Wednesday, November 20, 2024

“The Mass Of Men [sic] Lead Lives Of Quiet Desperation”

This is just sad.
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This’ll Happen…

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) revealed this week that Republican senators had developed a plan to confirm President-elect Donald Trump's nominations, including former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as attorney general, before the new president is sworn in. 
During a Wednesday interview on Real America's Voice, Tuberville vowed to overcome the objections of Democrats despite sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz and Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. 
"We're in charge, and if we back up, it's like this Matt Gaetz and Pete Hexeth, all these people that are being nominated," Tuberville said. "Hey, it should be a no-brainer. Prove to me he's a criminal. If you do, I won't vote for him. But until then, he's in." 
Host Steve Bannon argued that Republican senators had to be ready to confirm Trump's nominations before his inauguration. 
"And then on the 20th, you hit them with a third wave of flood the zone with executive orders and everything the president's going to do," Bannon opined. "Would you be supportive of that to get the confirmations of at least these frontline big things starting right after you guys are sworn in?" 
"Oh, yeah. That'll be done. We've already planned that," Tuberville replied. "We're sworn in January 3rd, but I think it's a couple of days after that. But we should have the sec def, the attorney general, the secretary treasurer."
And then this'll happen. Tuberville is the dumbest man in D.C. Even when Trump is there. I’m beginning to worry about Ron. 

These clowns can’t do what they threaten to do. Why act like they can?
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A Lot Of Us Are In The Real World…

And we’re wondering: “Who gives a shit about this?” Or is all this posturing and “principles above party”preening really just about tribalism?

Whether you buy a membership at MAL or spit on the ground every time Trump’s name gets mentioned is all one to me. But quit acting like God died and left you in charge.
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Put It All Together It Spells “Train Wreck”

Somebody’s gonna have to explain to Miller what “recess” means. Because he seems to think Principal Trump is going to send the Senate to the playground for an hour.

Tell me again how much Trump has learned since last time. And how he’s surrounding himself with people (Linda McMahon; Hegseth; Gaetz; RFK,Jr.; Dr. Oz) who know how government works. Because honestly, this is veering away from fascism and tyranny into farce and chaos II: electric boogaloo.
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But…But…But! Recess Appointments!

Both sources claim that the MAGA "transition team is quietly preparing a list of alternative defense secretary candidates should Trump abandon Hegseth." 
One source emphasized, "It's becoming a real possibility."
Yeah, it’s all gossip. But that’s pretty much what news is. 

As for the “Trump now has absolute control” narrative: yeah, right.
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An Inconvenient Truth

An under covered story is how GOP politicians fear their physical safety if they defy Trump agenda. A high level MAGA person told me: “They should be afraid. They didn’t win the election. Trump did.”
Gabriel Sherman

But Joe and Mika! They should fight because I don’t have to!!
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Behold The Awesome Power And Competence Of A Trump Who Now Knows What He’s Doing!

Rule by Twitter is the only effective rule in America!🇺🇸 
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Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Trump Is Going To Get Soooo Much Done!

Even Dan Patrick gave up on that issue. "The only thing we have to fear is … fear itself!” Although it’s a lot easier to say “Let’s you and him fight!” Urging other people to stand up for your principles is…pretty weenie.

If Joe and Mika think Trump is that dangerous, that’s their business. I prefer not to see people feed his megalomania, which is pretty much what the on-line critics of this weekend visit are doing. Most of the critics act like they’re daring Trump to come after them. But they aren’t even keeping the elephants away. 🐘
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Going Down Smooth

"It's interesting Trump didn't apparently really call any senators before he made these nominations," Nichols said. "He's making these calls after he's already sent them, so not a whole lot of advising in the advise-and-consent part. Two, we have to see what the senators actually say when they get pressed and pushed by Donald Trump. We talked to Sen. [Kevin] Cramer (R-ND). He said Trump is very persuasive, but you know, everyone at the table knows senators don't like being told what to do."

"They like their prerogatives and they want to see the report, to see the contents of that ethics report," Nichols added, "and they say they want to give Gaetz a fair hearing, but they want to know what's actually in there, and it's pretty clear whether or not it's the entire report or just the contents of the report, that a lot of the details will come out and then it's just up to the senators. Are they willing to defy the president that just handed them the majority?"

Is the Senate going to immediately recess for two weeks after Trump's inauguration? I seriously doubt it.  It takes a vote of the Senate to recess, which again means Trump can't lose any votes.  If he tries to force it, the Senate could just return to session the next day and tell Trump they'll see him in the D.C. court.  Maybe Chutkan's court.

Wouldn't that be ironic?

 Senate Republicans are rejecting a proposal floated by some advisers to President-elect Trump to take the job of conducting background checks for high-level nominees away from the FBI and give it to private investigators.

Doing so could make it easier for some nominees to win Senate confirmation, but GOP senators say the FBI should retain its leading role in conducting background checks. They argue its agents have access to criminal information that private investigators simply can’t match.

Obviously not every last GOP senator; but enough to make a difference?  With a three member majority, it wouldn't take many.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued that the FBI has access to information gathered by law enforcement on the federal, state and local levels that private firms don’t.

“If you wanted to supplement it with a private firm, I’d say OK. But the FBI does have access to information that probably a private firm wouldn’t have, even a really good savvy one,” he said.

Cramer said a private firm could help the FBI in its background investigations, but he “sure wouldn’t leave it” entirely outside the FBI’s hands.

I'm just citing the arguments, not drawing conclusions.  But if Senators take their responsibilities seriously, it will only take a few to force Trump to follow the usual rules.  It's clear Trump doesn't like what the FBI finds, and so doesn't want it found.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) argued “it’s just been routine” for the nation’s top law enforcement agency to handle background checks for high-level appointments.

“It is important to do these background checks, and the FBI has done this” for decades, she noted. “It’s just been routine that they have been the one that has handled it. You don’t go to an outside private investigator, right?

“It’s not just for the [executive branch] positions. If you’re a Senate staffer seeking to get that security clearance, you go — we all go — through that same process,” she said.

“I get there is distrust by some of different agencies, and the FBI is not immune from that, but I do think it is vitally important, particularly from a national security perspective, that you have a level of vetting that is thorough,” Murkowski added.

“What agenda does the private investigator have?” she asked.

Like I said, she doesn't have to persuade anybody else.  She just has to stand on her concerns.  Three more like her, and the appointment fails.  Or stalls until the background check report is delivered.

I still don't give Trump as much credit as the Cassandras do.
Will all the GOP Senators turn into Susan Collins? It could happen. Of course, Wall Street is already concerned about tariffs (and so who the Sec. of Treasury will be).  The military industrial complex is surely not excited about Hegseth. And there's blood in the water for Gaetz.

We'll just have to see.
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Keeping Calm And Carrying On

Read the tweet, and “We’re done for! We’re done for!” Read the passage in the images, and: we’re not.

Even if Trump and Johnson try to force the Senate into recess, as the interview notes, the Majority and Minority Leaders can call the Senate back into session the next day. Unmentioned is NLRB v Canning. This long quote gives some insight into how ambiguity in the Constitution is handled.
The Supreme Court ultimately adopted a relatively broad interpretation of the Clause in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. With respect to the meaning of the phrase Recess of the Senate, the Court concluded that the phrase applied to both inter-session recesses and intra-session recesses. In so holding, the Court, finding the text of the Constitution ambiguous, relied on (1) a pragmatic interpretation of the Clause that would allow the President to ensure the continued functioning of the federal government when the Senate is away, and (2) long settled and established [historical] practice of the President making intra-session recess appointments. The Court declined, however, to say how long a recess must be to fall within the Clause, instead holding that historical practice counseled that a recess of more than three days but less than ten days is presumptively too short to trigger the President’s appointment power under the Clause. With respect to the phrase may happen, the majority, again finding ambiguity in the text of the Clause, held that the Clause applied both to vacancies that first come into existence during a recess and to vacancies that initially occur before a recess but continue to exist during the recess. In so holding, the Court again relied on both pragmatic concerns and historical practice.
Note that, per Canning, a recess of less than 10 days is too short to trigger the recess power. Sure, Trump could challenge that; but it wouldn’t get his appointees in office any sooner. Or any surer, for that matter. Mostly he’d just waste time and resources, and piss off Senators when he needs every one of them on-side.

Trump wants to talk like a dictator. That still doesn’t mean he’ll be able to act like one.

Pro tip: there is always “ambiguity” in the law. That’s what allows for justice. Just because a statute or clause is not “iron clad,” doesn’t mean it’s a wet noodle. Keep calm and carry on.

Bottom line: Trump is still the same ignoramus who thinks there was a Clinton “socks case” that gave him the right to whatever he wanted on the way out the door the first time. The PRA actually established the opposite of that (and Judicial Watch lost the “socks case”). IOW, he may make more threatening noises than last time, but he’s still clueless. And government is not a chew toy; although the ignorant think so.

Take a breath. Maybe think about Xmas. Or at least Advent.
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“What Have We Done To Xmas?”🎄


Black Friday started before Halloween this year. No longer the day after Thanksgiving, it’s a state-of-mind/marketing gimmick that has fully devoured “ ‘X’ shopping days until Xmas.” (Remember that? Quaint now, isn’t it?)  We no longer countdown to Xmas. 🎄 we hustle it on stage in October, and won’t let it go until it showers us with benisons.

The seasonal lights went up at the local mall sometime since Hallowe’en. That’s not unusual timing. What is unusual is that they used to stay dark until Black Friday, when there would be a “lightning ceremony” to promote the beginning of the Xmas shopping season. With no fanfare whatsoever, they lit up sometime last week. We can’t be bothered with preliminaries anymore. Besides, the “shopping season” starts in October now.

I’ve even seen inflated Xmas decorations on front lawns. That I can forgive. A) it’s probably new to the household this year; B) given the times, we can be forgiven for having to construct something upon which to rejoice. Blame it on our Puritan heritage. Xmas is the closest we as a society get to rejoicing.. Is it really any surprise we’re so hungry for it?

Still, we’ve turned our cultural seed corn into candy corn, and we’re rapidly devouring it. It’ll make us sick, 🤢 but we can’t help ourselves. I don’t even care about the “commercialism” anymore (another quaint term from a bygone era). But hammering everything special out of the season as it is to “airy thinness beat” the better to stretch over two months, and soon three, does not make the season golden; it’s not even brass. It’s more like tin. A dull-colored alloy, not something nearly pure.

And it increases our cultural race towards the future; the pell-mell plummet to a goal we never reach because when we do, we’re already disappointed and racing on to the next thing coming, expecting that to set everything aright. If we can finally just make the right purchases (policies; ideas; narratives; politicians; things) beforehand.

What have we done to…our culture?


In our neighborhood Halloween decorations (mostly giant skeletons) quickly morphed into Christmas ones by adding a red scarf to said skeletons! Not even a nod to the next holiday of Thanksgiving. sigh
Those giant skeletons are expensive! And hard to put up! Gotta get your money’s worth out of ‘em, huh? 😹💀
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😳 ⚡️⚡️😱

Kind of wild the CW persists that most voters paid attention to “legacy” news rather than to their own feelings.

Because the objective evidence is that inflation was never that high, nor affected food prices disproportionately. Yet Trump kept insisting that, just as he’d built a border wall he never built, inflation was the worst under Biden in national history.

And apparently enough people bought it to elect him.

But if the MSM had just done a little more reporting on the speculative implications of his promises to deport 20 million people (a promise even Trump’s people are backing away from. What, you thought Mike Johnson was speaking out of turn?) before the election, that would have kept someone from stepping on the butterfly?

🦋 

We really need some new narratives. The old ones have just led to the shock and awe of post-election despair. And shock and awe is keeping us from seeing clearly what happened, and what it means.

Mostly, it doesn’t mean Trump gets to do whatever he wants for four years. Or that a vast majority of the country has embraced fascism (which is apparently still fascism only when it scares white people; but not when it’s the 600 year old practice of oppressing non-whites). Or, more ludicrously, that Trump is now President for Life.

Whole sight, or all the rest is desolation.
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Monday, November 18, 2024

Likeliest Outcome

Trump declares he deported 50 million people (just like he declared he built the entire border wall he promised. And why not inflate the numbers?).  MAGA cheers. Trump takes a fake victory lap.

The alternative is: it blows up in his face, and his head explodes in an apoplectic fit.

The only problem there is: then we get JD Vance.
Deportation Potemkin village, coming up. As I have said before, It and its followers will be satisfied with tv of frightened deportees. Expect telegenic stuff that really doesn't do anything. If it did, a lot of agriculture ans construction oxes would be gored and that's not going to happen. I could be wrong but if they push this through , invest in ammunition,
The “tell" is that Trump says he’ll do this on Day One. Without an SOD? Yeah, right. Even if he could get the Senate to recess the day of his inauguration, they’d have to be out 11 days before he could start to make recess appointments. He can take his hand off that Bible and start signing orders there on the platform, it still doesn’t mean anything gets started for months.

If he declares a “national emergency,” somebody with standing can sue and throw it into court (and an injunction) instanter. Trump responds…how? Waiting for the Gaetz hearings?

Or he waits several months while Department heads get confirmed and figure out where the bathrooms are. (Cheney and Rumsfeld knew what they were doing and it took them how long to organize the invasion of Iraq and suppression of dissent?  Trump is picking FoxNews hosts who don’t have the first clue how government works, much less how DOD  and DOJ function. If he gets his way, he’ll have people ready, willing, but…able? Yeah, right.). So, yeah, Trump is gonna Potemkin village the whole thing. He’s got to keep telling us how “strong” he is, because the minute it’s obvious he isn’t…the house of cards collapses.

Trump won’t be effective or scary. He’ll be too busy keeping all the plates in the air. Which is why I disdain all the Cassandras yelling about how bad this is. Trump is powerful because Trump says so, not because he’s got a team of Cheneys and Rumsfelds behind him. The Cassandras keep telling us how powerful Trump is, so be afraid ! Be very afraid! 😱 

Whose side are they on, again?
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WHAT?!? LYING WORKS??!!??

OMIGAWD!!! Momma never told me there’d be days like this! To have lived almost 70 years and just now find this out!

Well, all I can say is, Thank God for Twitter! Where else do you get life lessons like this?
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Cassandra Rubs Her Hands With Glee

“The Trump administration is going to plunge America into a cross between The Hunger Games and The Celebrity Apprentice, unfortunately at great expense to the future of our democracy and the humanity of millions of Americans who will suffer at the hands of this gallery of degenerates," she added. "The American electorate f---ed around and now they’re going to find out.”
Accountability for thee, but not for me!

Trump  is going to round up 10, 20, 30 million people (the number varies depending on what day it is in Trump’s head). And put them where? Congress would have to allocate funds for camps/centers first, and those will take time to build. And where do they go? Public lands? Hello, law suits! Environmental impact alone could tie it up long enough for Congress to change hands and cut funding. 

And who does the rounding up? The military?  Posse Comitatus Act has entered the chat. Yes, Trump thinks he can use the military. But he’s getting his legal advice from Tom Fitton:
Fitton had written on November 8: "GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program."
Using the Insurrection Act requires a bit more than: “SCARY BROWN PEOPLE!” Farm and construction laborers are not exactly an existential threat to civil order.

Even if the courts allow the military to engage in law enforcement (a HUGE “if”), you still need places to put them until their court hearings. Deportation requires a court order. Congress has to authorize the additional courts, the new judges, and the funding. Or you can wait on the bottleneck that is the immigration justice system now. Trump will be dead and forgotten by then.

Delays, delays, delays… Not to mention the suits challenging all the procedures Trump will try to use. Strap in, indeed.

And now the farmers enter the chat:
The idea of mass deportations is frightening and scary, just on a humane level," dairy farmer Jennifer Tilton Flood reportedly said. "With regards to our community, mass deportations could affect our entire dairy industry throughout the U.S." 
About 950,000, or nearly 45 percent, out of an estimated 2.2 million farm laborers in the U.S. are undocumented immigrants, Newsweek reported. 
Flood argued businesses and churches should expect a "catastrophic nightmare" to come as U.S. Customs and Border Protection came under Trump's control. 
"There is a great chance for families to be broken apart," said Flood. "A lot of my team are raising Americans at home, and so it's tough. There is a lot of concern and there's a lot of panic." 
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, has reportedly said her boss' administration will dedicate itself to "the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers and human traffickers in American history." 
Experts warn such a mass deportation effort could come with a hefty price tag of up to $315 billion, according to the report. 
Restaurant owners say they're afraid of the cost to their businesses. 
"If these workers are deported, restaurants will close, leading to massive losses in revenue and a significant downturn in the economy," Sam Sanchez, a National Restaurant Association board member, told Newsweek.
I don’t assume all of these people voted for Trump, or deserve what could happen. This will hit all of us with the force of a slow-moving national natural disaster. Except farmers are second only to seniors in getting the attention of Congress. Even Ted Cruz would listen to farmers and ranchers who don’t want to lose their workers. Just the threat of it will be enough to make Congress close the purse. I’m old enough to remember when W had “political capital” (his term) and was going to use it to privatize Social Security. Remember when that happened? Yeah, because it didn’t. There was not even so much as a hearing in Congress.

I’m not saying things won’t be bad. I’m just saying they won’t be apocalyptic. But apocalypse sells, so expect to hear a lot more about it this December. Fitting, actually, since Advent is the closest thing the liturgical calendar has to a season about the revelation.
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So, About That $2 Trillion

The new Gilded Age:
Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to launch a tender offer in December to sell existing shares at a price of $135 per share, two sources familiar with the matter said. 
The tender offer would value SpaceX at more than $250 billion, according to the sources. 
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. 
Musk, the world's richest person, is expected to wield significant influence in Washington to secure favorable government treatment for his companies, including SpaceX, after Donald Trump's victory for a second presidency. 
Musk's dream of transporting humans to Mars could also become a bigger national priority under Trump, Reuters reported earlier this month. 
NASA's Artemis program, which aims to use SpaceX's Starship rocket to put humans on the moon as a proving ground for later Mars missions, is expected to focus more on the Red Planet under Trump and target uncrewed missions there this decade.
We could start with cutting those SpaceX contracts. After all: 
"Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change one way or another."
Right, Elmo?
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Sunday, November 17, 2024

It’s The Symbolism, Stupid

The Speaker of the House leaning over a seat to get into the picture though he’s not at the table. He just wants to let you know he was there.

Like the little brother hanging out with his older brother’s friends. And not at all like the third most important officeholder on the plane and, at the moment, the only officeholder.
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🎶 So Much Resistance From Behind 🎶

"Everybody look what’s goin’ down…”

I’m seriously wondering how much push back Trump gets trying to attack the top ranks of the military. If Johnson isn’t sure Trump can deport anyone he pleases and isn’t sure about tariffs, what are the odds there’s not much support for wrecking the military.

I know the popular sentiment is that Trump will burn everything to the ground, but one helluva lotta people have to get out of the way/go stone crazy for that to happen. And aside from the fringes (MTG; Troy Nehls; people, i.e., with no “people”), what happens when the rubber actually meets the road?

I don’t expect the GOP to all turn into Democrats; but let the waffling begin as they figure out Trump meant what he said. Owning the libs is one thing. Wrecking national security and the military? Yeah, I don’t think that flies.

But we’ll see. I mean, what else can we do?

(Just by way of explanation:
I’m sure he speaks for…several anonymous people on Twitter.)
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Government Inaction

Not sure whether the Elon/Vivek "DOGE" frolic is going to raise more Anti-Deficiency Act issues (by doing stuff) or Federal Advisory Committee Act issues (by proposing stuff). But it'll sure be a litigation bonanza, either way...
Steve Vladeck on Blue Sky.

The GAO on the Anti-Deficiency Act:
This act prohibits federal agencies from obligating or expending federal funds in advance or in excess of an appropriation, and from accepting voluntary services.
The Department of Government Efficiency is, or rather, will be, an advisory group to the OMB. If it is covered by the Anti-Deficiency Act, Elmo’s search for “volunteers” is null and void. If it’s an advisory committee, it’s covered by FACA (Federal Advisory Committee Act), which imposes a laundry list of requirements. Just the kind of thing I’m sure Elmo will complain is “inefficient.”

I predict serious boredom setting in almost immediately, as Elmo finds out he can’t play with his new toys. Sooner, even, as he finds out there aren’t any toys, just lots of bureaucracy and record keeping. You know, the kind of stuff government actually functions on. 🧸 

So is Congress going to repeal all these laws and regulations, in between recessing so Trump can do whatever he likes?
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Gaetz: “I Am An Innocent Man!”

"Or at least not really all THAT guilty! Hell, she looked 16!”

I hope the Judicial Committee allows the cameras in.
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Kamala Was The Wrong Candidate And It’s All Joe Biden’s Fault

Kamala Harris has, as of this writing, the fourth-most votes of any presidential candidate in U.S. history, the most by any woman, and the second-most by any Democrat, ever. She’s won about 4 million more votes than Barack Obama in 2008, 7.2 million more votes that Obama in 2012, 7.3 million more votes than Hillary Clinton, and 10.1 million more votes than Donald Trump in 2016.
And yes, it’s still a matter of turnout (the most amusing and ignorant counter to this tweet in the responses is that the number of voters “grows” each year. Uh, no. And irrelevant, since this is about raw numbers, not percentages):
We’re now down to 5.3 million fewer voters, and shrinking. In 2020, 158,429,631 Americans voted. As of this writing 153,103,472 Americans have voted. We will probably finish this cycle with a couple million fewer votes than 2020, and the pandemic year was a wild one — lockdowns and social distancing and masking requirements, massive unemployment, George Floyd, a late Supreme Court vacancy — and the intense and turbulent times likely spurred higher turnout than usual.
So it’s all return to status quo, except the status quo rests on a knife edge. The change is a long time coming. But it’s still coming.
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Saturday, November 16, 2024

STONKS And Buffaloes 🦬

Remember when I wondered about Trump’s Treasury Secretary, and what it meant that no candidate had been announced?
We're in a protracted standoff right now over who Trump will pick for treasury secretary. I think it sounds boring to a lot of people but it's an absolutely crucial moment 
1) From all my reporting, my sense is that Trump is dead serious about enormous tariff hikes to rebalance global trade. So he wants someone who will actually implement those tariffs. 
2) But all the evidence also suggests he really wants the support of Wall Street and STONKS to go up. So he wants someone the markets will respect 
But it's really hard to see how he gets BOTH of those, which I think is part of why picking the treasury secretary is proving so hard
If you think the Senate will block at least one nominee and then lay down in the rest of them, maybe this is where the fight should be. Even Gaetz can’t really get his hands around the throat of DOJ (anymore than RFK Jr can change the law of the land at HHS). But a Treasury Secretary backing Trump’s insane tariff plans could plunge the world economy into a tailspin.

Stonk, a deliberate misspelling of stock (meaning “a share of the value of a company which can be bought, sold, or traded as an investment”), was coined in a 2017 meme. The word is often used humorously on the internet to imply a vague understanding of financial transactions or poor financial decisions.
Definitely the shoe that fits. If Trump buffaloes the Senate (or Congress) on tariffs, then there won’t be a safe haven in the world to flee to.)

The irony of tariffs is that they tend to cost Americans access to markets (this ain’t 1946. The industrialized world outside the U.S. isn’t in shambles, leaving us in a position of unmatched dominance). Retaliation opens markets to competitors, who keep their share when tariffs finally come down.
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None Dare Call It Racist

… Jill Biden’s former Press Secretary Michael LaRosa responded harshly to Sherrilyn Ifill calling Donald Trump’s nominee for SecDef Pete Hegseth a “white supremacist” on MSNBC: “This shit has to stop. Opposing DEI initiatives does not make you a white supremacist. Conversations and demonization like this are a big part of the reason we got our asses kicked.”
Even though that’s all it is. But, you know, if Democrats don’t denounce anti-DEI policies, they might win some voters who finally can’t distinguish Democrats from racists.

Oh, what a paradise that will be!

Harris lost by less than 2 points in the popular vote.  That’s proof Democrats really do need to pursue openly racist policies if they ever hope to win again!

I mean, what more do you need?
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And I’m Not So Sure About Thee

DOGE is not a government agency. It’s not anything except an idea in Elmo’s mind. Elmo is not even hiring. He’s seeking volunteers to do non-work for no-pay. He’s promoting his failing business, one that has lost money since he paid $44 billion for it. He’s allowed to do that, since he doesn’t work for the government and can’t hire any government employees. He’s even allowed to con people into sending him their resumes.

So long as he doesn’t use them for fraudulent purposes.

The “low information voters” are not all outside the beneficent light of reason that shines forth from the internet, or shines on anti-MAGA. Sometimes I think all the voters suffer from low information except me and thee. 

And I’m not too sure about thee….
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RIGGED! FRAUD!! CHEATERS!!!

Per the Cook Political Report, Harris won 73,794,005 votes, or 48.23% of the votes cast. Trump won 76,464,848 votes, or 49.97% of the votes cast.

Quite a mandate.

The majority is barely a majority. The minority is barely a minority. Change is still coming.

But it’s sure coming slow.
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"GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!!"

 "It is very real, it is very real," Steele began. "So Donald Trump is leveling up a menagerie of misfits, people that he knows are not competent, capable, intelligent enough to do the jobs that he is giving them."

Yes, yes.  And how do thorough-going incompetents (I lump Elmo and Ramaswamy into the mix, as well) manage to crash vast bureaucracies?  Does Trump truly fire all the attorneys in the DOJ, grinding all criminal prosecutions to a halt?  Drugs, illegal immigration, all manner of federal crime, stop being prosecuted?  Really?  Social Security stops sending out checks, Medicare stops paying claims/collecting premiums, National Parks fire all the rangers and declare their lands open for development?

By the way, who is Trump proposing for the Treasury?  Does even Trump want to fuck with the money?

Is RFK, Jr. really going to repeal laws and regulations regarding public health, down to the state level?  Who gives him such power?  Anybody? Anybody?  Bueller...Ferris Bueller...?

After sharing a clip of Trump confidant Steve Bannon threatening, "We are going to burn some of these institutions down to the ground because you know why? They need to be burned down to the ground," Steele added, "The deconstruction of the administrative state has been a key calling card for those acolytes around Donald trump. Donald Trump is probably more or less agnostic in most cases. What is your take on what you are seeing with these potential cabinet secretaries running agencies that affect the health of the American people and the national security of our country?"

"Assume the worst," Walsh replied. "Assume the most sinister. In this era of Trump over the last nine or 10 years, we just have not used our imagination."

Nobody gets on the TeeVee for not reading from the Bannon playbook and pronouncing doom and gloom that would make an Old Testament prophet or John on Patmos say:  "Hey, wait a minute!  The future's not THAT bad!"

To really think a handful of clowns can bring the entire apparatus of the federal government to a permanent halt (even Congress has learned not to do that, and they actually hold the purse strings!) is to engage in MAGA level non-thinking.  If we've sunk to that level as the "loyal opposition," then Godelpusall.
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Moe, Larry, And Curly Bring The Popcorn 🍿

Given the opportunity, that’s what he would be doing. Trump isn’t giving Elmo that opportunity (nor, more to the point, is Congress).

Elmo’s comment reminds me of a Three Stooges short, where they’re trying to retrieve a ring dropped down a sink. They end up in the basement needing more pipe, so they pull the (metal) conduit off the walls. They think they’ve found the problem because the “pipes” are full of wires. The solution, of course, is to pull out the wires. I mean, they’re clogging the pipes, right?
There’s not much (yet) in the new Administration that’s popcorn worthy; but this is. 🍿
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Friday, November 15, 2024

Only One Black President?

American history, starting with Columbus, has entered the chat.
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Drive-By Whinging*

I have no problem with any religious figure being fully held accountable by the law, a law which has yet to really punish the most pagan of American presidents for his sexual crimes who is, in fact, about to become our dictator thanks in no small part to the irresponsibility of American lawyers, judges and "justices."
*Referring to my post, not the quote. Apologies for any confusion.

I’m not arguing with the sentiment so much as I just don’t think there was ever a “silver bullet” that was going to ensure Trump’s electoral loss.

America has a history of electing criminals to office, unlike Britain, where scandal used to drive politicians from public life instanter. (I think 🇬🇧 is closer to 🇺🇸 in that regard, now. But only just.) We sometimes like to elect criminals, just to show we elect people just like us. As Molly Ivins said, it’s a representative government.

Besides, the Paul Simon insight is correct: “A man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest.” My mother’s sole surviving sister and favorite aunt was telling me recently about a friend who spends too much time on Facebook and TikTok, and who voted for Trump. My aunt didn’t, in no small part because of his criminal conviction and his civil judgments. But when she pointed out Trump’s felony conviction, her friend demurred: “Well, I’m not sure that happened.”

I mention this because it’s the first time I’ve encountered this sentiment IRL, even at such a remove (and you are more removed, still, so you have to take my word for it). Even in the face of a criminal conviction, more people voted for Trump. Why? Does it matter? Was one more conviction, news story, Tweet, blog post going to make a difference? My aunt rattled off all Trump’s adversarial judicial opinions. That was why she didn’t vote for Trump. But had the Supremes refused to think about immunity and Trump had gone to trial in D.C., would that make a difference? He could be elected from a jail cell, and that would throw the prison doors wide open (a worse result, IMHO). I doubt any court in the land would require Trump to be President from a cell, based on separation of powers alone. The decision was always up to the voters, and the conclusion seems to be the majority of voters were upset by the cost of potato chips. 

I truly think part of the problem was Biden’s naïveté. He thought lowering inflation would float his electoral vote; or Harris’s. But Trump railed about inflation; baselessly, but as the campaign proved, not enough people listen to his lies and consider them lies. Indeed, the real impact of Trump’s victory is that he ran the most racist, offensive, and in the end lackluster campaign…and it didn’t matter. CW blames Harris or Biden or “woke” or fill-in-the-blank because CW can’t see what’s in front of its face: people (per polls; large grain of salt here, please) had made up their minds in October. And no one paying attention to the very important closing arguments of the campaign wants to reset their thinking to consider the impact of early voting (which is why people settled on their choices so early).

Or that campaigns don’t matter as much as CW and the campaign industrial complex want them to. Trump should have lost simply for that terrible campaign. Why didn’t he? Why did so many overlook his actions and statements? The cost of potato chips?

There are a lot of lessons in this election that a lot of people are very reluctant to learn. And in fact, it’s in their vested interest not to.
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FAFO Applies To The Rich And Famous

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Fool And His Money

We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE. We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting. If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.
What positions? I mean, besides grab your ankles. So the offer is non-jobs at a non-existent government agency doing non-work, because you won’t be a member of Congress, or even on Congressional staff. Your efforts will have the effect of a thousand Twitter posts. Or a fart in a windstorm. 💨  Same difference.

A lot has been made of the grey check mark denoting an official government agency. But Elmo runs Twitter and the check marks mean what he wants then to mean.

If you don’t know that, you might actually follow Alex’s example , and think you’re going to be a part of something historical. An historical con, though.

There really is a sucker born every minute. 🍭 
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No One Said What Everyone Was Saying

I recognize the subtleties of distinctions here, but: Come on! Social media is not about discourse (and isn’t very social). It’s about outrage generation. It makes me think I’m not in the position of François Heisbourg, senior adviser for Europe at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, who is simply outside looking in:
"This is seriously big and bad. I hope the Senate will block her confirmation — but I don’t expect that to happen.”
When I am. I literally am. And nothing I say on this blog is going to change that.

“Courage to accept the things I cannot change.”

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Thursday, November 14, 2024

May You Live In Interesting Times

There’s a reason Trump wants to make recess appointments.
Well, first, let's put this in context," she began. "Yesterday morning, the United States Senate gave the back of their hand to Donald Trump. Everybody in the Senate knew that Donald Trump did not want John Thune as leader. Now, why were they able to do that? Because it was secret ballot, but nonetheless they did it." 
"Then a couple of hours later, he drops [Matt] Gaetz and [Tulsi] Gabbard [as cabinet appointees]," she continued. "Now, I made a list last night of 11 names of senators that I think are most likely to say no to both of these appointments, particularly Gaetz." 
"Keep in mind, a few of these names, like Chuck Grassley (R-IA), he is not running again!" she pointed out. "He got re-elected and he is 90! You've got Mitch McConnell, Mitch McConnell is not going to run again. You've got Susan Collins (R-ME) who I can't imagine voting for these people. You've got Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), I can't imagine Lisa voting for these people –– you only need three." 
"So I think Trump was sending a letter to the Senate saying one of two things: either I expect the Senate to ignore the part of the Constitution, which says you must give advice and consent, or, two, you've got to show me that you have no power," she added. "I need you to demonstrate to me that the Senate is not in session ever, because what you do does not matter. I just don't think either one of those are going to sit well with the majority of the United States Senate."
The rule of threes. As in, Trump may think he has a mandate, but the Senate has its traditions; not to mention its constitutional duties. Trump can’t force them into recess, and he can’t force them to accept his appointees. And he only has to lose three Senators per appointment.

Well, it’ll make things interesting.🤨 
"And on that, Jake, I think he was quite clear what he was planning to do in office," said Haberman. "There's this whole sort of, as you know, where we've been talking about this literally serious thing since 2015, 2016, this whole, 'Is he serious?' thing. You should assume he plans on doing what he is saying at this point." 
"He means it," agreed Tapper. 
"So yes," said Haberman. "That's what these picks are designed to do. Whether they all get through, we'll see. Does he end up doing recess appointments, we'll see. I think Matt Gaetz will be a bridge too far for some senators, but we'll find out." 
"We'll see," said Tapper. "I might have to take a wager with you." 
"I'm not betting — no," Haberman added. "I'm saying, that is one that could be too far. It also could not be. It could be — Trump has much more control over this Republican Senate than the one that he left."
Well, if Thune breaks with tradition and goes back to putting the Senate into recess, or if Trump can keep three Senators on-side for absolutely any appointment (he’s not through tweeting about appointees). 

Still gonna be interesting.
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Electric Boogaloo

After we eliminate the Pentagon, the Federal Reserve, the Social Security Administration (which includes Medicare), the Department of Interior, Homeland Security, HHS, Treasury (IRS!)…oh, what a paradise it will be! (Strong David Stockman vibes, too.) Sounds like JMM was right. But as Trump whittles away the House majority of 3, the do-nothing Congress Two:Electric Boogaloo, will have two years to fulfill Rand Paul’s wildest fantasies.

I don’t see it. Elections are one thing. Government is another.
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Schadenfreude: It’s Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

Popehat explains it all for you:

Institutions are very difficult to change. The populist sentiment “send in an outsider and have them clean house” requires an outsider smart and disciplined enough to overcome the fact they don’t understand what they’re changing. Otherwise the inside stubbornly and passive-aggressively thwarts the outsider. You can burn the institution to the ground but that doesn’t leave you with an institution you can use effectively as a weapon.
James Watt was Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior, and the Man Most Likely To Turn The West Loose From Washington Control. Watt literally meant to use his perch to allow the Sagebrush Rebellion to liberate the land west of the Rockies from federal domination.

Do you remember the Sagebrush Rebellion? Ever even heard of it? You’d practically have to be an historian now to even recognize the name. Yeah, it didn’t accomplish much of anything. Oh,Watt tried. But there were chains upon those hands, he was just riding on a train. He was never in charge of anything, including his own megalomania. He disappeared in the sands of history.

Cheney and Rumsfeld were different, and much more dangerous. They knew how Washington worked. They knew where the levers of power were, and how to use them. Rumsfeld controlled the DOD. Cheney controlled the White House. They didn’t want to “change” D.C. They wanted to exploit it. And they did. Ruthlessly, and very effectively.

Gabbard, Hegspeth, Noem, Gaetz and Huckabee couldn’t organize a two-car funeral procession. 

Tulsi Gabbard is perhaps the worst candidate because she’ll just be another conduct for Russian intelligence misinformation; and conduits run both ways. She could give up information as easily as she receives bullshit. But aside from that:
Trump’s laziness, poor attention span, tendency to be distracted by petty grievances and threats to his ego, and total lack of loyalty to anyone will be impediments to his agenda. The people he picks tend to be a grab bag of personality disorders who squabble and fight for power, he tends to screw them over when they annoy him, and they’re all quite annoying. 
I’m not saying that things won’t be bad. As I’ve said recently, I expect things to be very bad for a long time, possibly a generation, as a result of America’s choice. What I am saying is that perhaps they will not be as bad as they could be because God, in His wisdom, has chosen to make these people weird freaks along the way to letting them run the place. This is a time to cherish every hope and embrace every ally. Trump and Trumpists are dysfunctional weirdos and that fact is our ally. Cold comfort is still comfort.
Annoying and destined to be wholly ineffective:
Do you think Matt Gaetz is going to work the hours necessary to not just learn DoJ but run it in detail? All of the interns are college graduates. Does Kristi Noem strike you as someone who handles stress well? Does war crimes enthusiast Pete Hegseth have the people skills to manage the viper’s nest that’s the Pentagon?
In the meantime, let the buyer’s remorse set in.  WSJ editorial board, come on down!
"The military isn’t Mr. Trump’s enemy, and a purge mentality will court political trouble and demoralize the ranks," the editorial board argued. "The draft executive order, leaked to the press, about forming a group of former officers to rule on the fitness of current generals would be a mistake that smacks of politicizing the officer corps." 
The editorial also argued against taking out his anger against former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley on other military leaders. 
"Firing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs CQ Brown would also be counterproductive," they wrote. "Mr. Trump is still furious about former Chairman Mark Milley’s criticisms, and not without cause, but Mr. Trump promoted Gen. Milley. The better path is to look for officers who understand the current global dangers and have good ideas for what to do about it. Adm. Sam Paparo of the U.S. Indo-Pacific command is one." 
The editors also expressed concern that Hegseth seems to be obsessed with purging any "woke" elements from the American military rather than focusing on more immediate and concrete problems. 
"In the context of America’s security challenges, wokeness is a small concern," they argued.
And it just gets better:
As he recalled, "I was at a conference yesterday and there were a whole bunch of investors when the news came down and I would say up until that moment so many of them had a big grin on their face about where the market was going, the economy, all of that." 
"When it first came across the phone, there were people including, by the way myself, who thought it was a parody account, who literally thought it was The Onion and they didn't believe it and the shift in tone went from, 'Wow, we're going to have a great economy and all of these things and I don't have to worry,' to, 'Okay, maybe now I have to worry' was like in the blink of an eye." 
"And then all night it was the same thing with my phone lighting up from people in the business community who I think are still hopeful in their own ways about the economic issues and the like," he elaborated. "But when it comes to law and order, when it comes to the Justice Department and what this is ultimately going to look like, what prosecutions are going to look like, that threw a lot of people back on their feet." 
"The question is whether they can stand up and say so publicly and I think unfortunately the answer is still no and especially no because of the role this individual may ultimately play," he added.
A blunt reminder that economic issues only exist because of government stability, competence, and predictability. Also a reminder that Wall Street is no more insightful, intelligent, or sensible than the rest of us.

Schadenfreude is just German for “Cold comfort is still comfort.”
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The Shape Of Things To Come

“Sometimes a President appoints to reward a person. All the while, knowing that it will not go through. When it does not go through they can appoint the backup and they have cover for doing so. I suspect MG is not interested in submitting to testifying before the Senate.”
He probably doesn’t want to testify. Coincidence? Yeah, right. The Senate hasn’t gone into recess since Obama. Thune is a McConnell disciple. He’ll likely follow McConnell’s practice on the issue, if only to preserve the Senate’s appointment authority. Rick Scott might have tried to give Trump what he wanted. I’m pretty sure the Senators knew that when they elected Thune.

Politics makes strange bedfellows, indeed.
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“Whole sight; or all the rest is desolation.”

I have yet to hear any of the "journalists" who peddled the idea that Biden is senile raise the possibility that Trump is at least demented. If there's one thing that's obvious it's that they're OK with our national security being shredded or packaged and handed over to Putin and the other billionaire dictators. Twenty six Republicans aren't going to hold against Trump, we are screwed but no where near as much as those who live in Ukraine or Taiwan or, I have no doubt, Poland and Latvia. I don't know how the House of Saud are going to work this but I know they will. I think their overtures to Iran are proof of that. I wouldn't give Israel's chance of surviving the concerted opposition of Putin, Iran and S. Arabia since they jointly own Trump.
I demur more than disagree. I really don’t think the M-IC will allow Hegseth to be SecDef. The Senate has already shown it isn’t interested in deferring to MAGA (which is far cry from saying the Senate is suddenly peopled with Bernie Bros, but still…  

I think the real test will be when Trump starts imposing tariffs, and how the Congress responds. They have plenty of power to stop Trump on that front. Whether they exercise it is another matter.

I do think Gabbard and Gaetz and Hegseth will be too much to swallow. Noem at Homeland Security is bad enough; but Gaetz has no support in the Senate; Gabbard is a serious security risk; and Hegseth is too useless to place over the operation of the Pentagon.

OTH, Rubio will be SOS, and not only useless but dangerously so.

Times is gonna get real hard, and everyone is gonna to blame everyone else for it.

While I think about it, I wonder that no one has drawn a connection between the rise of MAGA and Trump to a culture that tolerates school shootings and mass violence by unstable persons with easy access to firearms. I was reflecting on my high school experience when the school felt it had to hire private security (this was long before school districts in Texas employed a police force for their campuses). The need arose from a half-day of school violence in which no one was harmed, no property was damaged (except for a paper sign being set on fire), and about half the students (those on lunch break at the time) got a half-day off from school. It was a big deal at the time, but barely worth trying to explain 50 years later, in light especially of the violence at schools in the first two decades of this century.

You can’t take Trump out of his context, and that context is not the campaign Kamala Harris ran, or the decision of Biden to withdraw his nomination.
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