;)
The Commentariat -- April 8, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Everybody Clean out Your Desk. AP: "U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph 'Tex' Alles is expected to leave the Trump administration. That's according to two administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel matter. The officials say Alles' departure stems from a personality conflict within the agency. They said it was unrelated to the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and a recent security breach at the president's private club in Florida." ...
... BUT. Jake Tapper, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump instructed his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to fire Alles. Alles remains in his position as of now but has been asked to leave. The USSS director was told two weeks ago there would be a transition in leadership and he was asked to stay on until there was a replacement, according to a source close to the director.... The Secret Service director reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, who resigned on Sunday amid growing pressure from the President. The director oversees the Secret Service's work on both protection and investigations. 'There is a near-systematic purge happening at the nation's second-largest national security agency,' one senior administration official says. Secret Service officials have been caught by surprise with the news and are only finding out through CNN, according to the source."
Doha Madani of NBC News: "Actress Felicity Huffman is among 14 defendants in the college admissions scandal who are expected to plead guilty, according to the Department of Justice." At 3:01 pm ET, this is a breaking story.
Another Cabinet Official Fired by Tweet. Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen brought her resignation letter with her when she met President Trump in the White House residence yesterday afternoon, top sources tell Axios. She wasn't intent on quitting but was prepared to, sources tell us. The meeting went poorly, and Trump didn't even let her announce her 'resignation.' While she was racing to put out the letter (not that different from one she wrote after midterms), Trump tweeted that she will be leaving her position.'" Mrs. McC: No one with any self-respect would work for this prick. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Before we forget Kirstjen & all the horrible things she did, I do want to reprise her most a-mazing lie. Not surprisingly on account of her name, Kirstjen is of Scandinavian descent -- Danish, to be exact -- which makes her response to Sen. Patrick Leahy all the more absurd: In the wake of Trump's suggesting that Norway was an excellent source for immigrants to the U.S. (as opposed to "shithole countries," Leahy asked Nielsen, "'Norway is a predominantly white country, isn't it?' Sensing the trap, Nielsen tried to pretend that she was a fifth grader who forgot to do her geography homework, saying, 'I actually do not know that, sir, but I imagine that is the case.'"
Anne Gearan & Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "The United States moved Monday to list Iran's elite military Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization as the Trump administration looks for new ways to increase economic and political pressure on the Islamic regime in Tehran. The designation marks the first time Washington has branded a foreign government entity a terrorist group and came despite warnings from U.S. military and intelligence officials that other nations could use the designation as a precedent against U.S. action abroad. The announcement also comes one day before Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term with hawkish promises to battle threatening Iranian behavior across the Middle East."
Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "In an attempt to work around the White House, Democratic lawmakers in Albany are trying to do what their federal counterparts have so far failed to accomplish: to obtain President Trump's tax returns. Albany lawmakers are seeking state tax returns, not the federal ones at the heart of the current standoff in Washington. But a tax return from New York -- the president's home state, and the headquarters of his business empire -- could likely contain much of the same financial information as a federal return. Under a bill that is scheduled to be introduced this week, the commissioner of the New York Department of Taxation and Finance would be permitted to release any state tax return requested by leaders of three congressional committees for any 'specific and legitimate legislative purpose.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
Maggie Haberman & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, is leaving her position, President Trump announced on Sunday, ending a tumultuous tenure in charge of the border security agency that had at times made her the target of the president's criticism. 'Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service....' [Trump wrote in a tweet]. The move comes just two days after Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly expressed anger at a rise in migrants at the southwestern border, withdrew his nominee to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement because he wanted the agency to go in a 'tougher' direction. The president said in a tweet that Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, will be the acting replacement for Ms. Nielsen, who took over the agency in late 2017." ...
... Jackie Kucinich, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned from her position on Sunday evening, after serving sixteen turbulent months as the nation's top national security official and a punching bag for the the president on border security.... Nielsen's ouster comes amid a continuing -- even continuous -- shakeup in the Trump administration." ...
... Vinnie Longobardo of the Washington Press: "Neilsen also tweeted out her letter of resignation, proudly patting herself on the back for a job well done since no one else considers the caging of children a commendable accomplishment.... While the usual group of Trump supporters -- fed a steady diet of fear-mongering propaganda by Fox News -- replied [on Twitter] to Neilsen thanking her for her service, Americans horrified at the degradation of previously held values of compassion and the rule of law vilified her and called for her prosecution for crimes against humanity in the Court of International Justice." Longobardo publishes some brutal examples. ...
... Anita Kumar, et al., of Politico: "As ... Donald Trump roils the capital over illegal immigration, his influential aide Stephen Miller is playing a more aggressive behind-the-scenes role in a wider administration shakeup.... [Miller] has been arguing for personnel changes to bring in more like-minded hardliners, according to three people familiar with the situation.... Miller has also recently been telephoning mid-level officials at several federal departments and agencies to angrily demand that they do more to stem the flow of immigrants into the country.... 'It's intimidation,' one of the people who was briefed on the calls told Politico.... 'There's definitely a larger shakeup abreast being led by Stephen Miller and the staunch right wing within the administration,' said a person close to [Kirstjen] Nielsen.... 'They failed with the courts and with Congress and now they're eating their own.'" ...
... New York Times Editors: With the head of Customs and Border Protection replacing Nielsen & Trump's withdrawing his nominee to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Homeland Security is "without a top official at either of its critical immigration agencies.... Within this leadership vacuum, it seems likely that more influence will be exerted by [Stephen] Miller, who inspires and reinforces Mr. Trump's harshest ideas on immigrants and immigration. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said of Ms. Nielsen's departure, 'It is deeply alarming that the Trump administration official who put children in cages is reportedly resigning because she is not extreme enough for the White House's liking.'"
Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "President Trump said on Saturday that some asylum-seekers should be 'fighting for the UFC,' calling the process a 'scam.' Speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Trump said asylum-seekers are 'some of the roughest people you've ever seen, people that look like they should be fighting for the UFC,' referring to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a company that promotes mixed martial arts matches. Trump also said that asylum-seekers are coached. 'They read a little page given by lawyers that are all over the place -- you know lawyers, they tell them what to say,' Trump said. 'I am very fearful for my life. I am very worried that I will be accosted if I'm sent back home,' he added. 'No, no. He'll do the accosting.' The president's comments came after he last week backed away from a threat to close the border with Mexico."
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
"The Fix Is In." Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: William "Barr has taken every possible step to lessen the sting of the Mueller report -- and, so far, to block it from view altogether." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Matthew Choi of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani wants the full Mueller report to go to Congress -- because 'believe me, there was nothing there.' Appearing on CBS' 'Face the Nation' Sunday, the former New York mayor ... argued the president has nothing to hide and has demonstrated 'unprecedented' cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Quint Forgey of Politico: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday no one in the White House has requested from the Justice Department an advance copy of special counsel Robert Mueller's final report -- but he also noted that 'anything could change' in the days before a redacted version of the document is delivered to lawmakers." Mrs. McC: Rudy seems to think he knows what's in the report. Of course Rudy isn't "in the White House."
Trump Must Be Hiding Something Big. Michael Burke of the Hill: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that Democrats will 'never' see President Trump's tax returns. 'Nor should they. That&'s an issue that was already litigated during the election. Voters knew the president could have given his tax returns, they knew that he didn't, and they elected him anyway,' Mulvaney said during an appearance on 'Fox News Sunday.' He added that Democrats 'know they're not going to' get the tax returns." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... ** The Party of Lawlessness. Jonathan Chait: "This week, the House Ways and Means Committee formally moved to obtain President Trump's federal tax forms. This move, which ought to be a mere formality, has slipped immediately into a political and legal conflict. What is so striking about the episode is how little outcry Trump's open defiance of the law has created.... The law governing this matter is unusually clear.... This law has been used to examine tax returns of high-placed political officials. It was enacted in order to let Congress examine financial conflicts of interest by the administration, and forced the disclosure of a president's tax returns (Richard Nixon).... [Sen. Chuck] Grassley [R-Iowa] asserts that obtaining Trump's tax filings would 'destroy him.'... Grassley believes ... that the proper response is to prevent this ruinous information from being made available to Congress or the public, [even though, for decades, all Democratic & Republican presidential nominees & presidents have routinely released their returns.] Maintaining the secrecy of Trump.s tax returns 'is a hill and people would be willing to die on it ... we will see you in court,' boasts an administration official. Legally, they haven't got a leg to stand on. It';s telling that nobody in the administration or the Republican Party seems to care."
McGahn Speaks. Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "Don McGahn, who has kept his head down since leaving as White House counsel, shared some off-the-record thoughts on Thursday in a lunch with about 40 senior Republican Senate aides.... 'I spent the last couple of years getting yelled at,' he said, per two sources at the lunch.... 'And you may soon read about some of the more spirited debates I had with the president.' McGahn didn't explicitly mention Mueller's report, but sources in the room said they understood him to be referring to it when he said this.... McGahn said a big part of his job as White House counsel was to deregulate and rein in the 'administrative state.' He said he did that by writing deregulatory executive orders and picking judicial nominees who wanted to limit the power of federal agencies. He talked about Trump nominating judges who agree that the courts have given too much flexibility to federal agencies to interpret laws and enforce regulations."
Devin Has Been a Busy Boy. Jeremy Herb of CNN: "California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he was planning to send eight criminal referrals to Attorney General William Barr as soon as this week. Nunes, who investigated accusations of FBI and Department of Justice abuse while he was previously chairman of the intelligence panel, did not say who he would be referring in a Fox News interview on Sunday. Appearing on Fox's 'Sunday Morning Futures,' Nunes said five of the referrals are related to lying to Congress, misleading Congress and leaking classified information. The other referrals, Nunes said, are allegations of lying to the FISA court that approves foreign surveillance warrants, manipulating intelligence and what he described as a 'global leak referral,' which Nunes said wasn't tied to one individual." ...
... Sophie Weiner of Splinter: "These referrals don't necessarily mean much -- they are essentially a request for the DOJ and FBI to investigate. That option is now in their hands. Nunes has been busy stirring up shit in recent months. Last month, he announced that he is suing Twitter and specific parody accounts, including one named Devin Nunes' Cow and another named Devin Nunes' Mom, for $250 million."
Mallory Pickett of the Guardian: "Scientists and officials around the US have told the Guardian that the Trump administration has withdrawn funding for a large, successful conservation program -- in direct contradiction of instructions from Congress. Unique in scale and ambition, the program comprises 22 research centers that tackle big-picture issues affecting huge swaths of the US, such as climate change, flooding and species extinction. They are known as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives [created under Obama] -- or were, because 16 of them are now on indefinite hiatus or have dissolved.... [F]ederal employees were instructed not to speak with the Guardian for this story.... [F]ederal support for the LCC program appeared to dry up after the start of an unprecedented political review of scientific research at the interior department.... It was led by Steve Howke, a high school friend of the former interior secretary Ryan Zinke." --s
Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award at a ceremony next month, the Kennedy Library Foundation announced Sunday. The California Democrat is being recognized for leading 'with strength, integrity and grace under pressure -- using her power to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens,' former ambassador Caroline Kennedy, the foundation's honorary president, said in a statement. 'She is the most important woman in American political history and is a true Profile in Courage,' Kennedy said."
Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "Actions by federal regulators and Republicans in Congress over the past two years have paved the way for banks and other financial companies to issue more than $1 trillion in risky corporate loans, sparking fears that Washington and Wall Street are repeating the mistakes made before the financial crisis. The moves undercut policies put in place by banking regulators six years ago that aimed to prevent high-risk lending from once again damaging the economy. Now, regulators and even White House officials are struggling to comprehend the scope and potential dangers of the massive pool of credits, known as leveraged loans, they helped create. Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and other financial companies have originated these loans to hundreds of cash-strapped companies, many of which could be unable to repay if the economy slows or interest rates rise."
Presidential Race 2020. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D), in an apparent reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Sunday that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel must transcend 'a prime minister who is racist.' Asked in Iowa City Sunday if his criticism of Netanyahu risked alienating supporters of Israel, O'Rourke drew a distinction between support for Israel and support for Netanyahu. 'The US-Israel relationship is one of the most important relationships that we have on the planet, and that relationship, if it is successful, must transcend partisanship in the United States, and it must be able to transcend a prime minister who is racist, as he warns against Arabs coming to the polls, who wants to defy any prospect for peace as he threatens to annex the West Bank, and who has sided with a far-right racist party in order to maintain his hold on power,' O'Rourke said, referring to Netanyahu seeking to form a coalition with the Otzma Yehudit party." ...
... Sophie Weiner: "This is all accurate. In the lead up to Israel's 2015 election, Netanyahu did warn that Arabs were coming out to vote, as a way to instill fear in, and garner votes from, his anti-Arab base. In February, Netanyahu announced that his party, Likud, would merge with the far-right, anti-Arab Otzma Yehudit party, raising the possibility that one of their extremist members will make it into the Knesset. And just this weekend, Netanyahu suggested that if he retains power in this week's elections, he will begin annexing the West Bank.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Patrick Wintour & Chris Stephen of the Guardian: "The battle for Tripoli[, Libya,] escalated on Sunday as a military assault on the city by the eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar led to 21 deaths and nearly 90 injuries, and international calls for calm were ignored. As the fighting neared the capital, the UN issued a plea for a temporary ceasefire to allow the wounded to be evacuated. Hours earlier, the US announced it was withdrawing some of its troops from the country, citing deteriorating 'security conditions on the ground'. India also withdrew a group of its peacekeepers, saying the situation in Libya had suddenly worsened. The international airport 15 miles south of central Tripoli was a scene of fierce battles after Haftar claimed to have seized control of the area from the UN-backed government of national accord."
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Reader Comments (20)
The Paletta story on letting banks make risky loans again makes me sick to my stomach. Republicans crash the country and extract wealth while they are in power, making Democrats spend their energy cleaning up the mess when they get back in power while Rs and foxnews whine about how horrible that Democrat economy is.
Bankers have been unhappy because, under the more strict regulations and Guidance letters, they weren't able to make the risky loans (and generate the monster fees) that were available to them before the crash. Waaahhh!
Now, they can make those loans again, but it's all good, because they aren't holding on to them. They are passing them off to other entities. Problem solved!
The Republicans appear to have the mentality of "If I don't have it all, I'm losing." I just don't get it.
@Nisky Guy: It isn't their "mentality" or their "philosophy"; it's the source of their campaign funding.
Had a good sleep last night, don't feel on particularly on edge this morning, so don't know where this dire thought comes from, but as we continue to get "tougher" on our southern border and since we have already been willing to use tear gas to drive people away from the border and separate families who did make it across (and then lose their children) I'm wondering when we will start shooting asylum seekers with real bullets.
That moment can't be far away.
The Pretender has already proved he can be real tough on defenseless women and children.
Ken,
The live ammo moment may not be far away. Of course, if it happens, it'll be all the fault of Democrats.
And whatever happens next at the border, rest assured (although "rest" may not be the right word here) that things will get worse. Cruella DeVil wasn't mean enough for Father White Supremacist, so here comes another in what is sure to be a long line of acting border badasses. Tearing babies and small children away from their moms and dads, in many cases forever, isn't cruel enough? So who's next? The Wicked Witch of the West? "How about a little fire, immigrants?!"
Trump will keep digging down through his pile of otherwise unemployable creeps until he gives up and does what he's wanted to do all along: appoint some real gangsters, give them badges and tell them "shoot to kill".
This weekend, I watched a Nova episode on disappearing Arctic ice and the panoply of immediate dangers this disaster poses. It struck me that thanks to a single group of self-protecting machers, the Republican Party, and an ignoramus in the White House, the entire country is stymied from doing something about this catastrophe. In fact, not only don't we do anything about it, we are actively working against it to exacerbate the problem.
Studies and surveys show that something like 97% of climate scientists and peer reviewed studies since 1990 (as opposed to paid-for "studies" by extraction industry hacks) agree that global warming is real and that it's caused largely by humans. Almost all of them agree as well that we need to act right now, this minute, if we want to have any chance of stopping what has become the almost inevitable result of intense global warming.
One of the ice pack scientists interviewed was moving in a boat across open water that, only 20 years ago, was covered with hundreds of feet of ice. The rate of change is frightening.
So out of a group of 100 scientists, 97 are telling us that we are courting impending disaster and need to act immediately. And what do we do? We follow the advice of the other three, one of whom is a paid oil company shill, one who has decided that there's not enough proof (in other words, there is still ice at the poles), and one who's completely tetched.
In the same way, the entire country is now following the lead of an ignorant clown who acts solely in his own interest. He is racing to appoint equally unqualified, partisan hacks to the federal bench, largely to support his illegal and unconstitutional acts and filling vital positions in government offices with crooks and cretins.
There's a solution to both problems. Democracy in action. Vote all these bastards out. Yet another reason Republicans are the anti-democracy party.
Oh yeah, and here again, at the end of a show about melting ice caps due to greenhouse gas emissions and rising CO2 levels caused by the burning of fossil fuels, up comes a message saying that David H. Koch--Mr. Fossil Fuel himself--is here to help inform the public about science stuff.
How he must laugh. How they all must.
Rudy Sez...
So here's Giuliani saying "Believe me, folks, there's nothing there [in the Mueller report]".
It's a perfect tell.
Anytime I hear Rudy or Trump or any one of these smug bastards preface a statement with "believe me...", it's an instant sign that every word after that is a lie. They're like the pickpocket who looks you in the eye, mimicking perfect sincerity, takes you by the hand, and with his other, lifts your wallet.
I read somewhere over the weekend that TrumPundits are having conniption fits over Mueller guys talking out of school.
"OM f'in G! They're breaking the norms. Standards are being torn asunder. HEEEELLLLPPPP US!"
Oh, please. It's like all the whoop-de-doo on the right over Joe Biden's touchy-feely past.
You know what, guys? Biden is old school and maybe his PDA's are out of step with today's mores, but at least his actions came from a decent place, an honest attempt to connect with a fellow human being. You guys want to tar and feather him, but you wholeheartedly support a salacious creep who feels up women against their will??
So those you consider enemies must act with decency and reserve and abide by standards and norms, but the people on your side can run amok, piss on propriety and shit on civility and the law.
Reminds me of that old joke about the British and the Americans going to war in 1776. After flipping a coin at the start of the war, the Americans, who win the coin toss, decide that their side can wear any color clothes they want and shoot from behind rocks and trees. The British have to wear red and march in a straight line.
WHAT MULVANEY KNEW ( and what Maisie knows too well)
So Mick tells us that, heck, all you people knew what Trump was all about from the get-go and you still voted for him so why in hell do you want to see his tax returns? Mick's myths go way back but the glasses make him look as though he's somewhat "there."
Andrew Bacevich, in his usual forthright way of dealing with bullshit. offers seven illustrative examples of myths that the Trump presidency has once-and-for-all demolished:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-uncomfortable-truths-trump-has-laid-bare/
"Historians are never going to rate Trump as a great or even mediocre president. Even so, they may one day come to appreciate the Trump era as the moment when things long hidden became plain to see. When hitherto widely accepted falsehoods, fabrications and obsolete assumptions about American democracy finally became untenable. For that, if for nothing else, we may yet have reason to thank our 45th president for services rendered."
@AK: the pity is that those who are still tethering about our climate catastrophe will probably never live to see the results.
@Marie: Looks like our Mrs. Wilson found peace and forgiveness and pledged herself to a deity that she will never see but will never leave her. As for Mr. Wilson he, too ,was on a Biblical mission–-going forth and spreading his seeds hither and yon although the picture of his fructification was curiously gratifying.
@Akhilleus: Ha ha. The British picked red outfits & marching in the open in straight lines -- without losing a coin toss. Guerrilla tactics are so declasse.
Seems like closet Incel Stephen KKK "fuck everyone 'cause the world is mean to me" Miller has just about officially etched his name on the Wall of Shame history books under the section: White House advisor most committed to Nazi policies. And he even has Grampy Donald at his heels, sputtering his hate speech in public, "the country's full, folks, sorry. The sector's full." Got that? The "sector" is full. Shut it down, militia men.
This from the crazy uncle presidunce* who doesn't know where his Grand Wizard dad was born, and holds tepid hands with a cold immigrant body when he isn't making unwanted advances on other women.
I wish I had @Ken's peace of mind, but I bet KKK Stephen "Dracula spray fuzz" Miller is making plans to send the rubber bullets to the border as we speak. Javanka agree, too. The want tear gas chaos on the border for their campaign ads to scare the bejeezus out of their usual idiots so they can keep the White House white for four more years. It just might work.
Marie,
And they (the Brits) are doing it again. More self-immolation. This time they're doing the Brexit-Shoot-Ourselves-in-the-Foot jig. After being sold a bill of goods by right-wingers who took a page from American anti-healthcare wingers and lied through their teeth about all the great things they'd have by not having anything, Britain is now in the terrible position of deciding whether it's better to have your head chopped off in one fell swoop, or sawed off slowly.
Brexiteers like Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson (both Trump lovers) loaded the gun, handed it to voters and promised it wouldn't hurt. Now those same people are blaming it all on Theresa May.
The fact is that Brexiteer con artists vouchsafed exactly the same sort of EZ fixes Trump is still promising voters in this country, and all of them share the same toxic levels of xenophobia, racism, self-dealing, and general ignorance of how things actually work in the real world which are the driving forces behind nearly all their policies.
PD,
So, effectively, this is what Mulvaney is saying.
@Akhilleus: That's kinda the theme of Trump's entire administration/reign: "You fucked up! You trusted us."
To continue the dire:
Many have said that the Pretender needs a war.
I'm thinking he's already declared one. A war on brown and black people, and in line with what I said earlier, I will not be surprised when that war gets more explicit and hotter as the 2020 election nears.
Of course, there is no "invasion," but as Safari says, scenes of carnage along the southern border will prove too politically useful not to foment a few.
Remember the Maine! and Tonkin Gulf?
From the Let's Make Shit Up Department
So in an earlier post I bemoaned the state of the planet which is being pummeled by carbon poisoning pushed by science deniers, notably, every single Republican politician and, most egregiously, by the Ignoramus in Chief.
But the "Most Egregious" award might have to go to these idiots on Fox who have divined the true reason for climate change.
Oh, yeah. They say climate change is real, it just has nothing to do with humans, so, ya know, we can just keep on keepin' on.
So what's causing the planet to warm up?
Ready?
Friction. Yes! Ff = μN. The calculation for the basic force of friction.
Who knew? Yup, the world is spinning so fast that it's getting hotter by the minute. So I guess the answer is to slow things down and take it easy. We gotta get those planet brakes checked. You guys go right ahead with drilling and fracking and CO2 emitting and ice melting and all that fun stuff, and don't worry. It's all cool. Um, or not.
Remember those studies that showed that Fox made viewers stupid?
QED.
(Can't wait for Trump to point to this "analysis" as proof of something, something, something...)
Akhilleus,
Fox may be onto something.
If my head is any indication, each day we are spinning faster and faster.
I totally agree that it's friction causing climate change and most of
our problems. Except the friction comes from Republicans scratching
and scratching their fat heads trying to come up with another way
to screw over everybody and everything they don't agree with.
While we're remembering the Maine and the Tonkin Gulf, let's not forget Pancho Villa and Columbus, New Mexico. A false flag cross border raid by a drug cartel would work wonders on the base.
@ Bobby Lee
Thanks for that.
And then there's that Polk incursion into Mexican territory that gave him an excuse to launch the Mexican War.
Precedents aplenty...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/federal-judge-blocks-trump-administration-program-forcing-asylum-seekers-to-remain-in-mexico-while-awaiting-court-hearings
Another judge the puppet Pretender and his marionette master Miller can love to hate.