The Conversation -- January 21, 2025
Bill Kristol of the Bulwark: "Shortly after noon yesterday, Donald Trump took the oath of office. He swore that he would 'faithfully execute the office of president of the United States' and would, to the best of his ability, 'preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.' He spent the rest of the day violating that oath.... Trump's embrace of illegality and unconstitutionality was a feature, not a bug, of Day One of his presidency. From abrogating the law governing TikTok to trying to end birthright citizenship -- not to mention a host of other actions, especially but not only concerning immigration -- Trump made clear that a lawless presidency is at the core of his vision for his second term. Yet in a way the most radical statement of lawlessness was an act for which Trump does have constitutional authority: the pardon, or in a few cases commutation, of all the criminals and defendants involved in the January 6th assault on the Capitol. The pardons included the most violent and unrepentant of the convicts, and the leaders of dangerous extremist groups."
Jack Detsch & Paul McLeary of Politico: "Homeland Security officials have removed Adm. Linda Fagan from her role as the Coast Guard's commandant, according to a note sent to service members -- the first firing of a top military officer under the Trump administration. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Huffman, in his message, said Fagan had been relieved and Adm. Kevin E. Lunday would become the service's acting commandant.... A senior DHS official said Fagan was removed for failing to address border threats, allowing delays and cost overruns in the Coast Guard's icebreaker and helicopter programs, and putting an 'excessive focus' on diversity and inclusion efforts that diverted 'resources and attention from operational imperatives.'... Fagan was the first female service chief of a U.S.military branch.... But Fagan's firing ran into immediate protests from some top Democratic lawmakers."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Florida stopped the Justice Department on Tuesday from releasing to Congress a potentially damning section of a report by the former special counsel, Jack Smith, detailing his lengthy investigation of ... [Donald] Trump's mishandling of classified documents. In a strongly worded 14-page order, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, said that federal prosecutors should not be allowed to share the section of the two-volume report with anyone outside the Justice Department, including members of Congress, given the risk that the information, some of which she said had not yet been made public, could slip out.... Merrick B. Garland, then the attorney general, had proposed showing the classified documents section of Mr. Smith's report to the four top leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.... Mr. Trump's lawyers and the other defense lawyers in the case have vehemently fought the release of the report to anyone outside the Justice Department."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "One day after ... Donald J. Trump issued a sweeping legal reprieve to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, some of the defendants started having their cases dismissed or even began to be released from custody. By Tuesday afternoon, two of the country's most prominent far-right extremists -- Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys and Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers militia -- who played central roles in the Capitol attack had been set free.... Defendants have also started to be released from the local jail in Washington, where several rioters have been held in recent years in a special area nicknamed the 'patriot wing.' On Monday night, two brothers from Pennsylvania, Matthew and Andrew Valentin, were set free, only days after being sentenced to two and a half years each on charges of assaulting the police."
Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: "Attorneys general from 18 states sued ... [Donald] Trump on Tuesday to block an executive order that refuses to recognize the U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants as citizens, the opening salvo in what promises to be a long legal battle over the Trump administration's immigration policies. The complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts was joined by the cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C.... [Trump's] order flew in the face of more than 100 years of legal precedent.... The courts recognized only a narrow exception for the children of accredited diplomats. But there are signs the judiciary could be divided on the issue. Judge James C. Ho, whom Mr. Trump nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, has ... liken[ed] unauthorized immigrants to an invading army. That comparison has also been made by lawyers for the State of Texas and another declaration by Mr. Trump that illegal crossings at the southern border amount to an 'ongoing invasion.'" An NBC News report is here.
Jonathan Landay of Reuters: "Nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, are having their flights canceled under ... Donald Trump's order suspending U.S. refugee programs, a U.S. official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday. The group includes unaccompanied minors awaiting reunification with their families in the U.S. as well as Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution because they fought for the former U.S.-backed Afghan government, said Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of U.S. veterans and advocacy groups and the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Petty, Petty, Petty. Kaitlin Collins of CNN: "Within hours of taking office..., Donald Trump terminated the Secret Service detail that was assigned to his former national security adviser John Bolton, Bolton confirmed to CNN on Tuesday. Bolton, who left the Trump White House in November 2019, has required ongoing US Secret Service protection because of threats against him from Iran. Trump initially terminated his protection after he left his administration in the first term, but President Joe Biden restored it once he took office."
Julie Tsirkin, et al., of NBC News: "Senators received an affidavit Tuesday from the former sister-in-law of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which she says his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. The receipt of the affidavit comes after Senate Armed Services Committee staffers were in contact with Hegseth's former sister-in-law for several days. The former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, submitted the affidavit in response to a Jan. 18 letter from Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., seeking 'a statement attesting to your personal knowledge about Mr. Hegseth's fitness to occupy this important position.'... Reed said in a statement Tuesday, 'As I have said for months, the reports of Mr. Hegseth's history of alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and public misconduct necessitate an exhaustive background investigation. I have been concerned that the background check process has been inadequate, and this sworn affidavit confirms that fact.' He added that 'the alleged pattern of abuse and misconduct by Mr. Hegseth ... would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.' Danielle describes in the affidavit allegations of volatile and threatening conduct by Hegseth that made his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, fear for her safety."
Here's a 21st-century version of Scott Fitzgerald's "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me." ~~~
~~~ Sigal Samuel of Vox: "For the tech bros -- or as some say, the broligarchs -- [MAGA] is about much more than just maintaining and growing their riches. It's about ... An ideology inspired by science fiction and fantasy. An ideology that says they are supermen, and supermen should not be subject to rules, because they're doing something incredibly important: remaking the world in their image.... Their philosophy goes well beyond simple libertarianism. It's not just that they want a government that won't tread on them. They want absolutely zero limits on their power. Not those dictated by democratic governments, by financial systems, or by facts.... All of these men see themselves as the heroes or protagonists in their own sci-fi saga. And a key part of being a 'technological superman' -- or ubermensch, as the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche would say -- is that you;re above the law.... They valorize aggression, which is coded as male." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Jules Feiffer's New York Times obituary is here. A Washington Post obituary is linked below.
~~~~~~~~~~
Marie: Donald Trump has chosen a comic-book villain portrait as his official photo. Even if he de-selects it, I will continue to use it. It's old, fat, ugly Lex Luthor with fake hair. Here's Lex:
Here's Donald:
Everything Donald Trump Does Is Lawless and/or Corrupt and/or Stupid. When you're a dictator, they let you do it.
The New York Times' live updates of Trumpy stuff today are here.
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "... Trump took the oath of office at noon Monday, and within hours he had signed dozens of executive orders and issued nearly 1,600 pardons as he quickly sought to remake the federal government and test the limits of his authority. His actions touched on some of the biggest policy issues in American life, from health to the environment to immigration, and he promised other consequential changes in the coming days. Here are eight of the most significant moves the president made on Day 1. He pardoned nearly all the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.... He withdrew from the World Health Organization.... He began a crackdown on immigration.... He sought to put off a ban on TikTok.... He withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.... He enacted a federal hiring freeze.... He gutted racial equity policies and protections for transgender people. He promised tariffs against Canada and Mexico." ~~~
~~~ Marie: By the time Donald Trump's presidency* ended on January 20, 2021, he had more than proved his had been the worst presidency* in U.S. history. By the time the first half-day of Donald Trump's presidency* ended on January 20, 2025, he had proved his had been the two worst presidencies* in U.S. history. ~~~
~~~ It's Just a Show, Folks! Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "The executive orders include some things that scholars and legal experts say may be out of the reach of the president's pen and could be tied up in courts or legislatures for years.... No matter what the ultimate legal outcomes, the executive orders -- some of them signed in front of an arena full of cheering admirers Monday evening -- give Trump's supporters a sense of progress. They also shift the political pressure to Trump's opponents if they try to undo the actions he promised his movement.... Some of Trump's actions faced immediate legal challenge. Before he had left the U.S. Capitol where he was inaugurated, three lawsuits raised legal questions about his appointment of ... Elon Musk to run the nongovernmental 'Department of Government Efficiency.'" ~~~
~~~ Zach Beauchamp of Vox: "Ever since Donald Trump declared he'd act like a dictator on Day 1 during his presidential campaign, there have been real concerns that he'd be true to his word.... With Trump's Inauguration Day in the rearview mirror, we're in a position to assess just how justified those fears were. Four specific moves -- illegally attempting to end birthright citizenship, reviving the Schedule F order that could initiate a civil service purge, pardoning January 6 rioters, and ordering multiple investigations into the Biden administration -- deserve particular attention. Each contributes, in its own way, to the weakening of democratic principles such as the rule of law and nonpartisan government that prevent authoritarian-inclined leaders like Trump from consolidating power.... They are tests, of a kind: early ways of assessing how resilient our system will prove to an anti-democratic leader." ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman, who is not my idea of a Chicken Little, sky-in-falling sort of alarmist: "Basically, American democracy may just have died. For now..., [economic issues seem] insignificant beside the reality that the president of the United States has thrown himself fully behind political violence."
Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: "In a series of orders he signed on Monday evening, Mr. Trump moved to seal the nation's borders against migrants and systematically crack down on undocumented immigrants already in the United States, part of a policy barrage that included a national emergency declaration to deploy the military to the border and a bid to cut off birthright citizenship for the children of noncitizens. While some of the orders were likely to face steep legal challenges and might be difficult or impossible to enforce, the directives sent an unmistakable message that Mr. Trump was serious about fulfilling his frequent campaign promises of clamping down on the border, and escalating an anti-immigration agenda that he has made the centerpiece of his political identity." Read on. Related story linked below. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is a horror story. A number of these orders are unlawful and/or unconstitutional as of now. "As of now" because who knows how far the Supremes will bend over to accommodate dictatorial orders. I guess they're limbering up. (I can picture O'Kavanaugh leading the exercise class. First lesson: how to do deep knee bends while wearing a robe.) ~~~
~~~ Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "The acting head of the U.S. immigration court system and three other top officials were fired on Monday soon after ... Trump took office, according to three people familiar with the matter.... Immigration judges ... [grant] asylum to migrants whose claims pass muster and ordering the deportation of those whose cases do not. Tom Jawetz, a senior lawyer in the Homeland Security Department in the Biden administration, said the move suggested that Mr. Trump would try to insert loyalists who could undermine veteran career officials..., as he did during his first term."
So Long, Rule of Law. Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump on Monday pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, and commuted the sentences of leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. 'These are the hostages,' Trump said from the Oval Office, referring to the convicted and charged defendants. 'Approximately 1,500 for a pardon -- full pardon.' By pardoning the defendants, Trump has granted full clemency to hundreds of people already convicted of felony crimes like assaulting police and destroying property as part of the effort to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: It is now legal to commit violence in pursuit of Donald Trump's interests. Sure, you could get arrested. But you aren't likely to be prosecuted now. If prosecutors do happen to bring a case against you, there's a very good chance the Dear Leader will pardon you. ~~~
~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "By including Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, in his extraordinary pardons for the events of Jan. 6, 2021, President Trump granted clemency on Monday to a man whom prosecutors have described as a savvy, street-fighting extremist who helped his compatriots in 'Trump's army' initiate an assault on the Capitol. Mr. Tarrio, 42, was serving a 22-year prison term after being convicted of seditious conspiracy and other felonies for his role in the Capitol attack. His was the longest sentence handed down against any of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with Jan. 6. A representative for Mr. Tarrio said he had been released from a federal prison in Louisiana and was expected to return to Miami, his hometown, on Tuesday afternoon." ~~~
~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "... on Monday, when Mr. Trump commuted [Stewart] Rhodes' 18-year prison term to time served, he effectively validated the far-right leader's belief that his criminal prosecution was a kind of political persecution, as he had defiantly claimed. Mr. Rhodes, who spent more than a decade running the Oath Keepers [militia] before his arrest in 2022, was in the Federal Correctional Institute in Cumberland, Md., when his grant of clemency was handed down. It remained unclear when he might be freed. While Mr. Rhodes never entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, prosecutors said he oversaw a large contingent of Oath Keepers as they concocted 'a plan for an armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of democracy' -- the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election. Prosecutors also said he was on the Capitol grounds as military-style 'stacks' of his militia's members made their way into the building and other armed members stood ready as a 'quick reaction force' at a hotel in Virginia in case things went wrong." ~~~
~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The effort to prosecute the violent mob that ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the leaders of far-right groups who egged them on, represented the biggest and most logistically complex investigation in the history of the Justice Department.... Donald J. Trump erased it in an instant on Inauguration Day.... It sent a shock wave among current and former prosecutors who believe his release of prisoners, whom he calls 'hostages,' undermines the rule of law.... The shocking attack on the Capitol was the most significant hostile breach of the national legislature since the War of 1812.... The announcement of the pardons came amid questions about the fate of the department at a time when Mr. Trump has vowed to punish anyone, including prosecutors or political opponents, involved in the efforts to hold him accountable for his actions in the aftermath of his loss in the 2020 election." ~~~
~~~ New York Times Editors: "Mr. Trump's mass pardon effectively makes a mockery of a justice system that has labored for four years to charge nearly 1,600 people who tried to stop the Constitution in its tracks, a system that convicted 1,100 of them and that sentenced more than 600 of them to prison. Most important, the mass pardon sends a message to the country and the world that violating the law in support of Mr. Trump and his movement will be rewarded, especially when considered alongside his previous pardons of his advisers. It loudly proclaims, from the nation's highest office, that the rioters did nothing wrong, that violence is a perfectly legitimate form of political expression and that no price need be paid by those who seek to disrupt a sacred constitutional transfer of power.... To open his term with such an act of contempt toward the legal system is audacious, even for Mr. Trump...."
Here Is Trump Casually Announcing He Will Impose Crippling Tariffs on Our Biggest Trading Partners & Closest Neighbors. Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Monday night that he planned to impose a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 and might impose levies on most American imports, as he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to deliver a sweeping review of U.S. trade policies by this spring. Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Monday evening, Mr. Trump said he was thinking of putting tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products because those nations were allowing 'mass numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in.' Asked when he might put those in place, Mr. Trump said, 'I think we'll do it Feb. 1.' Mr. Trump also said he 'may' impose a universal tariff on all imports, saying that 'essentially all countries take advantage of the U.S.'" MB: Yeah, whatever. Grievance tariffs are so much fun. So what if they blow up the world's economy?
The White Man's Burden Rule. Erica Green & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "... Trump on Monday ordered his administration to gut policies instituted under the Biden administration to prevent sex discrimination and protect transgender Americans, and dismantle federal programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Mr. Trump's actions ... assert that the government will now defend women against 'gender ideology extremism' by reversing 'efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex.' They also call for ending D.E.I. programs and the 'termination of all discriminatory programs' in the government, including in federal employment practices. The executive orders included a mix of administrative measures, such as changing government forms to include only two genders, as well as assertions dismissing the validity of gender identity entirely. A gender identity other than the one assigned at birth, an order said, 'reflects a fully internal and subjective sense of self' and 'does not provide a meaningful basis for identification.' The actions also effectively shut down an array of programs and practices aimed at reversing decades of systemic inequities and discriminatory practices that have disproportionately affected Black people and other underserved communities." ~~~
~~~ Jack Detsch of Politico: "... Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday night that repeals a provision allowing transgender troops to serve in the military, part of a wide-ranging effort to end Biden-era policies his first day in office. Trump issued a ban during his first administration that prevented transgender troops from serving, which former President Joe Biden eliminated. While Trump did not institute a new ban, the repeal of the Biden-era executive order clears the way for one."
Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: "... Trump's executive order decrying the 'weaponization' of the Justice Department instructs his attorney general to scour federal law enforcement agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission for any indications of political bias in work conducted under the Biden administration. The same executive order instructs the director of national intelligence to conduct a similar review of intelligence agencies. Both reviews will culminate in a report to the White House and recommendations for 'remedial action.'... The order ... leaves vague what it means by the stated goal to 'ensure accountability for the previous administration's weaponization of the Federal government against the American people.' The executive order ... begins with a list of misleading accusations against the Biden administration for what Mr. Trump has long claimed to be unfair use of the criminal justice system against him, his supporters and conservatives generally." MB: When an order is too Trumpy for Devlin Barrett, it's very Trumpy.
Sarah Owermohle, et al., of STAT: "... [Donald] Trump began his second term Monday with a sweeping order aimed at reversing dozens of former President Biden's top priorities, from regulations aimed at lowering health care costs, to coronavirus outreach, Affordable Care Act expansions, and protections against gender-based discrimination. The 'initial rescissions' order, signed in front of cheering crowds at the Capital One Arena, revokes dozens of Biden administration policies that the new White House called inflammatory, inflationary, and possibly illegal. They include an October 2022 order to test Medicare and Medicaid models that could lower health care costs, an extension, Biden said, of his administration's signature achievement to negotiate drug prices in the Inflation Reduction Act. Trump is also peeling back certain Biden administration efforts to expand access to Covid-19 treatments and vaccines, the 2021 formation of a Gender Policy Council, and multiple gender and sex discrimination protections. He ordered federal workers to return to their offices full time, and he froze federal hiring, with some exceptions."
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Trump moved quickly on Monday to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, a move that public health experts say will undermine the nation's standing as a global health leader and make it harder to fight the next pandemic. In an executive order issued about eight hours after he took the oath of office, Mr. Trump cited a string of reasons for the withdrawal, including the W.H.O.'s 'mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic,' and the 'failure to adopt urgently needed reforms.' He said the agency demands 'unfairly onerous payments' from the United States, and complained that China pays less." MB: The irony of Trump's complaining about the mishandling of the Covid pandemic should not be lost on any of us. Pass the bleach.
David McCabe of the New York Times: "... Trump signed an executive order on Monday to delay enforcing a federal ban of TikTok for 75 days, even though the law took effect on Sunday and it is unclear that such a move could override it. The order, one of Mr. Trump's first acts after taking office, instructs the attorney general not to take any action to enforce the law so that his administration has 'an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.' The order is retroactive to Sunday. As he signed the order, Mr. Trump told reporters that 'the U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok' if a deal for the app is reached, without going into detail. He said he thought TikTok could be worth a trillion dollars. The order could immediately face legal challenges, including over whether a president has the power to halt enforcement of a federal law. Companies subject to the law, which forbids providing services to Chinese-owned TikTok, may determine that the order does not provide a shield from legal liability." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Okay, so the federal government is just going to seize half of TikTok? How does that work? Who would control TikTok? The Trump administration? Look, Trump already controls the Washington Post, the L.A. Times, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, maybe ABC and CBS, not to mention the Congress & the Supreme Court. So adding TikTok is no big deal.
Hansi Lo Wang of NPR: "Among the dozens of Biden-era executive orders that ... [Donald] Trump revoked on Monday was one that had reversed the first Trump administration's unprecedented policy of altering a key set of census results. Since the first U.S. census in 1790, no resident has ever been omitted from those numbers because of immigration status. And after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment has called for the population counts that determine each state's share of U.S. House seats and Electoral College votes to include the 'whole number of persons in each state.' Biden's now-revoked 2021 order affirmed the longstanding practice of including the total number of persons residing in each state in those census results. It was issued in response to Trump's attempt during the national tally in 2020 to exclude millions of U.S. residents without legal status."
Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order seeking to rename the Gulf of Mexico and change the name of North America's tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, back to Mount McKinley. 'A short time from now we are going to be changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. And we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs,' he said in his inauguration speech, referring to Denali."
Here are yesterday's New York Times' live updates of what Trump did in the afternoon, including signing a bunch of executive orders at the Capital One Arena. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Petty Vindictiveness of a Pitiful Tyrant. Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The Pentagon on Monday removed a portrait of Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a corridor of the building filled with paintings of all of his predecessors. The decision to take down the portrait was an early salvo by the new administration against a military establishment that ... Trump has assailed for a variety of perceived offenses. The portrait of the now retired General Milley went up last week in the last days of the Biden administration. Less than two hours after Mr. Trump took the oath of office, Pentagon officials had taken it down. A U.S. official said that 'the White House' ordered the removal. The official declined to speak further.... President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a pre-emptive pardon for General Milley before he left office. Taking down the general's portrait is unprecedented; the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is viewed as apolitical." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico has an item here.
David Sanger of the New York Times: "'Nothing will stand in our way.' With that six-word vow..., [Donald] Trump described how he planned to make his second term in office differ from his first.... The great disrupter made clear that he does not intend to be thwarted this time in making America far more conservative at home and more imperial abroad. In his 29-minute inaugural address, Mr. Trump wasted no time on lofty appeals to American ideals. Instead, he spoke with a tone of aggression intended to be heard by domestic and foreign audiences as a warning that America under a more experienced Donald Trump will not take no for an answer." Read on. Prepare to be horrified.
Here are the New York Times' live updates of inaugural activities yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.)
Elizabeth Dias of the New York Times: "As Donald J. Trump raised his right hand to take the oath of office as president on Monday, his left stayed at his side. Although his wife, Melania Trump, held two Bibles, Mr. Trump did not put his hand on either. The longstanding tradition of taking the presidential oath with one hand on a Bible stretches back to George Washington and was observed by Mr. Trump in 2017. But doing so is not a requirement." MB: Hey, that's great. At least he won't go to hell for making this porkie of an oath, although he might still on the hook with the heavenly gatekeepers for repeatedly breaking that first oath.
Here's a New York Times photo of some of the people who attended Trump's pretend swearing-in. Question: So if you have knowledge that sitting on your desk is an unconstitutional order you intend to sign within hours, are you really taking an oath of office and are you really president*? ~~~
~~~ Melania Trump & Ivanka Trump showed up looking elegantly dressed for a funeral. (WashPo link) Melanie's hat, according to the accompanying article, had a brim "so wide that it blocked the president from giving his wife a kiss just before his swearing-in." Question: If the oath you take is a lie, are you really president*? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Michael Birnbaum & Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "The Capitol Rotunda saw a concentration of wealth on Monday so rare as to be historic: a caste of magnates worth more than $1 trillion, gathered behind Donald Trump as he was sworn in as the nation's 47th president, delivering a standing ovation and implicitly pledging their support to his agenda as he declared plans to expand U.S. territory, cast aside transgender rights and end 'radical political theories' in the U.S. military.... The magnates got pride of place on the stage, seated a row ahead of Trump's Cabinet, most of whom were forced to crane their necks to peer between the heads of the world's richest man, Elon Musk, and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai to catch a glimpse of the festivities."
Dominic Patten & Ted Johnson of Deadline: "Elon Musk offered Donald Trump supporters what looked a lot like a Nazi salute today on live TV to cheers from the MAGA crowd. As social media exploded with condemnation of what some were calling a 'Sieg Heil,' with some others applauding the world's richest man's gesture, there was also some speculation that Musk's movement was more like that of an Imperial Roman general in the Gladiator mode. In point of fact, Musk turned around and gave the salute a second time almost immediately afterwards to supporters seated behind him at DC's Capitol One Arena." (Also linked yesterday.) Here's the New York Times story. ~~~
~~~ Thus, forcing RAS to post this notice:
~~~ David Gilbert of Wired: "Neo-Nazis are celebrating Elon Musk making two Nazi-like salutes during a speech to tens of thousands of ... Donald Trump supporters on Monday.... 'WE ARE FUCKING BACK' the administrator of a Nazi meme channel on Telegram wrote under a clip of Musk giving the salute. Members of the group responded with the lightning bolt emoji, a well-known neo-Nazi reference to the SS."
So It Begins. Arelis Hernández of the Washington Post: "As Trump took office promising to immediately halt 'all illegal entry' to the country, an increasingly desperate scene played out immediately across the border from El Paso in the city of Juárez, Mexico. Dozens of people arrived in the early-morning hours Monday lugging babies wrapped in blankets and the few belongings they had hoped to bring with them into the United States. Those with the earliest appointments ... with U.S. immigration officials through CBP One ... were allowed in. But by early afternoon, migrants ... were getting messages first saying their appointments were being pushed back, and then that they were no longer valid." MB: Let's be clear. These were NOT people seeking "illegal entry." They had been waiting for months, following rules set by the Biden administration. (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "The Senate confirmed Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, on Monday as America's 72nd secretary of state, putting a former political rival of ... Trump at the helm of American diplomacy. Mr. Rubio, 53, was unanimously confirmed in a 99-to-0 vote, becoming the first Latino to occupy the job and Mr. Trump's first cabinet secretary to be confirmed. In his last act as a sitting senator, Mr. Rubio voted for himself, giving the Senate clerks a thumbs up as colleagues from both parties applauded." MB: It took Trump 432 days to fire Rex Tillerson. How long will Rubio last? (Tillerson was a retired oil executive; he had plenty of money & didn't need a government job. Rubio, on the other hand, has had government jobs all his adult life and has a young family. I'd guess getting fired would be a hardship for him and his family. Good luck, Little Marco.) ~~~
~~~ Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "Earlier Monday, Pete Hegseth and John Ratcliffe, Trump's picks to lead the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency respectively, also mustered approval from the Senate committees overseeing their nominations -- necessary steps before they can be considered by the full Senate. Hegseth, a former Fox News host and soldier in the National Guard whose nomination process has been clouded by allegations of sexual assault, financial mismanagement, excessive drinking and other misconduct, barely scraped by. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved him 14 to 13, along party lines.... The leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence [Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) & Mark Warner (D-Va.)], meanwhile, urged a swift Senate-wide vote to confirm Ratcliffe, 59."
Hannah Dormido, et al., of the Washington Post: "In a 64-35 vote, the Senate passed an immigration bill that mandates the detention of undocumented individuals accused of theft or burglary. The measure is now headed to the House, where it is expected to pass, probably becoming the first piece of legislation ... Donald Trump signs into law."
Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "The era of the Shakedown Economy has officially begun -- and it started with something called a presidential 'sh[it]coin.'... Two days before his inauguration, Donald Trump abruptly launched a new cryptocurrency, traded as '$TRUMP.'... This kind of crypto token or 'memecoin' is released and traded on public markets, sort of like a stock. Unlike stocks, however, memecoins have no cash flow, no fundamental value. There's no claim to a business's future profits, nor even the pretense of a business model. There's no clear use case; no one is pretending $TRUMP will be used in real-world transactions to pay for groceries or a haircut, or to send remittances. Rather, people buy memecoins such as $TRUMP solely because they think someone else might be willing to pay more for them someday. It's basically a whizbang-sounding Ponzi scheme.... The challenge now for anyone who bought these coins is that if they want to cash out, they have to find a greater fool willing to pay more...." ~~~
~~~ Judd Legum of Popular Information similarly describes Trump's "multi-billion dollar grift."
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "For four years as president, and for almost a half-century more in public life, Joseph R. Biden Jr. professed an optimistic, ironclad belief in the strength of America's democracy. But in the final moments of his presidency, Mr. Biden struck an uncharacteristically pessimistic note. Minutes before his successor was sworn in, Mr. Biden pardoned five of his family members, condemning political attacks by Donald J. Trump and his allies and saying, 'I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.'... It was a somber end to his long career in federal office, which began when he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 at age 29." MB: AND of course Donald Trump immediately proved Biden right.
Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: "In one of his final acts as president, Joe Biden on Monday commuted the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, whose case had become a rallying cry for the Indigenous movement in the nearly 50 years since his conviction for killing two FBI agents. Peltier, 80, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, had been serving two life sentences at a federal penitentiary in Florida for the 1975 slayings of agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler during a shootout at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden pardoned five members of his family in his last minutes in office, saying in a statement that he did so not because they did anything wrong but because he feared political attacks from ... Donald J. Trump. 'My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me -- the worst kind of partisan politics,' he said in his last statement as president. 'Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.' Mr. Biden's action pardoned James B. Biden, his brother; Sara Jones Biden, James's wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Mr. Biden's sister; John T. Owens, Ms. Owens's husband; and Francis W. Biden, Mr. Biden's brother. The White House announced the pardons with less than 20 minutes left in Mr. Biden's presidency, after he had already walked into the Capitol Rotunda to witness the swearing-in of Mr. Trump before leaving the Capitol for the last time as president." (Also linked yesterday.)
Erica Green of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Kamala D. Harris left Washington on Monday the way she entered her role on the same day five years ago: making history. After ... Trump's inauguration, Ms. Harris headed to Joint Base Andrews to take her last official flight home to California, supported by an all-female U.S. Air Force crew -- the first time such a crew has operated a C-32 aircraft for the military branch, according to an aide. It was a fitting end for a barrier-breaking vice president who rarely presented herself as such, a subtle nod to her historic ascendancy to the second-highest office in the nation. When she arrived in California, Ms. Harris will visit a fire station to thank firefighters who have been on the front lines of the wildfires that have torn through Los Angeles, putting even her own home in danger. She will also join the staff of the World Central Kitchen charity in distributing food to communities affected by the blazes."
Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "In one of its final acts, the Biden administration secured the release of two Americans held in Afghanistan in a prisoner swap for a Taliban member imprisoned in the United States on narcotics charges. The Taliban government freed Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty in exchange for Khan Mohammed, who was released from a U.S. federal prison. Mr. Biden issued a conditional commutation to Mr. Mohammed before he left office, though officials did not disclose the order until Mr. McKenty and Mr. Corbett were free."
Ali Bahrampour of the Washington Post: "Jules Feiffer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter and children's book author who was one of the most humorously neurotic literary voices of his generation, died Jan. 17 at his home in Upstate New York. He was 95."
Remi Tumin of the New York Times: "Cecile Richards, a former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and one of the country's most well-known defenders of abortion rights, died on Monday. She was 67. Ms. Richards was diagnosed in 2023 with glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. She died at home, her family said in a statement. A former political organizer, Ms. Richards was a daughter of former Gov. Ann Richards of Texas." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (20)
Hmmm…interestingly, the inauguration portrait (such as it is) of Fat Hitler looks even more villainous and cartoonish than the comic book character whose villainy was/is stupendous.
I guess it’s an index of the warped mindset of the MAGA crowd that they can look at that stoopid mug shot and feel only reverence and awe instead of breaking down in fits of giggling.
I guess he was going for the Mean Little Boy image, this kind of look.
Good job Little Donnie. Maybe you’ll scare a canary or two.
Like most (all?) of you, I didn’t have the stomach to listen to that whiny voice croaking out what passes among the Treason Crowd for an inauguration address, but I did scan the printed version.
I’ll give you quick look so you don’t have to lose bits of your soul doing it yourself.
Ahem…ready?
Me me me me me me. I’m a victim. I’m wonderful. They tried to KILL ME! God smacked them around.
Me me me.
Brag, lie, lie, lie, stoopid lie, brag.
Me me me.
Greatest ever ever ever. Never seen anything like it.
Me me me. Gulf of America. Millions and millions and millions of criminals.
Man, woman (pussy) me me me.
Victim. Snake oil. Best ever.
Pardon criminals! Deport deport deport. White Christian nationalism!!
Energy crisis! Drill! Me lie brag me lie brag.
Golden age.
Me.
That’s it. Wicked inspiring. No mention of ending Putin’s war against Ukraine. That lie-brag got the memory hole dump quicker than Junior can snort an eight ball.
It’s gonna be a long four years, but as always with this schmuck, there’s a lot of chaos, incompetence, stupidity, fuck ups, and foulness.
Okay. There goes another piece of my soul. Gee. That was a good one too.
Only about 1,460 days to go.
Wait til those MAGAts find out that a tariff on imports is actually
like a tax that they'll be paying on about half the stuff they buy.
They'll be revolting (most of them actually are revolting.)
@Akhilleus: Thanks for the Readers Digest edition. It's still sickening.
Just had a thought. I wonder if inmates in prisons around the country watched that fat fuck take the oath of office as president of the United States and thought to themselves “Shit. I’m in prison for the exact same stuff as this guy, but I’m looking at four more years in a cell. He’ll be spending the next four years in the White House, counting his billions made on a scam, flying around in Air Force One, playing golf and relaxing in his mansion in Florida.”
Same.Exact.Crimes.
Thanks, Supremes! Thanks Republicans. Thanks MSM! Thanks voters.
That hat looks familiar
Thanks, Marie, for the Jules Feiffer obit. I loved his stuff. Loved his dancer who would come up with various terpsichorean offerings on everything from springtime to voting issues. I had no idea he was still around. I can only imagine what he thought about the fat load of corrupt blubber now blackening the nation’s reputation once again.
Feiffer had a lot to say about the Tricky One back in the day, some of which holds true still. Except for the punch line.
The new punch line would be “Give him another chance to screw us all”.
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “... on Monday, when Mr. Trump commuted [Stewart] Rhodes’ 18-year prison term to time served, he effectively validated the far-right leader’s belief that his criminal prosecution was a kind of political persecution, as he had defiantly claimed."
Hell No, what it validated was the fact that Rhodes was working with the express encouragement of DJT to help him overthrow the election results. He was convicted in a court of law by a jury of his peers by the evidence presented before it. A nakedly self-serving pardon by a fellow collaborator does not validate bullshit lies of victimhood.
Vox
"The broligarchs have a vision for the new Trump term. It’s darker than you think.
The real reason Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos are supporting Trump."
by Sigal Samuel
I saw online that some people are calling Donald's new memecoin the Rube-L.
Seth Meyers last night
Reuters
"Nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active duty U.S. military personnel, are having their flights canceled under President Donald Trump's order suspending U.S. refugee programs, a U.S. official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday.
The group includes unaccompanied minors awaiting reunification with their families in the U.S. as well as Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution because they fought for the former U.S.-backed Afghan government, said Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of U.S. veterans and advocacy groups and the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity."
Looks like the Pretender immediately went to work playing chicken with the Supremes.
Since they've already proven to be chicken when confronted by the Executive or corporate interests, shouldn't be much of a contest.
It must feel like printing $$ to grifters like the t**** family!
Will Gottsegen, in The Atlantic, describes memecoins (like the one that Akhilleus mentioned a few weeks ago-"a coin inspired by the 'Hawk Tuah' girl) and writes that The Crypto World Is Already Mad at Trump
"Throughout Trump’s long history of cashing in on his personal brand, there has never been such a dramatic injection of artificial value. Both $TRUMP and $MELANIA are so-called memecoins. There are no business fundamentals under the hood, no practical use cases to speak of.
....
Nic Carter, a prominent crypto investor and Trump supporter, reasons that the unease is indicative of a broader panic, a slow-growing sense that Trump can’t be controlled in the way the industry might want. $TRUMP 'exposed the worst parts of the crypto industry to the public eye in a way that really didn’t need to happen, right when we were on the cusp of legitimacy'"
-------
Unsure if this was previously linked...think i'll need to look at it daily
Countdown Clock
Laura,
Countdown clock is essential even if 1459 days looks nauseating at present.
Also, I knew that Grifter Uxor, aka the greedy soft core porn Melanie, released her own Klepto tbingie, but didn’t catch on that it’s called “$Melania”, which for all the world looks like Smell (my) anias, which I guess is appropriate if you imagine that her releasing this thing is like letting out a big smelly fart.
Entirely appropriate for the Trump Crime Family of butthole grifters. Can we expect $Eric and $Eightball stenched klepto brands? Christ, they’ll all want their own magic billion dollar scams. Vance will be jealous and release a $HadyCoin, which doesn’t much better than $mellMyAss, but certainly just as truthful.
Well, we’re off to a great start, right? What was that the $Trumpets were singing last night? “Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest, yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of Trum(p).
I know there’s a “Talk like a Pirate Day” (September 19), but the $Trumpets are making every day Act Like a Pirate Day.
“Do you swear to uphold the Constitution?”
“Arghhh, matey! Pirates swear all the time! Now gimme your gold doubloons!”
Smell my ass, indeed.
Thugs gotta thug…
How much will you bet me that within a couple of months—maybe weeks—a dozen or more of the vicious thugs Trump just set free will be re-arrested for any number of violent crimes?
Normal people don’t decide to go to the Capitol armed like they’re joining a lynch mob (which is exactly what it was), pepper spray law officers, break into a federal building, defecate on the floor, beat people, and rampage through the place looking for someone to hang. No. These people were fucking gangsters long before they heard Fat Hitler’s siren call to kill in his honor.
I guarantee that dozens of these assholes will go right back where they left off.
Of course if they beat someone bloody or shoot someone, it’ll be Joe Biden’s fault for subjecting these wonderful patriots to horrible prison conditions. Also, when it does happen, don’t expect Fox to mention a thing about it.
The countdown clock for Trump Thug Recidivism starts right now.
Well, I successfully did not watch anything more than passing through the channels for 1 second each, but reading it seems even worse than listening to the foul stench that IS Fatso Felon issue these things he has decided to cancel. Not for a minute do I believe that he thought up any of it. The Nazis of Heritage Fed Society and the like have been making lists for four years now, and they just hand the Smelly Farts (himself and Plastic Spoonhead Miller and JD) the lists and the programmed speech, and voila, a "real statesmanlike performance."
He is too stupid and too disjointed and demented to be the brain behind the regime. I think it does not matter who is the power ON the throne, because there is merely a shadow of a supposed strongman there. It's the thousands of others, having been voted-for or appointed in the hopes that Cheerios and gas for the big ol' Penis Trucks these "people" drive, decorated with flags, will come down. Actually the gas already came down, and the grocer Nazis don't care if the schmucks can only buy store-brand Cheerios.
That is the whole of the biggest outrage: apparently the American education system has let down the country. The people are mean and stupid, all Col. Klink or any of the other cartoon villains we have known. I already quit reading our smaller and smaller local paper, and I never read the shopper (too much Christly propaganda--) and now I am going to be entirely dependent on being able to read my two blogs without regularly regurgitating my oatmeal. Thanks in advance, you blessed people-- you know who you are. I guess with each other, we will survive this tsunami of high-school-bullying-meaness-on-a-massive-scale. If "God" truly saved this monster in the driver's seat, (in Butler, PA, ya know--)there is zero reason to follow Her. What's next, raids on Quakers, Unitarians, UCC liberal congregations? Maga-red stars to wear on our jackets? Wow. Doesn't seem all that farfetched...
Okay, we’ll try it without the hyperlink…
The State Superintendent of Schools in Oklahoma has ordered schools to show every student in the state a video of him praying for Donald Trump to bring (Christian—and only Christian) prayer back to the classroom. He is prepared to punish schools that refuse.
It really is Nazi Germany.
https://oklahomavoice.com/2024/11/15/oklahoma-superintendent-has-no-power-to-make-schools-show-trump-prayer-video-ags-office-says/
One other major benefit of Fat Hitler’s release of 1,600 violent felons is that he has an instant army of cutthroat mobsters beholden to him for their freedom. He can turn his personal army on the attack against any group or persons who dare to oppose his dictatorship. An army of vicious criminals at his beck and call, 24/7. Plus, they now know that any future acts of violence they commit in his service, even up to and including murder, will be voided by additional clemency rulings.
Just picture a mob boss with power over the courts, over the law, and over any form of righteous Justice.
Oh, wait. You don’t have to picture it. It’s our new reality.
And on the topic of pardons and the party of law and order, David Yaffe-Bellany and Ryan Mac describe the pardon of The Creator of Silk Road Drug Marketplace
"A Bitcoin pioneer, Mr. Ulbricht, 40, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015, after he was convicted on charges that included distributing narcotics on the internet. [Posting on Truth Social, t**** wrote] 'The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me.'
....Silk Road, which operated in a shady corner of the internet known as the dark web, became an international drug marketplace, facilitating more than 1.5 million transactions, including sales of heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances.
....
At least six deaths were attributable to drugs bought on Silk Road, prosecutors said."
Check out the photo at the top of the article taken of t**** at the Libertarian National Convention, standing in front of a sign suggesting attendees to 'Become Ungovernable'