The Conversation -- March 28, 2025
Mattathias Schwartz & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s efforts to deport migrants to places other than their country of origin hit a new roadblock on Friday, when a federal judge issued a temporary order requiring the administration to give migrants an opportunity to contest their removal on the grounds that they might be at risk of persecution or torture. U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy, who sits in Boston, ordered the government to give migrants a chance to contest their removal to a so-called third country under a federal law that limits deportations to places where the deportees’ 'life or freedom would be threatened.' He also cited a United Nations treaty against torture. The Trump administration has struck deals with Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador as part of its efforts to remove people who are difficult to deport to their home countries. Hundreds of migrants from countries in Africa and Asia, for instance, have been deported to Panama, a country those migrants had no ties to.”
Michael Kunzelman of the AP: “A federal judge agreed Friday to block the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that was targeted for mass firings before the court’s intervention. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed to issue a preliminary injunction that maintains the agency’s existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to preserve the agency. The judge said the court 'can and must act' to save the agency from being shuttered. Jackson ruled that, without a court order..., Donald Trump’s administration would move quickly to shut down the agency that Congress created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.”
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “A federal appeals court has cleared the way for ... Donald Trump to fire members of executive branch boards that oversee federal employee grievances and labor disputes across the nation. The ruling Friday is a victory for Trump’s effort to exert control over regulatory agencies that Congress intended to operate with some degree of independence from the president. Federal laws limit the president’s ability to remove the board members who oversee those agencies, but the Trump administration has argued those limits are unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to allow Trump to remove members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. The two board members in the case — Gwynne Wilcox of the NLRB and Cathy Harris of the MSPB — were appointed by President Joe Biden. Lower-court judges had issued injunctions preventing Trump from firing the two board members, but Friday’s appeals court ruling lifts those injunctions for now while the litigation proceeds.”
Karoun Demirjian, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration on Friday detailed its plans to put the U.S. Agency for International Development, the government’s main agency for distributing foreign aid, fully under the State Department and reduce its staff to some 15 positions. An email to U.S.A.I.D. employees informing them of the impending layoffs, titled 'U.S.A.I.D.’s Final Mission' and sent just after noon, detailed an elimination in all but name that the administration had long signaled was coming. It arrived over protests from lawmakers who argued that efforts to downsize the agency were illegal, and from staff members and unions who sued to stop them.”
Theodore Schleifer of the New York Times: “[Elon] Musk ... has returned to the tactic [he used during the presidential election cycle] as he tries to elect a conservative judge, Brad Schimel, in a major race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The billionaire has offered a chance to earn $1 million to signers of a petition opposing 'activist judges.' Early Friday, Mr. Musk ... told his 219 million followers on X that when he visited Wisconsin on Sunday, he would hand out two $1 million checks to people who had already voted in the election 'in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.' The offer was open only to those who had already voted, he said. But later on Friday, Mr. Musk quietly deleted his post on X. About 12 hours after that initial post, he said he had to 'clarify a previous post.' He wrote that 'entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges,' adding, 'I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition.'... The state’s Democratic attorney general, Josh Kaul, on Friday sued to block Mr. Musk’s payments. (In a curious twist of fate, the case was randomly assigned to Susan Crawford, the liberal judge whom Mr. Musk is trying to defeat. She quickly recused herself.)”
Devi Shastri of the AP: “At least five states have active measles outbreaks as of Friday, and Texas’ is the largest with 400 cases. Already, the U.S. has more measles cases this year than in all of 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. Other states with outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio and Oklahoma. Since February, two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes. The new outbreaks confirm health experts’ fears that the virus will take hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates and that the spread could stretch on for a year. The World Health Organization said this week cases in Mexico are linked to the Texas outbreak.”
Nobody Loves Us, Everybody Hates Us ...
Jeffrey Gettleman & Maya Tekeli of the New York Times: “Vice President JD Vance landed in Greenland on Friday afternoon as part of a contentious trip pushed by the Trump administration and angrily opposed by Greenlanders. His group, which includes his wife, Usha, and the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, was set to tour the Pituffik Space Base, an American missile defense station and one of the most remote military installations in the world.... The White House’s original plan was for Ms. Vance ... to attend a famous dog sled race this weekend and see other cultural sites, in an effort to bring the United States and Greenland closer. But the plan backfired. Protesters were gearing up to line the road from the airport into town. The island’s government blasted the visit as unwanted and 'highly aggressive.' Even the organizers of the dog sled race released a pointed statement saying they had never asked Ms. Vance to attend in the first place.... On Friday, during an overcast day in Nuuk, ordinary Greenlanders said they were not happy about Mr. Vance coming.... Foreign policy analysts said the revised trip was a watered-down version of what the White House wanted. 'It’s a tactical retreat — a repositioning to strike harder later,' said Lars Trier Mogensen, a political analyst based in Copenhagen.... This January, Mr. Trump resurrected the idea [of acquiring Greenland] for 'national security purposes' and refused to rule out using force to take Greenland from Denmark.Just this week, Mr. Trump said again: 'We need it. We have to have it.'” ~~~
~~~ Update. David Sanger of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has been less than subtle in his insistence that the United States will 'get' Greenland one way or another, reiterating on Friday that the United States cannot “live without it.' By the time he uttered those words in the Oval Office, the highest-level American political expeditionary force ever to step foot on the vast territory had already landed to inspect the real estate prospects. But they were confined inside the fence of a remote, frozen American air base, the only place protesters could not show up.... The trip was simultaneously a reconnaissance mission and a passive-aggressive reminder of Mr. Trump’s determination to fulfill his territorial ambitions, no matter what the obstacles. As if to drive home the point, Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday: 'We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of “Do you think we can do without it.” We can’t.'... Not since the days of William McKinley, who engaged in the Spanish-American War in the late 19th century and ended up with U.S. control of the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico, has an American president-elect so blatantly threatened the use of force to expand the country’s territorial boundaries. And the visit on Friday appeared designed to make that clear, without quite repeating the threat.”
Max Saltman of CNN: “Canada will have to 'dramatically reduce' its reliance on the United States as the two countries’ relationship darkens, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned on Thursday, adding that the old bilateral relationship was 'over.' After holding a cabinet meeting to discuss Canada’s response to ... Donald Trump’s tariffs threats, Carney told reporters in Ottawa that he foresaw the coming of a 'fundamentally different relationship' between the two countries. 'The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,' he said. 'It’s clear the US is no longer a reliable partner. It is possible that with comprehensive negotiations, we could reestablish an element of confidence but there will be no going backwards,' the Canadian leader said, adding that future governments would have to grapple with the same changed dynamic. 'There’s even more to do, and that’s why I chose to go to France and the United Kingdom, two long-standing and reliable partners, friends and allies of Canada,' Carney said, referring to his first international trip as prime minister.”
A Trumpy Bait-and-Switch Stunt Against Ukraine. Siobhán O'Grady & Lizzie Johnson of the Washington Post: “A new U.S. proposal for a minerals deal with Ukraine dramatically changes the last terms Kyiv proposed to Washington and does not provide security guarantees, according to Ukrainian officials and a draft of the document, setting the stage for potential further tension between the two countries as the White House pushes for access to Ukraine’s natural resources. President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Thursday that lawyers were studying the new proposal, which was different from the previous framework that had been agreed on.”
Marie: Trump keeps claiming he is taking aggressive actions against (former) allies in the interest of U.S. national security, but the fact is that nothing could be more dangerous to our national security than Trump's and his Cabinet members' bellicose language and threats and actions against our friends (and their arrogance and incompetence). A few have tried, but no one has done so much in so little time to turn the U.S. into an international pariah.
Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to allow it to use a rarely invoked wartime law to continue to deport Venezuelans with little to no due process. The emergency application arrived at the court after a federal appeals court kept in place a temporary block on the deportations. In its application to the Supreme Court, lawyers for the administration argued that the matter was too urgent to wait for the case to wind its way through the lower courts.”
This Is Horrifying. Ella Lee of the Hill: Donald “Trump on Friday announced a deal with the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services 'during the Trump administration and beyond.' The agreement comes as Trump has signed executive orders targeting Big Law firms tied to his critics and perceived political enemies, restricting the work they can do with the federal government.... Under the deal, Trump said Skadden won’t deny representation to clients from 'politically disenfranchised groups, who have not historically received legal representation from major national law firms.' The firm’s assistance will include a focus on assisting veterans and other public servants, the president said, including 'members of the military, law enforcement and on and on.'” MB: If lawyers won't stand up for the Constitution & the rule of law, who will?
David Bauder of the AP: “A lawyer for The Associated Press asked a federal judge Thursday to reinstate the agency’s access to the White House press pool and other official events, saying the Trump administration’s ban is a fundamental attack on freedom of speech and should be overturned. The government insisted there was no evidence that AP had been harmed irreparably.... The White House retaliated against the news outlet last month for not following ... Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico.... The notion of banning a news agency for what it says — and for not using the words that a government demands — is extraordinarily unusual in a country whose Constitution guarantees free speech without official interference.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: If you need to be reminded of how awful the White House reporters are (make [decisions], announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home), then think about this: The White House Correspondents Associationis ready-made to stick together, back the AP and boycott the White House. It has done nothing, leaving the AP to stand alone.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “We have seen entirely too much cowering and capitulation in the face of Trump’s threats: by the Paul Weiss law firm and Columbia University, by Meta and much of Silicon Valley, by Big Pharma and other industries, by mostly supine congressional Republicans, by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (in the eyes of many on the left), and by media outlets. But in a crisis, courage can be found in unexpected places. This is why it’s heartening to see some on the right (beyond the usual never-Trumpers) beginning to speak out about Trump’s overreach. We might be seeing the first cracks in MAGA unity, which Trump has maintained by threats and fear.” Milbank recites the crux of numerous (right-wing, Murdoch-owned) Wall Street Journal editorials knocking Trump's policies. And Milbank gets in a few of his own jabs at the Trump crew. This is a gift link as there's lots of useful content in this opinion column.
Emily Wax Thibodeaux & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: “A 30-year-old Harvard researcher from Russia has been held for more than a month at a private detention center in Louisiana.... Kseniia Petrova ... was pulled aside as she returned from Paris after failing to tell customs agents at Boston’s Logan International Airport that she was bringing back frog embryos for scientific work her mentor is pursuing. Should she lose her fight to retain her visa and stay in this country, her mentor, friends and lawyer worry that she would be deported back to Russia. Given her past involvement in protests against that country’s invasion of Ukraine, they fear she could be imprisoned for years.... Petrova arrived at Harvard in 2023 by way of Europe, where she had fled after Russian authorities arrested her for speaking out against the war in Ukraine and criticizing President Vladimir Putin online.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I suspect Trump is deporting Petrova as a favor to Putin, so Putin's "legal" system can try her, convict her and send her to Siberia.
Marie: Here is a HUGE story I missed, and I learned about it from -- OMG -- Tommy Tuberville, one of the most ignorant people in the Senate. I will never live it down. (Admittedly, that was an extremely busy news day. But still, but still...): ~~~
~~~ Peter Eavis & Maureen Farrell of the New York Times (March 4): “An investment group led by BlackRock, a giant American asset manager, said it had agreed to buy two ports in Panama owned by a Hong Kong company that had become the focus of the tensions between Panama and Mr. Trump. BlackRock will buy the ports, which sit at either end of the canal, and over 40 others from the Hong Kong conglomerate, CK Hutchison, for about $19 billion. Though Mr. Trump has other complaints about the canal — it charges too much, he contends — the deal greatly relieves pressure on Panama, political analysts said.... The deal is also an indication of the spoils available to American companies as the Trump administration pursues its America First foreign policy. And for some historians, it brings up memories of the outsize power that Wall Street banks have had in Latin America. 'Where are the Panamanian voices here?' said Peter James Hudson..., of the University of British Columbia.... 'They are completely lost in this larger story of Trump’s efforts.'”
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Marie: I am a watcher. I sit quietly at my desk and chronicle the fall of the country in which I have lived for 80 years. One of these days, federal thugs or their compliant deputies may come and take away my computer, so that I can no longer share my chronicles. Perhaps the thugs will arrest me and jail me. I did not anticipate that this was the way my life would end.
The casualness with which [Trump] dealt with information has clearly become the culture of this new team.... I think it bespeaks a breathtaking lack of understanding of the reality of the risks posed by very capable adversaries and competitors.... -- Sue Gordon, top intel official in Trump 1.0 ~~~
~~~ Julian Barnes of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has long had, at best, a cavalier attitude about the handling of classified material.... By Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Trump conceded that he 'didn’t know' if the information disclosed [in a Signal group chat in which top officials discussed impending military strikes] was classified or not. Still, he seemed far more concerned about how the editor [of the Atlantic] had been added to the chat than about whether Americans had been put at risk. And that, former officials say, goes to a disrespect of government, its rules and safeguards, that has trickled down from the president to his key aides.... Mr. Trump has chosen people for his new administration who do not have decades of experience in government, or knowledge of its rules and why they exist.... And, one former official said, inexperienced people, even if they are smart, make mistakes.”
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Washington on Thursday ordered several Trump administration officials who participated in a Signal group chat ... to preserve all of the messages they exchanged on the app in the days leading up to strikes. The decision by the judge, James E. Boasberg, came in response to a lawsuit filed this week by a nonprofit watchdog group American Oversight, which has accused ... [Donald] Trump’s national security team of violating federal records laws by using Signal — an encrypted commercial platform — to chat about the highly sensitive attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The order by Judge Boasberg ... applied to top administration officials, including Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; and Vice President JD Vance.... The judge’s order was an early sign that at least some of the usual channels of accountability are still operating after the most senior administration officials engaged in an extraordinary breach of operational security and Mr. Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, signaled that the Justice Department is not likely to investigate the matter. Ms. Bondi, appearing ... on Fox News on Thursday night..., said that Judge Boasberg needed to be removed from the Signal case and other Trump administration matters, along with other jurists.” Politico's report is here.
What Happens When Drunk Pete Has to Manage a Crisis? Jack Detsch, et al., of Politico: “Even for a Pentagon chief who has copied Trump’s pugilistic style...[, Pete] Hegseth’s growing pile of mistakes are getting noticed, according to four officials and two people in touch with the administration. 'The problem is this is another example of inexperience,' said a person close to the White House.... 'What happens when Hegseth needs to manage a real crisis?'... The [Signal] episode ... follows other prominent stumbles, including a walk back of his February remarks about Ukraine war negotiations in Brussels and an ill-fated effort to send thousands of detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay. Now dozens of Democratic lawmakers are calling for Hegseth’s resignation. Grassroots campaigns have sprouted up on progressive websites to investigate the Pentagon boss. And Senate Armed Services Committee leaders have launched a bipartisan probe into the episode. 'Intentionally putting classified info on an unclassified application is the real crime,' Rep. Dan Bacon, a Nebraska Republican and retired Air Force brigadier general, wrote in an X post.” ~~~
~~~ Robert Farley in LG&$ republishes part of a CNN story along the same lines as Politico's. Farley also republishes some of his own opinions about Drunk Pete.
Julia Ainsley of NBC News: “... a longtime Department of Homeland Security employee ... told colleagues she inadvertently sent unclassified details of an upcoming Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation to a [conservative] journalist in late January.... But unlike [Michael] Waltz and [Pete] Hegseth, who both remain in their jobs, the career DHS employee was put on administrative leave and told late last week that the agency intends to revoke her security clearance, the officials said. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has largely rallied around Waltz and Hegseth, with Trump on Wednesday calling it 'all a witch hunt.'”
Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic on why Trump & the Screw-ups are so busy inventing implausible reasons for Jeff Goldberg's inclusion in the Signal chat group: “Discussing a secret military strike on an unsecure channel, and mistakenly inviting a journalist into the chat, is a shocking breach of operations security. But in the world of Trump, the far more shocking breach is that the person invited into the chat was the reporter who first revealed that Trump had referred to dead American soldiers as suckers and losers.... The independent press must be treated as completely illegitimate. As Will Chamberlain, a conservative lawyer, posted, 'Under no circumstances should the Trump administration fire anyone based on anything published in the pages of The Atlantic.'” Thanks to laura h. for this gift link.
Noah Shachtman in a New York Times op-ed: “It’s never been easier to steal secrets from the United States government. Can you even call it stealing when it’s this simple?... In its first two months, the Trump administration has made move after move that exposes the government to penetration by foreign intelligence services. It’s not just the group chat about forthcoming military strikes.... The administration short-circuited the process for conducting background checks on top officials, turned tens of thousands of people with access to government secrets into disgruntled ex-employees and announced it was lowering its guard against covert foreign influence operations. It installed one of Elon Musk’s satellite internet terminals on the roof of the White House, seemingly to bypass security controls, and gave access to some of the government’s more sensitive systems to a teenager with a history of aiding a cybercrime ring, who goes by the nickname Big Balls.... Around 1,000 F.B.I. agents have been diverted from their regular duties to scrub the case files of Jeffrey Epstein.... The Justice Department stopped its investigations into the possible compromise of New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams by foreign governments. A seven-agency effort to counter Russian sabotage and cyberattacks has been put on hold. Personnel from the bureau’s counterterrorism division have been newly asked to pursue those who vandalize Teslas....” ~~~
Hillary Clinton in a New York Times op-ed: “Mr. Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (of group chat fame) are apparently more focused on performative fights over wokeness than preparing for real fights with America’s adversaries. Does anyone really think deleting tributes to the Tuskegee Airmen makes us more safe?... Instead of working with Congress to modernize the military’s budget to reflect changing threats, the president is firing top generals without credible justification.... I am particularly alarmed by the administration’s plan to close embassies and consulates, fire diplomats and destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development.... Diplomacy is cost-effective, especially compared with military action.... And I haven’t even gotten to the damage Mr. Trump is doing by cozying up to dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, blowing up our alliances — force multipliers that extend our reach and share our burdens — and trashing our moral influence by undermining the rule of law at home.”
Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald “Trump instructed a broad swath of government agencies on Thursday to end collective bargaining with federal unions, a major escalation in his effort to assert more control over the federal work force. Mr. Trump framed the order as critical to protect national security. But it targets agencies across the government, including the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, State, Treasury and Energy, most of the Justice Department, and parts of the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services. The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, estimated that the order would strip labor protections from hundreds of thousands of civil servants, and said it was preparing legal action.... The American Federation of Government Employees said Mr. Trump’s order was illegal. After Mr. Trump signed the order, the affected agencies filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Texas against the unions representing federal employees, seeking to rescind their collective bargaining agreements.” ~~~
~~~ In today's Comments, RAS points to a rather glaring contradiction: "Wouldn't declaring all the different government departments' employees vital to national security undermine Fat Hitler's moves to fire the thousands of people at those very agencies? But that is using logic which doesn't work on this administration."
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: Donald “Trump moved on Thursday to punish the law firm WilmerHale, where Robert S. Mueller III worked before and after he served as special counsel in the Trump-Russia investigation, expanding his widespread campaign of retribution. In an executive order, Mr. Trump hit the elite firm with many of the same penalties that he had applied to its competitors who had taken on cases or causes he did not like. He directed the cancellation of all government contracts with WilmerHale, and the suspension of any security clearances of its employees. The order also barred WilmerHale employees from federal buildings, banned them from communicating with government employees and prevented them from being hired at government agencies.... The order said Mr. Trump was in part punishing WilmerHale for the firm’s connections to Mr. Mueller, who led an inquiry that the order described as 'one of the most partisan investigations in American history.' In fact, Mr. Mueller was appointed as special counsel by Mr. Trump’s own deputy attorney general amid concerns about Mr. Trump’s desire to shut down the F.B.I. investigation of his campaign after he took office.” ~~~
~~~ Another White-shoe Law Firm Steps in It. Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: “The elite law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has had discussions with ... [Donald] Trump’s advisers about a deal to avert the type of executive order that the White House has been imposing on many of its competitors.... The talks represent an extraordinary turn in Mr. Trump’s campaign against law firms and the legal system more broadly, marking what appears to be the first time that a major firm has tried to cut a deal with the president before he could issue an executive order.... The Skadden discussions are also the latest example of how large law firms, afraid of a protracted battle with Mr. Trump, are eager to strike deals.” ~~~
~~~ BUT. Kyle Cheney & Daniel Barnes of Politico: “A law firm targeted by ... Donald Trump sued Friday to bar enforcement of his executive order that seeks to shut them out of government business and strip key lawyers of their security clearances. Jenner & Block’s lawsuit contends Trump’s order is an unconstitutional threat to the firm and the legal system itself, seeking to 'punish citizens and lawyers based on the clients they represent, the positions they advocate, the opinions they voice, and the people with whom they associate.'... Trump targeted Jenner & Block in an executive order earlier this week, focusing on the role that a former member of the firm — Andrew Weissmann — played in the investigation of Trump’s links to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
Poor Elise. Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday said he had asked Representative Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, to stay in Congress rather than serve as ambassador to the United Nations, amid concern about the minuscule voting margin that Republicans hold in the House. 'There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations,' Mr. Trump wrote on his website, Truth Social, where he said it was critical for Republicans to hold onto every House seat they have. 'Therefore, Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People.'... It underscored the precarious position that House Republicans are in with such a narrow majority that they can afford few defections.... It also highlighted concerns among Mr. Trump and leading members of his party about their ability to win what should be safe Republican seats in districts like Ms. Stefanik’s solidly red region of upstate New York. Ms. Stefanik ... has spent the past week on Instagram posting a nostalgic retrospective of her time in Congress as she prepared for her tenure there to end. And she participated in a farewell tour across her district.” Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Hans Nichols of Axios: "... [Donald] Trump's dramatic rug pull of Rep. Elise Stefanik's (R-N.Y.) UN ambassador nomination has given House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a new series of headaches.... Johnson has to reassure GOP lawmakers after their president said he's nervous about a Trump +20 district. He also must reintegrate Stefanik ... into a leadership lineup that's full. Stefanik was crushed and scrambled to reverse Trump's decision before he announced it on Truth Social, according to people familiar with the matter. But for Trump, the margins were too close for comfort.... In explaining his decision, Trump undercut the NRCC line that there was no risk of the GOP losing any special elections this year.... Stefanik's congressional staff has mostly resigned. She surrendered her slot on the House Intelligence Committee and had one foot out of Washington." ~~~
~~~ MB: I for one feel so-o-o-o sorry for Poor Elise, who, as Chris Hayes pointed out last night, thought she was moving on up to the East Side, to a dee-luxe apartment in the sky. ~~~
~~~ Josh Marshall of TPM on "The Sorrows of Young Elise": "It’s a good reminder that though we should never take joy from the suffering of others, there are some occasions when it’s okay." MB: Oh, crap; the post is firewalled, so I can't read any more. Still, it's good to know that Josh shares my concern für Elise.
Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday evening promising to eliminate 'divisive narratives' from the Smithsonian Institution’s museums and restore 'monuments, memorials, statues, markers' that have been removed over the past five years. The 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History' order directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate what he finds 'improper' from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo. The White House fact sheet describing the order said it will focus on removing 'anti-American ideology.' The institution, the official keeper of the American story, has operated independently as a public-private partnership created by an act of Congress in 1846.... Federal money makes up 62 percent of the institution’s annual budget.... The order is an unprecedented act to edit an institution that has been expanding over many decades to include a wider, richer and more diverse telling of the nation’s history.... And it takes specific aim at one of the newest editions to the Smithsonian’s portfolio of 21 museums — the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016 under the leadership of historian Lonnie G. Bunch III, who the became the Smithsonian’s 14th and first African American secretary in 2019.” The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I must admit, I cannot think of a job for which JayDee is more qualified than rooting DEI out of the zoo. Cheryl Rofer in LG&$ already has found one project for him: gay penguins!
Emily Czachor of CBS News: "A student at the University of Alabama has been detained by immigration authorities, in the latest example of ... [Donald] Trump's crackdown on noncitizens in college communities. Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student originally from Iran who studies mechanical engineering, was taken into custody early Tuesday and detained, according to the university and its student newspaper, The Crimson White. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Doroudi at around 5 a.m. that morning at his home, the paper reported. A search of the online detention log on ICE's website Thursday confirmed an Iranian national with Doroudi's name was in the agency's custody. The log did not provide the location of the detention facility holding him. Why Doroudi was detained is not clear." ~~~
~~~ Zack Beauchamp of Vox: Federal agents grabbed, arrested and jailed Tufts University grad student Rumeysa Ozturk Tuesday. “The Trump administration claims she has engaged in 'pro-Hamas' activity, but they have provided no evidence of material support for Palestinian militants (or any other terrorist group). The closest thing anyone has found is a 2024 op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper, in which Ozturk and her coauthors criticize Israel’s war in Gaza but do not express anything that even approximates support for Hamas.... That Ozturk was punished purely for her political speech ... received more support during a Thursday afternoon press conference, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that his agency revoked Ozturk’s visa because she was part of a pro-Palestinian movement that caused 'a ruckus' on campus.... This is a clarifying moment for American democracy. Unmarked and unidentified law enforcement abduct[ed] a lawful migrant, seemingly in retaliation for First Amendment-protected speech....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Little Marco has made an awesomely rapid transformation from ordinary GOP jerk to dangerous, sadistic thug. And it's amazing how little reward there is for his metamorphosis: I'll admit that Secretary of State is a fancier title than Senator, but secretary of state to Trump is a very temporary job. Given Florida's politics, Marco probably could have kept his senatorial post for a long time.
Marie: Yesterday I linked a Washington Post story on Kristi Noem's field trip to El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, where Noem's Department (HHS) had secretly flown people under cover of darkness and likely in violation of a judge's order. The Post reporters cover Noem's performance at CECOT, but Jonathan Last of the Bulwark does a better job. I urge you to read Last's essay. Here's a bit of it:
"Liberal regimes have standards for the treatment of prisoners. These standards are codified under the Geneva Conventions, which the United States has signed and ratified. Among the standards dictated by the Geneva Conventions is this: Prisoners may not be publicly exploited for purposes of propaganda. Another standard of liberal governments is that people who present themselves through legal pathways as refugees fleeing oppression are vetted and provided due process, not disappeared into foreign gulags. And yet here we are. A high-ranking American official visits a prison on foreign soil which we are using to warehouse enemies of her regime. She appears in a fitted long-sleeve tee and active-wear slacks. There is a ballcap on her head and a pound of makeup smeared across her plasticized face. A gold Rolex Daytona — worth more than some of these men will make in their entire lives — sits proudly on her dainty wrist. Every piece of this visual is carefully engineered.... [Behind her, prisoners] have clearly been posed by the jailers, forced to hold position so that they can be useful props for the American woman so that she can manufacture propaganda for her regime.... We are now the bad guys." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ “Real Housewives of Gitmo.” Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: “... you cannot help but wonder what was rattling around in Kristi Noem’s head on Wednesday’s visit to a prison in El Salvador, as she considered her sartorial options and landed on Real Housewives of Guantánamo. Her visit was encapsulated in a video produced and published on Noem’s own X feed. Meticulous blowout? Check. Impeccable makeup and jewelry, including a watch that online sleuths have speculated is a $60,000 Rolex? Check. Formfitting T-shirt, skinny drawstring pants, combat boots and a baseball hat with an ICE logo — yaaas, Madam Homeland Security.... Noem wanted it known that the 'tools in our tool kit' include a hellhole that might terrify every immigrant, but should definitely shame every American.” ~~~
~~~ Josh Kovensky of TPM: “The Trump administration commenced orchestrating the removals long before Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, and did so in a way that seems to have been designed to evade judicial oversight.... Not only did the government deprive those removed of their right to a hearing before an impartial judge, TPM’s reporting shows that federal officials went to extraordinary lengths to conceal weeks of preparations for the removals.... The judge who ordered a halt to the removals remarked on the issue at a hearing last week, observing that ICE had to have had 'advance notice of this proclamation because it’s impossible that this could have happened in a few hours.'” Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.)
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “The Department of Justice said on Thursday that it would investigate whether several California universities were complying with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision banning the consideration of race in admissions. The checks, which the Justice Department described as 'compliance review investigations,' would target Stanford University and three schools in the University of California system — Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Irvine — according to an announcement released by Attorney General Pam Bondi.” ~~~
~~~ Another Case of Anticipatory Obedience. Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: “The University of Michigan will eliminate its central diversity, equity and inclusion program, the school announced on Thursday, seeking to overhaul an ambitious and expensive initiative that it had long cast as a model for American higher education. Michigan — one of the most prestigious public universities in the country — had for years steadily expanded its D.E.I. efforts even as conservative lawmakers and activists in other states successfully campaigned to defund or ban such programs. But on Thursday, amid intensifying pressure on colleges from the Trump administration, Michigan said it would discontinue its diversity 'strategic plan,' known as D.E.I. 2.0, and effectively dismantle the large administrative bureaucracy constructed to drive it through the university’s colleges and professional schools.” MB: Hey, kids, PROTEST! ~~~
~~~ And Another. Ellen Barry of the New York Times: “The American Psychological Association, which sets standards for professional training in mental health, has voted to suspend its requirement that postgraduate programs show a commitment to diversity in recruitment and hiring. The decision comes as accrediting bodies throughout higher education scramble to respond to the executive order signed by ... [Donald] Trump attacking diversity, equity and inclusion policies. It pauses a drive to broaden the profession of psychology, which is disproportionately white and female, at a time of rising distress among young Americans. The A.P.A. is the chief accrediting body for professional training in psychology, and the only one recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.” MB: That's okay, because only White men are smart enough to be doctors and figure out what's wrong in the heads of women and ethnic minorities. ~~~
~~~ Columbia Locks the Gates. Anna Kodé of the New York Times: “Columbia’s gates are at the center of a heated conflict over public versus private space. To enter [the university campus], students have to show security guards university-issued ID cards, cutting off public access to a portion of 116th Street known as College Walk. What was once a widely enjoyed pedestrian haven is now a hulking barricade.... Some Columbia students and nearby residents are suing the school, arguing that a 1953 agreement between the university and the city makes College Walk a public, not private, space. Neighbors, many of whom are seniors, say that the closure has limited their activities in their own community, and students are concerned that their education is now occurring in a vacuum.” ~~~
~~~ Brain Drain. Ryan Quinn of Inside Higher Ed: “Jason Stanley, Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale and author of multiple books — including How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them — said he finally accepted Toronto’s long-standing offer for a position on Friday after seeing Columbia University 'completely collapse and give in to an authoritarian regime.'... 'What I worry about is that Yale and other Ivy League institutions do not understand what they face,' Stanley said.... Also leaving Yale for [U. Toronto's] Munk School is Timothy Snyder, author of books including The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, and Marci Shore, author of The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution and other works. Snyder and Shore are married.” Via Paul Campos.
Trump Threatened U.S. Automakers. Daniel Hampton of the Raw Story: "Trump held a call with CEOs from some of America's top vehicle companies earlier this month and 'issued a warning,' the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday: 'They better not raise car prices because of tariffs.'... The tariffs will apply to imported cars, SUVs, minivans, cargo vans, and light trucks, as well as key automobile parts such as engines, transmissions, powertrain parts, and electrical components." ~~~
~~~ Marie: About those imported "key automobile parts": obviously, the parts go into vehicles manufactured in the U.S. And now those "key parts" will cost U.S. automakers & U.S.-based assemby plants 25% more. Automakers and assemblers will pass the higher costs on to consumers; i.e., they will raise their prices.
Emily Davies & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: “Federal officials are preparing for agencies to cut between 8 and 50 percent of their employees as part of a Trump administration push to shrink the federal government.... The details are compiled from plans that ... Donald Trump ordered agencies to submit.... It indicates that broad staff cuts are likely to have a significant impact on the scope of the government’s work. For example, the document lists the Department of Housing and Urban Development as cutting half of its roughly 8,300-person staff, while the Interior Department would shed nearly 1 in 4 of the workers it had when Trump took office and the IRS would cut nearly 1 in 3. A White House official said the document wasn’t up-to-date.”
Cut HHS Staff → Bigger Tax Breaks for Rich Americans. Lauren Weber, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Department of Health and Human Services is cutting nearly a quarter of its workforce and consolidating several of its departments, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday, a sweeping reduction of the agency that protects Americans’ health, oversees Medicare and Medicaid and ensures the safety of the nation’s food and drugs. The moves will save the department about $1.8 billion annually, the agency said in a news release, by reducing staff from 82,000 to 62,000. Half of those 20,000 employees took buyouts and early retirement, while 10,000 will lose their jobs.” (Also linked yesterday.)
The Worst, Most Dishonorable Chickens of All. Maya Miller of the New York Times: “Republicans who control Congress have made little official effort to challenge or scrutinize the actions of President Trump and Elon Musk as they move forward with a swift and aggressive bid to slash government, trampling on the legislative branch’s spending authority in the process. But when it comes to cuts that affect their districts and states, some have stepped up their attempts to push back privately, even as they publicly cheer the broader drive to overhaul what they call a 'bloated' bureaucracy.... Because Republican lawmakers have largely ceded their power to the executive branch, effectively giving up their institutional ability to rein in the president, they are instead relying on individual relationships to insulate themselves and their constituents from the adverse impact of his actions. That, in turn, has exposed a partisan imbalance. Republicans — who have been invited to meet privately with Mr. Musk, have received his cellphone number and maintain close relationships within the administration — can more easily influence which government employees and programs are spared from Mr. Trump’s ax.” MB: Kind of a reverse earmarks system, I guess. ~~~
~~~ Marie: A reminder that, sure, the entire Trump/Musk administration is a horrifying oppressive organization, but those guys could not get away with it for long without the cooperation of their Congressional co-conspirators.
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Reader Comments (26)
Remember the new car storage lot aerial photos from the pandemic era? With Trump's tariffs looming I've got a feeling Ford and GM better not have let those lots leases expire. Those four wheeled smart phones have only gotten larger and more expensive in the past five years.
Wouldn't declaring all the different government departments' employees vital to national security undermine Fat Hitler's moves to fire the thousands of people at those very agencies? But that is using logic which doesn't work on this administration.
RAS,
The Pretender's invocation of "national security" to do everything from impose tariffs willy-nilly, to threaten Canada and Greenland, to buddy up with dictators, to assert that we are at war with brown invaders, to deport immigrants and visa-holders without due process, is a natural consequence of the Supreme's immensely stupid presidential immunity decision.
They had to know they were making that ruling on behalf of a narcissist, and that for a narcissist, Fat or otherwise, the only national security that matters is his own.
....And I remember the days when I thought Bush II was too stupid and crazy to be president....fondly.
Vance getting rid of DEI and anti-American things at the Smithsonian and zoo. Does that mean all exhibitions and animals that aren't American have to go? Zebras are black and white, transracial?, and from Africa so they have to go. Fat Hitler's DEI includes all women, so will Vance be deporting all the female animals back to the countries of their ancestors? How many exhibits at the Smithsonian aren't too woke for these cowards? Indiana Jones' hat is at the Smithsonian. He fought Nazis, but took cultural treasures to give to museums. Taking the treasures they would approve, but providing them to the public so the commoners can appreciate them they definitely wouldn't. This sounds like busy work to punish him and keep him out of the way for questioning Fatty in the group chat.
Here's hoping this event will be successful in creating awareness and drawing crowds.
National Day of Action 4/5/25
Since everyone has to appeal directly to Musk to keep the programs and jobs that personally affect them I think we should all have his number to let him know how vital and important these parts of the government are to us. I know I have some passionate words for Elon about his cuts and conduct. Maybe if he saw how many people call the government he would understand the problem and be less likely to cut the phone services like they have been talking about with Social Security.
Deport the sky
Posted this late last night (early this morning, in fact) but it rhymes with the warped and depraved mindset on the right that their sense of ideological purity, even at the zoo must win out, and that despite being 100% criminally in the wrong, no action can be taken against the crooks and traitors if their crimes are pointed out by someone they hate. This is right or wrong, we always win, never admit error and never allow even a simple conversation with our perceived enemies.
“Meant to post this earlier…
Heard an interview today with Scott McConnell of the “American Conservative” magazine. The piece was blurbed saying that this guy was one of the only wingers calling for Michael Waltz to be fired, so I was intrigued. A PoT guy going against Fat Hitler? Tell me more!
(*sigh*) I should have known…
The demand for booting Waltz has nothing to do with the reckless handling of not classified not war plans, nothing to do with the use of a rickety, off the shelf communications app which could have jeopardized military lives and national security. Nope,
His crime? Having the phone number of a reporter considered by MAGA world apparatchiks (like McConnell) to be ideologically opposed to Fat Hitler. His ideological purity, therefore his unalloyed loyalty to Trump and MAGA goals is suspect.
Nothing to do with national security or the potential danger to the lives of pilots and the tactics and methods employed in the operation. His heiling is not sieg enough.
Just think about that for a minute. This guy should be fired, not for incompetence, but for ideological impurity, for simply having the phone number of a reporter known to have had the gall to criticize the Dear Leader.
It’s mother of all cults. Jim Jones, whatever ring of hell he’s inhabiting, must be in awe. He only convinced a few hundred people to jump off a cliff. This fat fuck has millions—tens of millions—crawling over each other to get to that cliff.”
The insular perversity and forced closed minds creates the worst and most dangerous form of intellectual inbreeding: despite all factual proof to the contrary, we are right, no matter what, and anyone who disagrees should be excommunicated.
This gives us Elon Musk, RFKJ, Pete Hegseth, MTG and Karoline Leavitt, screaming at those who don’t share their warped mindset to shut up, shut up, shut up! All led by an increasingly mentally unstable demagogue who lies from the minute he wakes up until he drops back into unconsciousness again, helped immeasurably by two forms of media: one, fully on board with the lies, conspiracy mongering, hatred, racism, and moral midgetry, the other timid and supine, eager to get through the day without drawing too much attention to itself by insisting too loudly that facts still matter.
So…ideologically pure zoos? What’s next? Ideological tests for the sun? Where does this insanity stop? Look! The sky. It’s too blue. Is the atmosphere mocking us??? Set fires! Burn everything! Make that sky RED! Do it! NOW! Get Elon! INVESTIGATE! Deport the sky!
More good reading for those so inclined:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/67d4400d37a2b91e3aba58d5/t/67e6a3fe2f527c516528cc72/1743168510802/Jenner+TRO.pdf
Not all lawyers are chickenshits.
To be sure, the irony of demanding the Smithsonian exhibits celebrate the Pretender's notion of "American greatness" while he and his unimaginative minion are destroying all that made American great, is too large to describe.
Maybe Robert Bloch, the author of "Psycho," came close when in another connection he said something about "laughter, with blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth..."
Just Cruelty
"The official White House X account on Thursday posted its most bizarre meme to date: a Studio Ghibli-style [
Studio Ghiblijust an] AI cartoon of an ICE officer handcuffing a crying woman. The stout animated agent stands in front of an American flag while placing the restraints, and the woman is making a distressed expression.The caricature aims to mock Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, an undocumented immigrant who was arrested by ICE on the basis of illegal reentry. The White House seemed to scoff at the woman’s anguish, adding “She wept when taken into custody (picture attached).”"
You have reached the richest, smartest, most mostest man in the universe. Calls are answered in the order in which they are received. Your current wait time is:
7,567 days.
If you wish to leave a message telling Elon how great he is, press 1
If you wish to send him money, press 2 (Dogecoin not accepted)
If you wish to purchase a Cybertruck, press 3
If you wish to leave a message for Big Balls, press 4
If you wish to be impregnated by Elon, text nude pictures
If you are calling because we fired you, hang up and dial
382-5633 (FUCK OFF)
If you are calling because we killed your funding, hang up and dial
382-5633 (FUCK OFF)
If you are calling the Veterans suicide hotline, hang up and…
Never mind, we fired all those people.
If you are calling because you don’t like DOGE, hang up and dial
692-46924 (NYAH NYAH)
Thank you for calling. Now fuck off.
A little bit of truth, at least when it comes the American ideals.
"The US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth has a tattoo that appears to read “infidel” or “non-believer” in Arabic, according to recently posted photos on his social media account."
Do you think he knows it means one who opposes Christianity? Reminds me of years ago working in a kitchen with a kid who had "white power" written in Japanese kanji on his arm. It would be nice if it was enough to get him sent off to El Salvador. It is certainly a more terroristic tattoo than a soccer ball or an autism awareness ribbon.
If, on January 20, 2025, I had been as arrogant and ignorant as Elon Musk (and most in the Musk/Trump camp), I might have thought that I too could come in with some child programmers/thugs and wipe out billions of dollars of federal government "waste, fraud and abuse."
So let's say I did that, and let's say I failed as miserably as Musk has. I had fired thousands of essential workers, cut essential programs and made wildly false claims about cutting expenditures that were not cuts at all. Everything I did was messed up. My whole project was a giant clusterfuck.
I think by now I'd have figured out that my original premise was bull and that maybe, just maybe, most of those workers I'd disparaged as lazy, no-show pay-check collectors and all-around fraudsters were actually good employees doing useful work for the public who pays them. I'd have realized that I had in fact been the perpetrator of waste, fraud and abuse and that my preconceptions were dumb.
But Elon Musk isn't smart enough to admit when he's wrong or humble enough to acknowledge it. What an ass!
Test
Canada has had enough of fascist bullying by Fat Hitler.
“Canada will have to “dramatically reduce” its reliance on the United States as the two countries’ relationship darkens, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned on Thursday, adding that the old bilateral relationship was ‘over.’
After holding a cabinet meeting to discuss Canada’s response to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs threats, Carney told reporters in Ottawa that he foresaw the coming of a “fundamentally different relationship” between the two countries.
‘The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,’ he said.”
Trump’s infantile temper tantrums have successfully alienated our oldest and closest allies in Europe and now Canada. Relationships built up over several centuries have been unceremoniously cut off in a matter of months by a delusional fat blowhard who believes himself to be a titan bestriding the globe.
Not for long, you fucking moron.
Trump has long whined about allies in Europe and Canada relying too much on the United States. Yeah, exactly. Because that’s how WE set it up. American military bases in Europe do support those countries, because they are our allies and a show of American force in Europe has benefited the US as well by keeping the Soviets, now the Russians, at bay. And trade with our allies, along with USAID and Voice of America have long been essential to maintaining and growing American soft power. The ability to influence other countries and help spread the concept of democracy has made America THE major superpower in the world. Harvard professor and expert in soft power describes it thusly:
“A country’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviours of various actors in the international arena (states, corporations, communities, publics etc.) through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion.”
It’s a way to exert political power which, if used correctly, impacts how people, businesses, and governments make decisions. It’s a smart and highly cost effective road to influence and success in world politics.
But to a whiny, self-absorbed infant like Trump, it’s an intellectual bridge too far, requiring smarts, and nuanced diplomacy, skills he neither possesses nor values.
Better to bully and bellow. But now, our former allies are dumping the US and looking elsewhere for friendly alliances, especially in Europe after EU leaders got a chance to read Shady Vance and Drunk Pete whine about how much they hate them.
Fatty is throwing away decades of hard work at establishing solid trade and military alliances because he’s an ignorant clown who can only see the world in terms of “What’s in it for me?”
In “It’s a Wonderful Life”, the Jimmy Stewart character learns that no man is a failure who has friends.
What does that make a country who has no friends? Even worse, a country who had plenty of friends but which told them to fuck off. And pro tip, Fatty: Russia, China, and North Korea are not our friends. They see you as a useful idiot, and are looking for ways to pick us clean.
MAGA?
We already were great. You’re turning us into a loser pariah state.
Good job.
Good for Jenner, suing FH for his Order/Directive outlawing their firm with respect to government work.
Among the characteristics of FH's punitive (edicts? ukases? firmans? decrees?) is barring members of such firms, whenever and however employed, from government work, and excluding those firms' clients from government work.
Presidential directives in many cases are stand-ins for expected legislation. Put out the directive to exec agencies, but then follow up with legislation to to solidify the policy.
These PDs can never be converted into legislation, because:
-- The constitution, of the US of A, explicitly forbids bills of attainder.
-- These Directives have all the earmarks of attainder, in autocrat form.
Definition: " A bill of attainder is a legislative act that declares a person or group guilty of a crime and imposes punishment without a trial, a practice prohibited by the U.S. Constitution to ensure due process and protect individual rights. "
When Jenner gets to court, any real judge or justice will flash such a definition and expand that if Congress is denied that power, so is the Executive, and the horse he rode in on.
This offensive practice (attainder) has for centuries been one of the most hated prerogatives of kings. We made sure to ban it, in very declarative language, in 1789. FH's attempt to exercise it is really destructive. If/when this gets to SCOTUS and they don't immediately throw it back down as settled law (unlike they did with presidents' immmunity), it is really all over for this country. Not only can the king do no wrong, but can freely pardon all those who do wrong for him. And then, he can write post facto rules to convict anyone for anything. The main revolutionary idea of this country was nuh-uh, you can't. Authority comes from the governed, not the governor. And the governed say "no attainders."
Now that Fat Hitler has succeeded in getting everyone to hate us, he might just decide to drop the big one.
I have been known to say that if you think no one likes you, maybe you ought to try to be more likable.
Too simple?
In local news.
Just heard the Mt. Vernon, WA, high school has cancelled all after school activities, including a track meet and a program that highlights the district's diversity (over sixty percent of the 2000 plus student body is brown), have been cancelled because ICE is sniffing around the area.
Skagit County depends on its farm workers. Needless to say, most of them are former migrants who have settled in the area.
Some confusion about what ICE can do without judicial warrants, but they are apparently allowed only in public spaces without a warrant issued by a court, which allows them, for instance, on the football field but not in the school buildings, where they have I'm told been refused entry.
MAGA.
MAGA hatred wins in Utah.
Utah becomes the first state to suck up to Fat Hitler’s fear, paranoia, and hatred of inclusion, by making it illegal to fly pride flags in public schools, buildings, or parks.
Harrumph! Take that, you nasty LGBTQ ‘merica hatin’ weirdos!
Right. Because making it a crime to fly a rainbow flag will fix all your problems.
The entire thrust of Fat Hitler’s DEI panic is based in fear. What’s the problem? Flying a flag that says “Everyone is welcome, everyone is important” will make your weiner shrink? I suppose that would be a concern for FH given its already embarrassingly diminutive state…
What’s next, the words “gay”, “pride” and “rainbow” are to be eliminated from dictionaries, like Drunk Pete banished pictures of the Enola GAY?
These people aren’t confident, noble, well adjusted, mature adults. They’re whimpering, scaredy-babies, cowering under the sheets.
Oh yeah, and meantime, Utah can wave goodbye to the millions in tourist revenue they get every year from the Sundance Film Festival, which is leaving MAGAville for the bluer skies of Boulder, Colorado. Festival people say politics didn’t play a role in the move, but c’mon.
In response, winger pols are whining that Sundance only ran “porn” and catered to trans films. These idiots say they’ll make their own film festival that’ll be waaaay better!
Sure. Just like Trumpy programming at the Kennedy Center will be highlighting MAGA art. Sure to be a winner. So what will this new Utah-non Pride film festival run? 15 days of Nazi films? Midnight showings of Dinesh D’Souza’s rousing masterpiece, “2000 Miles”?
Yeah. That’ll pack ‘em in.
I’m guessing swastika flags won’t be banned.
Sorry, D’Souza’s masterpiece of sneaky bullshit edits and outright laughable propaganda is “2000 Mules”. Gotta make sure to get the asses in that title.
How to get through the next 1393 days .... sick of seeing his image and reading about their latest sociopathic, fascistic actions.
Charlie Warzel, in The Atlantic, writes about the Gleeful Cruelty of the White House X Account
"The internet has been flooded with AI-generated images in this exact Studio Ghibli style. Some people have used it for images of pets or family members. Others opted for a trollish register, leading ChatGPT to spit out cutesy renderings of JFK’s assassination, planes hitting the World Trade Center, and the torture at Abu Ghraib. On X, the prevalence of these images became an event unto itself, one in which the White House decided to participate by sharing a cartoon of a woman crying in handcuffs.
This is how the White House account operates now.
....
Beyond the fact that this kind of shitposting is so obviously beneath the office, the posts are genuinely sinister. By adding a photo of an ICE arrest to a light-hearted viral trend, for instance, the White House account manages to perfectly capture the sociopathic, fascistic tone of ironic detachment and glee of the internet’s darkest corners and most malignant trolls. The official X account of the White House isn’t just full of low-rent 4chan musings, it’s an alarming signal of an administration that’s fluent in internet extremism and seemingly dedicated to pursuing its casual cruelty as a chief political export."
Question. Can I, as an American, volunteer for the Danish army to fight against my own country?
The Company You Keep
Trump doesn't hate all gang members.
"Brooklyn rapper and gang member Sheff G [above right] — who joined President Trump at a Bronx campaign rally last year — will get five years behind bars after pleading guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy Wednesday.
Sheff G was one of 32 alleged members of the 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways gangs named in a 140-count indictment in May 2023."
And now there is this:
As Lloyd Doggett writes on BlueSky, "T**** is certainly making racism great again."
Far-right conference promoting eugenics and fertility comes to the UT Austin campus
Re: the Musk/Trump attempt to steal/buy the election in Wisconsin:
“The state’s Democratic attorney general, Josh Kaul, on Friday sued to block Mr. Musk’s payments. (In a curious twist of fate, the case was randomly assigned to Susan Crawford, the liberal judge whom Mr. Musk is trying to defeat. She quickly recused herself.)”
Who thinks there is any possible universe in which, had this been a Republican judge given an opportunity to rule against a party attempting to stop a billionaire from purchasing a win for her that she would recuse herself.
Never. On the highest court in the land, Republican justices refuse to recuse themselves on cases they or their spouses are directly connected to.
Only Democrats play fair. That’s why we so often lose to the cheaters, liars, and scammers.