry.
This is gonna kill a lot of kids if they keep this up.
I guess it will be Biden’s fault.
No Words
This is apparently what the cult finds entertaining.
sounds like a sensible summer project:
Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, in The Atlantic, on Americans buying an escape plan
"Thousands of Americans a year are applying to visa programs abroad, primarily in Europe—Portugal in particular—and the Caribbean, where island nations offer citizenship outright, sometimes upon purchase of property.
....
Now, as Elon Musk attacks the federal government’s social and regulatory programs, the U.S. is beginning to take on the contours of a nation without a clear future. 'It’s the same push factors as other countries,' Major [Eric Major, the CEO of the immigration-advising firm Latitude] explained. 'People don’t trust the government; they’re worried about the quality of the air; they want to educate their kids.'
....
Americans without a ton of money are finding ways to access new passports by re-hyphenating themselves. Many are casting around for long-lost relatives through which they can claim Italian, Irish, Austrian, or German citizenship.
....
According to one estimate, about 40 percent of U.S. citizens might be eligible for European passports through their ancestors. Last year, Ireland received 31,825 passport applications from U.S. citizens, Austria naturalized 1,914 (virtually all as reparations for Nazi-era persecutions), and more than 6,100 Americans applied for British citizenship, with a noticeable uptick beginning in November."
The Wonkette piece examining the trials of Elon Agonistes does a bang up job of pointing out why this evil piece of shit is so disliked, and it’s not because George Soros is paying them. Hey, he called me up and offered me a packet to hate this prick. I told him, I said “George, save your money. I’m happy to hate this lump of privileged Nazi entrails for nothing. It’s on the house.”
One of the more insidious side effects of living the life of an insulated fatally narcissistic rich prick surrounded by lackeys and yes men (and women) is the total inability to accept input from the real world. And it doesn’t have to be out and out criticism, just plain old suggestions and observations that go against your built in belief of your own unassailable superiority. “Elon, maybe you shouldn’t be putting this truck thing together with plastic Lego pieces if you wanna sell it for $100K. This thing could fall apart and people will be pissed.”
“What? How dare you! I’m a genius! If I wanted to use Scotch tape, it would be considered a pinnacle of automotive engineering. You’re fired!”
Trump and Musk both suffer from this effect, which is why they are not only astounded, but deeply offended if and when they do receive criticism. Not only has no one ever told them they’re wrong, they’ve for years been told they shit ice cream, and their most bizarre whim is proof of personal, world shattering genius. The result is that they both firmly believe that if someone is against them, they must be getting paid to do so, they’re mentally ill, or part of a gigantic evil conspiracy.
This is fine and dandy if you’re a recluse billionaire whack job who lolls in bed all day watching endless reruns of “Ice Station Zebra”. But if you’re running a country into the ground and find yourself deeply offended that everyone doesn’t love you for it, we’re in a whole ‘nother universe of moral midgetry and pernicious personality flaws on a par with serial killers and Fox News hosts.
“People are being paid to hate me” comes from a life lived in a bubble of fantasies of personal perfection, the sort of mental disturbance that allows dangerous loonies like these two to think “Hmmm…I DO shit ice cream! I’m gonna sell it. And if people don’t pay me millions for my turds, they’re all part of a global conspiracy against me! Aieeee! I’m being persecuted!!”
The Future
Laura’s linked article mentions plans for the future. An excellent point. Part of what makes our current morass of MAGA manipulations and mendacity so unsettling is the very real sense that these fuckers have no plan for the future. No vision beyond vengeance against enemies and more money and power for themselves.
But power to do what? What’s the plan going forward? Do you even have a plan, ‘cause turning back the clocks to 1890, or worse, 1933, isn’t a plan for the future. At least not one I want to be a part of.
And while we’re on the subject, for most people, thoughts of the future tend typically (there are exceptions, certainly) to be hopeful, positive. They don’t usually involve images of more people in prisons, the scourge of public health crises, one after another, market fluctuations based on the whims of an economic imbecile, or visions of thousands of goose stepping, sieg heiling white supremacists running roughshod over a country of billionaires on one hand, and millions of indigent citizens left without social security or healthcare on the other.
That’s the vision of the future being promised now.
Sound hopeful?
And speaking of hope, let’s consider the vocabulary of the moment. Have you heard Trump or Musk or any of their billionaire lackeys and tech bro financiers having a single positive word to say? About anything?
I never hear “Today we did something to make life better, to make the world a better place, to make sure kids can grow up healthy and learn to be critical thinkers and good citizens and neighbors.”
Never. I mean NE-VER.
Here’s what we get, day after day.
Gonna make ‘em pay!
We’ll find you! We’ll torture you. We’ll deport you!
Millions of criminals! Aieee!
Trans people are trying to KILL ME!
Investigate. Take away. Revenge. Moochers! Fraudsters!
Stealing my money!
Stealing your money!
Make them pay.
Empathy is terrible.
Social security is a scam.
Medicaid is a scam. Take it away.
MAKE IT HURT!
They’ll be sorry!!!
Any of that sound hopeful? Positive? Like someone has an idea for a good, decent, liveable future? A better future?
Christ, it sounds like a fucking black hole where hope and decency get sucked in never to be seen again.
Hooray, ‘merica! The god-king Fatty (Otto insists on calling him “Farty”, to which I can’t object), has spoke!
In WashingDu did Kubla Trump
A costly fighter jet decree!
(Apologies to Coleridge)
The F-47, which he named for himself, absolutely gives the lie to these vulture bird droppings about cost control and efficiency.
So let’s look at the history of high end weapons systems, whether or not they’re named for narcissistic jagoffs.
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, was commissioned in 2006, and introduced in 2015.
Ten years later, this problem plagued aircraft is costing $2 trillion and has been designated for reduced use.
And this program was not overseen by a drunken TV idiot who thinks he’s murdering Mooslims alongside Richard the Lionheart.
Advanced weapons systems can take 5–8 years to deliver, and another 5 or more years to perfect. The problem here is that the God-King 47, and his sloshed DoD pretender don’t know Jack about modern warfare.
Ukraine pretty much neutered Russia’s Black Sea navy with $2,000 drones.
China doesn’t give a flaming fart for Fatty fighter planes that won’t be airborne until Beyoncé’s country album is a twenty year oldie.
By the time Fat Hitler’s jet fighters are viable, China (and likely some kid in his cellar, will be able to shut down the entire East and West coasts. They were won’t care about flyover red states, cuz they’ll all be cheering for China.
Yes, AK. I got nuthin'. You speak for us all. "Happy" spring...