The Conversation -- February 28, 2025
Marie: I have to leave as the news is just breaking, but it sounds as if JayDee picked a fight with President Zelensky in the Oval Office, and a shouting match among JayDee, Trump & Zelensky ensued. ~~~
~~~ Michael Birnbaum & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump ripped into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday, in a remarkable encounter that could determine a generation of war and peace in Europe but that at times felt more like a barroom brawl with furious demands from Trump and Vice President JD Vance for respect and gratitude from the wartime Ukrainian leader. The heated back and forth -- with Trump, Zelensky and Vance at times shouting over each other -- was a striking breach of Oval Office comity, where even tough encounters have typically happened with calm voices and diplomatic language.... Zelensky pushed back against Trump, urging him to offer security guarantees, emphasizing Putin's aggression, and, as things grew heated, chided Vance for speaking about Ukraine without having visited the country. Zelensky left shortly after 1:40 p.m., with a planned press conference canceled and Trump writing on social media: 'He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he's ready for Peace.' Also cut short were plans for Trump and Zelensky to finalize an agreement granting the U.S. limited access to Ukraine's mineral rights." ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker & other correspondents kept calling the spectacle "astonishing" and saying that nothing like this has ever happened in the Oval. ~~~
~~~ Pundits are wondering if JayDee & the Fat Bastard set up Zelensky, and they may be right. They certainly ambushed him. But I think Trumpty Dumpty & Amourus Couch just don't know how to behave in public, they have no idea (and don't care) what diplomacy is, and they absolutely cannot handle the truth. Of greater importance, this looks like one of the opening salvos (albeit not the first) in a global political realignment, where the U.S. joins non-democratic countries in opposition to nominally democrat nations. Given all that, I think Zelensky is well-rid of these two Putin puppets. I've never understood why Trump would be the guy to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine & Russia. This is a job for diplomats, not for Vlad's ignorant slut. In the meantime, I'm with Jeanne: dumping Trump & his holier-than-thou sidekick into an active volcano seems like a good idea: ~~~
~~~ Marie: Robert Farley of LG&$ also speaks for me when he writes, "I don't know if I've ever been this ashamed of a US President."
~~~ David Frum of the Atlantic: "... Trump and Vance have revealed to Americans and to America's allies their alignment with Russia, and their animosity toward Ukraine in general and its president in particular. The truth is ugly, but it's necessary to face it.... The national-security system of the West is led by two men who cannot be trusted to defend America's allies -- and who deeply sympathize with the world's most aggressive dictator.... We're witnessing the self-sabotage of the United States. 'America First' always meant America alone, a predatory America whose role in the world is no longer based on democratic belief.... The American people need to reckon with the mess Trump and Vance are making of this country's once-good name -- and the services they are performing for dictators and aggressors.... The pro-Trump party exposed its face to the world in the Oval Office today. Nobody who saw that face will ever forget the grotesque sight." Thanks to laura h. for this gift link.
David Folkenflik of NPR: "More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since its owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced on Wednesday that he would radically overhaul the paper's opinion pages to reflect libertarian priorities and to exclude opposing points of view." MB: I doubt Bezos cares much; his goal is to please Trump, et al., in order to increase the bottom line of his other, lucrative enterprises. ~~~
~~~ There Are No Coincidences in Washington. Jaden Amos of Axios: Donald "Trump said in an interview with The Spectator that he had dinner Wednesday night with Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.... The dinner between Trump and Bezos happened the night Bezos announced changes to the Washington Post opinion section."
Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "... Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order making English the official language of the United States, three White House officials told CNBC on Friday. The order would establish a national language for the first time in U.S. history. Trump's order would also rescind former President Bill Clinton's August 2000 directive requiring agencies and other recipients of federal funds to provide services for those with limited English proficiency, according to a fact sheet shared with CNBC." MB: This is embarrassing, especially in a country where so many native-born Americans speak only English (that includes me). We are such undereducated rubes, and now Trump plans to remind us of it.
Julian Mark, et al., of the Washington Post: "Agencies across the federal government are dismantling offices that enforce civil rights and antidiscrimination laws under a Trump administration push to shrink the workforce, weakening the government's ability to deliver on legal obligations to protect workers' rights. [For instance,] the Social Security Administration this week announced it was closing its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, where about 150 people worked investigating civil rights complaints, preventing harassment and ensuring accommodations for people with disabilities.... Leaders at the Labor Department are planning to cut by 90 percent the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.... The moves signal the Trump administration's intent to deliver on U.S. DOGE Service plans for workforce cuts laid out in a series of documents obtained by The Post, which initially contemplated eliminating the civil rights functions altogether in violation of federal law. The in-agency equal opportunity offices are mandated by statute to ensure employees receive equal opportunity...."
Peter Navarro Is Still Crazy. Connor Stringer of the Telegraph, republished by Yahoo! News: "A top White House official has threatened to redraw the Canadian border amid Donald Trump's ambition to turn the country in America's '51st state'. Peter Navarro ... is pushing US negotiators to discuss reworking the border with their Canadian counterparts, The Telegraph can reveal. 'Navarro recommended revising the Canada-US border, which is just crazy and dangerous,' a source close to negotiations told The Telegraph. Canada has now instructed its delegates to withdraw from negotiations with the US until Jameson Greer and Howard Lutnick, two incoming members of Mr Trump's cabinet, are confirmed by the senate. Mr Greer and Mr Lutnick are viewed by Ottawa as being less extreme." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Joshua Stueve, a top spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ), has resigned, citing a 'toxic work environment' in his letter to leadership. 'Simply put, I cannot continue to serve in such a hostile and toxic work environment, one where leadership at the highest levels makes clear we are not welcomed or valued, much less trusted to do our jobs,' wrote Stueve, who is not a political appointee and has served in administrations run by both parties."
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Chandelis Duster of NPR: "An organization is calling for a national boycott in the form of an 'economic blackout' on Friday, urging Americans not to shop for 24 hours. This movement, spearheaded by The People's Union USA, a grassroots group, follows the rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at several companies, including Target. The boycott coincides with protests against ... Donald Trump's plans to reduce the government workforce and mass firings at federal agencies." Thanks to RAS for the reminder. MB: I am going out today and had planned to make some small purchases, and now I won't.
Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, presented ... [Donald] Trump with a royal invitation and scored several political wins. But his top goal -- a security guarantee for Ukraine -- remained elusive.... With Mr. Trump on the brink of an epochal split with Britain and the rest of Europe over how to deal with Russia's war on Ukraine, Mr. Starmer apparently calculated that a little royal stardust might bridge the gap -- or at least paper it over.... Mr. Trump gave Mr. Starmer little comfort on his biggest ask: that the United States provide a security 'backstop' for British and European troops that could keep the peace after a potential Trump-brokered settlement between Ukraine and Russia.... Mr. Trump insisted Mr. Putin would 'keep his word' if a peace deal was reached.... But he won Mr. Trump's endorsement of a deal relinquishing British sovereignty over a string of strategically important islands [the Chagos islands] in the Indian Ocean. And he got a welcome sign that Britain might wriggle out of American tariffs." ~~~
~~~ Victor Goury-Laffont of Politico: "Former French President François Hollande said the United States government under ... Donald Trump is 'no longer an ally.' '[Trump] is no longer an ally, he is consorting with our adversaries,' Hollande, current President Emmanuel Macron's predecessor, said in a blunt interview with Le Monde published Friday. 'Even if the American people remain our friends, the Trump administration itself is no longer our ally.'"
NYT Says Stupid Trump Tricks Are Straining the Economy. Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: "The United States economy is starting to show signs of strain as ... [Donald] Trump's abrupt moves to shrink federal spending, lay off government workers and impose tariffs on America's largest trading partners rattle businesses and reverberate across states and cities. Funding freezes and firings of federal workers combined with the prospect of costly trade wars are souring consumer sentiment, raising inflation expectations and stalling business investment plans, according to recent economic surveys. Local economies are also bracing for a sudden withdrawal of fiscal support, forcing officials to contemplate tax increases or municipal bond offerings to stabilize their budgets. While Mr. Trump has acknowledged that his policies could bring some initial pain, the early warning signs suggest that his blunt approach could come with more ominous risks to the economy." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Nevertheless, He Persists. Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico would go into effect on March 4 'as scheduled...,' [Donald] Trump said on Thursday morning, claiming that those countries were still not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs into the United States. China will also face an additional 10 percent tariff next week, on top of the 10 percent he imposed earlier this month, the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. 'Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,' he said. 'A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.' He added that the levies were necessary until the flow of drugs 'stops, or is seriously limited.'... The post Thursday appeared to be an attempt by Mr. Trump to clarify his plans, after his remarks at the White House on Wednesday sowed confusion about whether the tariffs had been delayed." MB: Because Trump doesn't know WTF he's doing. This is an item in a liveblog. Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Everything Trump Does Is Wrong. Annabelle Timset of the Washington Post: "Openly transgender service members will be disqualified from serving in the U.S. military and will soon be removed from the ranks, according to a Pentagon memo that marks a significant shift from previous Defense Department policy that prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. The memo was made public Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ rights groups against an executive order signed last month by ... Donald Trump, which stated that the 'medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria' were 'inconsistent' with the high standards expected of U.S. troops. An earlier memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said that people with a history of gender dysphoria would no longer be able to join the military, but that they would be 'treated with dignity and respect.' The new memo goes a step further in stating that current service members will be removed if they have gender dysphoria or a history of it." (Also linked yesterday.)
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Five former defense secretaries on Thursday denounced ... Donald Trump's firing last week of the Joint Chiefs chairman and several other senior military officials, urging Congress to hold hearings and declaring they have concluded the officers were 'fired for purely partisan reasons.' The extraordinary public appeal was signed by Lloyd Austin, Jim Mattis, Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta and William Perry -- who served in Republican and Democratic administrations dating back to the 1990s -- after Trump's Friday night firings caused an uproar on Capitol Hill and among many military veterans.... 'The President offered no justification for his actions, even though he had nominated these officers for previous positions and the Senate had approved them,' the letter says. 'These officers' exemplary operational and combat experience, as well as the coming dismissals of the Judge Advocates General of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, make clear that none of this was about warfighting.'" The AP report is here.
Ha Ha. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "A hot mic caught ... Donald Trump telling a Fox News host to praise his first cabinet meeting as the press filed out -- a moment that was cut off in the official White House feed.... TRUMP [to Lawrence Jones of Fox]: 'Lawrence, say we did a great job, please. Okay? Say it was unbelievable!'" MB: Oh, and that bit that didn't make it into the White House feed: it came from the AP -- you know, the news outlet Trump banned from some availabilities. Thanks to Akhilleus & RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to retract directives that prompted the firing of thousands of federal workers, saying that those directives were 'illegal' and suggesting that the layoffs be stopped. The ruling, by Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California, stopped short of ordering a halt in the firings and added to the confusion for federal employees, who have been rattled by the mass firings in recent days. But Judge Alsup found that the government's human resources division had exceeded its authority when it issued a pair of memos outlining steps to fire an estimated 200,000 probationary workers. That division, the Office of Personnel Management, is meant to guide agencies but not order them to take action, he said. But government agencies responded to the O.P.M. memos with sweeping firings, a first step in the drastic overhaul of the federal bureaucracy ... [Donald] Trump promised to carry out alongside Elon Musk.... The judge's decision was limited to the agencies and offices that employ workers represented by a coalition of unions that had brought the lawsuit." The Guardian's report is here. Politico's report is here.
Federica Coco of the Washington Post: "Unemployment claims in Washington, D.C., jumped to 2,046 for the week ending Feb. 22, a 20 percent increase from the previous week as ... Donald Trump and Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service rolled out federal layoffs and buyouts. Since Trump assumed office, some 8,730 workers in the city have filed for unemployment insurance. It is unknown how many are federal workers." (Also linked yesterday.)
This loss of talent at NOAA is going to set the agency back years and compromise the integrity of missions that directly support human health and safety, economic prosperity and national security.... This is not a move toward efficiency; it's a move toward putting Americans in danger every day. -- NOAA Policy Analyst, on mass firings at the agency ~~~
~~~ Christopher Flavelle, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world's premier centers for climate science. The firings are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members, according to two people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. The notifications went out on Thursday afternoon. A policy analyst at the National Ocean Service, a NOAA agency office near Washington, described a scramble as supervisors frantically tried to help probationary employees download relevant documents like pay slips and performance reviews before they lost access to computers." ~~~
~~~ Scott Dance of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration on Thursday informed hundreds of probationary employees responsible for producing critical weather forecasts, maintaining radar systems, gathering data from satellites and monitoring key commercial fisheries that they were fired.... The terminations come days before a potential severe weather outbreak in the southeastern U.S. -- and just months ahead of the next Atlantic hurricane season.... In many cases, fired employees had years of tenure working with the agencies, but they were on probationary status because they had been working as contractors and had only recently become federal employees." The CBS News story is here. ~~~
~~~ James Fallows explains that the U.S. has a viable aircraft-making industry only because it has so many other successful factors working together. Just one of those factors he lists is "a precise and reliable weather forecasting system, since bad weather is aviation's worst enemy." Of course weather forecasting is by no means all NOAA does, but the point is that many different systems work together to make the aviation industry possible here. Marie: Of all people -- Musk, who owns Starlink & SpaceX, should know that. Yet he's willing to tear it all down so he can avoid dealing with regulators -- who -- as Fallows points out -- are one of the many integral parts of what makes aircraft manufacturing work. Thanks to RAS for the link.
⭐Stephanie Nolen of the New York Times: "Starting Wednesday afternoon, a wave of emails went out from the State Department in Washington around the world, landing in inboxes for refugee camps, tuberculosis clinics, polio vaccination projects and thousands of other organizations that received crucial funding for lifesaving work. 'This award is being terminated for convenience and the interest of the U.S. government,' they began. The terse notes ended funding for some 5,800 projects that had been financed by the United States Agency for International Development, indicating that a tumultuous period when the Trump administration said it was freezing projects for ostensible review was over, and that any faint hope American assistance might continue had ended. Many were projects that had received a waiver from the freeze because the State Department previously identified its work as essential and lifesaving.... The projects terminated include H.I.V. treatment programs that had served millions of people, the main malaria control programs in the worst-affected African countries and global efforts to wipe out polio." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Why doesn't Marco Rubio have the guts to stand up for these programs? Is his huge fancy office & limo service so enticing that it's worth killing one child, let alone tens of thousands? Trump & Musk have no sense of decency, but how is it that a whole Cabinet full of -- ha ha ha -- public servants won't en masse tell Trump & Musk to lay off? ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times suggest that a few Cabinet secretaries are "uncomfortable" about the Trump/Musk chainsaw massacre, but they haven't the guts to stand up and say so: "Cabinet secretaries at major agencies found themselves struggling to figure out how to respond to a directive [ordering each employee to list five things she had accomplished] from the president's most powerful adviser without compromising their own staff.... [FBI Director Kash] Patel was the first to push back publicly.... At his first cabinet meeting [on Wednesday], Mr. Trump responded to a reporter's question ... by asking, 'Is anyone unhappy with Elon?' After a few awkward moments, Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, started clapping loudly. The rest of the cabinet members followed soon after with their own applause for Mr. Musk. It was a collective endorsement under pressure and with Mr. Trump right there watching. Some of the secretaries looked uncomfortable as Mr. Musk lectured them about his activities at the president's invitation." ~~~
~~~ Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: "A handful of Republican senators have joined their Democratic colleagues in expressing alarm over the Trump administration's foreign aid freeze and gutting of USAID, writing to Marco Rubio that they believe the State Department is not operating in accordance with the law by neglecting to notify and consult with Congress during the process according to correspondence obtained by The Washington Post. The senators have also asked Rubio to defend the freeze in a hearing on Capitol Hill in the coming weeks.... GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote to Rubio earlier this month with their Democratic colleagues that although they supported the secretary of state's right to review federal programs and eliminate waste and abuse, they were 'concerned' that Rubio and the State Department had not notified and consulted with Congress as it gutted USAID and canceled foreign aid programs, which they noted is required by law." ~~~
~~~ Lisa Rein & John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The watchdog for the U.S. Agency for International Development has yet to release two critical reports on the consequences of President Donald Trump's funding freeze on crucial services in Africa and the Middle East, amid fears of retaliation from the White House, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Post. One of the unreleased reports says the cutbacks threaten the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, jeopardizing more than $300 million in humanitarian aid for the devastated Palestinian enclave.... And an unpublished global audit found security dangers, risks of widespread looting and disease, and tens of millions of dollars in new costs brought about by the withdrawal of foreign aid and mass relocation of USAID staff, according to documents and interviews. Conditions are particularly dire across southern Africa, South Sudan and Senegal, where initial findings by auditors in the field predict heightened hunger and desperation caused by the ongoing dismantling of USAID, documents show." ~~~
~~~ Ellen Knickmeyer, et al., of the AP: "The Trump administration said it is eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad. The cuts detailed by the administration would leave few surviving USAID projects for advocates to try to save in what are ongoing court battles with the administration. The Trump administration outlined its plans in both an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press and filings in one of those federal lawsuits Wednesday.... Wednesday's disclosures also give an idea of the scale of the administration's retreat from U.S. aid and development assistance overseas, and from decades of U.S. policy that foreign aid helps U.S. interests by stabilizing other countries and economies and building alliances....
"Widely successful USAID programs credited with containing outbreaks of Ebola and other threats and saving more than 20 million lives in Africa through HIV and AIDS treatment are among those still cut off from agency funds, USAID officials and officials with partner organizations say. Meanwhile, formal notifications of program cancellations are rolling out." (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Sam Stein of the Bulwark: "On Thursday morning, foreign aid officials woke up to see the details of [Marco Rubio's] cuts [to USAID program]. The reaction was justified shock. Programs that the administration had suggested it believed were worth continuing were now being terminated. That includes efforts to combat the AIDS epidemic -- such as George W. Bush's famed PEPFAR program -- that have been a source of bipartisan pride for decades.... It wasn't lost on those inside the agency that news of the terminations was leaked to the Free Beacon, the conservative outlet that has become a clearinghouse for critical reporting on USAID functions." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marcia Brown of Politico: "The Trump administration touted a nearly $1 billion plan Wednesday to combat the spread of avian flu and mitigate skyrocketing egg prices as the outbreak rips through poultry flocks across the United States. But the measures come as the Agriculture Department is struggling to rehire key employees working on the virus outbreak who were fired as part of the administration's sweeping purge of government workers. Roughly a quarter of employees in a critical office testing for the disease were cut, as well as scientists and inspectors." (Also linked yesterday.)
Aaron Weiner of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is giving federal agencies until mid-April to suggest relocations of bureaus and offices out of the D.C. region, a move that would have widespread impacts on the local economy. In a guidance issued Wednesday to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, the directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management laid out steps for compliance with ... Donald Trump's order to eliminate 'waste, bloat and insularity' in the government. Part of that is a directive to submit 'any proposed relocations of agency bureaus and offices from Washington, D.C. and the National Capital Region to less-costly parts of the country' by April 14." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I propose moving the White House and all executive offices to Guam. (Sorry, Guam.) It's "where America's day begins" and the weather is pretty nice, so Trump & the Trumpettes should be fine in tents. (Hope they do okay in the typhoons.) Guess they'll have to get used to the "biodiversity." (Don't worry, Donald; it's not what you think!) But the beach-front real estate development potential is phee-nominal!
Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times on "how Elon Musk executed his takeover of the federal bureaucracy[:] The operation was driven with a frenetic focus by the billionaire, who channeled his resentment of regulatory oversight into a drastic overhaul of government agencies.... Without ceding control of his companies, the richest man in the world has embedded his engineers and aides inside the government's critical digital infrastructure. Already, his Department of Government Efficiency ... has inserted itself into more than 20 agencies.... Mr. Musk's strategy has been twofold. His team grabbed control of the government's human resources agency, the Office of Personnel Management, commandeering email systems to pressure civil servants to quit so he could cull the work force. And it burrowed into computer systems across the bureaucracy, tracing how money was flowing so the administration could choke it off."
Understanding Elon. William Shoki in a New York Times op-ed: "He is a white South African, part of a demographic that for centuries sat atop a racial hierarchy maintained by violent colonial rule. That history matters.... He is in fact a distinctly ideological figure, one whose worldview is inseparable from rearing in apartheid South Africa.... [For instance,] in response to a bill passed in January that allows in specific circumstances the expropriation of land without compensation, Mr. Musk used his platform to suggest that white South Africans are uniquely persecuted.... In effect, his politics reprise apartheid's economic principles on a global scale: maintaining zones of privilege under the guise of 'free enterprise' while resisting any moves toward redistribution as threats."
Marie: About that Essential Minerals Shakedown where Ukraine must fork over its valuable minerals in exchange for, well, nothing from the U.S. It's been irritating the hell out of me and maybe for no good reason: ~~~
~~~ digby: It turns out those essential minerals may not be so valuable, after all. "Trump will claim that he just made a thousand trillion dollar deal that will make America rich and end the war and bring peace on earth or whatever. But in reality, it looks like it's much less than meets the eye. If it guaranteed continued support for Ukraine, it would definitely be worth it. But as it stands it's just another fluff job to make Dear Leader feel like a winner. But since Trump's almost completely drive by a seething desire for revenge against people he believes have wronged him (and Zelensky is one of them) maybe it makes sense for Zelensky to pretend like he's been forced to grovel and capitulate to Trumps demands in order to at least keep him from making things worse." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. MB: I really, really hope digby is right. (Also linked yesterday.)
More News from the Kleptocracy. Rebecca Crosby & Judd Legum of Popular Information: "In March 2023, the SEC
Big Shock. Pam Bondi Is a Phony. Matthew Goldstein & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "For days, Attorney General Pam Bondi had talked about releasing the 'Epstein files,' supposedly secret documents the federal government has on some of the powerful men who were in the orbit of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. But the roughly 200 pages of documents that Ms. Bondi released on Thursday contained little new information pointing to wrongdoing by anyone other than Mr. Epstein, a registered sex offender who died in jail. The document dump largely consisted of flight logs for Mr. Epstein's planes -- long ago made public -- and contact information for hundreds of associates, along with brief descriptions of items found at his residences. The release was billed as a gesture ushering in a new era of transparency at the Justice Department. But the hyped first release of documents (which Ms. Bondi teased as 'breaking news' in a Fox News appearance on Wednesday night) appeared to be mostly political theater." The AP's story is here.
Spencer Hsu, et al., of the Washington Post: "FBI agents this week questioned Environmental Protection Agency employees regarding a Biden administration grant program for climate and clean-energy projects, escalating a criminal probe that already caused one veteran prosecutor to resign.... The move came after the Justice Department in recent weeks took unusual steps to advance the investigation, having a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney submit a warrant request when career prosecutors were unwilling and seeking prosecutors in other offices who would agree to participate in the case.... The Trump-appointed EPA administrator has alleged publicly that the money was awarded with little oversight and said the agency would try to claw back the money from Citibank, which was tasked with disbursing the funds." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The scandal here is not that the prosecutor was forced to resign in disgrace or something; rather, the scandal is the investigation itself: "... a senior career prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in D.C. resigned rather than carry out the administration's demand to freeze the funds over possible wire fraud.... Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin then personally submitted a seizure warrant application without any other prosecutors in his office that was rejected by a U.S. magistrate judge in D.C., who found that the request and accompanying FBI agent affidavit failed to establish a reasonable belief that a crime occurred.... Meanwhile, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove's office approached at least one other U.S. attorney's office in the southeastern United States to launch a grand jury investigation and seek a court-ordered bank freeze, but prosecutors in the office again refused the warrant request.... At least three groups that had been awarded money said their accounts have been frozen, and the bank won't tell them why."
DOE Establishes Snitch Line. Russell Payne of Salon: "The Department of Education is teaming up with the far-right activist group Moms for Liberty, launching a portal Thursday where parents can submit tips to the department to investigate as part of the crusade to end diversity and inclusion efforts in schools. In a press release, the department announced it was launching the portal so that anyone can 'submit reports of discrimination based on race or sex in publicly-funded K-12 schools,' which the department would then use as a guide 'to identify potential areas for investigation.'" The idea here is to create a clearing-house where parents -- or whoever -- can accuse teachers of promoting diversity & then the feds can "investigate" (harass) these miscreants.
Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: "... the economic agenda Republicans are now putting together on Capitol Hill would by and large help rich Americans, all while teeing up cuts to programs that provide health care and food to the poor.... Democrats ... are hammering Republicans for planning to take from the poor to give to the rich.... 'They're cutting taxes in a regressive manner and cutting spending, which is also regressive,' said Kyle Pomerleau, who studies tax policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank." (Also linked yesterday.)
Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "For ambitious women who wanted to climb the ranks of Republican politics, anti-feminism has long been the steadiest of ladders. The propaganda value of their gender outweighed their party's larger hostility to women in leadership. But now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and Donald Trump is back in the White House, many on the right feel they no longer need to hide the naked sexism fueling their movement.... There has been growing support in Christian nationalist circles 'for the repeal of the 19th Amendment and support a "household vote" system in which men vote on behalf of their families.' Hegseth's former sister-in-law reports she heard him echo similar sentiments.... House Republicans passed a bill (which stalled in the Senate) this session to require citizens to have a passport or birth certificate matching their name to vote. This would be a back-door ban on voting for any woman who took her husband's last name and doesn't have a passport, an estimated 69 million women.... Similarly, there's been a slowly rising volume on the right of talk about banning no-fault divorce...." Read on. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "The singer and songwriter Katy Perry and the broadcast journalist and show host Gayle King will be among the all-female crew on the next mission of New Shepard, the space tourism rocket that is operated by Jeff Bezos' private company, Blue Origin." MB: Perry and especially King, who plays a journalist on teevee, should be ashamed of themselves.
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Iowa. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Iowa lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill on Thursday that would end state civil rights protections for transgender people. Advocates for L.G.B.T.Q. rights said that Iowa would become the first state to remove such broad and explicit protections for trans people if the Republican-backed measure was signed into law. The bill, which now goes to the desk of the Republican governor, passed 18 years after the state, then led by Democrats, enshrined those discrimination protections into Iowa code. The debate this week in Des Moines, where protesters and Democrats tried without success this week to persuade Republican lawmakers to reconsider, reflected how much the discourse over transgender issues has shifted in the country, and how much Iowa has changed." An AP story is here.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Boris Spassky, the world chess champion whose career was overshadowed by his loss to Bobby Fischer in the 'Match of the Century' in 1972, died on Thursday in Moscow. He was 88."
New York Times: "The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom. A dead German shepherd was found between 10 and 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa in a closet of the bathroom, the affidavit said. There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, it said, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak. The maintenance workers who found them said they had not been in contact with the couple for two weeks. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that 'there were no apparent signs of foul play.'... The causes of their deaths had not been determined."
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Reader Comments (35)
The Moms for Liberty, accompanied by a few Pops, managed to sneak into control of two local school boards in the last few years and wreaked havoc.
Two superintendents have resigned rather than cave to their looney wishes, and backlash from the sane has built. I suspect the schools ships will right themselves, but only after a painful period that didn't have to be. It shouldn't have to be this way. The voters weren't paying attention.
But why would school board elections be any different from last November?
Will Hulk Hogan also be given a job by Fat Hitler?
"Newly-installed FBI Director Kash Patel, whose proclaimed plans to overhaul the nation's premier law enforcement agency have rattled many within the bureau, has proposed enhancing the FBI's ranks with help from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the martial-arts entertainment giant whose wealthy CEO, Dana White, helped boost President Donald Trump's reelection, according to sources who were told of Patel's proposal.
On a teleconference Wednesday with the heads of the FBI's 55 field offices, Patel suggested that he wants the FBI to establish a formal relationship with the UFC, which could develop programs for agents to improve their physical fitness, said sources who had been briefed on Wednesday's call."
What was accomplished yesterday by the Democrats
Can I sell my citizenship for $5 million?
Navarro
"White House official threatens to redraw Canadian border
Peter Navarro is pushing negotiators to discuss reworking country’s boundaries
Proposals also put forward by Mr Navarro include expelling Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, the most important intelligence-sharing network in the world."
Guardian
More Boycotts
"Seized, settled, let: how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israelis make money from stolen Palestinian land
As Israel deploys tanks in the West Bank for the first time in 20 years, we reveal how two of the world’s biggest travel companies are helping settlers commercialise stolen land"
I always knew I was a hick, and the best proof of it was my inability to become really proficient in at least one other language. Some of you may recall the scene in the 1988 film "Working Girl" where the Melanie Griffith character, who hails from one of the boroughs, is a whiz at putting together mergers and acquisitions. She thinks she's pretty hot stuff until she happens into her boss's office, where the boss -- played by Sigourney Weaver -- is on the phone arranging for a fancy ski vacation in Switzerland and switches into speaking German at one point. Griffith doesn't say anything, but she makes it clear that her character knows that she will never match all that upper-class background that gave Weaver a head-start.
I had my most startling hick-awareness moment (though definitely not the first time I figured it out) at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome. My husband and I stopped in a bar there, and it was crowded. The maitre de, or whoever he was, was ushering people in as space allowed. He spoke to us in Italian. My husband immediately realized that the man spoke Italian with a German accent, so my husband addressed him in German. I must have said something, because the two then immediately switched to English. I mean, they didn't skip a beat. This all happened in 30 to 45 seconds, at the most.
Had I started studying Italian and German right then, and studied nothing else for the next 30 years, I don't think I'd now be able to casually switch from one language to the other.
Meanwhile, the Lump of Trump wants to make sure we backward Americans stay monolingual.
Maybe the Pretender wants the official American language to be some version of Trumpspeak. Lie a lot and display vast ignorance while speaking like a fifth grader socially promoted from fourth.
We're definitely a multilingual country, except it happens to be
about ten variations on English.
My sister has lived in Georgia so long that I can barely understand
her when she calls.
Can those Kansas people understand the Bronx language? I had a
very difficult time when working for a national corporation taking
calls from all over the country.
Sometimes it's like talking to those Comcast people in India.
Perhaps the reason the orange ape wants to make standard English the official language is his inability to master Floridian. In the northern reaches it is close to Georgian while in the far south it is evolving towards Spanglish. Central Florida with its retiree golf villages would suit him well.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02/28/us/trump-news
Per this report and the one on Navarro's nut-ery above, both Zelensky and the Canadians have more balls than 98 % of all Republican Congresscritters combined..
It was the pretender doing the shouting - and poking - (and probably lying - couldn't understand half of what he shouting, along with JayDee) - and demanding Zelensky kiss the ring - sad and disturbing stuff. 1421 days left...how do we cope?
I haven't been following the story of the Tate Brothers. but understand why after reading David Frum's account.
Maga like the Tates for the same reason Trump likes tariffs: Both aim to put women in their place.
"Andrew Tate offers unhappy men an exciting fantasy: They don’t need education or challenging work; they don’t need families or children; instead, they can fulfill themselves by dominating and brutalizing women. In this scenario, women will do the chores and provide sexual favors to order, while men can be little sultans ruling their harems as they harden their hearts against empathy and love.
MAGA, too, has a fantasy to offer the men who feel superfluous."
It appears that neither Fat Hitler nor his pet couch fucker likes anyone who doesn’t immediately fall prostrate in front of them and thank them for just existing and making life wonderful for everyone.
So here they are discussing very sensitive issues around Putin’s invasion and Fatty’s ubiquitous transactional nature, as he covets both the mineral wealth of Ukraine and what he expects will surely be his long desired Nobel Peace Prize. And as he did with his first meeting of the bobble head idiots in his cabinet (more like the “Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”), he invited in the press, well, the press he decides should be there, sniveling Nazi toady fucks, so’s they can all report on his wonderfulness.
As the negotiation continues, Zelensky takes issue with some of Trump’s more ignorant statements (they’re ALL ignorant; it’s a sliding scale of stoopid). Suddenly, Shady Vance awakens from his wet dream about humping a vintage leather Chesterfield, and accuses Zelensky of “disrespecting Dear Leader by litigating in front of the press”.
First, Zelensky wasn’t the one who chose to do this in front of a passel of sniveling Nazi toady fucks, that was Fat Hitler’s idea. Likely he does it to intimidate the other side while he shows off.
Zelensky did snap back at Stoopid Shady who was trying to make some ignorant point about life in Ukraine saying “You’ve never set foot in Ukraine”, which pissed off Fatty.
At one point, trying to make clear how difficult life is while a dictator is trying to cut your head off and kidnapping the children he doesn’t butcher, Zekensky says that it’s likely the US would feel the same if it happened here, to which Fatty shouted that he cannot “dictate how we would feel!!!”
Wow. First, he was saying, it was LIKELY that other human beings would respond similarly to such terrible circumstances. But he forgot that neither Fatty nor Shady are normal human beings. If the US were attacked, Shady would run for the nearest comfy sectional. Fatty would fly off to Trump-Gaza with Musk and sit poolside waiting for the money to roll in.
Reports say Zelensky grew increasingly upset. Well so wouldn’t anyone, having to deal with two show off, ignorant knuckleheads.
The poor guy. It’s life or death for him. For Fat Hitler and his racist POS VP, it’s five minutes of looking tough on Fox.
At least Zekensky only had to deal with two of the Three Stooges running things. Musk was probably online trolling for his next baby momma.
OH MY GOD. I came in after a doctor's appt to see Zelenskyy in the Oval talking earnestly to the two idiots the prez and the v(omitus) prez. screeching and pointing their fingers in his face. It was on mute and I turned it up and now I want to dump both of them into an active volcano. JD says Zelenskyy is "disrespecting" the Oval. Talk about disrespecting!! They are treating Z like dirt, and the two of them are the dirtiest ever. Bullies and POS both. Apparently their staffs and so forth are really happy Z got raked over the coals by two of the worst people ever. THEY ARE TURDS. (I have never called anyone that either.)
"Shouting match." Z has left. I guess Z wasn't appropriately grateful to the Orange Maggot.
I have never ever longed for people to be run over by a bus so badly. These are the most hateful people in the world. And sucking up to Putin every minute. I will never be friends with the animals who elected these two monsters or even give them the time of day. Right now I want them to die. I do.
It always amazes me that Zelensky, a former stand up comedian, shows more balls in dealing with Trump than any of the big tough macho assholes in the PoT, or the vaunted DC press corps.
It’s been a long standing belief of mine that you really don’t know anyone until shit gets bad. People you’ve always thought were tough, who have always given the impression of being supportive and stand-up guys, wilt and disappear faster than government employees with Musky pink slips. Others who may not have seemed good for very much, stand up to be counted. It’s pretty amazing. And I’m not just talking about on the national stage, I mean in your own life.
Just compare Zelensky to any number of chest-thumping braggarts who have tucked tail and run from a fat ignorant savage.
Can your bus driver stop after the initial impact, hit the brakes and back up over those lumps of dog shit? I’ll pay double the fare.
This is the second world leader in a week that has had to explain reality in the White House to Fat Hitler.
The Guardian
"Thom Tillis, a Republican senator for North Carolina, told people that he received FBI warnings of “credible death threats” when he was publicly considering voting against Hegseth, Vanity Fair reported. Tillis, who had spoken at length to witnesses who raised concerns about Hegseth’s behavior, ultimately voted in favor of his confirmation.
Vanity Fair cited an unnamed source as quoting Tillis advising people who wished to understand Trump to read Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, a 2006 book by Paul Babiak and Robert Hare. A spokesperson for Tillis denied that he had recommended the book in that context."
Re: the Tillis Hegseth vote.
What does it say about an administration that has to resort to lies, bullying, and death threats to get anything done?
And what does it say about those who knuckle under?
Yeah, I know, I’m not the one getting the death threats (the death threats to me, and all of us, however, may not be coming from some J6 jack booted Trump thug; they come directly from Trump himself), but I’d like to point out something Ben Franklin said as we declared independence from another mad king and his murderous horde:
“We must all hang together or we will surely hang separately”.
The problem is that too many that have slithered into their cushy, do-nothing congressional sinecures are perfectly fine with a bullying murderer in charge.
But that doesn’t mean the rest of us should go along peacefully.
Akhilleus,
Tillis is even worse. He told Hegseth's former sister in law to come forward and go public with what she knew about the drunk POS promising that it could make the difference in keeping him out of the administration. He knew that making her accusations public would make HER a target for those threats. Then the coward tucked tail and ran away and voted to put the unqualified disaster in charge of our military anyway.
David Frum, in The Atlantic Now We Know the Truth
"Today’s meeting gave the lie to any claim that this administration’s policy is driven by any strategic effort to advance the interests of the United States, however misguided. Trump and Vance displayed in the Oval Office a highly personal hatred. There was no effort here to make a case for American interests. Vance complained that Zelensky had traveled to Pennsylvania to thank U.S. ammunition workers, because, Vance charged, the appearance amounted to campaigning for the Democratic presidential ticket. 'Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,' Trump angrily explained. 'He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia.'
We’re witnessing the self-sabotage of the United States. 'America First' always meant America alone, a predatory America whose role in the world is no longer based on democratic belief. America voted at the United Nations earlier this week against Ukraine, siding with Russia and China against almost all of its fellow democracies. Is this who Americans want to be? For this is what America is being turned into.”
Marco Rubio is our Neville Chamberlain. Where was Bill Cohen in the Sec Def pushback?
@Akhilleus: So I was sitting in the dentist's office reading the NYT liveblog on the Oval Office Disaster, and then I read your summary. Shame on you for making me look silly sitting in a waiting room laughing at my phone.
I loved the part where Trump was shouting about how terrible it was that Vlad "had to go through the Russia hoax with me" Poor guy.
One really good thing that came out of Trump's meltdown is that even he should know his chances of getting a Nobel Prize just hit zero.
Frum has it right, kinda.
But America first was never really the issue. For the fat narcissist, it was always the Pretender first.
I am literally speechless. Disgust, anger, and shame cannot even begin to define how I feel this afternoon.
No one other than other pariah states will associate with the United States after this disgrace.
Thanks, Mitch.
I finally turned it off--Ken has it right. Having seen the demon rise to the surface several times today, I am sure that it IS the hatred Frum mentions-- and highly personal. The spitting, screaming, orange vacant-faced piece of horse hockey in the blue suit heard nothing, thought nothing. He immediately flew into offended outrage for everything he "and Putin suffered together" as he was indicted and charged, and the syllable in his head was, as always, ME ME ME ME ME ME ME (maybe a tiny bit Ivanka but mostly it's) ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME. The monster we all saw crawling (figuratively) all over Zelenskyy is Mr. Importance and all of it seemed engineered to hysterically feature his self-righteous self, not Z at all. I can't say anything about the bubble-headed pile of equal self-righteousness with the disgusting wattle of gummy face hair. He seemed to be playing a part. They both enjoyed their revolting show way too much. I'm sure Putin did, too. And yes, AK, I will gladly drive the bus back over the whole slobbery group. Might throw in the supposed Secy of State. They shoulda given him more bottles of water to rehydrate his hulk. Little jerk looked like he was a kidnapping victim.
Jeanne’s observation that Fat Hitler saw, heard, and understood nothing is quite right. I finally heard a clip of this fifth grade bully blathering out his bullshit to make himself look tough while the leader of an allied nation under attack by a long-standing enemy of the United States tries to get a word in edgewise.
It occurred to me that one of this obese cur’s only true talents is talking over people, a form of verbal bullying, which points up the sad fact that he NEVER listens to anyone (not named Musk or Putin). He and Vance both sit down with their minds made up, handy hectoring talking points ready like fire extinguishers to spray at anyone trying to talk sense or convince them of something they’ve already decided not to listen to under any circumstance.
Talking over another person is not just arrogant, it’s ignorant, the sign of a craven bully and intellectual coward. It’s not typically seen much outside schoolyards, gangster meetings, or Fox TV shows, but it’s de rigueur in the Fat Hitler Opioid Office.
The other dipshit knows exactly what he is pushing America towards.
It is ridiculous how little Jay Dee understands FH. Multiple times he was trying to tell at Zelensky not to educate them in front of the cameras and audience. That is until Donald had to remind the couch humper that he wants the audience and the publicity whether it makes him look like a pathetic brat or not. That is all he really cares about, attention.
This has to raise the Pretender's blood pressure a little higher:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/28/immigration-enforcement-trump-administration-irs/?
And that's all to the good.
Hope the IRS follows the law all the way to the Supremes....
Speaking of the Supremes, I'm thinking they will be forced to make a slew of decisions they'd rather have no part of.
But the so-called conservatives on the Court sure have it coming to them. They and their enabler, Mitch, made it happen.
Tom Nichols, in The Atlantic, declares It Was an Ambush
"Leave aside, if only for a moment, the utter boorishness with which President Donald Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance treated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House today. Also leave aside the spectacle of American leaders publicly pummeling a friend as if he were an enemy. All of the ghastliness inflicted on Zelensky today should not obscure the geopolitical reality of what just happened: The president of the United States ambushed a loyal ally, presumably so that he can soon make a deal with the dictator of Russia to sell out a European nation fighting for its very existence.
....
This meeting reeked of a planned attack, with Trump unloading Russian talking points on Zelensky (such as blaming Ukraine for risking global war), all of it designed to humiliate the Ukrainian leader on national television and give Trump the pretext to do what he has indicated repeatedly he wants to do: side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and bring the war to an end on Russia’s terms. Trump is now reportedly considering the immediate end of all military aid to Ukraine because of Zelensky’s supposed intransigence during the meeting.
....
The sheer rudeness shown to a foreign guest and friend of the United States was (to use a word) deplorable as a matter of manners and grace, but worse, Trump and Vance acted like a couple of online Kremlin sock puppets instead of American leaders."
I keep hearing Richard Engel on NBC news report that Ukrainian audiences watched their president humilated. WHAT? Like Tom Nichols, I witnessed utter boorishness from the American sock puppets and dignified restraint from the Ukrainian leader.
What did ya'll see?
DiJiT and VD are looking to get themselves popped bigly. I'd do it myself if given the means and opportunity.
Somebody jumped the gun on the dealer make's incredible prowess.
Bad all over…
Meanwhile over at the Pentagon, newly rejiggered as a frat boy drink party hangout for Pete (‘nother round) Hegseth and his MAGA bros.
One of those MAGA bros, the new Pentagon something or other guy got into a heated interaction with members of the press when he demanded to know if they were rooting for Trump!
If not, they were the enemy.
This is how it is now.
Laura,
I listened to the BBC World Service and heard nothing about Ukrainians interpreting this Opioid Office attack as a humiliation. In fact, according to reports, Zelensky has received nothing but overwhelming support from his country for standing up against a loudmouth fascist.
Russian media is jumping for joy that Putin’s fat sock puppet and the couch banger provided such loyal service to Russian authoritarian goals.
They are all so proud of their useful idiot and his moron VP.