Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
HHS nominee doesn’t refute claims that vaccines cause autism:
Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician, pressed Kennedy repeatedly to refute his prior claims that vaccines cause autism.
“Convince me that you will become the public health advocate, but not just churn old information so that there’s never a conclusion,” Cassidy pleaded.
But Kennedy, an attorney who has made millions fighting vaccine companies, refused to do so, instead saying he would apologize to people he may have misled on the issue of vaccines and autism “if the data is there.”
“The data has been there a long time,” Cassidy retorted.
Second news item
About the air traffic controllers on that fateful night:
An air traffic control supervisor in the tower at Reagan Airport let a controller leave their shift early, a source familiar with the investigation confirmed to NBC News.
This detail. . . means that a single controller was atypically handling both plane and helicopter traffic in the area. Ideally, one controller is dedicated to helicopters while another controller handles planes, NBC News reported yesterday.
Third news item
Marco Rubio disappoints as he echoes Trump on war in Ukraine:
Both Russia and Ukraine “are going to have to give something up” in negotiations to end the war, Rubio said, adding that “both sides are paying a heavy price for this” and “both sides have incentive for this conflict to end.” Rubio said the war is “not going to end with the maximalist goals of either side, and there’s going to have to be a lot of hard work done. And I think only the United States, under the leadership of President Trump, can make that possible.”
This is more of that rewarding Russia and punishing Ukraine for a war that Russia started. Providing monetary aid and requested weaponry to Ukraine can help them defeat Russia and reclaim occupied territories, as well as put Putin on notice that Europe and America, freedom loving nations, will not tolerate his illegal invasions of sovereign nations. It would also tell the world that allied nations will continue to stand for freedom and democracy. Ukraine must be victorious and Russia must know that they have lost the war. Anything less will just provide an irresistible open door for Putin and his thugs to try the same thing again. Shame on Rubio.
Fourth news item
Too little, too late, Democrats:
As the Democratic National Committee prepares to elect a new chair, its departing leader says Democrats should have stuck with Joe Biden in the 2024 race.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Jaime Harrison reflected on why his party lost to Donald Trump and what might have happened had then-Vice President Kamala Harris had more time to campaign after Biden ended his reelection bid following a disastrous debate performance.
He also offered advice to his eventual successor, who will be chosen Saturday. The next DNC chair, Harrison said, needs to insist that the party not be a “rubber stamp” to its presidential candidate.
Fifth news item
Governor says no state jobs for J6 rioters:
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is blocking those who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from working in state jobs, ignoring Trump’s attempt to offer them a clean slate last week in a sweeping set of pardons and commutations.
Late Thursday, Pritzker directed the state’s Department of Central Management Services, the state’s primary hiring authority, to restrict hiring those who took part in the attack on the Capitol, saying their “infamous and disgraceful conduct … is antithetical to the mission of the State.”
Sixth news item
Tariffs set to begin this weekend:
President Trump on Thursday said he plans to follow through on Saturday on his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.
“We’ll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a number of reasons,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He cited the influx of migrants at the southern border, the flow of fentanyl into the United States and the trade deficit the U.S. has with its neighbors.
The President also said they still have to decide whether to include oil in the tariffs.
Have a good weekend.
—Dana
Hello.
Dana (d6f2c4) — 1/31/2025 @ 9:46 amThird news item: Well, it depends on what they give up. I think Russia should start by returning the children they stole, and any prisoners. By way of compensation, the Russia should give up St. Petersburg for at least ten years, with the city’s eventual status to be decided by a referendum. And so on.
In return, Ukraine should return the bodies of Russian soldiers — assuming their families want them.
Jim Miller (1f61dc) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:05 amRecently I finished reading Christina Hoff Sommers’ The War Against Boys, and recommend it to anyone who wants to understand our largest domestic problem, the decline of the American family.
If a society doesn’t get families (and communities) right, it is unlikely to succeed at much else.
Jim Miller (1f61dc) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:12 am“Governor says no state jobs for J6 rioters”
Not sure how many J6ers are seeking an Illinois state job. Likely this is just performance art, but it’s also rank hypocrisy. This is the same Pritzker who placed restrictions on using an applicant’s criminal history in hiring decisions:
Illinois is also a “ban the box” state.
lloyd (99b37c) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:24 amIf Mr. Trump is the sort of fellow who nurses a grudge, Ukraine might encounter some difficulties in bringing hostilities to a close.
John Boddie (dcf99c) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:27 am‘That Is Their Job’
At least the perp wasn’t a J6er.
lloyd (99b37c) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:31 amWhat do you mean if? He has nursed grudges against perceived opponents all his life……
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:33 amRegarding Trump-Rubio and Putin’s War Against Ukraine, we scarcely hear about the concessions Putin should make, they’re mostly about Zelenskyy’s concessions has to make.
Putin is scarcely penalized at all for his terrorist invasion, and he needs to pay, otherwise there’s no real incentive for him to prevent future invasions.
Trump-Rubio still don’t understand the dynamic, that if Putin stops warring and warcriming, the war’s over, but if Ukraine stops fighting in self-defense, Ukraine is over. Garry Kasparov does get it.
“Bad things happened” sounds eerily close to Ilhan Omar’s remarks about 9/11, that “some people did something”.
It wasn’t that “bad things happened”, because the reality is Putin made bad and evil and terrorist things happen, not Ukraine. There’s no equivalency between Putin’s unprovoked unjustified unlawful imperialist aggression and Ukraine’s rightful self-defense. More Kasparov…
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:50 amTrump is going to give UKE to Russia. It’s just a matter of time. Ppl around him sugar coat it like they did the J6 criminals, but also like that he’s going to buckle to Putin and spend his energy trying to get Morons to believe whatever he did was the best thing ever.
Time123 (17fa64) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:07 amSpoken like the real estate developer he is:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:13 am“…if Putin stops warring and warcriming, the war’s over, but if Ukraine stops fighting in self-defense, Ukraine is over.”
Paul.
The problem is in the “if Putin stops”.
How far would you have the US go in order to do this stopping of Putin?
Because Putin is not stopping now, even though about 1000 Russians a day are dying and 2X that are wounded.
So how far would you go to force Putin to stop warring and warcriming?
Would you insist that Ukraine lower its draft age to match that of the USA? (it is at 26 years old now)
steveg (25c199) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:21 amThat’s really up to the Ukrainians, steve, not me. So far, they’ve shown a willingness to fight, generally, but they’ve been short-changed all the way through. If Trump-Rubio are serious about a peace deal, then they need to give Ukrainians the weapons they need to push Putin backward.
It’s that or eventual surrender and cultural genocide.
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:52 amTrump on Gaza: If you can’t remove Hamas, remove the majority of the people.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:03 pmSome people have tried to misconstrue what Trump said about possibly hiring incompetent people into a claim that the FAA did not hire enough people. That might have been more in line with the facts, but it’s not what Trump was speculating. But Trump was anyway assigning more blame to the helicopter pilot which is correct (the helicopter was at an altitude at which it never should have been) but blame might also be assigned to whoever devised the details of training mission – which had a collision avoidance system probably turned off (I guess to simulate a real emergency) and gave them night goggles to wear (which has the effect of blinding them in a brightly lit place like the approach to Reagan National Airport – pilots need to know to take them off in such a situation – not to, for instance, climb up, as they must have tried because they were at 350 feet or more, 200 feet higher than they are ever supposed to be near the airport..
Most important takeaway:
All the different methods of avoiding an imminent mid-air collision failed or weren’t used. The one on the airliner doesn’t work very well below 700 feet. And the two aircraft were heading directly at each other.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:10 pmTrump:tariffs::Republicans:tax cuts
And Democrats:taxing the rich.
Trunp wants tariffs, He can have four different reasons for imposing them.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:12 pmSteve, If Ukraine is willing to fight for their freedom I think it’s in our interest to support them with Arms, equipment and necessary training. There’s an upper limit, but IMO that’s a long way off.
Time123 (17fa64) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:20 pmThere are maybe 20% of the buildings left standing.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:22 pmsteveg (25c199) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:21 am
Biden did a very good job of stopping Putin.
It’s ending the war that’s a problem.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:24 pmJared Kushner wanted Gazans to move to a place in the Israeli Negev, (outside of Hamas’s rule) but whether that would even work is a problem.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:26 pmThe helicopter was flying along Helicopter Route 4, which hugs the eastern bank of the Potomac. But it was too high.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:32 pmIn its last release of hostages Thursday, Hamas went too far in scaring the people they were releasing. Mediators promised it would not happen again.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:33 pmBiden pulled his punches.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:37 pmBiden pulled his punches because he was afraid of what would happen if Ukraine was beating Russia too badly. Russia could always escalate and you’d have the same results, was the thinking, except there would be more people being killed. He had no end game.
This all happened because Biden decided he could not tolerate a low casualty war in Afghanistan.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:44 pmhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/30/us/washington-dc-plane-crash-helicopter-maps-photos.html
unlocked_article_code=1.tU4.sTBw.J5gjtHveV51p&smid=url-share
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:44 pmhttps://www.goodreads.com/quotes/962098-some-party-hack-decreed-that-the-people-had-lost-the
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:47 pmWe’re not hearing where the worst Hamas people released from Israeli prisons are going to except that it’s Egypt but they are not going to sty in Egypt.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 1/31/2025 @ 12:49 pmThere are two more important wars going on besides Ukraine and the Middle East: Sudan and Rwanda/Congo.
Sammy Finkelman (9b4d3c) — 1/31/2025 @ 1:51 pmJo ellis transgender pilot for virginia national guard accused by trumpsters of flying the helicopter that crashed into american airliner says it wasn’t me I am still alive! (DU) CNN.
asset (9f212b) — 1/31/2025 @ 1:57 pmThe George Will column that Rip linked to has estimates of the costs to the US if Putin wins; here’s another in an earlier Marc Thiessen column.
(Links omitted.)
Jim Miller (1ae3f3) — 1/31/2025 @ 2:01 pmThis is both stupid and cruel.
Does the Loser want all those poor people to die? Including thousands of innocent babies?
Jim Miller (1ae3f3) — 1/31/2025 @ 2:16 pmSammy
What was Biden’s plan to shoehorn Russia out of occupied Ukraine?
I’d say the Biden Administration had zero plan or intent to leverage Russia out of Crimea and zero interest in restoring the Donetsk Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples Republic to Ukraine.
My guess is Trump and the rest of NATO will gladly trade those territories for peace.
There are Russians in Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolayiv, and Zaporizhzhya Oblasts. Russia will be hard to shoehorn out of there without Ukraine being willing to draft 18-25 year old males.
steveg (25c199) — 1/31/2025 @ 2:28 pmIf Ukraine doesn’t want to commit to a total mobilization to liberate their country’s territory, then they should not expect NATO to.
Firing the first shot:
And the second:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/31/2025 @ 3:43 pmHow do you know that, Sammy? Where’s that number coming from?
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 4:13 pmMarco Rubio disappoints as he echoes Trump on war in Ukraine:
This means Ukraine will have to give up territory to end the war. 🤦♂️ (Temporarily stop the war, that is.)
Making the Russians go back to pre-invasion borders is a “maximalist goal”? Rubio says it like it’s some kind of preposterous idea.
The bottom line is that Russia gets rewarded for launching this invasion. Anybody who thinks this is a good plan is naive.
We still haven’t tried the option of giving Ukraine everything it needs to push the Russians back. Until we do, talk of ceding territory to Russia is poppycock.
Cue the Chicken Littles who quiver when Putin threatens the use of nukes, or say that Ukraine can’t drive the Russians out. They don’t remember the prevailing wisdom at the start of the invasion–that Russia would take over Ukraine very quickly.
norcal (a72384) — 1/31/2025 @ 4:16 pmUkraine has always been loosing. No one seems to mention Trumps statement about 800,000 KIA for Ukraine and Russia. (one was 700,000).
We do not have the money or will to fight for them.
End of story,
(and the way things are going, you need to update more than weekly)
Joe (584b3d) — 1/31/2025 @ 4:59 pmIts crazy out there.
We do not have the money or will to fight for them.
End of story,
Joe (584b3d) — 1/31/2025 @ 4:59 pm
It will cost us more in the long run if we don’t help Ukraine now, as pointed out above.
I’m not suggesting fighting “for them”.
norcal (a72384) — 1/31/2025 @ 5:28 pmHere’s a Trumpian ultimatum.
If Putin wants to keep his eastern conquest (Donbass and other Oblast) and Crimea…
Then, the new borders of Ukraine must be admitted to NATO.
This is the sort of negotiation that may end the hostilities, leave everyone unhappy but ultimately the remaining Ukrainian government is protected as a NATO member.
If you find this unacceptable, then please offer up some ideas that would end the war.
What’s your criteria?
whembly (957c85) — 1/31/2025 @ 5:44 pmOne, over two years ago, right after Ukraine reclaimed Kherson, Putin occupied 17.6% of Ukraine. Twenty seven months later, Putin occupies 18.1% of Ukraine. I wouldn’t call that “loosing”, I call that a quagmire, for Putin.
We have the money. We’ve been holding Putin in a quagmire with 5% of our defense budget, which is a bargain considering the damage to Putin’s military and zero losses in American lives.
The real problem is the will, which Ukraine has, which Biden sort of had, and Trump doesn’t have, which is pathetic on the American side, the so-called defenders of democracy.
Speaking of will, why is it that Zelenskyy must make concessions but Putin doesn’t? Putin started all this, but he doesn’t pay? He’s the terrorist, he’s the war criminal, he’s the child abductor.
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 5:56 pmIf Putin wants to keep his eastern conquest (Donbass and other Oblast) and Crimea…
Then, the new borders of Ukraine must be admitted to NATO.
whembly (957c85) — 1/31/2025 @ 5:44 pm
Ukraine just might accept that deal. I don’t know. I’m 99% certain Russia won’t.
Given that Obama presided over the Crimea loss, that is spilt milk at this point. I don’t think Ukraine should give up any territory Putin has seized since the 2022 invasion, but they may have to if Trump gets his way.
Putin has shown that he will continue to expand over time, so Ukraine not being in NATO is a dealbreaker.
norcal (a72384) — 1/31/2025 @ 5:56 pmLink here on how much Putin occupies.
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 6:02 pmThis is a Trump decision I agree with, and we could use more decisions like that.
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 6:04 pmOh, wait. That was 9 months ago.
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 6:08 pm@40
I think NATO admission must be on the table if negotiations surrounds whether or not Russia “keeps” the land they stole imo.
Anything less would be unacceptable, as both sides need to give up something.
Otherwise, we’re looking at a longterm grind that will only prolong suffering.
whembly (957c85) — 1/31/2025 @ 6:42 pmPutin will say NATO admission for Ukraine is off the table because of reasons, but the real deal is that Putin’s reasons are completely full of sh-t, but the concern is that Trump-Rubio will fall for those “reasons”.
Paul Montagu (3fa619) — 1/31/2025 @ 7:32 pmHakeem Jefferies say he and his wall street banker comrades will take fight trump to the streets! Must be worried he might get joe crowleyed.
asset (552653) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:21 pm31, Jim Miller: Really?
We are borrowing about $1 Trillion every 3-6 months.
Its nice that people (you included) think (like some kindly but not too sharp grandmother sending checks to aid programs), that we have to support every cause, every open mouth, every empty food bowl, and aid program in the world.
Every nation of hungry people, stray cause and tent city requires us to support it even as our own country founders.
We have to do that as our roads become potholed, our students slip, our medical costs rise, and our military deteriorates.
Sorry: its about time we trim the costs, spread the burden and end the borrowing.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e) — 1/31/2025 @ 10:42 pmThis is more of that rewarding Russia and punishing Ukraine for a war that Russia started.
No, this is recognizing that Biden dragged his feet while nearly a million people died. If the war is to end short of military victory, something only the Russians might do, then both sides are going to have to get something.
While what I really want is for Putin to get Stage 4 colon cancer, it’s not going to happen. So, what are the gottahaves?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:57 pmThere are situations in life when one side is in the wrong, but the other side has to give. Many divorces, for example.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:58 pmIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker is blocking those who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from working in state jobs, ignoring Trump’s attempt to offer them a clean slate last week in a sweeping set of pardons and commutations.
Unless there are state charges, the governor is setting the state up for a large payout in federal court.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 1/31/2025 @ 11:59 pmPritzker could also find himself on the wrong end of federal civil rights charges, given who is running the DoJ.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:00 amI’m seeing a lot of insistence on justice for Ukraine, ignoring of course the military facts. Unless the US or EU is going to actually put boots on the ground, there is no way this ends justly for Ukraine. They are just running out of men.
We can complain all we want, but it won’t move Russia one inch. Either Ukraine gives up most of what it’s lost (maybe trading Kursk for Donbas territory) or it will continue to lose more ground. They haven’t a way forward. Their best hope is joining NATO with what they can salvage.
Is this Trump’s fault? I don’t see it. It MAY be Biden’s fault. Trump wasn’t president two weeks ago, blaming him for the mishegas that Biden left him is pure propaganda.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:10 amTrump is going to give UKE to Russia. It’s just a matter of time.
No, Biden did that already. He just used them to bleed Russia first.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:12 amthen they need to give Ukrainians the weapons they need to push Putin backward.
Which ones are those? Be specific.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:14 amBiden did a very good job of stopping Putin.
President Westmoreland.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:15 amJo ellis transgender pilot for virginia national guard
We should not have transgender soldiers. If we are concerned about women taken prisoner, imagine the treatment transgenders will get.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:17 amUkraine just might accept that deal. I don’t know. I’m 99% certain Russia won’t.
If Ukraine doesn’t join NATO then the war isn’t over.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:19 amI don’t understand why anyone thinks that Putin would agree to any deal that involves Ukraine joining NATO-at best it’s wishful thinking. I also would find it odd for Trump to offer NATO membership to Ukraine, given his antipathy toward both.
Putin has made it perfectly clear that any peace deal will include the surviving portion of Ukraine being a demilitarized neutral state between the West and Russia. It’s about Ukraine not in NATO and NATO not in Ukraine.
Russia is making incremental gains on the battlefield, which means Ukraine is not. Putin obviously doesn’t care about the war being a meat grinder, because he’s suppressed all meaningful dissent. The Russian economy has survived Western sanctions by obtaining goods and selling oil through cutout countries (Iran, North Korea, China). Putin survived the massive support that Ukraine received over the past four years, and now that the political winds have shifted away from Kyiv, he is unlikely to face the same levels of aid from the West in the future.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:28 am@56 If they want to fight for our country and maybe die for it unlike bone spurs. Did you serve? I only made it to tear gas drill. ( I told them I had bronchitis ;but got drafted into the marine corp in 1967 ) When I woke up they said since I hadn’t been in the marine corp over 10 days they didn’t have to keep me. Back then they couldn’t find enough who wanted to enlist. They took one guy who wrote down YES when asked if gay and only tried to kick him out 16 years later when reagan didn’t need him.
asset (552653) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:47 amSince I was a young lad I have heard from the cons nothing but the debt will bankrupt the country when debt was two trillion over 50 years ago. Ever here of the boy who cried wolf. If you owe the bank 100 dollars your in trouble. If you owe the bank 32 trillion dollars the banks in trouble especially if you give them a 32 trillion dollar trump bit coin in payment. Inflation will make the debt worthless.
asset (552653) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:55 am> “Governor says no state jobs for J6 rioters”
There are three possibilities here.
(a) he’s talking about J6 rioters who have never been convicted of a crime related to J6, in which case he’s denying access to jobs based on a … rumor? an *accusation*? without due process. this is not ok morally or ethically.
(b) he’s talking about J6 rioters who have been convicted of a federal crime and pardoned, in which case, he’s trying to ignore the pardon, which is not ok; the pardon power is unquestionable and inviolate, and a state should not be allowed to contravene.
(c) he’s talking about J6 rioters who have been convicted of a state crime. there aren’t enough of them to matter, and fewer who would apply to a state job in his state, so in that case this is just pointless rhetoric to score points without doing anything. yay?
aphrael (dbf41f) — 2/1/2025 @ 1:04 am> There are situations in life when one side is in the wrong, but the other side has to give. Many divorces, for example.
Sure. But given that Putin has repeatedly invaded *multiple* neighbors, anything other than a total defeat for him incentivizes him to do it again with a different neighbor.
Is the goal to end the war, or to end the war in such a way that it prevents the next one?
aphrael (dbf41f) — 2/1/2025 @ 1:10 am@61 gov. pritzker is in a desperate attempt to be relevant for 2028. It wont work. AOC would run him over in the primaries. We already tried an old white man and old white woman and an empty vice president who was only good at throwing away the donors money.
asset (552653) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:29 amIf the ukraine doesn’t lose it wins and if putin doesn’t win he loses. Ukraine has no plan to surrender. I have said this from day one while others demand ukraine surrender. The boss “He’s all gone they are still their!” Vietnam, afganistan and now Ukraine. Unfortunately also gaza, lebanon.
asset (552653) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:37 am@ 64
I do agree that the govt. of Ukraine has no plan to surrender.
However at this point, i don’t see how they are not defeated.
We have no plan on sending them the weapons (if they exist) that would give them a chance to regain territory. Especially with the new president.
Joe (584b3d) — 2/1/2025 @ 5:27 amI don’t understand why anyone thinks that Putin would agree to any deal that involves Ukraine joining NATO-at best it’s wishful thinking
It is an unconditional bottom line for Ukraine. Otherwise they are on borrowed time. What you are arguing is that Putin won’t accept anything other than complete victory. Eff that. IF so, Putin is on a sure path to war with the EU, if not the US.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:35 amThere are three possibilities here.
a) The pardons are for the class, not for the individually accused, so this devolves to b).
b) Indeed.
c) How many could that be?
Does James Eastman get his law license back?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:39 amSure. But given that Putin has repeatedly invaded *multiple* neighbors, anything other than a total defeat for him incentivizes him to do it again with a different neighbor.
Sure. But how would you accomplish that now without actually going to war? Ukraine has bled all it can bleed.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:40 amAbout Trump’s pre-Kash preemptive FBI purge…
It has the smell of Trump’s mass pardons of his J6 criminals.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:05 am@69 FBI agents leveraged their power to go after Trump, but Trump would be wise not to fire them. “Keep your enemies closer”, etc. They can be relegated to tasks in which they can’t go after political opponents, probably making them so miserable they’d want to leave. At the very end of his term, he could probably work up cause to terminate their employment so they can’t further tarnish the bureau’s reputation whenever the next Democrat takes over.
lloyd (509647) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:23 amThis idea that members of the executive branch are untouchable and are above whoever the people chose to run the executive branch is wholly counter to Save Democracy posturing.
lloyd (509647) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:30 amProbably not in California.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:34 amPutin will have his victory (sadly) against Ukraine without direct intervention by Europe or particularly the US. There’s no evidence that intervention is an option, absent support for such an action, either among public opinion or the politicians. Putin has intimidated Europe (and to a certain extent the US) with periodic threats of retaliation, which he would be justified to do so.
I don’t see the Trump Administration intervening to defend Europe even if obligated under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. It would be the perfect way to destroy NATO without pulling out.
And I don’t Trump would be impeached, let alone convicted for breaking the NATO Treaty. There’s a sizable minority of the country and in Congress that would not support impeachment. He would be the new Wilson, “he kept us out of war.”
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:57 amFBI agents served a subpoena and worked under a DOJ-appointed Special Counsel. They were tasked with investigating a corrupt ex-president, by Biden’s AG, and now he foolishly sacked them for “disloyalty”.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:16 amTrump’s reaction to this was similar to his J6 pardons, en masse rather than case-by-case, respectively freed and pronounced guilty by association.
Eight years ago at about this time, the FBI skirted protocol to “interview” Michael Flynn, and an unknown “senior Obama official” committed a felony by leaking classified information related to Flynn. After which, Trump’s hands were tied related to anything DOJ related. .
Add to that the panty raid on his residence.
No one can claim Trump hasn’t learned anything about how DC and the federal bureaucracy works. Maybe stop teaching him.
lloyd (509647) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:38 amIf Padmé Amidala could be ELECTED Queen, why can’t Mr. Trump?
nk (e0bc70) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:39 am60. asset: You know, sometimes I just have to stand back in slack-jawed admiration at the raw, unvarnished brilliance of some people.
So, inflation will make the US debt worthless! Brilliant! It worked so well for people in 2023 and 2024 as “Bidenomics eroded the purchasing power of fixed income geezers, and people with middle incomes living in apartments. Well maybe Biden needed to inflate more, right!? Because it worked out so well for the Weimar republic.
And of course no lender to the US will worry about repayment–because we are EVEN NOW paying more interest on the debt than out defense budget. So of course we have endless room to borrow.
And of course, other countries will keep lending to us as debt rises, even as their holdings erode from inflation. They’ll never demand higher interest rates that will overcome our tax revenue.
Thank god you’re not one of those nerds that read some economic, some history or even some newspapers. We need helpful observations like yours.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (e1a2ad) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:53 amUnserious, uncredible.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:54 amA refresher for Paul.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/la-times-column-mocks-melania-feeling-violated-fbi-raided-her-panties-ridicules-her-sex-life
lloyd (509647) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:55 amIbid, lloyd.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 10:05 amBottom line, Zelenskyy is right…
I suspect Trump will call himself a winner regardless of how big a ratf*ck of a deal emerges.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 10:16 am81: Paul: Russia is bad: they’ve lied since 1917 and lied when they insisted they were not going to invade Ukraine, etc. But as a bully with nukes and 3 times Ukraine’s numbers, what is the solution? Fight on as Ukraine’s people die, and hope for what? That Russia will quit? No signs of that. Settle now? Involve NATO troops?
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (e1a2ad) — 2/1/2025 @ 10:26 amMy solution is for the US and the West to timely provide Ukraine the aid they’re requesting, because Putin won’t negotiate anything but Ukraine’s surrender, because he’s a bad actor acting in bad faith, because an evil warcriming terrorist needs to pay for his illegal invasion and warcriming and terrorism. I’d also take the $300 billion of Russian assets we’ve frozen and apply the funds for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
IMO, it’s an America national security interest to weaken terrorist states like Russia and Iran. It’s an American security interest for Putin to lose ground in Ukraine, for him to lose his unprovoked unjustified unlawful war, and we can do it at the bargain price of 5% of our defense budget with zero American combat casualties. Weapons trump meat waves.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 10:38 amAlso Harc, Ukraine has agency, they’re a sovereign nation that made the decision to defend themselves. As long as they’re continuing to stand up to a terrorist bully, why not support them and their right to exist. It’s morally and geopolitically right choice.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 10:40 am“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” Patel told lawmakers. “Every FBI employee will be held to the absolute same standard, and no one will be terminated for case assignments.”
Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee to run the Justice Department, had likewise assured senators during her own hearing that government personnel would not be subject to political retaliation for doing their job.
That’ll teach those Senators from poking the bear.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:13 amHe would be the new Wilson, “he kept us out of war.”
How well did that work? Or Chamberlain, for that matter. Instead of a short war with overwhelming force, they got 4 years of trench warfare and, later, 4 years of mechanized horror.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:15 amTrump’s reaction to this was similar to his J6 pardons, en masse rather than case-by-case, respectively freed and pronounced guilty by association.
I pointed out a while ago that Trump would go too far. And when he’s become a liability to MAGA, out he goes and they have JD Vance who will serve them better.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:18 amIf Padmé Amidala could be ELECTED Queen, why can’t Mr. Trump?
Really. And she had Jar Jar Binks as an advisor, so Trump’s menagerie would pass muster there, too.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:20 amThe WSJ on Trump’s tariffs on our three largest trading partners.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:24 amA little more WSJ…
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:25 amHarcourt Fenton Mudd (e1a2ad) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:53 am
Did you know that Philip II of Spain — then the world’s superpower — defaulted on his debt four times, despite all that New World booty?
https://www.bde.es/f/webpi/SES/seminars/2009/files/sie0927.pdf
How did he do it? In part playing on rivalries: he defaulted on one group of bankers then borrowed from a rival group. Eventually he had to settle when the bankers froze the pay to the troops.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:30 amSo we should send our 18-25-year-olds to fight for Ukraine while their 18-25-year-olds can stay safe at home and in the nightclubs of Kiev?
Or am I missing something?
If Zelensky asks for more Abrams tanks, Bradley’s, but he won’t mobilize 18-25 -year-olds, who is going to man the equipment and flesh out the rest of the battalion?
steveg (25c199) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:33 amPaul,
I ask in all earnestness: what can we provide Ukraine that will fundamentally alter their (losing) war of attrition? Can they hold out until Putin dies? What can they do to make Putin agree to terms?
I agree with you that Ukraine deserves all the help it can get, but if all we are doing is delaying their defeat, or making that defeat worse, is that really “help”?
Biden held Ukraine hostage at the election, after doing so very little to let them win. There was a time when Ukraine might have driven the invaders out, but Biden handcuffed them. Now we have Trump. The upside to Trump is that IF he decided to help Ukraine, he wouldn’t be a wimp. The downside is, well, Trump.
What could the EU do, if we won’t? What can anyone do at this point? Short of troops, of course; France(!) could beat Russia right now.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:38 amTrump’s base and most Americans see Ukraine as “not our problem.” I doubt there is any polling that shows support for sending US combat troops into battle. I dare say the European public feels the same way.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:39 amSo we should send our 18-25-year-olds to fight for Ukraine while their 18-25-year-olds can stay safe at home and in the nightclubs of Kiev?
We aren’t drafting those kids either, but they are free to volunteer.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:42 amNot without nuclear weapons. The French military (all services) totals around 300,000 personnel.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:46 amI dare say the European public feels the same way.
The Poles, Finns, Swedes and Baltic states would beg to differ. They are the first nations that may get involved, as they will surely become involved if Ukraine falls.
“We must all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:47 amTrump’s voters are getting what they asked for; it’s not like these tariffs are a surprise.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:54 amAs well as the business leaders who backed Trump, hoping he could be convinced otherwise. Too bad for them.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:56 amIf they’re so concerned why haven’t they committed troops to the fight?
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 11:58 amThat may be, but from an America First perspective, it’s still “not my problem.”
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:01 pmI don’t see the Trump Administration doing something the Biden administration wouldn’t.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:02 pmThat’s why I said weapons trump meat waves, and Ukraine has been pathetically short-changed from Day One. It’s time for someone in the West to take Putin’s imperialist ambitions seriously, not parceling out inadequate numbers for political reasons, and not being an effing coward like Biden.
I’m talking more artillery, more precision missiles (short and long range), more jetfighters, more Javelins, more landmine-neutralizing dozers, more drones (way way more drones), more tanks, more fighting vehicles, more bullets. And this has to come from both the US and the West.
Not that my plan will go into effect but, IMO, that’s the best way to defeat Putin, which is to keep him losing ground until his economy and regime collapse. His only off-ramp should be to declare victory and proclaim that Ukraine has been successfully de-Nazified, and then get his troops TFO of Ukraine.
This wouldn’t be just a lesson for Putin, it’ll send a lesson for his successors, that the culture of Russian imperialism is dead and will stay so, and it’ll send a message to the expansionist communist Chinese government as well.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:04 pmThe only reason Trump wants to be involved in a Russia-Ukraine peace deal is to win the Nobel Peace Prize that he feels he was denied for the Abraham Accords. Outside of that, I don’t understand why he cares.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:07 pmNot without nuclear weapons. The French military (all services) totals around 300,000 personnel.
The French Army is 150,000 strong. But the entire Russian ground forces are only 500,000 men, including 100,000 conscripts and they have to defend an immense area (and prevent insurrections). France could drive Russia out of Ukraine proper, and probably Crimea, unless Russia used nukes.
But that was just an example.
Ukraine’s neighboring states have forces, too: Poland, Finland, Romania and Sweden could field over 300,000 trained ground forces and they would not have to beg for planes and tanks.
Russia does not have a chance against even the rump of EU forces. Note that the EU can activate all European NATO assets even if the US declines to act.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:15 pmI don’t understand why he cares.
A solution to Ukraine that wasn’t a surrender would allow him to concentrate on the US and the Americas, which is what he’d prefer. All them European weenies are just a distraction to his real goals.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:16 pmLet us know when that starts:
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:18 pmAgain, if the threat to Europe is dire, why haven’t they done so? Probably because there is no public support to do so; certainly in France and Germany, where the far right parties are very vocal in opposing aid to Ukraine (let alone direct action) and are politically ascendant. Virtually all the listed European governments would collapse if they intervened directly in Ukraine. They barely have political support for sending weapons.
I think Russia using tactical nuclear weapons against European intervening countries is a given.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:28 pmYes, Rip, Ukraine has lost some ground of late but, like I mentioned above, in the larger context, Putin has only gained 0.5% of Ukrainian territory after two-plus years of quagmire, which is around 500 dead-disabled Russians per square mile.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:31 pmThe Montagu Plan would reverse those losses, IMO.
Nothing is stopping Trump from ignoring Ukraine and Europe now. He could just say “not my problem, let the Europeans figure it out” and most Americans would agree.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:33 pmI’m talking more artillery, more precision missiles (short and long range), more jetfighters, more Javelins, more landmine-neutralizing dozers, more drones (way way more drones), more tanks, more fighting vehicles, more bullets. And this has to come from both the US and the West.
Artillery and dozers, sure. Bullets, too. But lots more jetfighters would mean Western pilots.
US-made military drones are a very mixed bag. If you mean cheap expendable drones, the US military-industrial complex is not your best source. Teal is one of the few bright spots (but only for DoD price points). But the Ukrainians are doing quite well on their own there with cheap off-the-shelf drones they reprogram.
Missiles are big-ticket items. Even Javelins are $250K/round. I’d rather have 200 Chinese drones than one Javelin, and 5,000 drones instead of one HIMARS system (4 times that if we are talking export pricing).
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:35 pmSadly, the Montagu Plan has very little chance of being adopted by the current administration. It is the complete opposite of what will end up happening.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:36 pmmost Americans would agree.
And when Ukraine fell and Russia was in the Baltics, “Who lost NATO?” would eat him alive. The very moment that he becomes harmful to MAGA, he’s in real political trouble.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:37 pmPlan M is this: NATO sends 200,000 ground forces into Ukraine and Putin is given his choices: Get out, die, or use nukes.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:38 pmPart of the reason none of the western nations are officially sending troops is because it allows the diplomatic fiction (which provides more flexibility to both the West AND Putin) that we aren’t actually fighting with Russia. We are just enabling Ukraine to defend it’s own territory. From, you know, whoever.
Nic (120c94) — 2/1/2025 @ 12:44 pm105, 114: Kevin:
You have a higher opinon of NATO than I do. The Germans have atrophied, and large percentages of the Bundeswher fighters are inoperable. They went “Green” and their kilowatt per hour costs are much higher than here or the UK, whic cripples manufacturing. They have maybe 10% of their Cold War total of Main Battle Tanks.
The French have a parade ground army with maybe 25,000 “good” troops, the Poles are great but small, and none of them have a decent air force. A sizeable percentage of all NATO “forces” are administration types in Brussels, laisons and so on.
And worse, none have the will. They see themselves as spectators in their own defense: the french always did, but the Germans do too now. None were main players when Clinton bombed the Serbs. The US actually had to intervene to settle that regional fight.
They all had to be begged, cajoled and threatened to increase their military budgets, and even then they are behind and still lack the will. They went soft and that is almost impossible to reverse. And they’re cowardly: France did not help win the Cold War and it has not acquired a spine since then. The last competent French general lies in Bonapart’s tomb.
Its not looking good long term. Paul’s plan is the ideal one, but I don’t see NATO helping which means us again…
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e) — 2/1/2025 @ 1:24 pmAs well as the business leaders who backed Trump, hoping he could be convinced otherwise. Too bad for them.
Hah! It depends on how the tariffs are applied. Non-friends of Trump are assessed a 25% additional cost of doing business. Friends of Trump can increase their profit margin by 25% and still remain competitive.
nk (d8cf15) — 2/1/2025 @ 1:25 pmUkraine is gradually losing men, equipment, territory to Russia, and at this pace Russia will eventually arrive at the left bank of the Dnieper exhausted and broke, but stubbornly refusing to leave
steveg (25c199) — 2/1/2025 @ 1:54 pmThen what? NATO counter offensive to scrub the cornered nuclear power Russians?
@steveg@118 If China were attacking us with very marginal success, how much of the US would you willingly give up for peace?
Nic (120c94) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:01 pmSo what? Trump can’t run again, so he would be politically immune from the consequences. MAGAWorld™️wouldn’t care, as it’s not an America First problem.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:12 pmI have no doubt NATO would prevail, but Plan M has as much chance of happening as Plan Montagu, which is to say it’s wishful thinking.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:15 pmI don’t see the US helping Ukraine anymore for the foreseeable future (next four years).
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:18 pmWhat do Americans think about Putin’s war on Ukraine? We’re divided.
And, even now, as you can see from those numbers, many of us still haven’t formed an opinion.
And that’s in spite of constant propaganda on Ukraine from a skilled demagogue and his allies, Tucker Carlson.
Jim Miller (61e5bd) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:34 pmElon Musk’s hostile takeover:
i
More:
Billionaire Elon Musk’s deputies have gained access to a sensitive Treasury Department system responsible for trillions of dollars in U.S. government payments after the administration ousted a top career official at the department, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe government deliberations.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:35 pm…………
David A. Lebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for several decades and had been the acting secretary before Bessent’s confirmation, had refused to turn over access to Musk’s surrogates, people familiar with the situation told The Washington Post. Trump officials placed Lebryk on administrative leave, and then he announced his retirement Friday in an email to colleagues.
……………
The sensitive systems, run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, control the flow of more than $6 trillion annually. Tens of millions of people across the country rely on the systems. They are responsible for paying Social Security and Medicare benefits, salaries for federal personnel, payments to government contractors and grant recipients, and tax refunds, among tens of thousands of other functions.
………….
Correction: “for example, Tucker Carlson”.
Jim Miller (61e5bd) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:36 pmThe More link in post 124 is incorrect. This link is correct.
Rip Murdock (3644d2) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:37 pmIn another Trump win, CBS to fork over the full unedited softball interview with Kamala Harris.
lloyd (3e3bf1) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:42 pmThe question should be: How much of the US would NATO offer to give up for peace with China? Which would be a substantial portion given their penchant for perfidy.
But to answer your question, the US wouldn’t even give China Playa Rosarito en Mexico, and the Chinese wouldn’t be able to sustain marginal success because the Pacific is a very long haul.
The US would also fully mobilize everyone 18+ if the Chinese had sustained success.
Apples and oranges to compare the US vs. China to Ukraine vs. nasty neighbor Russia.
If Ukraine won’t mobilize its 18-25 males, then it will take US or NATO 18-25 males to root out Russians from occupied territories.
What is the plan to make the Russians pack up and leave voluntarily?
The plan to make the Chinese leave Western Pacific North America voluntarily would be to simultaneously fill the Pacific and its beaches with dead Chinese cut off any landed Expeditionary force, meet it with a much larger force, and decimate the Chinese.
The fight would be taken to the Chinese mainland, and things would blow up 24/7, with a break here and there for damage assessments.
Is your plan for Russia similar? Because Ukraine (and Kursk) is full of dead Russian (and now NK) bodies. But because there is a long land border and a massive supply of cannon fodder/defensive occupier bodies, Ukraine needs to mobilize more people. But it refuses.
Why should Trump create a situation that sends US, Pole, UK and French etc 18-25 males to fight for a country that won’t generate the internal mass of manpower it needs to mount a successful counterattack?
My solution requires them to produce more bodies, and we will in turn give those bodies more stuff
steveg (25c199) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:49 pmUkraine wants all of its territory back; it needs to be all in
steveg (25c199) — 2/1/2025 @ 2:52 pmNATO/EU are not trustworthy
They still find ways to buy cheap energy from Russia, and they still trade with Russia around the sanctions by using third parties (Check out EU trade growth with Kazakhstan since the war began)
steveg (25c199) — 2/1/2025 @ 3:07 pmHere’s a long list of aid provided to Ukraine:
As far as I know, that summary is roughly accurate.
Both the UK and France have trained thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. That training may have been one reason the Ukrainians were successful in stopping the Putin forces from capturing Kiev at the beginning of the war.
Jim Miller (61e5bd) — 2/1/2025 @ 3:19 pm#127 I think the Loser should demand territorial concessions from Putin, as reparations, for example, St. Petersburg and Moscow. (He could settle for just the first during negotiations.)
And, of course he should demand that Putin and his lackeys be tried for war crimes.
Jim Miller (61e5bd) — 2/1/2025 @ 3:23 pm@steveg@128 My thought is that we shouldn’t expect Ukraine to surrender, because we sure as he!! wouldn’t in similar circumstances. I am also of the opinion that we shouldn’t be putting limits on Ukraine to use weapons only within it’s borders.
(I also fully expect that if the US were attacked, there would be a lot of rich kids who’d avoid serving under the idea that someone else could do it.)
Nic (120c94) — 2/1/2025 @ 4:03 pmNic, thanks for the conversation
steveg (25c199) — 2/1/2025 @ 5:12 pmUkrainian targeting has changed along with the change in administration.
For some reason, during the Biden Administration, Ukraine was not hitting Russia’s railroad energy infrastructure. (85% rail freight in Russia is moved by electricity) Now the Ukrainians are chipping away at it are
Trump has complained about the Biden Administration (finally) opening up a few targets a bit deeper into Russia to American technology, and he hasn’t walked the permission back.
Trump also stopped a lot of foreign aid, but Zelensky said Lethal aid to Ukraine got a carve-out.
@steve@134 Hopefully he won’t walk the permission back, but I don’t have a ton of confidence in that. I think he’d love the credit for brokering peace, but at the same time, I worry because he seems to admire Putin far more than is wise.
Nic (120c94) — 2/1/2025 @ 5:21 pmI would take even-odds bets on Trump completing his term.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 6:19 pmThis tariff thing, as well as all these EOs is proof that the Presidency has far too many powers. Previous presidents have misused them, but Trump is trying to set a record.
The other Plan M:
Pass a law, set to take effect Jan 20th, 2029 that says:
1. Either House of Congress can block a regulation from taking effect by simple majority vote*
2. Except during a declared War, Executive Orders take effect 90 days after publication
3. All tariffs are temporary, expiring in 60 days unless ratified by both houses of Congress**
———-
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 6:27 pm* This would require the Supremes to reconsider INS v Chadha, but they should anyway
** Tariff powers are granted to the president by statute, so this is just a modification of that grant.
Russia may not be losing territory of late, but Putin is losing men and materiel and an economy, and Vlad has his desertion issues as well. His actual inflation is pushing 20% and his ruble literally ain’t worth a penny. He’s way weaker than he’s letting on, but he’s got a first-rate propaganda operation to fool the folks he needs to fool, and Trump also knows a thing about fooling the folks he needs to fool, sadly and regrettably.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:31 pmThe only way Trump leaves office is if he passes away. He won’t be removed from office any other way.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:36 pmRIP US Olympic ice skating and broadcasting icon Dick Button (95):
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:49 pmOver at DU the democrat party groupies are asking their leaders in congress to do something besides send them fund raising appeals. DNC answers our donor class says we have to be bipartisan to keep the funding spigot flowing for our re-elections!
asset (b5a201) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:54 pmYou surrender Ukraine advocates have no answer for my point I gave the first night of russian invasion which is even truer today If Ukraine doesn’t lose it wins and if putin doesn’t win he loses. Don’t bother us with your drivel until after Kiev is captured.
asset (b5a201) — 2/1/2025 @ 7:59 pmPatterico…
Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada are not only stupid, they’re inflationary and economically counterproductive.
Trump’s order to release water from a couple of CA reservoirs is equally stupid, because the water can’t cross a mountain range to get to LA, where the fires are already 100% contained.
It’s Mad King stuff indeed.
And Elon having access to Treasury records of Americans is illegal, according to the host of this site, and below is one more from our host.
If Patterico were here, I expect his content would be no different.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:43 pmRIP 60s icon, singer, songwriter, actress and muse Marianne Faithfull (78):
She also appeared in films including “I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname” (1967, where she the first one to drop a “f bomb” in a major studio release; “The Girl on a Motorcycle,” (1968), opposite Alain Delon; and “Hamlet” (1969).
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:46 pmRumors are that local Republicans are panicked over this screwing of their constituents. Nothing but chaos meddling in local water management from the White House.
When Trump makes his supporters want his head, they will get his head. You don’t think JD Vance signed on to Trump because he thought Trump was The Guy, do you? He was just the path to President Vance. As far as JD is concerned, that can happen any time.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:50 pmWhat replaces the rule of law?
Nothing, but it’s not going anywhere. It has survived Andy Jackson, FDR, Nixon and civil war. It will still be there when Trump is gone.
Hopefully, though, the administrative state (which is the antithesis of the Rule of Law) will be gone, too, and we can return to a much smaller and constitutional government.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 8:55 pmBut despite all the stupidity in the last day or two, Trump did something that Biden couldn’t, which was release American hostages held by the Maduro regime, so credit where due. I suspect there was some
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:01 pmbullyingdiplomatic leverage applied behind the scenes, and about time.Ukraine will lose long before Kyiv is captured (if that happens at all.) Give or take a few hundred square miles, this is what Ukraine will look like a year from now (with the exception of Ukraine-occupied Kursk region; I expect the Russians will re-take it by January 2026.) The cutoff of aid from the US will result in Europe doing the same. If the US doesn’t consider Ukraine important, they will look to building up their defenses rather than giving their limited arsenals to Ukraine.
As I pointed out above, what remains of Ukraine will be a demilitarized state between NATO and Russia.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:01 pmAs I pointed out above, what remains of Ukraine will be a demilitarized state between NATO and Russia.
Why would they stop fighting?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:05 pmHow would Trump make his supporters want his head? He’s doing everything he promised and they voted for. Vance can’t do anything to remove Trump (outside of assassination); that would require a majority of the cabinet to agree, and that’s about as likely as the sun coming up in the west.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:07 pmNo more weapons from the West; lack of manpower; a society tired of war; etc.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:09 pmAlso being sold out by feckless West.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:11 pmIf Vance doesn’t like what Trump is doing, he should resign, but it will end his political career.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:15 pmIf Vance doesn’t like what Trump is doing, he should resign, but it will end his political career.
When Trump is shown the door, Vance will take over, more in sorrow than in anger. When GOP Congressmen and Senators are looking at losing the next primary due to Wild Don’s antics, they’ll get their minds right. They’ll let Trump deport the illegals and bring manufacturing home, but when it comes time to defend high prices and out-of-control feds they’ll forget what brung ’em.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:31 pmIf Vance doesn’t like what Trump is doing, he should resign, but it will end his political career.
It must be nice to live in your simple world.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/1/2025 @ 9:32 pmThe economic effects of Trump’s tariffs are quantified at the Yale Budget Labs.
I remember when the biggest fans of tariffs were labor union presidents, not an American president. It’s pathetic and shameful.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/1/2025 @ 10:19 pm@147
For sure there were outright threats in the most utmost, clear manner to get these dictators to jump.
I didn’t even know that there were hostages there…
Another indictment of the mainstream press who wouldn’t hold a Democrat Administration’s feet to the fire…
whembly (003ea2) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:20 amA progression:
The Rule of Law
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 6:12 amThe Law is an Ass
The Rule of an Ass
I keep hearing about “The Rule of Law” and I’ve mentioned that our institutions are strong enough to withstand Donald Trump. But that’s not the whole story.
Every despot in history has cited the rule of (his) Law as a counter to revolutionaries. Czar Nicholas, Louis XVI, George III, etc.
Our own revolutionaries countered with this:
And this caveat:
To hear them tell it, the revolutionaries who put Trump into power felt things had gone on long enough. Perhaps. I like this analysis from David Brooks:
And they want that respect still.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 6:23 amDon’t lose sight that Trump is the nicest populist going forward.
If the government remains non-responsive, the next populist would make Trump an angel in comparison.
To the folks who really dislike Trump… your efforts is better spent advocating and building the kinds of politicians for the future. Meaning, start now at the grassroots and work with your like-minded peers to “groom” the kinds of candidates you’d want.
whembly (003ea2) — 2/2/2025 @ 7:05 amAccording to our esteemed host’s X posting, he seems to have issues with Andrew McCarthy’s articles:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/02/fight-over-fired-inspectors-general-is-fight-over-foundations-of-the-administrative-state/
…and…
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/02/the-stakes-of-trumps-executive-branch-shake-up/
Curious what’s his beef with it…
In short, does he or does he not believe in the Unitary Executive Theory? Which underscores that all Article II powers is vested in the office of the Presidency, as such, any executive officials can be fired for any reasons.
whembly (003ea2) — 2/2/2025 @ 7:23 amIf you buy or sell things from Canada (or Mexico), there used to be an $800 de minimus exception to tariffs. Not any more. Apparently that’s another thing the President can strike out with his pen.
The argument is that fentanyl is often slides through border inspections due to this exception. Now they will be inspecting (or at least sampling) everything.
One weird consequence? Most comic books sold in the US are printed in Canada. Tacking 25% onto the cost will be noticeable. Also, Canadian pharmacy prescriptions and anything sold to Americans by Canadian eBay sellers will cost 25% more.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 7:52 amIt’s been only two weeks. What more does Trump have planned?
Will he use the military against Mexican cartels? SOCOM? Or AC-130s?
Will he work with Mexico to solve problems, or will he just bully and bluster?
He is burning political capital at an amazing rate — US businessmen who own Mexican factories, or who import or export will be upset. How much political capital does he really have? The further away he gets from the “core mission” the faster it burns.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 8:23 amVideo: The Palisades fire and evacuation
Well worth your time.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 8:33 amSpeaking of simple worlds……..Trump won’t be “shown the door.”
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 9:08 amAt the rate he is going, his popularity will be down in the 20s by summer.
The very moment that GOP Congressfolk decide it’s either him or them, the impeachment will happen. They only need 3 GOP votes and they’ll have more. Will the Senate convict? The GOP has 22 seats up in 2026.
And I also expect a lot of non-MAGA challengers in the 2026 primaries, and current office-holders trying to avoid the issue.
His approval rating in his first term was never in the gutter, but then he didn’t do all that much to affect people. This time, he’s going to have large effect and people notice the bad things more.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 9:21 amRaising tariffs and deporting illegals is his “core mission”; they were central to his campaign. The businessmen who own overseas factories (not just in Mexico) or employ illegal labor thought that Trump was a) not serious; b) opening a negotiating position; or c) could be convinced otherwise.
They thought Trump 2.0 would be the same as Trump 1.0. Boy were they wrong.
As I’ve said before, why anyone is surprised is beyond me. This was all telegraphed during both the primaries and general election.
As far as what Trump still has planned, there’s the acquisition of Greenland (endorsed by his Secretary of State) and the Panama Canal.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 9:33 amTrump will never be “shown the door” willingly, and we’ve already seen his unwillingness before, after he was legitimately removed from power.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 9:46 amIMO, it would take a palace coup, but that would involve too many who’ve bent the knee.
I doubt even treason would dislodge the guy.
No one has ever been impeached over polls, and I doubt anyone ever will. Bad polls aren’t a “high crime or misdemeanor.” If that were true, Trump would never have received the nomination, as his head to head polls Democratic candidates were abysmal (compared to, say, Nikki Haley) yet all of them failed to launch, even when Haley got her one on one with Trump.
Whether or not “he’s going to have large effect and people notice the bad things more” and that’s going to impact the midterms, that’s his problem. Impeaching Trump over his polling would be the equivalent of Harris replacing Biden, and we saw how well that worked out. The MAGA contingent would abandon the Republican Party in droves and doing so would be doing the Democrats a favor.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 9:47 amTrump’s popularity is higher now than at any point in his political history. Some of you still don’t get that the people support what he is doing.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 2/2/2025 @ 9:56 amUnlike you, I don’t base my judgments of a president’s performance on polls.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 10:09 amWhen Nixon imposed wage-and-price controls, they were popular — at first.
(Raising the minimum wage is also popular, but does lead to a loss of jobs for people with few skill, and little work ethic.)
People will put up with rationing, and wage-and-price controls, during war time, but only for so long.
Jim Miller (4d5f85) — 2/2/2025 @ 10:14 amYes Paul, we know. You base your decisions on whatever hurts Americans and is good for leftist’s destroying what is best for our nation.
Carry on carrying water.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 2/2/2025 @ 10:43 amIt’s a shame we have a president who said he would do X, Y and Z when he was a candidate and is doing X, Y and Z after he got elected.
Why can’t we have a president who lies about what he intends to do, like just about all the previous ones?
lloyd (d65d33) — 2/2/2025 @ 10:49 amAs I’ve said before, America voted for Trump and deserve to see him keep his promises; but we’ll see how popular he is after six months to a year of tariffs. He’s popular now (it’s his honeymoon period), but after the increasing inflation and unemployment, maybe not so much.
Kevin M would be right that in a parliamentary system that Trump would probably be dumped if the tariffs turn the public against the Republicans. But that’s not the system we have, so people need to deal with it.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 11:03 amPeople in the IG and DOJ spaces shocked to find out that they are not protected members of separate and equal 4th branch to check the executive. Instead they serve at the pleasure of the executive- in this case, the executive is displeased.
The DOJ tried to take him out and instead f-ed that up and made him stronger. They should be fired for that piece of gross ineptitude;
steveg (c55fba) — 2/2/2025 @ 11:22 amAnd the right-hack lies again. So predictable.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 11:49 amThat’s a low bar:
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 11:59 amQuinnipiac University National Poll 1/29/25
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 12:17 pmAgreed, Patterico, he is very stupid, and he just told us that he’s hitting Canada with tariffs for land-grubbing imperialist reasons…
So far, Shadow President Musk hasn’t deleted the Community Note…
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 12:18 pmRip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 12:22 pm
For some reason, we give foreign aid money to Canada.
steveg (25c199) — 2/2/2025 @ 12:39 pmIt’s minimal, but it should be $0. They don’t need it.
Let’s see. The Loser has atacked Denmark, Canada, and Mexico.
Anything common to those three nations? Well, yes. As a member of NATO, Denmark has been especially good at supplying weapons to Ukraine, per capita. Canada is essential to US security, providing, for example, bases for the DEW line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distant_Early_Warning_Line
And good relations with Mexico are essential if we want to control the drug trade, which has done so much harm to both nations.
So good relations with all three are important to US defenses.
Wonder where the Loser got the idea to pick on those three nations?
Jim Miller (4d5f85) — 2/2/2025 @ 12:46 pmCanada now operates the DEW line, but we pay them a little money to support their operation of this essential part of our defenses.
Jim Miller (4d5f85) — 2/2/2025 @ 12:48 pmLets not exclude the energy sector or any other sector.
steveg (25c199) — 2/2/2025 @ 12:49 pmCrime is down if we exclude the retail theft sector numbers, but violent crime could still be up overall
Help me out
If the wholesale price is $1 and a 25% tariff is placed on the product, which has a retail markup of 100%, 100% recovery of the tariff: Is the retail price
A $2.25
B $2.50
If I am Walmart and can buy a t shirt made in China for $1 wholesale and sell it for $13.00 retail and Trump slaps 25% on the wholesale price, my price increases to $13.25 right?
steveg (25c199) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:02 pmOr am I missing something
As your link points out, the DEW Line doesn’t exist any longer:
Footnote omitted.
The North Warning System includes some former DEW Lins bases, but they have been completely upgraded or inactivated.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:05 pmJim Miller (1ae3f3) — 1/31/2025 @ 2:16 pm
No, he wants Americans not to care. If other people want to save them, let them, he’s OK with that.
His question is: How does it help America either be stronger, safer or richer?
Sammy Finkelman (920468) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:08 pmI bring it up because a lot of people seem to be thinking the retail cost of a $13 shirt goes up $3.25
steveg (25c199) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:08 pmI’d consider any aid to Canada as payment in kind for our access to their bases, as part of NORAD, and it’s just good NATO relations and in our national security interests that we’re involved there.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:10 pmsteve, I refer you to my above comment about the quantified effects of Trump’s tariffs, which doesn’t include the retaliatory kind. Quote:
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:13 pmYou can’t do that under a Supreme Court ruling, but you can require any new regulations to pass both Houses of Congress and be signed by the president in order to take effect (and exempt such bills from the 60 filibuster rule in the Senate)
Austria, at least years ago, had something similar: Regulations must be passed by their Parliment in order to become law)
Sammy Finkelman (920468) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:15 pmYes, you are missing something; the additional tariff is 10%, not 25%. But people don’t necessarily need T-shirts, but they do want consumer goods, such as toys for their children (virtually all of which are made in China) and electronics (such as cellphones, stereos, etc.)
Other goods imported from China:
Electrical equipment
Machinery of various types
Furniture
Appliances
Optical, photographic, medical equipment
Apparel, shoes
And on and on and on……..
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:21 pmBad polls aren’t a “high crime or misdemeanor.”
Bad polls are based on bad behavior, and bad behavior is what “misdemeanor” meant in 1787. Do you argue that no one could accuse Trump of bad behavior in office?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:23 pmThe “Tariff Lobby,” headed by the Globalist, and always wrong, Wall Street Journal, is working hard to justify Countries like Canada, Mexico, China, and too many others to name, continue the decades long RIPOFF OF AMERICA, both with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS that are allowed to so freely flow into AMERICA. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER! The USA has major deficits with Canada, Mexico, and China (and almost all countries!), owes 36 Trillion Dollars, and we’re not going to be the “Stupid Country” any longer. MAKE YOUR PRODUCT IN THE USA AND THERE ARE NO TARIFFS! Why should the United States lose TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SUBSIDIZING OTHER COUNTRIES, and why should these other countries pay a small fraction of the cost of what USA citizens pay for Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, as an example? THIS WILL BE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA! WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!). BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID. WE ARE A COUNTRY THAT IS NOW BEING RUN WITH COMMON SENSE — AND THE RESULTS WILL BE SPECTACULAR!!!
Davethulhu (2a59e1) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:25 pmTrump’s popularity is higher now than at any point in his political history.
No, it isn’t. Gallup has him at 48% on Jan 20th, the first president in modern history to be underwater coming in. Other new presidents had low positives (but not that low), but they had low negatives and high “don’t knows.” No one is in doubt about Trump.
I get it that some places he’s like a god, but so was McGovern, somewhere.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:26 pmI take it that was a quote from Trump, ‘thulhu.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:28 pmyes
“WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!)”
me grabbing a slice of hot pizza
Davethulhu (2a59e1) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:30 pmYou can’t do that under a Supreme Court ruling
Wonder why I had that asterisk there, Sammy? Chadha was wrongly decided and the dissent’s reasoning has proven to be accurate.
As has the dissents hilarious takedown of the “you need to pass a law and get it signed” to overturn bureaucrat-created laws.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:30 pmFor some reason, we give foreign aid money to Canada.
It’s minimal, but it should be $0. They don’t need it.
It’s probably a credit for buying US-made weapons at list price.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:33 pmSammy, the US had a single-house veto of regulations since the New Deal. It worked well. The number of regulations that have been blocked since is ZERO. It was a massive transfer of power from the legislature to the President, gutting the check they had installed when they allowed agencies to make regulations.
The Chadha decision would be overturned if there was a way for the Court to hear it now.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:37 pmPaul
What if tariffs reduce inflation like they did last time?
https://www.hoover.org/research/evenhanded-analysis-trumps-economic-policies
I’m OK with US increasing revenues as long as we cut spending overall and pay down the deficit
steveg (25c199) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:41 pmIn my experience, as further confirmed by all the Disqus comments I’ve seen, the person who uses “globalist” in a sentence is a f-cking moron.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:41 pmCongress would need to pass a law blocking the tariffs, which would be highly unlikely. And since Trump declared a national emergency as allowed by various trade acts (specifically the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code), there is very little chance of successful legal challenges.
Paragraph breaks added.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:43 pmLOL!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:44 pmPrice elasticity. It varies from product to product. Walmart can choose to sell fewer t-shirts at $13.25, or they can sell the same amount of shirts at $13 or some other price lower between $13.00 and $13.25 and take a hit on profits.
purplehaze (1eeb72) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:53 pmsteve, Trump’s 2018 tariffs on China were targeted, not across-the-board, and they backfired because Trump had to push subsidies to our ag sector, which was hit by Xi’s refusal to buy soybeans and such from the US.
I think Tyler Cowen’s arguments are more persuasive.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:56 pmIn this case past isn’t prologue; this round of tariffs are markedly different than during Trump’s first term. For example, the new tariffs against Mexico and Canada are imposed on all imports crossing the border; in his first term tariffs were imposed on specific products, like solar panels, washing machines, steel and aluminum. The retaliatory tariffs against US farmers led the Administration to bail out (to the tune of $28B, on-third of farm income in 2019 and 2020) farmers who were being penalized.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/2/2025 @ 2:18 pmSource for post 208.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 2:19 pmMore Scott Lincicome…
…who then links to a Cato commentary. Lincicome linked to a Kevin Williamson piece from last summer, but I think his July 2018 National Review article is more eloquent.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 2:32 pmBabies have very different immune systems than adults so it would not be surprising if some of them respond in a different way to vaccines, especially weakened live vaccines like the MMR. Fortunately, in the past 7-12 years, US States began screening for severe immune problems in newborn blood tests. Having said that, as the link discusses, we are still learning about babies’ immune systems.
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/2/2025 @ 2:51 pmCurrent Republican Senators are more likely to face pro-MAGA candidates (backed by the White House) than non-MAGA challengers, depending on how they vote on Trump’s nominees.
………..
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 3:19 pmThose mentioned as vulnerable to a challenge from MAGA include Senators Mike Rounds; Joni Ernst; Thom Tillis; John Cornyn; Bill Cassidy; and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, 82, and Jim Risch of Idaho, 81, who haven’t disclosed their reelection plans. I doubt McConnell will run; he’s as fragile as Biden.
I’m OK with US increasing revenues as long as we cut spending overall and pay down the deficit
steveg (25c199) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:41 pm
LOL!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/2/2025 @ 1:44 pm
Rip, you are spot on with most of your comments, but the above is rather juvenile. How about saying, “I agree, but I doubt the voters, and by extension, Congress, are willing to suffer the pain of spending cuts”?
norcal (a72384) — 2/2/2025 @ 3:33 pmCanada lists its tariff targets:
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 3:42 pmHow about “I disagree, because Congress has never done so” because the suggestion that Congress will do so is laughable.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 3:46 pmThe role of posting cop/nag isn’t your responsibility.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 3:50 pmThanks norcal
I’m happy Rip had a good laugh.
steveg (c55fba) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:13 pmIn my experience, as further confirmed by all the Disqus comments I’ve seen, the person who uses “globalist” in a sentence is a f-cking moron.
No, they just didn’t go to college to get that all-important degree.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:22 pmJustice White’s dissent in Chadha, as summarized in Wikipedia:
Justice White, dissenting, argued that
(1) the legislative veto power is absolutely necessary to modern government, as exemplified by the legislative veto powers granted in the War Powers Act of 1973.
(2) The absence of constitutional provisions for alternate methods of action does not imply their prohibition by the Constitution, and the court has consistently read the Constitution to respond to contemporary needs with flexibility.
(3) The legislative veto power does not involve the ability of Congress to enact new legislation without bicameral consensus or presentation to the president, but instead involves the ability of Congress to veto suggestions by the executive, a power that both houses of Congress already possess.
(4) The court has allowed Congress to delegate authority to executive agencies; lawmaking does not always require bicameralism or presentation.
(5) The bicameralism and presentation provisions of the Constitution serve to ensure that no departure from the status quo takes place without consensus from both houses of Congress and the President or by a super-majority vote of both houses of Congress. In this case, the deportation of Chadha is the status quo situation, and the veto by House of Representatives of an alternative suggestion of the executive branch is reasonable given the purposes of bicameralism and the Presentment Clause.
Justice Rehnquist added that it is unlikely that Congress would have promulgated § 244(a)(1) [the delegation of regulatory powers] without the corresponding provisions of §§ 244(c)(1–2) [the legislative veto]. Therefore, the provisions are not severable from one another, and holding one unconstitutional requires invalidating the other.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Naturalization_Service_v._Chadha
This decision was far more destructive to the nation than Roe or Wickard.
White’s first point is irrefutable today. Remember, prior to this abomination of a ruling, Congress had kept a check against a runaway bureaucracy when it delegated legislative functions. After Chadha, there was no stopping unelected apparatchiks from ordering the country to their liking.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:31 pmFolks who use “globalist” in a sentence are at the same intelligence level as those who use “fascist.”
lloyd (1e5e56) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:35 pmDEI isn’t about race. It’s about lowering standards.
lloyd (1e5e56) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:45 pmAu contraire, young grasshopper, but I note again your attacking the commenter in bad faith.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:49 pmI doubt McConnell will run; he’s as fragile as Biden.
It looks like Andy Barr vs Daniel Cameron. Barr is a typical Republican and has been supportive of Ukraine. Cameron is a MAGA whackjob who lost the gubernatorial election in 2023 (with Trump’s backing).
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/2/2025 @ 5:50 pmThe living Constitution?
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 7:02 pmMonday is gonna be wild:
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 7:12 pmOver at DU except for the d.n.c. shills everyone is asking ( including msDNC ) where is the democrat party? Answer: Trying to keep Bernie Sanders and the left from taking over the party from the donor class.
asset (14ba73) — 2/2/2025 @ 7:20 pmAsset, as long as the Dems are running center left Dems and the GOP is Running Bumbling Fascists obsessed with dumb culture war nonsense you’re likely to get support and votes from me and ppl like me. If 2028 is a choice between a Christian Nationalist who doesn’t care about the constitution and a socialist steeped in identity politics that doesn’t care about the constitution I, and ppl like me are out.
Time123 (ce6cba) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:24 amIs Kamala center left?
Manchin was center-left.
NJRob (1cdba5) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:00 amRob, you think Mitt Romney is a leftist and Joe Biden was a communist. Your judgment on these types of things isn’t very good.
Time123 (ce6cba) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:06 amBut to answer your question, if you go back and look at what I was saying during the Republican primary, I was pretty consistent that if the Republicans nominated anybody but Trump, I would worst sit out, but was a getable vote for almost any of the other candidates
Time123 (792187) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:16 am222. Of course Reagan was not totally oblivious to the use of free trade by some to get a free ride from the US, while having their own tariff walls. Hence the decision to impose tariffs on autos and it prompted the beneficial decision to site Japanese plants in the US, making everyone happy.
right now there seems to be too much one-way trade at our expense. And “allies” that sell here but don’t lift a finger to help us or maintain their own military.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (737b1d) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:52 amWeird that Canada got higher tariffs then China.
Time123 (792187) — 2/3/2025 @ 7:00 amReagan didn’t employ tariffs across the board, Harc. Rather, he was helping Iacocca bail out Chrysler, and giving a leg up to an American steel industry. Even a small American steel industry is an American national security interest, and there’s an argument for some protection. It doesn’t justify the scope of what Trump is doing. Also, tariffs aren’t the only trade tool in the trade box, yet Trump is acting like it is. Trump could’ve sanctioned companies not playing by the rules, or used quotas for emerging technologies and industries. But no, like with is pardons and FBI firings, his moves are categorical, not case-by-case.
Reagan’s actions–and we can argue that he went too far in some instances–don’t negate the principle that we’re all better off when trade is freer and less fettered. His arc was toward more freedom.
Here’s a good pictorial for Trump on how tariffs work.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:08 amRegarding all that fentanyl crossing the Canadian border…
Trump is damaging Canada’s economy to advance his territorial ambitions, not to stop a drug-trafficking problem that doesn’t exist.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:12 amI don’t understand exactly what Trump is doing.
The pretext is drugs and illegal immigration, but I’m not aware of any evidence that those are a problem at the northern border. Nor am I aware of what we’ve asked Canada to do about it to avoid the Tariffs.
Honest request to any of the Trump supporters / RW populists on here to explain what we’re trying to accomplish by imposing Tariffs on Canada. What’s the end goal? During the campaign I assumed this was a talking point based on nothing, like the “eating our pets” thing.
Not looking to argue, mock or fight. Genuinely confused.
Time123 (80590b) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:13 amPaul, what Territorial ambitions? Do you think the plan is for them to become part of the US?
Time123 (80590b) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:14 amTrump said the words, out loud, more than once. His latest “tweet” only his latest example, cut-and-pasted above at #180.
“Subsidy” reflects Trump’s failure to comprehend that trade deficits aren’t subsidies. This is Stupid Town.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:29 amThomas Sowell, who Ted Cruz supports for a Presidential Medal of Freedom (and I support it, too)…
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:45 amHe’s also claimed that we can run the government off tariff revenue instead of income taxes, which doesn’t jibe with dropping and adding tariffs depending on what other countries do
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:48 amNot necessarily; the 10% China tariffs are on top of existing tariffs on China.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:01 amhttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/mexico-agrees-deploy-10000-troops-us-border-exchange-tariff-pause
LOL!
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:01 am@234
You and Patterico are wrong.
That amount of fentanyl caught at the Canadian border are lethal doses for millions.
Fentanyl are dosed in microgram. Take 3 grains of table salt… THAT amount of fentanyl is lethal to 99% of the population.
And again, that was caught… how much of illicit Fentanyl cross the Canadian border undetected?
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:04 amWe should only take the agricultural and oil provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta); and British Columbia and the Northwest and Yukon Territories to connect Alaska.
😉
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:11 amThe government can get a good estimate by tracing back where wholesale drug dealers they catch got their supplies from. Fentayl is also delivered by the United States Postal Service, I think.
Sammy Finkelman (db0752) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:12 amNo, you’re engaging in a bogus equivalency. Canadian fentanyl trafficking is 0.2% of what’s coming across the southern border, not worth a 25% across-the-board tariff.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:13 amI agree, since (according to the President) the Mexican Govt. is in an alliance with the cartels. Why would the US make an agreement with them?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:15 amTrump is not saying that Canada is amajor source of drugs,
He’s hoping that people are stupid enough to believe that any of this makes sense to Trump. It’s a legal pretext.
If there’s anything behind it, it is that Trump is intrigued by the idea of levying a painless tax.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/remarks/2025/01/the-inaugural-address
As the late, great (?) Senator Russell Long of Louisiana (Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee before the 1980 election) said:
Trump is being told that maybe even the federal personal income tax could be abolished!
Sammy Finkelman (db0752) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:29 am@245
Or, hear me out, you don’t have a clue of what you’re talking about with regards to fentanyl.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:36 amAlong the Canadian border, Customs and Border Protection data shows that the highest amount seized between FYs 2022-2024 was 43 pounds in 2024 in 82 events*. In contrast, the Southwest border region seized 21,000 pounds in FY 2024 in 863 events; in the Coastal/Interior region (which includes all major cities outside the other two regions) 698 pounds were seized in 121 events.
The question is what is the standard the Trump administration is applying to Canada and Mexico to ensure compliance with the stated goal of reducing fentanyl smuggling . Weight? Number of seizures? Deaths? The Administration is unclear.
*The CPB defines “event” as when a CBP officer or agent seizes one or multiple drugs from one or multiple offenders, the entire incident is referred to as a drug seizure event.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:56 amBefore Trump took office, Canada was already applying tariffs on US good.
According to ChatGPT and Grok, Canada levies the following:
Milk: 270%
Cheese: 245%
Butter: 298%
Chickin: 238%
Cars: 25%
Steal: 25%
Aluminum: 45%
Peanut Butter: 295% (!!!)
Veggies: 100%
…and loads more.
The issue about Trump’s tariffs really isn’t the tariffs itself. Most of you don’t realize that we face tariffs when we export as well.
You issue is with Trump himself, and you automatically presume he’s an idiot, so you shape your arguments to fit your worldview while ignoring the larger picture.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:09 amHey, Paul, are you choosing the links for Drudge?
(Mostly kidding)
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:12 am@250: So you are saying that Canada is protectionist?!? Who knew?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:14 amOnly
white peopleAmerica can beracistprotectionist.Pretty much all the same logic.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:15 amWhat the data show is that nearly all interdiction resources go to the southern border, and so they interdict far more. Inherent bias. Also, the modes of delivery differ. From Canada, the normal mail system is employed more, each delivery is smaller and largely uninspected.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:20 amI get that this issue has importance to you (me too, because I have a friend who died from an overdose), but I reject your “you don’t have a clue” remark.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:28 amJust going by the numbers, there were 74,900 deaths by fentanyl in 2023. Assuming a similar abuse rate between drugs from the north and drugs from the south, and the fact that 0.2% of fentanyl came from the north, means that 150± died from Canadian-sourced fentanyl. While 150 deaths is tragic, doesn’t justify an absurd and punitive 25% mass-tariff on a country.
Undoubtedly the seizure numbers are grossly unreported, as there is no way of knowing how much is getting through undetected.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:32 amWell, we do import a lot of oil from Canada, Canadian oil originates in Western Canada. The pipeline from Western Canada to Eastern Canada runs through the USA. So if Trump wanted to, he could put a tax, or fee on the Canadian oil that transits the USA on its way to Ontario, Quebec etc
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gi1FItxXUAAdYsl?format=jpg&name=small
steveg (25c199) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:34 amHow old is that data? Most cars are duty-free between the US/Mexico/Canada under the USMCA.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:35 amWhat’s you’re point? He’s already placed a 10% tariff on Canadian oil, so there is that. He could even ban Canadian oil from entering the US period.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:37 amWhembly, if it’s about 40# of drugs, what is it we want Canada to do? Fentynal is very potent…but there’s a lot of open border to drive across between Canada and the US. Pretty hard to keep the equivalent or a large bag of rice out.
If its about current tariff levels, we redid NAFYTA in Trumps first term and AFAI there’s no allegation that Canada is violating what was agreed to at that time.
Part of why I don’t understand what we’re doing is that the goals haven’t been laid out and AFAIK there’s been no effort to achieve them prior to the tariffs.
Again, I’m not saying what we’re doing is stupid or that Trumps being an idiot here. I’m saying I don’t know what our end goal si.
Time123 (17fa64) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:50 amRIP, if the Canadians wanted to really mess with us they’d place a 25% export tariff on Gas and auto parts.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:53 am“How old is that data? Most cars are duty-free between the US/Mexico/Canada under the USMCA.”
the source is ChatGPT so i’d take everything with a grain of salt
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:01 pmIndeed…
What’s missing here is that a con man with a real estate background is trying to illegally annex a NATO ally using economic coercion.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:10 pmTrump whines that we’re protecting Canada but, duh, of course we are, they’re a NATO ally, that’s what happens when defensive treaties are ratified.
How not to make your point:
Thousands rally in downtown Los Angeles, shut down 101 Freeway to protest Trump’s immigration policies
Flags of nations they assert to be refugees from.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:13 pm@255
I beg to differ.
It absolutely justifies that.
My hope, is that Canada acquiesce to accommodate and that the tariffs dies.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:13 pmIf Canada really wanted to mess with us they would put a 100% export tax on oil and other minerals (uranium, nickel, aluminum, steel, gold, copper, etc.) they export to the US.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:13 pmYou know it’s pathetic when this president’s stupidity makes a liberal lame-duck lightweight sound like Churchill.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:14 pmAcquiesce how?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:15 pm@260 Again, I’m not saying what we’re doing is stupid or that Trumps being an idiot here. I’m saying I don’t know what our end goal si.
Time123 (17fa64) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:50 am
Levying tariffs is usually for 1 of 2 reasons:
–protectionism
–behavior modification
It’s obvious this is about the latter.
The end goal is more border security/collaboration between our countries.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:15 pmPowerful coercive tool.
steveg (25c199) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:16 pmEmbarrassing to have your own product levied in such a way.
The pipeline from Western Canada to Eastern Canada runs through the USA.
Not only should we tax it, but we should use the money for green projects along the pipeline.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:18 pmIf Canada really wanted to mess with us they would put a 100% export tax on oil and other minerals (uranium, nickel, aluminum, steel, gold, copper, etc.) they export to the US.
We don’t need their oil, and their other products are replaceable.
I’ve never really considered this before, but it is really lucky the USA has a constitutional ban against export taxes.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:21 pmRegarding foreign aid and tariffs and other matters, this country needs a Reagan Party or Reagan Caucus, sooner the better, worth the full 4-minute listen.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:25 pmwhembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:15 pm
No, it isn’t because Trump’s complaints about Caa=nada are not real. And there’s nothing Canada =a can do to satisfy Trump (except maybe facilitate illegal migration at the expense of cutting off most cross border traffic like in 2020 and agree to reverse the new policy if Trump lifts the tariffs. That might help.)
Oh, he’ll take more severity and co-operation but it won’t help.
This tariff is for revenue only. And maybe secondarily protectionism.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/remarks/2025/01/the-inaugural-address
Trump thinks the 1890 McKinley tariff (passed while he was in Congress) created prosperity after 1898.
Lost lives from disease. I don’t think mainly American citizens.
In reality it was the discovery of gold in the Transvaal in 1897 and in Alaska in 1898 that created prosperity by expanding the money supply..
In the meantime there was what we now call a depression between 1893 and 1898) The 1896 campaign was waged on the issue of using silver as money too. By 1900 there was prosperity and William Jennings Bryan waged his second campaign on the issue of imperialism.
The end goal is replacing the personal income tax (not the corporate income tax or Social Security and Medicare taxes) with tariffs.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:35 pmBreaking:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live/live-trump-says-tariffs-on-mexico-paused-for-a-month-canada-china-duties-set-to-take-effect-tuesday-191201428.html.
I guess maybe some Senators threatened not to confirm some of his nominees.
Or somebody convinced him he was a economic idiot.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:42 pmIs Trump interested in us living in a better world? (even if there are still powerful tyrannies around)
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:44 pmMaybe this helped:
https://www.newser.com/story/363612/ontario-leader-see-ya-starlink-contract.html
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:45 pmthis country needs a Reagan Party or Reagan Caucus, sooner the better, worth the full 4-minute listen.
Ten House members and 20 Senate members and we could impeach the mofo.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:50 pmThe Marshall Plan is a good yardstick, Paul. It lasted for about four years, achieving its mission, then was done.
USAID gets billions more per year than the Marshall Plan spent in total. Adding up all the years it’s much more even accounting for inflation. Aid is being reviewed, not stopped permanently. I realize that means “fascist.” The rest of us call that normal government oversight in a democracy. Condoms in Gaza might be impacted.
lloyd (0b02af) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:50 pmHow about a modern Federalist Party?
No, not the 18th century version. One along the lines of the Federalist Society.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:51 pmThere is no program or budget in Washington that could not stand substantial cuts in its bureaucracy. In some (e.g. Social Security) that would not amount to much percentagewise, but the Department of Education is nothing but bureaucracy. There are a lot of checkist bureaus that mostly shuffle paper, coercing reports from local government and business that they do very little with but create reports no one reads.
But of course when you talk about it, they immediately hide behind social security, the forest service, or meat inspection.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:58 pmOr somebody convinced him he was a economic idiot.
That is the one thing you cannot convince and economic idiot of.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 12:59 pmUnserious, uncredible, ungood faith.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:01 pmCondoms in Gaza were debunked.
Basically, duh, of course foreign aid should be reviewed, regularly, but that’s not what Shadow President Musk is trying to do.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:03 pmI get that, what I don’t get is what we want them to actually do that they weren’t already doing. Or why one of our closest allies needs punitive tariffs to get them to work with us.
This isn’t snark, but i doesn’t seem like you have a clear idea on what that specifically is either. Again I’m not trying to argue with you / pick on you. But it doesn’t seem like anyone knows exactly.
Time123 (17fa64) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:12 pmhttps://www.reuters.com/world/americas/white-house-mexico-is-serious-canada-appears-have-misunderstood-trumps-executive-2025-02-03
Trump wants a few things but he seems to want endorsement of his anti-immigration policy is particular
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:23 pmTime123 (17fa64) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:12 pm
General endorsement of goals. Maybe stopping people from applying for asylum at the U.S. border.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:24 pmLet A = what you paid in taxes
Let B = Take how much money you spend in a year on consumer goods.
Divide A by B and that’s approximately where the tariff’s start to be worse for you then the current income tax.
So, if you paid 5K in taxes last year and spend 25K a year on food, clothes fuel, and vehicle tariffs above 20% may not be to your advantage. If you’re not sure what you spend just look at your credit card report for last year
Obviously that’s a very rough approximation but it should give you a sense of scale. You can also see how this becomes more attractive as your income goes up and consumer spending becomes a smaller percentage of your budget.
You can also see how this especially bad for ppl with a very low income tax burden such as the working poor and seniors living on retirements savings / pension plans.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:26 pmMeat inspection has high turnover, and firing everybody hired within the last year or two would result in understaffing.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:26 pmCanada as our 51st state?
Well, they’d want rather more than 2 Senate seats, so not just one state. They have 40 million people, so it would be like demanding California be just one state. Oh, wait.
But even with one state, they’d be a 2nd California in every presidential election. Added to the current gimme states (and normalizing to keep the house at 435), the Dems would have about 40% of electoral votes utterly locked up. Trump would have still won the 2024 election, but if PA had gone the other way it would have been tied.
This is not a good idea.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:27 pmIs that relevent WRT Canada? I get what he wanted with Mexico.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:27 pmTime, not all purchases are affected by tariffs. And it is possible that domestic producers pay more tax on profits, more citizens are employed paying taxes, etc. We already have an internal tariff on most things (sales tax). In Texas they HAVE replaced income tax with a high sales tax and a VERY high property tax.
Few are capable of doing these calculations, and Siri won’t help. Instead they’ll decide whether they’re better off or not.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:32 pmIs that relevent WRT Canada? I get what he wanted with Mexico.
It depends on how many people are using Canada as a transit point. Enter with a tourist visa, then cross the border at South Bearjaw.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:34 pmBruh…
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
At least we know why Kristol is a NeverTrumper…
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:37 pmThe reason is that USAID was a factor in overturning apartheid in south africa.
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:40 pmGoing to need a better explanation of what was paid by who. Does indirect beneficiary mean that USAID funneled money through RPA? Or does it mean that RPA gave money to DD and took unrelated money from USAID.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:47 pmLOL! Not gonna happen. Specifically, who are the 20 Senators.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:47 pm@285
I think you simply do not like Trump’s negotiation tactic.
The closest description I can think of is anchoring negotiation:
Immigration, fentanyl, border security, china… and the likes, may be something of a pretext used to threaten these tariffs because Trump recognizes that current agreement needs more adjustments.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:48 pmTrump pauses tariffs on Canada for at least 30 days, Trudeau says
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:48 pm@292, as I said it’s a rough approximation. But I agree with you that Tariffs are essentially a sales tax.
At this point my money is on pausing tariffs with Canada based on an agreement to hold “talks” followed by Trump claiming that the tariff threat worked.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:51 pm@296
Why does that matter?
Money is fungible.
Does RPA stand on it’s own if USAID is shut down?
Does RPA still fund Defending Democracy?
Take a step back and think about this: USAID is supposed to advance America’s interests via taxpayor’s funding.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:52 pmMeanwhile, back at the ranch:
Trump Urges Trading Ukraine’s Rare Earth Minerals for More U.S. Aid
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:52 pmI sort of thought it might just be how Trump likes to negotiate, by starting with a threat because he doesn’t see any other way to get leverage. But I figured if I offered that as a possibility ppl who like trump would feel i’m insulting him and not engage on what they thought he wanted.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:54 pm@292, as I said it’s a rough approximation. But I agree with you that Tariffs are essentially a sales tax.
It’s more directed than that. They are closer to a sin tax.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:54 pmRussia got there first.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:55 pmA half-dozen college-age kids under Musk have the keys to OPM. This in addition to Musk, an unelected and unconfirmed free agent, having the keys to the Treasury and GSA.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:56 pmI’m not seeing the good in any of this.
All of those questions are good ones. RPA has been around for a long time.
Also money is fungible, but it’s common for aid and grants to be earmarked for specific purposes and not just given away to a foundation to do with as they please.
This is the kind of details that are needed before ppl conclude there’s something there.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:57 pmMore from the above link:
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:58 pmI can see Trump defending “vital US interests” faster than him defending “hard-to-pronounce sh1tholes”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 1:59 pmAs I noted above, we should take only the good pieces, and not Ontario, Quebec, or the Maritime Provinces (unless they have military importance, like Newfoundland with its airport at Gander.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:00 pm@305
Canada just got a reprieve and promised for more border enforcement and collaboration. He’s even creating a “Fentanyl Czar” to work with the US to interdict/prosecute these smugglers.
Whatever you think of Trump, he got Mexico & Canada to play ball now.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:00 pm@303 He’s such clown. For some reason he’s compelled to humiliate ppl around him as publicly as possible. A less damaged person might just get a quiet agreement that US firms would take the lead in mineral extraction during the rebuilding with associated long term contracts. B
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:02 pmThis is the kind of details that are needed before ppl conclude there’s something there.
A decade ago, Canadian government PR money was being paid to private firms (some of it with few delivery requirements) who were then donating quite a bit of it back to the Liberal Party. Heads rolled.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:04 pmBut… why?
Trump just signed an EO to create a Sovereign Wealth…
In 5 minutes, congress will spend it…
: shrug :
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:04 pmUnless you can show me that we asked and Canada was resistant to doing this previously I’m going to assume that Trumps just being really clumsy about this because he knows his core supporters like the show.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:04 pm@315 because his core base loves the show and pays way more attention to the narrative then the details.
Time123 (17fa64) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:07 pm@313: It’s like back when governments were run by hereditary kings. Sometimes you got a good one, sometimes not, and they always had their own interests front and center.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:07 pm@314 if that’s what is going on here heads should roll. But that hasn’t been shown.
Time123 (ec265c) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:08 pm@317
Maybe it’s how the US can buy Greenland…
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:08 pm😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉
the suggestion that Congress will do so is laughable.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/2/2025 @ 3:46 pm
You have previously expressed your hope that Congress will pass a law eliminating all abortions. Should we just throw a bunch of laughing emojis at you when you state this preference?
norcal (a72384) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:11 pmThe agricultural/oil provinces are pretty conservative, based on the 2021 general election (Alberta (55% Conservative Party) and Saskatchewan (59%)); with British Columbia (33%) and Manitoba (39%) close enough.
Given the population and land area, Canada could become two or three states.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:13 pmThere is difference between hoping for an unlikely reduction in the deficit and debt and the hope that Congress will preserve unborn lives. One is far more important than the other. But if you want to mock the idea of preserving unborn life, go ahead.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:16 pmAs I said, Russia got there first:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:25 pmGiven the population and land area, Canada could become two or three states.
I live in little New Mexico, with 2 million people, mostly in one place, and two Senators. I can hardly object to Manitoba being a state. Maybe you’d make the four maritimes a single state. Quebec would be “freed” to try to join France and the territories would remain territories and under the First Nations agreements and such as now.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:28 pmOne is far more important than the other.
I agree that he debt is far more important.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:29 pmAt the risk of being pedantic, I specifically excluded Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes from my “United States of Canada”. The US should also include the Yukon and Northwest Territories to create a link to Alaska.
The US isn’t party to any “First Nations” agreements, so they would be null and void.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:31 pmGiven the abortion politics in New Mexico, I’m not surprised.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:32 pmNo kidding:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:36 pmPicking winners and losers:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:49 pmI’m also not sure you can create a sovereign wealth strictly via EO. I doubt the congress authorizes enough discretionary seed money for this…
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:53 pmMy understanding is that drug dealers add fentynal to illegal drugs.
Fentynal is prescribed and used in medicine but the danger of fentynal is that is used in illegal drug transactions with unsuspecting purchasers, right?
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:57 pmDuh. Fentanyl
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:59 pmIf you want to understand crime in the US, you should know this:
source: The War Against Boys (new and revised edition) by Christina Hoff Sommers, p. 120.
So, if you see a teenage boy walking toward you, worry more about whether he has a father in his life than whether has a pocket knife.
(I have not seen any data, or even any reporting on this, but I think it likely that few of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims had fathers in their lives. Daughters need fathers, too.)
Jim Miller (92cd52) — 2/3/2025 @ 3:41 pmThe US isn’t party to any “First Nations” agreements, so they would be null and void.
Uglier than Trump.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 3:59 pmI don’t think describing it as “The Two-Parent Privilege” is particularly helpful.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:04 pmYou didn’t answer the question.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:07 pmEnded apartheid? Do you know what’s currently going on in South Africa? Apartheid is alive and well.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:33 pmI don’t see why any agreements between the formerly sovereign Canada (which under my plan would be about half of the country) and native Canadians would transfer to the United States.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:38 pmThere is difference between hoping for an unlikely reduction in the deficit and debt and the hope that Congress will preserve unborn lives.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 2:16 pm
They are both unlikely, but I would bet that spending reductions happen before a total federal ban on abortion.
norcal (a72384) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:45 pmThe reason is that USAID was a factor in overturning apartheid in south africa.
That and limpet mines, necklacing and the growing threat of a civil war with a predictable outcome. Oh, and the moral code of western civilization, as ironic as that turned out.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:46 pmAs with many of Trump’s EOs, there is less than meets the eye. All it does is direct the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce to deliver a plan within 90 days for the creation of a sovereign wealth fund. As the WSJ article says, most countries (like Saudi Arabia, Norway, Brunei, etc.) park their excess revenues from their oil wealth into such a fund. With budget and trade deficits, the US doesn’t have that kind of excess largess.
But if the President can redefine by an Executive Order “citizenship” as it has been understood for a century and a half, apparently he can do anything.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:54 pmA pity and a poor indication of the moral character of the country.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:55 pmFalling in line:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/3/2025 @ 4:59 pm#336: Agreed.
Jim Miller (92cd52) — 2/3/2025 @ 5:03 pmThe problem remains that Trump treats allies and friendly neighbors as hostiles, bullying them into submission when he could’ve acted like a grownup and dealt with them without threats on the border and fentanyl and such, especially Canada, which deserves none of this. It’s a trashing of our goodwill. They’re not the enemy.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 5:06 pmAnd with China, the more hostile and adversarial power, he pussyfoots around. It’s crap diplomacy.
If there’s going to be some bullying going on, do it with China, or Russia, or North Korea, or Iran.
Donnie Combover
Or:
How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love [not really] The Bombast
There is less substance to The-Windbag-With-A-Hole-In-It than there is in his hairdo. But the proles lap it up and diplomats take it in stride and if it makes an old man happy ….
nk (0a4ca0) — 2/3/2025 @ 5:46 pmCanadian border has more terrorism-related encounters than the Mexican side
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gi3XUKYWQAEenCy?format=jpg&name=900×900
steveg (25c199) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:02 pmThat’s how Trump has treated people in business, Paul. He takes advantage of his vendors, suppliers, tenants, etc. — the people that can’t or wot fight back. It is classic bullying.
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:13 pmAs for fentanyl, I support treating Americans like adults, not children, rather than trying to control every drug dealer in the Americas. I get that it can happen to anyone: young, old, rich, poor. All the mote reason for public service campaigns in the media and education to show the dangers of fentanyl-laced illegal drugs to our citizens and their minors (like we do with drunk-driving) as well as prevention efforts and criminal sanctions.
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:21 pmMan, we really have to get that southern border closed. Those dirty American’s are flooding over the border and bringing fentanyl with them…says the Canadians. And they’re actually factually correct.
stupid Hitler of course says it’s the other way around, because he’s always lying/wrong/both, every accusation is an admission.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 2/3/2025 @ 6:29 pmI think too much attention is paid the upper set of encounters and not the lower set, which actually involves terrorist-related encounters of non-US citizens.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:12 pmThe upper chart includes Americans, and the screenshot doesn’t explain the asterisk, which is that the “POE totals may include multiple encounters of the same individual” (link).
to show the dangers of fentanyl-laced illegal drugs to our citizens and their minors (like we do with drunk-driving) as well as prevention efforts and criminal sanctions.
But those may make it less likely for young people to casually try it, just like heroin was seen in the 70s. But for people who aren’t deterred by risk, it won’t matter much. Drunk driving campaigns raise the cost of drunk driving, but the real drunks, already not with the best of decision skills, won’t deter much. Or the Jesse Pinkmans of the world.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 8:26 pm17.6 lbs is about 8 kg.
Drug trafficking organizations typically distribute fentanyl by the kilogram. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.
Eh.. 4,000,000 deaths. Hardly “significant.” No big deal. Leave Canada alone.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:02 pmIf it’s OK for us to punish Canada for fentanyl, is it OK for Canada to punish us for smuggled guns?
Nic (120c94) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:20 pmBlame Canada!
Almost obligatory
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:24 pmA lot of things could potentially happen, but how about sticking to actual numbers.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:36 pmWhat is the actual number of fentanyl that escaped detection at the border. What is the actual number of deaths related to that? What is the actual number of US fentanyl deaths that you approve of as acceptable?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 2/3/2025 @ 10:55 pm@227 were looking for different voters. The 8 million democrats who voted against trump in 2020 and were disgusted by harris campaigning with liz cheney and donor class saying to her D.E.I. ok it doesn’t cost us money. 15 dollar minimum wage not ok because it does. The left wants to take over the party from the establishment liberals who want corporate stooges like clinton, harris and biden. Your vote would be too costly for us.
asset (51082d) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:08 pmJust came back from emigrant protests at the state capital. Law enforcement said leave or be arrested. A lot of the protesters were afraid of being arrested and deported. We have a democrat gov. so this old anti-vietnam war veteran had to be careful in my tactical suggestions to protect her. When we had republican gov 50 years ago we weren’t so limited in are tactics. Social media said they were starting up protests on the west side and suggested they could go there if they were afraid of being arrested.
asset (51082d) — 2/3/2025 @ 11:21 pmThere’s a discrepancy in the height of the Black Hawk helicopter. Crash caused by a softwre error in ATC system?
Sammy Finkelman (6c8782) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:29 amSame old War Against Drugs horsesh!t, new Horrible Terrible No-Good Drug Of Terror.
I have seen all this BS over the course of half a century.
Mexican Brown is the first one I remember.
Then PCP was the thing.
Richard Pryor set himself on fire and made freebasing famous.
Crack carved its niche deep and filled the prisons with lifers and long timers.
For a while China White on a search warrant affidavit always guaranteed a judge’s signature.
OxyContin a/k/a the Opioid Crisis was something special and still going strong. If only it had not deafened Rush Limbaugh they say.
Now it’s fentanyl.
Meh!
nk (0a4ca0) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:43 am@332
That too…
The other thing is the fact that this drug is so hard to work with because of the minute precision required. If they’re off even just a teeny tiny bit, it’s likely lethal.
That’s why 1st responders had narcan galore… not just for the OD’ed victims, but for themselves due to potentially lethal “contact” transmission.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 5:30 amThis nursery rhyme seems appropriate for yesterday’s big story:
Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
When they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down,
(Some may prefer “Duke of Trump”.)
Jim Miller (a315ef) — 2/4/2025 @ 5:48 amThere’s a discrepancy in the height of the Black Hawk helicopter. Crash caused by a softwre error in ATC system?
No. Grasping at straws. An “errors happened” kind of dodge.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 6:43 amFalling in line:
Senator Bill Cassidy votes to support RFKJr’s nomination as HHS Secretary.
Rip Murdock (c73d22) — 2/4/2025 @ 7:41 amLooks like the US will get a non-credible nutter to run HHS, and we’re going to get it hard. Sigh.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/4/2025 @ 8:00 amOne of the cooperation items between Mexico and US was US agreeing to do better on gun smugglers
steveg (25c199) — 2/4/2025 @ 9:05 amSince Mexican gun smuggling is cartel related its a win win.
Why would anyone trust an agreement with a government that is allied with the cartels?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 9:24 amIs this acceptable?
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 9:35 amPanama becomes agreeable on the Canal.
steveg (25c199) — 2/4/2025 @ 9:38 amEl Salvador agreeably offers to not only take El Salvador’s criminal immigrants back, but offers to take criminals from Venezuela too.
I’m sure some money will change hands
Correction to post 369:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 9:43 amThey’re turning it over to the US?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 9:44 amIt’s not a didge, It sounds like they are trying to avoid that conclusion.
The software has a bug.
https://6abc.com/post/dc-plane-crash-updates-conflicting-preliminary-data-raises-questions-american-airlines-flight-army-helicopter-altitudes/15855126
200 feet is the maximum altitude the helicopter is supposed to be so it sounds like the Air Traffic Control has an error as I would believe the flight recorder and that would explain why specifically 200 feet and why ATC didn’t see an urgency about it.
Sammy Finkelman (6c8782) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:04 amThe helicopter was actually climbing right before the crash. It sounds like the helicopter pilot was disoriented by the night vision goggles, which he should have known to take off.
But the software bug is the difference. Why this was a multi-fatality mid-air collision rather than a near miss,
Sammy Finkelman (6c8782) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:08 amOuch!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:11 amAlso American citizens.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:36 am@377
Absolutely not.
Those here illegally, sure. But no Americans.
My premise is this: If we’re going to convict and send our people to jail, then we MUST be the administrator of said jail.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:52 amWe’ll see if the Trump Administration takes up El Salvador’s offer.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:55 am> If we’re going to convict and send our people to jail, then we MUST be the administrator of said jail.
How do you feel about privately owned and operated prisons within the US borders?
aphrael (dbf41f) — 2/4/2025 @ 11:36 am@380
Abhorrent.
Because for-profit-prison systems has gross incentives to fill up the jails.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 11:46 amChina strikes back:
Weak tea.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 11:57 amHow do they do that-by encouraging crime?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 11:58 am“How do they do that-by encouraging crime?”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal
(I am aware that Biden pardoned the judge)
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:02 pmFalling in line:
Any thought that the Senate will reject Gabbard (or RFKJr.) is wishful thinking.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:03 pmThat’s one instance, so what are the incentives for private prisons to fill up their facilities? Or does the private prison industry routinely provide bribes and kickbacks to public officials?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:06 pmOne of the worst examples.
There are also stories that the Prison Guard Unions donating to politicians to create/keep laws on the books that maximizes full prisons (thus, they keep their jobs with generous overtime because prisons are so full).
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:22 pmI could be persuaded to allow illegal immigrants to be removed from US prisons and sent to El Salvador. That way when they get released, they are already deported.
steveg (25c199) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:27 pmNot sure if shipping US persons overseas to another country is worth the drama and ACLU challenges- I’d say no now and put that idea behind me
But the software bug is the difference. Why this was a multi-fatality mid-air collision rather than a near miss,
Or the data link has a lag. Believe it or not the helicopter is not sending its data constantly since the tower has to accept a multitude of information. It might be a slow as once every few minutes. That’s not a bug, that’s a (necessary) feature.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:37 pmBut the helicopter pilot should damn well know her altitude and what is permissible — while crossing the landing path of a major effing airport — and saying she was waiting for the tower to tell her is silly.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:39 pmWe’ll see if the Trump Administration takes up El Salvador’s offer.
They said “No Americans” at the start. But they may well send cartel members from other countries there.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:40 pmHow do you feel about privately owned and operated prisons within the US borders?
Do you feel they are more dangerous to prisoners than, say, a Mississippi prison? I would think less so, since a private operator has no protection against suits (and a widespread presumption of greed), while a state-run prison may have sovereign immunity, or at least the benefit of the doubt.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:44 pmI’d guess that the prison guard’s union is opposed and not above political pressure and maybe a spot of propaganda.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:45 pmI would assume the contracts between the private prison operators and the state (or local) governments have indemnification clauses. State (or federal) prisons don’t have sovereign immunity, as the many lawsuits against the state of California (and federal government) show.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:15 pmhttps://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.343943/gov.uscourts.wawd.343943.84.0.pdf
Bruh…
This was the DOJ’s response to that injunction a Washington judge levied over the birthright case.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:16 pm“That’s one instance, so what are the incentives for private prisons to fill up their facilities? Or does the private prison industry routinely provide bribes and kickbacks to public officials?”
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
I don’t have time to go into all the issues, but one of the biggest is that most private prisons have what’s called a “Lockup Quote”, meaning the prison gets paid for a minimum level of occupancy (typically around 90%) regardless of the number of actual prisoners. The incentive for the state is to get its money’s worth by keeping the prison supplied with prisoners. Not only by being harsher in sentencing, but also opposing stuff like drug legalization.
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:19 pm@396 ‘thulhu, we are simpatico on this subject.
If we must have laws and incarceration, the state, accountable to the people, must be in charge of that.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:33 pm> Do you feel they are more dangerous to prisoners than, say, a Mississippi prison?
Absolutely. Their incentives are to cut costs as much as possible in order to turn a profit, and then use the profit to bribe legislators via campaign donations to make themselves immune to oversight *and* to increase the number of things that are illegal.
aphrael (dbf41f) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:43 pmwhembly, at 381: thank you. unusually enough, we are in complete agreement on this subject.
aphrael (dbf41f) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:44 pmSource
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (aka the prison guard union) has contributed $2.9 million to Gov. Gavin Newsom since he was elected 2019, representing 31% of all political spending by the union since 2001. It also gave $1.75M to the anti-recall campaign the largest single contribution. Over the last 20 years, the union has contributed $9.3M to both individual campaigns and ballot measures.
Talk about perverse incentives.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:44 pmIsn’t that a function of contracts signed by the state governments? They should negotiate tougher contracts.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:47 pm@402
The should negotiate tougher contracts.
But, here’s the deal… what’s the likelihood that for-profit-prison company also donates to said state politicians? To “grease the wheels” to get favorable negotiations?
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/4/2025 @ 1:56 pmWhat Panama agreed to do was not renew, or, if possible, cancel early, contracts dealing with the canal with any entity controlled by China,
Marco Rubio has been making Trump’s demands more reasonable and rational, including about USAID.
Sammy Finkelman (6c8782) — 2/4/2025 @ 2:13 pmI would assume the contracts between the private prison operators and the state (or local) governments have indemnification clauses.
Yeah, they indemnify the state, not the prison.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 2:56 pmThe helicopter did not veer (although I also herd it started to climb) but went straight into the airplane so they are speculating that the helicopter crew was somehow incapacitated (?!) It is said it is almost impossible to remain steady if n a pilot sees something in front of him. It was also off its ah toward the airport and if the ilot had intentionally veered off he would probably have gone more toward the Anacosta side,
Sammy Finkelman (6c8782) — 2/4/2025 @ 2:58 pmDead Man Switch: President Trump says he has left orders in writing saying that i he is assassinated, Iran is to be destroyed.
Commentators say Vance would carry that out. (what else are they to say?)
Sammy Finkelman (6c8782) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:00 pmAbsolutely. Their incentives are to cut costs as much as possible in order to turn a profit, and then use the profit to bribe legislators via campaign donations to make themselves immune to oversight *and* to increase the number of things that are illegal.
All they have to do is be cheaper than building and staffing another prison. IF they don’t have a profit built into their contract, they’re doing business wrong. I get it that you are on the Left and therefore view any private enterprise with suspicion, but your bias doesn’t prove anything except itself.
The real bribing is by the prison guards unions, which in California gives more than the teachers do to state legislative candidates. As for making more things illegal to drum up business, you need look no further than the defense attorney bar.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:02 pmCataggio didn’t expect Trump to be this bad this fast.
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/boilingfrogs/a-little-pain/
norcal (a72384) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:03 pmPresident Trump says he has left orders in writing saying that i he is assassinated, Iran is to be destroyed.
So, yeah, impeachment will never happen. Is he going to threaten to nuke Canada next?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:05 pm(we’re “feeding [it] into the wood chipper,” Elon claimed) after Musk aides barged their way into the bureau’s headquarters on Saturday and gained access to classified systems over the objections of security.
They really ought to get some snazzy full-length black leather jackets. Real leather, of course.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:10 pmBut, here’s the deal… what’s the likelihood that for-profit-prison company also donates to said state politicians? To “grease the wheels” to get favorable negotiations?
Why would they have to? The state does NOT want to build and staff another prison, and the most incompetent businessman could do it for less.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:15 pmJust listened to a Ukrainian American veteran who is in Ukraine talk about Ukrainian natural resources and Trump.
steveg (25c199) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:17 pmHe seems convinced that Zelensky and Trump will very soon make a deal involving rebuilding and rare earth mining concessions.
Interestingly, the Ukrainian put Luhansk on the trade chopping block immediately (In the Ukrainian Census of 2001,[25] 49.6% of the inhabitants declared themselves as ethnically Ukrainians and 47% as Russians. 85.3% of the population spoke Russian as their native language, while 13.7% spoke Ukrainian)
That’s a disappointment.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:29 pmTrump Blinks on North American Tariffs
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/4/2025 @ 3:45 pmGotta love that Donald: after railing against foreign adventures and nation-building, he sets his sights on Gaza, rushing in where others fear to tread.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 6:59 pmThat’s a disappointment.
Frees up the troops for taking Baja.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 7:00 pmTHE PREACHER WOULDN’T EXCHANGE
BY E. A. BRININSTOOL
WHEN Captain Jack, chief of the Modoc Indians, was hanged at
Fort Klamath, Oregon, on Oc¬tober 3, 1873, with three of his
tribesmen, for the murder of Gen. E. R. S.Canby and the Rev. E. Thomas while acting as members of the peace commission
under a flag of truce in the Lava Beds on the California-Oregon border in April,1873, a white preacher comforted him on the scaffold.
Captain Jack was told that he must die bravely; that he was going to a beautiful country where he never would want for
anything—the white man’s God would see that he was bountifully supplied. The chief listened to the words of the “blackrobe” in silence for a moment; then he said —
“It is a nice place I am going to, is it?”
“A most beautiful country, Jack,” answered the preacher.
“And I will never want for anything in that wonderful place?”
“Not a thing. You will never have to worry about anything at all.”
Again Jack pondered thoughtfully. Then he remarked with a half-smile:
“Preacher, I have a proposition to make to you. This country right here is plenty good enough for me. You say that other
country is a fine place, and so I suppose you want to go there. Now, if you will trade places with me right now, I will give you twenty-five of my best ponies. What do you say?”
The preacher did not effect the change.
nk (a13a92) — 2/4/2025 @ 7:12 pmTrump is insane.
nk (a13a92) — 2/4/2025 @ 7:18 pmTrump says resettle palestinians in the east. Hope it works better then the last time. What if democrats run on resettling trumpsters in the east in 2028.
asset (a69aea) — 2/4/2025 @ 8:39 pmOne, Trump shouldn’t be pushing for a 25-mile long beachfront resort along the Mediterranean without the Gazans actually having a place to go, and those accommodations should be decent when/if they get there.
Two, Bibi is playing coy, this is actually what he wants. It’s like winning a Jewish Powerball.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/4/2025 @ 8:49 pmAs I said when this started, the resort-building should be done by the Saudis, for the benefit of the Palestinians, so that the Crown Prince can wash some of that blood off his hands.
The upside is that the Saudis would make short work of Hamas (about 1 foot shorter each of them) and they would be extremely unlikely to want to piss off the Israelis. CO-opting them would be a better approach.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 9:42 pmI could go with the Saudi idea, Kevin, because Trump has a record of being a crap developer. He’d be best off turning it over to someone competent and maybe keeping some naming rights.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:12 pmDonnie Combover
Or:
How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love [not really] The Bombast
nk (0a4ca0) — 2/3/2025 @ 5:46 pm
I forgot to commend you on this one, nk. Funny stuff!
norcal (a72384) — 2/4/2025 @ 10:56 pmDemocrat leaders like corporate stooge chuck schumer are running around like chickens with their heads cut off! Corporate stooge jefferies is telling his scared do-nothing members to hold town hall meetings to forestal being primaried. Jerry (jabba the hut) nadler out talking to voters would be fun to watch. Do nothing but whine democrats please the donors ;but not the primary voters.
asset (a69aea) — 2/4/2025 @ 11:56 pmOur foremost concern should be:
How long before those paranoid assholes in Moscow and Peking also come to the conclusion that Trump is insane and launch preemptive nuclear strikes before he does?
nk (f2c1cf) — 2/5/2025 @ 6:13 amNot to worry, folks, it’s a concept of a plan, an opening bid.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/5/2025 @ 6:21 amI wonder how the Muslim Americans who voted for Trump feel right now.
The best spin I can put on Trump’s Gaza “plan” is that he wants to motivate Arab players to get their asses in gear.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:18 amHow long before those paranoid assholes in Moscow and Peking also come to the conclusion that Trump is insane
A pre-emptive nuclear attack is itself insane. One nuclear submarine can destroy Russia or China. The US has 14.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:25 amPeggy Noonan on the tech barons at the inauguration:
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:41 amNoonan’s message however, is that Trump represents a singularity in American government and God only knows where it will end up.
Her final point is to the Democrats and how they might recover, or not:
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:49 am@428
That is exactly what’s happening.
He’s setting the table.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/5/2025 @ 8:15 amI don’t think Trump is insane. I think he is intentionally creating chaos. It is unsettling, to be sure, but it prompts other actors to step up and do things they probably don’t want to do.
The positive side is that a lot of them are doing things Trump wants to try to please him. That is good if you like Trump’s policies.
The negative side is that this will create distrust and dislike for the US for decades to come. That’s bad if the US ever needs help from the rest of the world.
On a different subject, will Trump be pardoning the trespasser who scaled the White House fence today? It seems only fair.
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:19 amIt’s the real estate developer in him, he sees an opportunity to hat no one else sees. I doubt agree how Gaza should end up, the difference is that Gaza’s transformation would be to benefit Gazans.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:20 amSend them to El Salvador.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:22 amTrump better hope that he and the US are as all powerful as he thinks they are, because this chaos could spark unintended consequences.
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:22 amGood comments, Rip.
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:23 am@433
Are the Trump DOJ prosecutors going to apply some novel interpretation of some esoteric felony law to enhance the jail term?
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:24 amWe’ll see.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:27 amGiven Trump’s on-going “norm busting”, likely means maybe.
Rip Murdock (6f0f3c) — 2/5/2025 @ 9:43 am406. Dead Man Switch
President Trump mentioned this in response to a question about the possibility of Iran killing him.
He was not belligerent about it. He mentioned this very matter-of-factly, saying that he didn’t think Iran was (planning to do that) but that he had already issued orders that in such a case Iran was to be “obliterated.”
This was the same press conference where he gave his proposal for the future of Gaza: That he wanted the United States to take it over, with most or all of its population temporarily or permanently moved out.
Sammy Finkelman (4f7c0b) — 2/5/2025 @ 10:45 amWhat was novel and esoteric about misdemeanor trespassing charges for entering a restricted area, which was the charge against hundreds of them?
I imagine that is what this trespasser will be charged with. Give him a pardon, right?
DRJ (a84ee2) — 2/5/2025 @ 11:15 am@442
I was referring to:
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/5/2025 @ 11:18 amhttps://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/fischer-v-united-states/
Trump’s using the figure of 1,800,000 as the population of GAza, in contrast to the more usual 2,100,000. A high estimate is 2,200,000.
He’s estimating that 300,000 people managed to get out since the war started.
Mostly by bribing Egyptians.
Sammy Finkelman (4f7c0b) — 2/5/2025 @ 11:25 amIf the President can change the definition of who is a citizen by Executive Order, he can certainly revoke the citizenship of American citizens.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/5/2025 @ 12:36 pmhttps://www.newser.com/story/363739/usps-stops-accepting-packages-from-china.html
And reverses itself quickly
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/5/2025 @ 1:18 pmRegarding Trump and Gaza, start with keeping POTUS away from a Sharpie.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/5/2025 @ 1:22 pmRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/5/2025 @ 12:36 pm
I think Eisenhower tried this but I need to check.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/5/2025 @ 1:55 pm@448 If it works democrats could revoke the citizenship of trumpsters.
asset (64cd62) — 2/5/2025 @ 2:01 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 2/4/2025 @ 12:39 pm
We (the public) don’t know who was speaking the male pilot or the female co-pilot who was probably controlling the helicopter.
She was on her annual certification test. I guess she failed it.
She would have been sitting on the right side but the descending plane would have been to her left. And very hard to see with night vision goggles in such a lighted area.
The helicopter requested (and got) visual flight avoidance.
I don’t think we have the flight data recorder yet – or at least they are trying to synchronize it. The true height comes from the airport radar I think.
Airport radar shows the helicopter reached 325 feet, (climbing at the very end maybe because at such a low height there’s not much room to maneuver downwards) but the ATC system rounds height to the nearest 100 feet (and probably comes with a slight delay) and showed it at 200 feet.
Her last maneuver may have got her directly into the plane. She was heading south but was too far west and the plane was heading north and made a slight turn toward the runway I think. The plane was directed to a more difficult and less used runway.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/5/2025 @ 2:20 pmhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/02/02/helicopter-airplane-collision-dc-updates/78154023007
https://www.wdsu.com/article/military-helicopter-multitasking-training/63632012
https://nypost.com/2025/02/04/us-news/ntsb-confirms-army-black-hawk-was-flying-too-high-before-dc-midair-crash-with-american-airlines-flight/
It was or it wasn’t? Or displayed as 300 feet only n the last seconds?
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/5/2025 @ 2:44 pmAs in “oh sh!t.”
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/5/2025 @ 4:01 pmWhile you are looking, I do not mean revoking the citizenship of those who became naturalized citizens; that has been done frequently if they lied on their citizenship forms. I mean of persons born in the US with citizen parents.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/5/2025 @ 4:05 pmThe classic line is “Uh oh”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:18 pmvery hard to see with night vision goggles in such a lighted area.
That’s why you would not wear them there. They weren’t doing that in the plane.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:21 pmHer last maneuver may have got her directly into the plane. She was heading south but was too far west and the plane was heading north and made a slight turn toward the runway I think. The plane was directed to a more difficult and less used runway.
The plane is allowed to do anything, the helicopter is required to let it.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:23 pmhttps://www.reuters.com/world/state-dept-says-us-government-vessels-can-now-transit-panama-canal-without-fees-2025-02-06/
So much hatred for actual success.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 2/5/2025 @ 8:03 pmPolitico cant make payroll as govt. funding is cut off. Other media outlets paid to defend the dnc and corporate democrat politicians at tax payers expense will soon follow. Now both right wing media and far left media (who survive on far less funding) will go after corporate establishment democrat stooges with no one being paid to defend them. Know wonder schumer and house dnc stooges are scraming like stuck pigs!
asset (684df6) — 2/5/2025 @ 11:20 pm@NJRob@457 The article you linked basically says that they are still charging fees. Also, I don’t actually think it’s particularly ethical for the US government to extort free passage when the cost of passage is what pays the upkeep on the canal (plus some profit, but that’s what private companies are supposed to do, make a profit).
Nic (120c94) — 2/6/2025 @ 12:05 amhttps://m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/state-dept-says-us-government-vessels-can-now-transit-panama-canal-without-fees/articleshow/117964903.cms
Nic, Reuters dishonestly changed the article and didn’t mention the editing. I’m shocked that a news organization could be so dishonest.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 2/6/2025 @ 4:15 amWho to believe, the Trump administration or the Panamanian president. Given the established track record of nontruth-telling by the manchild at the top, I’m going with the latter.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/6/2025 @ 7:31 amI’m shocked Paul, shocked.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 2/6/2025 @ 7:37 amEven if you believe Trump, it’s still like the time I planned to take over the Tri-State Area and in the end I got an I-Pass.
If you use an I-Pass on the Illinois Tollway, the toll is half the toll booth or pay-by-plate rate.
Success!
nk (275b2b) — 2/6/2025 @ 7:57 amI’m not shocked that you take the manchild’s word at face value, Rob. What do you think of his tall tale, er, lie about Tuberville and Mahomes?
It don’t matter the scale, your Orange Leader lies about everything, and you’re the right-wing chump who swallows it.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/6/2025 @ 8:02 amWow!!! That is huge news Paul!!!!!
Soo… I guess you favor men in women’s sports?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 2/6/2025 @ 8:40 amYou guess wrong.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/6/2025 @ 8:55 amOh? Ok…
So you agree with Trump and his EO?
That is good to know.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 2/6/2025 @ 9:15 amHere is a collection of the last words heard on CVRs just before a crash.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 11:35 am@428, maybe. Then he’ll do what he did with Canada and claim whatever they agree to is a huge success.
It’s not a negotiating ploy. It’s a marketing technique.
Time123 (4dda34) — 2/6/2025 @ 12:21 pmPolitico received tens of millions of $$ from the federal government. Oh, but it’s Politico Pro, a “non-partisan, fact based” arm. LOL, right. I’m sure their reporting on DOGE is objective. Beltway incest in action.
lloyd (5b5e09) — 2/6/2025 @ 12:55 pmJust. Do. It.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 2:11 pm@470
Conceptually, it’s no different why people have issues with Big Pharma companies advertising on network TV. It instills doubt that these network TVs would allow hard-hitting reports on Big Pharma.
The same dynamics is at play here… in that, Politician’s aligned groups facilitate tax payer’s funding to a news organization. Politico doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the funding.
whembly (b7cc46) — 2/6/2025 @ 2:13 pmLink for post 473.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 2:33 pmMore:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 2:38 pmRip,
you’re the only one spreading disinformation. Everyone has said that there government is spending millions on bogus subscriptions. Each subscription goes for 5 figures.
You do the math.
NJRob (e4cff4) — 2/6/2025 @ 2:47 pm“bogus subscriptions”
Without googling it, tell me what Politico Pro is.
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 2/6/2025 @ 3:00 pmPolitico Pro is a high value subscription service from Politico.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 3:08 pmLOL! The assertion was that Politico was receiving “millions of dollars” from USAID, which is demonstrably untrue. Who’s “everyone”, and how do you know the subscriptions are “bogus”?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 3:11 pmThe screeching monkeys are acting like it’s just politico.com but with a $10,000 subscription. It’s a professional software tool. I am not a target user so I have no way of assessing whether it’s “worth” the subscription fee. Apparently Lauren Boebert’s office has a subscription.
Davethulhu (14e9e4) — 2/6/2025 @ 3:20 pmI haven’t read his EO. If he agrees with me that persons born with male junk shouldn’t participate in womens’ sports, then good on him.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/6/2025 @ 3:29 pmThe NCAA has just published a rule banning biological males from competing in women’s sports.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/6/2025 @ 4:09 pmvery hard to see with night vision goggles in such a lighted area.
455. Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/5/2025 @ 7:21 pm
NBC Nightly News reported tonight that the FAA said late in the day that they were.
I think they always wear them, and most of the route was not lighted.
NBC said, apparently echoing what it was told, that they didn’t know what kind of goggles or if it helped or hurt.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/key-safety-system-off-army-helicopter-that-collided-with-american-airlines-jet-2025-02-06
Earlier in the article:
Hey! They wanted to make the training for emergencies realistic. A foreign power might turn it off. The pilot had to learn how to get along without it.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/6/2025 @ 4:39 pmRip debunks a claim that no one here was making. LOL
lloyd (5b5e09) — 2/6/2025 @ 5:13 pmIt’s an open thread. Whatever someone posts doesn’t need to be related to any other post.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 5:24 pmIn fact I was responding to the claim made by the White House.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 5:27 pmCBS tried to influence the election and they spent months hiding it from voters
lloyd (6e5378) — 2/6/2025 @ 7:40 pmRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 5:27 pm
Another non-story.
lloyd (6e5378) — 2/6/2025 @ 7:41 pmBiden Signs With Talent Agency, Lands Role As Corpse On ‘CSI’.
lloyd (6e5378) — 2/6/2025 @ 8:07 pmDemocrat party polls 9 million voters (telephone survey mostly ;but some door to door local democrat party) on why they voted in 2020 ;but did not vote in 2024. No the answer was not I don’t exist! They mostly responded the democrat party was mostly interested in d.e.i. and illegal aliens and not them. The democrat party is run by donor class many of which are wealthy gay white men who support d.e.i. and professional activist women with a liberal guilt trip both support d.e.i. Hate trump and don’t care about immigration. DNC problem donor class fine with d.e.i. ;but not raising minimum wage or taxing the rich. Democrat party telling working class here take d.e.i. instead of a raise in the minimum wage or donor class cuts off are funding.
asset (5fbb0c) — 2/6/2025 @ 8:58 pmThe pilot had to learn how to get along without it.
Without the identity beacon? That makes no sense.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 2/7/2025 @ 6:55 amSilly, whining about a single 20-minute interview.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/7/2025 @ 7:19 amFoxnews tried to influence the election, spending months promoting a con man and denigrating the incumbent.
The broken clock hit the right time, from The Dispatch…
The next package of sanctions should go to Putin’s shadow fleet and their owners.
Paul Montagu (5784df) — 2/7/2025 @ 7:41 amWhat the reduction of her answer to 20 words on the question about Gaza did was eliminate anything that supported Israel fighting the war. What they left had her implying she was against Israeli policy – only.
The people at CBS 60 Minutes were trying to salvage the vote in Michigan. 60 Minutes ran a piece about Israel is bad about Gaza recently.
Sammy Finkelman (97d202) — 2/7/2025 @ 10:19 amRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/6/2025 @ 3:11 pm
Reported but then not repeated much: The subscriptions were being paid for and coming from various different U.S. agencies.
Both Democrats and Republicans have this bad spin habit of distorting the facts when they may have something to complain about. The truth is not enough for them.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/7/2025 @ 11:11 amhttps://www.cnn.com/2025/02/05/media/politico-usaid-subscription-government/index.html
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 2/7/2025 @ 11:19 amKevin M (a9545f) — 2/7/2025 @ 6:55 am
That would be relying on outside help.
But they were training for evacuation of high government officials from Washington in the event of something like, say, a cyberattack or something that knocked out Air Traffic control.
I know. It’s incredibly stupid.
There could be other reasons like not caring about it.
Sammy Finkelman (c5132f) — 2/7/2025 @ 11:46 am