Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Follow The Bouncing Ball

Scoop: Top Republicans are banking on Trump’s promised $8 billion for farmers to stem GOP bleeding in farm states. It’s worked in the past just ahead of Election Day.

But the internal, taxpayer funded USDA account Trump is tapping doesn’t actually have enough $$ in it right now to make the direct payments. Congress will have to approve the new funds (a fight ahead in a GOP pkg or bipartisan year-end bill) or the admin will have to take it from another program, per Trump officials.

Farmers won’t get any payments until late Nov or Dec at the earliest, likely later. The disaster aid-like payment structure is coming later in Nov.

Farm state Hill Rs are still planning to push for another +$12 billion in year-end package. They've said farmers need +$50 million in aid to recover from the hit of tariffs and high fuel costs.
I do wonder how popular socialism for Farmer Brown will be in December, with do many (likely) voting for the last time. Eh, that might make them more generous; who really knows? But focus on the fact that money isn’t there, and then follow this: Andrew Feinberg was the reporter in that exchange. The White House amplified Trump's outrage: Feinberg makes clear the insult is one he would never use. No one should. It didn’t start that way. But it went that way:
All for an event that started off pretty normal. White House officials were going to hand out a reward to Nick Shirley, the right-wing YouTuber whose viral videos jump-started the administration’s crusade against day-care and home health care businesses in Minnesota run or owned by Somali-Americans. For their part, Trump, Vance and even Shirley acted like the idea of rewarding whistleblowers was new and unique to this administration, with the YouTube personality claiming there has “never been an incentive for anyone to ever expose fraud” in the country’s entire history. Because I’ve spent most of my professional life covering the federal government, I know there’s already a mechanism to reward whistleblowers on the books, I knew Shirley — and the rest — were dead wrong about that.
That mechanism is a law dating back to 1863. That’s all that’s really relevant to our conversation, here. That, and the law allows qui tam cases (guaranteed Trump has never heard that term), and pays up to 25% of the recovered funds goes to the whistleblower. Again, by law.

Let’s keep this that simple. Because the important point is the law, and it allows 25% as a “finder’s fee.” Trump’s “big announcement” today was that he was offering 1% for the same info. You can see up there 👆
Feinberg asking about that, and Trump’s response.
So why would anyone use the administration’s “tip line” when they could get far more cash for using the tried-and-true process that’s been around since the days of Abraham Lincoln?

I asked the president that exact question. His response? “Because it’s a lot of money.”

“At 1 percent, people will make millions and millions of dollars for turning in what actually is a somewhat routine crime of, you know, of millions of millions. But we’re talking about we’re talking about billions and actually probably trillions of dollars,” said Trump, who may not have understood the question or was unable to fathom that ten to 25 percent is far more than one percent.
The President, IOW, is innumerate. QED. He’s also a poorly informed boob.  You can’t make millions and millions of dollars off 1% of claims worth millions of dollars. And under the Federal Claims Act, the whistleblower is entitled to up to 25% of the recovery. 

There’s also the simple fact Trump can’t invent a payout system based on his innumeracy and an EO he signed and probably didn’t read. That’s allocation of federal funds. Only Congress can do that. More flatly, the Federal Claims Act is a federal statute with judicial opinions behind it. Trump’s EO is, by contrast, not binding on the Congress or the Treasury, and its terms are subject to Trump’s interpretation. Aside from the fact there’s the whole question of where the money for the “fee” comes from, and can the federal government claw it back in two years if it wants to? Spoiler: it can. EO’s are not binding on Congress, nor on subsequent Administrations. Not if the next President doesn’t want them to be.

Trump has absolutely no idea how any of this works. He cannot spend funds Congress has not allocated, and he can’t offer financial rewards Congress has not authorized. Two sides of the same coin. And it’s not his coin.


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Did Ukraine Violate The Terms Of Service?*

Or is our country’s foreign policy being run by third-rate supervillains from the “Batman” TeeVee show, with various chowder heads playing supporting roles?
The SpaceX founder personally ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukrainian forces rely on, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter. The speed cap rendered some of Ukraine's attack and interceptor drones close to useless, according to the report.

That account clashes with what Musk told the public. Hours after the slowdown came to light, he posted on X that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS."

Some U.S. officials told The Journal that Musk acted on his own and that Trump never specifically ordered any retribution against Kyiv. But one person familiar with the situation said Musk spoke with several senior Trump administration officials, including the president, before imposing the cap. Ukrainian officials said the restriction allowed Russian missiles to slip past their defenses.

Two people said Musk and Trump discussed the decision by phone shortly after it became public, while the president was on the campaign trail. One of them claimed the pair had also talked it over before the cap went into effect.

As the uproar grew, SpaceX representatives reached out to their White House counterparts hoping to settle on a shared message that the company and the Trump administration had worked together before Musk gave the order, according to the report. Trump, meanwhile, told reporters Monday that he didn't know who was behind the slowdown, "but I would like to find out."
I do appreciate Trump and Elmo in the hot dog suits, doing their dead-level best to fool everybody..


I understand (put that in air quotes) that Trump spits down on the ground every time Ukraine gets mentioned. It was his first impeachment, and he’s a petulant child. But Elmo just craves power; and this is an excellent example of why he shouldn’t have it. And another fine example of science fiction “predictions” failing wholly to deal with the evil of the human heart. We don’t need monsters bred from radioactivity or rogue AI to kill us all. Good old human greed and selfishness will do the job in ways we never seem to anticipate. It’s not the technology that’s moving too fast for us; it’s our plodding, blinkered, and starved imaginations. We’re not headed for a cyberpunk world. We never were. Nor are cyborgs going to get us. We need to start with the dumbest, most senseless acts possible; and then imagine technology amplifying those acts to the point populations are at risk.

When I was a child, the risk was nuclear annihilation; but that power was in the hands of governments. Turns out we could control that. Now we are literally putting governing in the hands of children who’ve never outgrown the narcissism of infancy. This is something nobody ever tried to foresee, but the results are perfectly predictable. Now it’s up to government to take that power back, for the people, not the narcissists (their name is “Legion,” because there are so many of them). But until that happens, and for the moment, Vonnegut’s observation from the ‘70’s still holds:

“The winners are at war with the losers, and the fix is in. The prospects for peace are awful.”

*Apparently they did:
(Bradbury and Harlan Ellison came closest to consistently expecting the problem with the future would be us, not the technology. J.G. Ballard saw it, too. But nobody came close to seeing this.
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Most Likely To Be Scraped Off The Shoe Of History

Trump: "We gave $350 billion to Ukraine. And I insisted on getting something for that money, and we got a very big chunk of land and rare earth and other things. Let's see what that amounts to. But Ukraine has to want to settle this war. Zelenskyy has to want to settle this war. And if he doesn't, I think it's gonna be a very bad thing."
Trump makes it sounds like Ukraine's defeat is a done deal: "Ukraine has to want to make a deal, because the US has spent a fortune. Europe has spent a fortune. Europe is tired of it. If they don't make a deal -- ultimately it's just gonna get worse. You have a very big country in Russia. It's time."
And most deserving of it.
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Moment?

And… it’s over. Was it good for you? Three guesses what he’s going to say. Told ya: He thinks it works that way. He also thinks NATO works this way: Of all the things that didn’t happen…
Greenlandic party leader responds to Trump: “It is no secret that the United States is interested in Greenland’s natural resources.”

Aleqa Hammond, chairwoman of Greenland’s political party Siumut, has responded to US President Donald Trump’s remarks about American exploration for oil, gas, and minerals in Greenland.

Speaking to Danish newspaper Berlingske, Hammond made it clear that no company or country will ever be granted unrestricted access to Greenland’s natural resources.

—Berlingske

📸: Jens Nørgaard Larsen/Ritzau Scanpix
... Yadda, yadda yadda  He wants to run the country like the Nazis ran Casablanca, in the movie. Exhibit “A” in Rep. Omar’s vindictive prosecution defense. Feral cunning. He makes it look so easy.
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Operation Protect The White People

 LA Times:

Among them was Ana Domínguez, 60, a native of El Salvador living in Long Beach as a lawful permanent resident. Federal authorities accused her Monday of fraudulently registering to vote in July 2006 and then lying about it in her naturalization paperwork in March 2026.
Wait. She got in a time machine in July and went back to March?

Another man accused of the same crimes as Domínguez said the same: He wasn’t aware of ever registering to vote, as federal prosecutors claimed he had.

Both were among the 28 people charged with federal election-related crimes Monday, including fraudulent voter registration and making false statements in a naturalization application. Federal prosecutors and high-ranking Justice Department officials had touted the arrests during a news conference hours before as proof that California elections are corrupted by noncitizen voters — as President Trump has long alleged.
Caveat:
“We know from past experience that sometimes people register to vote accidentally, as when there is a mistake at the DMV,” Rick Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law, wrote Monday in a blog post. “There is only a crime if the government can prove willful violations of federal law.”
The law requires the violation be “willful.” Does the Trump DOJ care? Are you serious?
Dozens of federal agents descended on Omar Alexander Muñoz’s residential cul-de-sac in Commerce, a small city in Los Angeles County, to make the arrest. Muñoz was put in handcuffs in his pajamas and taken into federal custody downtown.

Esmeralda Muñoz, 70, said her family was furious that agents showed up to their home in full tactical gear with guns drawn to arrest her husband before dawn.

“It’s a show for them,” she said, calling it a “shame” that government officials arrived with camera crews and news helicopters.
Do they even have the right Alexander Muñoz?
Lliani Orantes, Muñoz’s daughter and a nurse who was born in the U.S., said her father had been hauled out of the family home by federal authorities after they swarmed and cordoned off the block. She said the family was rushing to figure out what happened, including whether Muñoz could have been confused with younger relatives of the same name, including a U.S.-born son who is a registered voter.

Orantes also expressed frustration with the handling of her father’s arrest — to which federal authorities had clearly alerted some media, who were brought along for the raid.

She said that her father is recovering from cervical surgery, rotator cuff repair on a shoulder and a double knee replacement, and that he was pulled out of the family’s home “like he was a dog” as part of what she described as a “political ploy, an example used for the operation” — which federal authorities dubbed “Operation Protect the Vote.”
"Operation Protect the Vote” netted four suspects, for all that effort. The government allowed them all to be released on their own recognizance, because the show was over. Funny how non of them are white, isn’t it?
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El Salvador 1982

 This is what the law calls a “fact question:”

The 56-year-old Mexican man who died Saturday while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody was a lawful permanent resident in the country, the agency said in a statement a day after The Texas Tribune reported about his death.

Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, was found unconscious in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center on Saturday morning. ICE said staff performed chest compressions and called emergency services, but he was declared dead about 20 minutes after being found unresponsive. He had been in immigration detention since June.

ICE on Monday said Andrade-Covarrubias’ cause of death is still unknown, as the autopsy was still pending with the Webb County Medical Examiner. The agency also said he received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals.

In the statement, ICE said Andrade-Covarrubias was returning to Texas from Mexico at a port of entry in Laredo when immigration officers detained him on June 26. ICE added that he was detained because officers believed he obtained his legal status in the U.S. fraudulently because he failed to disclose a 2004 arrest for theft during the review process.

The agency was also seeking to deport him, saying that he was in removal proceedings before an immigration judge. Andrade-Covarrubias was supposed to appear at an immigration court hearing on Nov. 2, according to online records.

Andrade-Covarrubias’ daughter, Estefani Andrade, told the Tribune that her father did bring up his criminal record during the application process — and that immigration officials approved his green card application.

Andrade-Covarrubias had lived for decades in Dallas, where he raised three children who were all born in the U.S. He painted apartments and townhomes for a living, and his daughter said he was planning to return to Mexico. He traveled to Mexico often because he was building a house there, she added.
This is a matter that should have prompted a civil suit, to settle the factual issue. Instead, the man is dead, and ICE says: “Shit happens.”

This is as lawless as gunning down people in the streets. ICE released a statement on the death after the Texas Tribune reported it. Was ICE planning to simply “disappear” him?
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“So To Speak”

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🤞

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Monday, October 19, 2026

Ukraine 🇺🇦 Will Defeat Russia

A horrific Russian strike in the Kharkiv region. A “shahed” struck people directly – in a park near an ordinary café. Pure atrocity. Six people were killed, including children. A little girl was killed in a stroller – her name was Angelina, she was just over a year old, born in August 2025… Her mother’s name was Inna. She died in the hospital… Another girl who was killed was 11 years old. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Another 14 people were injured, including six more children.

I am grateful to everyone who supports Ukraine under these circumstances and helps us shoot down “shaheds,” shoot down missiles, and stop Russian assaults. These are horrific photos, but behind them are shattered lives and the truth about this war. Lives must be protected. Ukraine needs air defense. You can't think about making money with Russia as long as it continues its asinine war. We ask that sanctions on Russia stay in place as long as the killings continue. We ask America to be strong, and we ask it to apply the Lindsey Graham law. We ask Europe to continue its support. We ask that everything possible be done to bring peace and guarantee security. Ukraine wants peace. It is Russia that has insisted on continuing the killing all this time. The world has enough strength to stop the war. That strength must finally be used – against the murderers.
I will be speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team this week to discuss Starshield, sanctions, and other matters pertaining to the defense of our strong ally, Ukraine. I will be assuring President Zelenskyy that anyone who attempts to limit the use of Starshield for Ukraine will be fully investigated and will be held fully accountable, to include public congressional oversight hearings, and immediate harsh and punitive budget cuts to any responsible agency or agency head.

Congress will unequivocally reaffirm that Ukraine is an indispensable ally to the United States, that Russia is a self-declared enemy of the United States, and that the United States will 100% support and defend the people of Ukraine in their fight for their own freedom against this brutal, illegal, and unprovoked Russian invasion.

The United States must provide any and all defensive equipment that Ukraine needs to defend itself. The United States must not import a single drop of Russian oil. Sanctions against the Russian regime must be harsher and stronger than they’ve ever been before. Each and every one of these items will be brought to the House Floor—and each and every one of these items will pass on the House Floor by an overwhelming margin.

This is, after all, what Ronald Reagan would do. And this is what we will do now. Ukraine can, and will, defeat Russia. #PeaceThroughStrength
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Like A Broken Record

I can’t get over the fact… ...this has become a feature of every Trump rally since we got within 90 days. Kind of amazing, really. It hasn’t penetrated Trump’s bubble, but it is a strong signal he’s not a king. Or a strong man. Not penetrating the bubble. The rally on October 14 was in the Majestic Valley Arena.  It has a seating capacity of 2600. The highest recorded attendance there is 8500. Not for the first time, he’s confusing the Arizona rally (outdoors) with the Montana rally. Both were on the same day. It just went on and on. 5 times? In Kansas? And then it went to six.
🤫

I’ve skipped over the racism (Somalians) and the fantasy of Canada as the 51st state, the cognitive test (he recognized a giraffe), and the rest of the muttering that is a Trump rally these days.  And it ended the way they all do these days: Yeah, the completely ignorant one he thinks is such a winner. 🤔
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What They Are Reduced To

They do not listen to them. QED. 👆 And all it took was one example of Socratic dialogue, to prove it.
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“I’m Not Sayin’ We Aren’t Gonna Get Our Hair Mussed!” (IYKYK)

(He’s talking about finding non-citizens on voter rolls).
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Oh, What A Giveaway!

Doesn’t he have a job? Does that job leave you lots of free time? The only thing missing is the hot dog suit. Susan Glasser will notice Trump’s “pivot” to xenophobic racism sometime in November, 2028. Maybe.🤔 

In the meantime, Trump’s next step will be directing Stephen Miller to get the Mexicans out of New America. As soon as he gets Google to change the name.
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*Chef’s Kiss*

A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it.

The appointees wanted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to procure the machine, examine it and report back the findings so they could be given to the White House, according to two former administration officials with knowledge of the request.

The proposition was shocking to CISA’s career staffers, according to one of the former officials. CISA typically worked to thwart hackers. Moreover, the agency had been directed not to alert the voting machine company if it uncovered flaws, contrary to its standard practices. The request made the CISA employees fear they were being asked to take part in political interference.

“My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don’t like,” one of the former officials said. “This goes against everything CISA represents.”

The CISA employees repeatedly told the political appointees that their request was impossible, in part because the agents capable of pulling off such an operation had just been laid off by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative. The appointees eventually stopped pressing CISA.
It’s the penultimate sentence that makes it art. 🖼️ 
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🎶I’m Not Sure What It Means…🎶

 So it’s the first day of early voting in Texas. The Lovely Wife and I went to our preferred polling location (a community center). I figured it would be busy, but it was packed. Parking is usually not a problem. We had to wait 10 minutes for an open space.

The line inside was long, but moved quickly. I’d guess there were 4 rows of machines, 15-16 per row, double sided, and someone voting at every one. The Lege, in its infinite wisdom, outlawed single party voting some years back, so you have to wade through the federal offices and statewide offices (Gov., AG, Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals ) and district and county judges (criminal and civil), county officers (county commissioners court judge; county clerk, etc.), city offices, and one city referendum. One by every fucking one. I kid you not, it took 20 minutes to fill out the ballot, then review it for errors. I was surprised how civil everyone was, and how smoothly it ran.

It was a scene like I used to see, when all voting was done on Election Day. It was mostly old people (of course), and a local news station interviewed the Lovely Wife in the parking lot. 

Whether this turnout keeps up for two weeks or not is an open question. When Beto ran, turnout was heavy; but Cruz is still a Senator. So who knows?🤷‍♂️

We will see what we will see. As the curse has it: “May you live in interesting times.”

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Trump/Elmo: “We’re Still Looking For Who’s Responsible For This.”

Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy says Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the Kyiv region in several waves overnight, along with more than 200 drones, including jet powered Shaheds, and that Ukraine again received no early warning from its partners.
' Zelenskyy said a medical clinic, a school, a metro station and residential buildings were damaged. He said Russia hit energy facilities in 11 regions, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Vinnytsia, damaging more than 10 energy sites and leaving at least 550,000 families without power.

Zelensky said Ukraine has accepted every ceasefire proposal, and that Russia’s response has been missiles and drones. He said that blocking deliveries of air defense missiles to Ukraine while Russia gets relief or delays in sanctions is “a denial of reality” by partners. He did not say which partners or which deliveries.

The attack follows a similar overnight barrage October 13th into the 14th, after President Donald J. Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on October 11th. President Trump said October 13th that the U.S. is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
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But Somebody Said El-Sayed Was Smug

So what exactly ARE El-Sayed's so-called ties to terrorism.

His half-sister (raised by his mother) said his mother was a member of it in the 70s.

A few things about that.

1. The Muslim Brotherhood had already denounced terrorism.

2. El-Sayed wasn't even born.

3. El-Sayed was raised by his father and step-mother since he was 3.

5. The specific allegations that led to the designation only happened in the last two years.

So 50 years before these things happened, and 10 years before he was born, his mom belonged to them.

If this sounds like Obama's Brother Part 2, it's because it is.

This isn't about truth. It's about smuggling in racist assumptions.
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“You Have The New Heliport And Ballroom”

What color is the sky on his planet? Time is a fluid concept to old people. It’s a women’s healthcare event. He’s going to win the women’s vote for the GOP with this. She’s flying straight back to NYC.
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Sunday, October 18, 2026

Hot Political Takes

Because I mentioned El Sayed:
Here's the most important detail about mid-20s former @HawleyMO staffer Tommy Teepell getting his ass handed to him by @AbdulElSayed .

Teepell's Daddy was just offering people $200 to make just THOSE KINDS of stupid comments.

Tommy is a paid agitator and he STILL stepped all over his own dick.
Pretty sure El Sayed knew this, or at least wasn’t surprised by, Teepell’s question. Yeah, about those polls and the models they’re using: Early voting in Texas starts tomorrow. As my uncle used to say: “Clever, these Chinese.” Trump can’t walk in a straight line. (This should be a baseline qualification to run for the office.) We’ll always have Paris. News Nation is dumb enough to believe this. But given the track record of this Administration, it’s still credible. “[B]eyond anything the public has understood the case to be about” just means the models of our expectations are as unprepared for reality as the Texas election polls. Well, very likely. The future is still the Great Unknown. And News Nation is still as credible as Trump.
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October 9

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that he, President Donald J. Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet next month to discuss the war in Ukraine, without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to people familiar with the discussions who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. A former Russian intelligence officer said Putin raised it in an Oct. 9 call with Trump.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed discussions are taking place, saying there is “no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda.” A senior U.S. official said Trump has not agreed but could be receptive. The White House declined to comment.

The Kremlin suggested holding it on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, Nov. 18 and 19, the sources said. Others close to the talks said China indicated it would not object if Trump is on board.
Earlier:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier today that he held a phone call with White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and White House Envoy Jared Kushner. Per the statement from President Zelensky, discussions were centered on peace negotiations and past contacts that were had recently in Florida.

This comes amidst this past week’s U.S. waiver of key Russian sanctions and the throttling of Ukraine’s Starshield access which hampered Ukraine’s offensive capabilities significantly.
Context is all.
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This Is The “Genius”…

Trump: "My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table. Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations! Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want! Perhaps more importantly, Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way. Lastly, Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States. Farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all kinds are suffering greatly from this, but Russia is, nevertheless, sending, at a low price, millions of barrels of diesel to the World. Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did. He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now. His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead. I WANT THIS WAR END! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP"
... who is going to declare “martial law”* because he won’t like the election returns, and intimidate millions of voters (most of whom will have voted by Election Day) with ICE and DOJ monitors, and armed military personnel, and seize voting machines and force Mike Johnson to force the House clerk to refuse to seat the entire House; or just the new members; or just the Democrats; or just the New Democrats (the conspiracy theory hasn’t worked out those details yet, even though its most prominent proponent is a retired federal judge), or Trump will cancel elections because “NATIONAL SECURITY!”**

The guy who lost 60+ futile and bootless court cases in 2020, and wholly failed to change a THING!, is going to succeed this time in an election in which HE HAS NO ROLE WHATSOEVER!  This guy:
Funny, that. It’s barely an alteration on this: He’s been saying that for at least a month now, at every rally. No one seems to notice that IT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING SENSE in a healthcare system where you need health insurance to see a GP, or buy anything stronger than aspirin,  a system that’s been that way for the past 50 years (yes, I do remember when “health insurance” meant “hospitalization,” and pharmacies were places doling out prescriptions for acute, seldom chronic, conditions.).  So what he’s really saying is : “FUCK YOU, DROP DEAD! GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT HELP YOU!” I swear, if it wasn’t for AARP, he’d have shuttered Medicare in the One Big Ugly Disaster.

And people still don’t think he means what he says, because he sounds so stupid saying it. And then others attribute massively stupid possible actions to him. It’s like they can’t get out of their own way to see him clearly.


*So do the people counseling Trump to declare “martial law,” or who fear he will. It’s not a legal concept countenanced by our constitution, legal system, or legal history. He might as well declare the landing of Apollo 11 secured the entire moon for the United States of America. But then MAGA would be upset because they all know the moon landing was faked.

**Yeah, that’s not a “GET OUT OF ELECTIONS FREE” card, either.
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💩

Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt when this happens:Rogers wants to hide behind the Sacred Narrative.  So, in his own way, does Bessent.
WELKER: Zelenskyy just said he believes the US government slowed Starlink. Can you definitely say no one in the Trump administration ordered restrictions?

BESSENT: President Trump and Secretary Rubio have categorically said that no one in the Trump administration did that. President Zelenskyy should be very careful about making reckless statements like that
"Reckless statements”? Coming from this administration, that’s hilarious. (Trump said he doesn’t know what’s going on. Elmo said Starshield is run by the Pentagon, not SpaceX. So apparently, nobody’s in charge? That’s a good look.) (Elmo doesn’t want people to realize he can cut off their StarLink, too. Starshield is a government contracted program. If Musk arbitrarily decided to slow down Ukraine, then that’s yet another problem. Bessent is covering himself in all kinds of shit, here.)
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Hit Dog’ll Holler

It’s better (pardon my pettiness, but I don’t disavow that!) in context: Hewitt objects to a real answer rather than a fake answer. An answer like this is more comfortable? (And the attack was in March, and Vance still hadn’t heard of it?) Even CBS had to get in on it; So, the Sacred Narrative* must be preserved, must be bowed down to, and “disavowal” must be ritually performed according to the rites approved by the right wing. El Sayed failed to complete the ritual. Therefore , he failed to “disavow.” Pay attention: he disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood twice in that conversation, but he shredded the basis for the requirement that he do so. And that’s the problem for Tommy and Jan and Hugh and Ari.

Yeah, Tommy was not a concerned voter, he was a plant looking to score points. El Sayed proved he’s fit to stand on the floor of the chamber of “the greatest deliberative body in the world” and stand his ground.

I call that a win.

*Yes, the tweet was deleted, but the text remains. The powers that be at CBS were less than pleased. There are many Sacred Narratives that must be observed.


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Saturday, October 17, 2026

🤦‍♂️

I used to tell people I’d been yelled at in court by judges, Id learned could handle  anything.

Seriously, if you’re in court as a lawyer, expect the judge to yell at you. I don’t mean it’s a common occurrence, but judges run their courtrooms. And sometimes they do that by yelling. You just move on. 

Whinging, in print, in court pleadings, that the judge was mean to you, is frankly unprofessional. Even if the judge is a demented asshole, you preserve your error and make the best of a bad situation. One of the first trials I worked on involved two defendants and a complicated set of facts. All the parties planned on a trial lasting at least three weeks.  The federal judge announced he had a trial set in Pecos (we were in Austin) in a week, and that was all the time he had for this trial. The plaintiff got two days to make their case, each defendant got one day for their defense, with the first day for jury selection. That was arguably more error than berating incompetent counsel (who are always fodder for any judge’s ire.). 

All this pleading really establishes is that the DOJ now has to look up to see bottom.  It’s gonna be a long time recovering from Trump.
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The Important Thing

Does any of that make any sense? The arena holds 8500, at best. He seems to be confusing Montana with Arizona, which was an outdoor event. SOCIALISM! Texas has almost 20,000 windmills, more than any state in the country. The windmills are real, the factories are only of his mind. That’s the important thing.
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All They’ve Got

Trump: "We have 5 states where your child goes off to school as Tim and comes back as Tammy 3 or 4 days later. It's true. And teachers make a decision. 'Goodbye Timmy I love you so much, I'll see you later.' And you say, 'Where's my son? My son is in the hospital.' Can you imagine? They don't even need approval"
Only Trump can imagine it. What nobody else can imagine, is what this sick fantasy has to do with the price of gas, or diesel, or food. Or how it addresses blatant corruption and government of, by, and for the billionaires.

Which seems to be what people are ready to vote against.
Pretty they aren’t motivated by fear of forced trans surgeries.
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(Im)Plausible Deniability

Following Russia’s devastating overnight attacks that heavily targeted Ukraine’s energy grid, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to X today to decry recent actions by the White House that saw additional Russian sanctions waived on top of the current 6 month oil and gas export waiver implemented in the last two weeks.
Latest: ​Zelenskyy tells reporters over WhatsApp that restrictions on Ukraine's Starlink systems remain. Interceptor drones can't function, logistics and operations hobbled. The maximum speed is 161 kph; "exceeding this limit causes the Starlink connection to cut out completely, resulting in the loss of the drone."

He says Ukraine has done tests to determine whether SpaceX is truly facing technical issues, as has been told Kyiv by the US side, or if this is a "deliberate operation... to restrict us, cut us off, and prevent us from defending ourselves and protecting our people, both at the front and among the civilian population."

He says Ukraine "sent a couple of vehicles equipped with Starlink terminals into European Union territory."

"They moved at speeds exceeding 180kph, and the Starlink systems worked perfectly. We have the relevant logs and evidence to prove this."

He adds: "The conclusion is clear: the restrictions are in effect within Ukraine but do not apply within the European Union. In other words, this is a planned operation."
Elon Musk proposed slowing down Starlink for Ukraine to President Trump, according to four sources familiar with the discussions who spoke to The Telegraph. One said Trump “agreed,” paving the way for the Pentagon to put speed limits on Starshield, the military version of Starlink that Ukraine uses to intercept jet powered drones and strike behind enemy lines. A European official and two Ukrainian sources confirmed that version to the paper.

The report conflicts with public statements. Musk wrote on X Wednesday that “any limits on speed or usage” are “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Trump said Friday that neither he nor Musk was responsible. A senior U.S. official told AFP the president made no such request. Reuters reported Thursday, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official, that the order came from inside the White House and reached Pentagon leaders as a message that Starshield needed to be slowed. The Pentagon has not publicly explained the restrictions.

Ukraine says the limit, about 100 mph (160 km/h), disrupted strike missions and the drones it uses to intercept Russia’s jet powered drones. Zelensky said Friday that Kyiv received signals from the White House that capabilities would be returned, but that speeds had not gone back to the previous limit.

The limit came as Washington pressed Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries in an effort to relieve strained supplies.
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🎶Somethin’ Happenin’ Here🎶

🎶Everybody look at what's goin' down🎶
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Seems Like Old Times

Rep. Omar’s lawyers sent a letter to DOJ prosecutors
They also sought the preservation of any records from a 2019 inquiry into Omar’s immigration history, which unfolded during Trump’s first administration. The Post reported Thursday that as part of that review, career immigration officials examined many of the same issues at the heart of the current probe — including questions over Omar’s birth date and her father’s military record in Somalia — and determined there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing to warrant a full investigation.

“The political motivations behind this pre-election investigation and search are clear as day,” Omar’s attorneys wrote, adding: “This search was neither justified nor lawful.”
Desperately searching for something in the last seven years they can use to establish a RICO violation. Everything old is old again.

As for the search itself:
Among the restrictions the attorneys said agents did not follow were provisions requiring investigators to provide Omar’s lawyers with a copy of the warrant and to contact the House Office of General Counsel before carrying out the search. That would have given Omar the chance to consult with congressional attorneys on any legislative work product that might have been exempt from federal seizure, her lawyers said.
Her lawyers say she wasn’t given that opportunity until an hour into the search. Now ordinarily, DOJ would decline comment. But this is Trump’s DOJ:
A Justice Department spokesperson dismissed the letter as “riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies.”

“Our attorneys and law enforcement partners complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Leaking a letter to the press right after sending it is not good faith. It is a publicity play.”
Trump’s DOJ can’t resist an opportunity to try this case in the court of public opinion. 

Omar's lawyers said:
“There is no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status,” the letter read. “Still, recent experience teaches that the absence of a proper predicate has not stopped this Administration from pursuing politically motivated criminal investigations into President Trump’s opponents.”
Trump’s DOJ seems determined to prove them right.
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