The Conversation -- January 24, 2025
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “Dr. Anthony S. Fauci’s government security protection was canceled Thursday night and he has now hired his own security detail, according to a person familiar with the move. Dr. Fauci, one of the nation’s top health officials for decades, had received death threats during the coronavirus pandemic, when he became a frequent target of conservative critics.... Dr. Fauci did not have Secret Service protection; he was protected by federal marshals, and later by a private contractor whose fees were paid by the government, the person said. Dr. Fauci’s chief critic on Capitol Hill, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, had publicly called for the security arrangement for Dr. Fauci to be withdrawn.... [Dr. Fauci] is the latest prominent former government official to lose his security protection since ... [Donald] Trump returned to the White House.”
David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: “... [Donald] Trump on Thursday issued an executive order to support the growth of the cryptocurrency industry, calling for a new plan to regulate a business in which he has substantial personal investments. The executive order, which was light on details, said the Trump administration would create a working group on digital assets to come up with a comprehensive plan including 'regulatory and legislative proposals.' The group would also consider establishing a national cryptocurrency stockpile, the order said — a government-controlled stash of digital coins that the industry has spent months lobbying the new administration to create.”
Ali Bauman of CBS News New York: "The mayor of Newark, New Jersey said federal Immigration agents 'raided a local establishment' Thursday. Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained multiple people, including United States citizens, a U.S. military veteran and undocumented individuals. According to Baraka, the agents did not produce a warrant. 'Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a local establishment in the City of Newark, detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant. One of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned,' Baraka said in a statement. 'This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees "the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures….'... In a joint statement late Thursday night, Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, of New Jersey, said they were 'deeply concerned about the news of an ICE raid in Newark today.'"
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Marie: When you look over the news stories of the week, what you'll find is quite a good approximation of a comic-book presidency* run by a comic-book villain. The cartoonish president* is utterly brutish and cruel and careless and stupid and conniving to degrees that we seldom see in real life. I reckon there are some teenagers -- comic-book readers -- who admire & try to emulate these qualities because they're not mature enough to know better. But few adults behave as Donald Trump does. For one thing, they can't get away with it.
~~~ Here's digby, on living in a country where “Stupid Hitler” is president*: Bishop “Budde’s message [to Trump] was something we grew up with in Sunday School or lived with as part of our social contract as long as we could remember. AOC’s is the simplest political message you can imagine: 'we’re against Nazis.' And yet they have to say these things out loud now because a large number of Americans have either forgotten these simple, children’s lessons or never learned them in the first place.” Read the full post for context. MB: The fact is that Donnie & Elon are among those who don't get Budde's and AOC's messages.
I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.... There are other times in world history where we look back and people of goodwill can say where were the judges, where were the lawyers? -- District Judge John Coughenour, (seeming to invoke Nazi Germany) from the bench, re: Trump's order to end birthright citizenship ~~~
~~~ Mike Baker & Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked ... [Donald] Trump’s executive order to end automatic citizenship to babies born on American soil, dealing the president his first setback as he attempts to upend the nation’s immigration laws and reverse decades of precedent. In a hearing held three days after Mr. Trump issued his executive order, a Federal District Court judge, John C. Coughenour, sided at least for the moment with four states that sued. 'This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,' he said. Mr. Trump’s order, issued in the opening hours of his presidency, declared that children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants would no longer be treated as citizens. The order also extended to babies of mothers who were in the country legally but temporarily, such as tourists, university students or temporary workers.” MB: Coughenour is a Reagan appointee. The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: “Donald Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration.... But so far, his administration has been much more fixated on punishing legal immigrants — by threatening to raise their taxes, expatriate their kids and block them from the United States altogether.... In his first term, he had almost no effect on illegal immigration levels, but he did manage to demolish legal immigration levels. At one point, he cut legal immigration by the fastest annual pace in U.S. history. Trump this week threatened to double taxes on foreigners working in this country legally. The move received virtually no attention because it was slipped into a broader executive order on trade. [Here Rampell explains the order.]... The executive order attempting to overturn the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship ... would also deny citizenship to children born to most categories of legal immigrants.... Finally, Trump is eliminating many of the pathways for immigrants to come here legally.” Rampell provides examples. ~~~
~~~ Wait, Wait! There's More. Russell Payne of Salon: "In the Trump administration’s arguments defending his order to suspend birthright citizenship, the Justice Department called into question the citizenship of Native Americans born in the United States, citing a 19th-century law that excluded Native Americans from birthright citizenship.... The [cited law, the] Civil Rights Act of 1866..., predates the 14th Amendment by two years." IOW, Trump would take away U.S. citizenship from all Native Americans subject to tribal law. Astounding. ~~~
~~~ Dred Scott All Over Again. Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump’s executive order purporting to abolish birthright citizenship is unambiguously and profoundly racist. We can conclude only that this is the whole point.... The saga begins before the Civil War with the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1857, which denied citizenship to people of African descent even if they were not enslaved.... After the war, the race-based Dred Scott theory of citizenship was overturned by the very first sentence of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868: 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.' The whole point was race: Black people born here have the same status, and the same rights, as White people.”
Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “The Trump administration is giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials the power to quickly deport migrants who were allowed into the country temporarily under Biden-era programs, according to an internal government memo obtained by The New York Times. The memo, signed Thursday night by the acting head of the Homeland Security Department, offers ICE officials a road map on how to use expansive powers that were long reserved only for encounters at the southern border to quickly remove migrants. It also appears to give the officials the ability to expel migrants in two major Biden-era programs that have allowed more than a million people to enter the country temporarily.”
Cruelty Is of the Essence of the Scheme. Miriam Jordan & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “The State Department abruptly canceled travel for thousands of refugees already approved to fly to the United States, days before a deadline that ... [Donald] Trump had set for suspending the resettlement program that provides safe haven for people fleeing persecution. The cancellation of the flights comes on the heels of an executive order signed by Mr. Trump on Monday that indefinitely paused the refugee resettlement.... More than 10,000 refugees were currently in the pipeline to travel to the United States.... They include Afghans who faced danger because of their association with the United States before the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Among other refugees who had been approved for travel were people from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The sudden halt to the flights was an agonizing blow to refugees who had been following a complicated and lengthy process to enter the country legally, resettlement group workers said.” (Also linked yesterday.)
WABC 7 New York: "Federal law enforcement and ICE agents have arrested over 500 undocumented migrants wanted for outstanding crimes in sanctuary cities, including three in New York. ICE says it has made 538 arrests, and detained 373 undocumented immigrants in sanctuary cities across the country.... There were similar scenes in Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Miami, and Washington, DC. A Justice Department memo threatened criminal charges against state and local officials who don't cooperate with ICE, but New York Attorney General Letitia James says the Trump administration cannot force local law enforcement to help them detain and deport immigrants.... The NYPD issued a memo as well, saying officers should not assist with federal immigration enforcement.... New York is a so-called sanctuary city, and laws forbid city agencies from cooperating with immigration agents in all but criminal deportations." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Apparently these raids were the story-du-jour on Fox "News" yesterday, with Fox reporters exclaiming about the wonderfulness of Trump for catching these murderous criminales. However, MSNBC reported that these raids yesterday were not different from the raids carried out during the Biden administration and were in fact planned during Biden's tenure; the raids did not represent some new Trump awesomeness. This is a good example of how a news report can be both accurate and misleading.
Teddy Rosenbluth, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration, moving quickly to clamp down on health and science agencies, has canceled a string of scientific meetings and instructed federal health officials to refrain from all public communications, including upcoming reports focused on the nation’s escalating bird flu crisis. Experts who serve on outside advisory panels on a range of topics, from antibiotic resistance to deafness, received emails on Wednesday telling them their meetings had been canceled. The cancellations followed a directive issued on Tuesday by the acting director of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, who prohibited the release of any public communication until it had been reviewed by a presidential appointee or designee....” A STAT News report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Who's in Charge??? Alexander Tin of CBS News: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is operating without an acting director, multiple health officials confirm to CBS News, leaving the agency responsible for defending the U.S. against emerging pandemics and responding to health emergencies without a clear chain of command. A leadership vacuum atop the CDC is unprecedented. Under previous administrations, including the first term of ... [Donald] Trump, officials made sure either to immediately appoint their pick for the position or decide during the transition on whom would assume the top post in an acting capacity. Other federal health agencies are also operating without publicly named acting heads, including the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health." (Also linked yesterday.)
Emily Davies of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Thursday began his crack down on telework, a sweeping decree that officials estimate could impact more than 1 million federal workers. The White House’s Office of Personnel Management in a memo directed heads of federal agencies to revise their telework policies by 5 p.m. Friday and gave employees roughly 30 days from then to comply — panicking workers who rely on the flexibility for child care, affordable housing and to save time on long commutes.... 'No one knows what’s going on,' said a lawyer with the Department of Veterans Affairs.... 'We’re attorneys, but even us, we are scared about what to do.'” MB: Hey, if Trump has to go all the way downstairs to the office by noon on most days, all the peasants should have to show up at their offices, too. ~~~
~~~ Update: Once again, RAS finds a very sensible way to interpret a Trumpy order. See today's Comments.
Trump Pardoned His Most Violent Trump Accomplices. Alan Feuer & Dmitriy Khavin of the New York Times: “After Daniel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021, he was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison by a federal judge who called him a l “one-man army of hate.' Two other men, Albuquerque Cosper Head and Kyle J. Young, were sentenced to more than seven years for their parts in the assault on the officer, Michael Fanone. On Monday, President Trump pardoned all three of them, lumping them together with nearly 1,600 other people who had been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot and who he suggested had been victimized by a politicized prosecution. His grant of clemency comes despite a wealth of evidence about their crimes, including videos used against them by the Justice Department.” The article includes video of some of the violence Trump endorsed in his pardons.
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: “... [Donald] Trump revoked security protection for his former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and a former top aide, Brian Hook, despite warnings from the Biden administration that both men faced ongoing threats from Iran because of actions they took on Mr. Trump’s behalf, four people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Hook had been part of an aggressive posture against Iran during the first Trump presidency, most notably the drone strike that killed the powerful Iranian general Qassim Suleimani in early 2020. Mr. Trump also remains under threat because of that action, and his advisers have regularly stressed the seriousness of the situation in the years between his two terms in office. Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Hook had their security details ... pulled on Tuesday, one of the people briefed on the matter said. A day before, Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. Secret Service detail of John R. Bolton, who was Mr. Trump’s third national security adviser and also faces threats.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ digby reminds us, "Mike Pompeo was one of Trump’s most aggressive loyalists during his tenure in the first term. Now he’s on the hit list." She adds, "If any of these men [Trump has put at risk] are killed by Iranian assassins [his] warning will be even more powerful."
Petty, Petty, Petty. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “The Justice Department has abruptly rescinded job offers made to dozens of recent law school graduates who were to be placed in entry-level positions in its antitrust, criminal, civil rights, immigration and national security divisions, and at the F.B.I., according to people familiar with the situation. The offers were made through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, which has functioned without controversy — or much notice — under presidents of both parties for decades. The program is the latest target of Trump political appointees intent on reversing even the most workaday decisions made by their predecessors.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the declassification of records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, former U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. 'That’s a big one, huh?' he said while signing the order in the Oval Office.... Trump on Thursday directed the director of national intelligence, attorney general and other officials to present a plan for the 'full and complete release of records' related to John F. Kennedy’s assassination within 15 days. He directed officials to review the documents related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and King and present a plan for their release within 45 days.” The AP story is here. MB: Trump is like a toddler, thrilled and in awe of his own, newly-discovered powers to make things happen on demand. Think potty-training: “That's a big one, huh?”
Military Massacres in the Making. Meg Kelly, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is moving to abolish a Pentagon office responsible for promoting civilian safety in battlefield operations, suggesting that incoming Defense Department leaders may attempt to loosen restrictions on U.S. military operations worldwide.... The office, housed within the Department of the Army, helps the military to limit unintended civilian deaths. As a result of that order, the Army has begun drafting a proposal to defund and potentially 'disestablish' the office.... Shuttering the office, which was established under a 2023 law, would require congressional approval.... The early moves suggest the Trump Pentagon may distance itself from a host of measures established under President Joe Biden to prioritize the safety of noncombatants in conflict zones. Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who has promised to make the U.S. military more lethal, has complained about overly restrictive rules of engagement....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: If you were wondering why the statements & affidavits concerning Hegseth's second marriage seemed so convoluted, here's the answer: ~~~
~~~ Lisa Rubin of MSNBC: “... Pete Hegseth testified during his confirmation hearing this month that he wasn’t aware of any nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in connection with his two divorces. While a review of court documents from Hegseth’s divorce from his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, does not reflect a full NDA, it includes a court-ordered agreement precluding either of them from saying anything publicly that would disparage the other.... Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia ... [D], had asked the Trump Cabinet pick during the Jan. 14 confirmation hearing whether there were NDAs between him and his first ... or his second wife.... 'Senator, it is not something I am aware of,' Pete Hegseth responded. Pressed whether he would release either of those women from the NDAs if they exist, Hegseth said, 'Senator, that is not my responsibility.'... Asked whether Kaine had any comment on whether he thought Hegseth was untruthful or misleading during his testimony, a spokesperson for the senator told MSNBC, 'Yes, he does think that.'” ~~~
~~~ Tara Copp of the AP: “Pete Hegseth..., Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, according to answers he provided to a senator during his confirmation process that The Associated Press has obtained. The written answers were provided to Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in response to additional questions she had for Hegseth as part of the vetting process.” BUT that's okay, because ~~~
~~~ Abigail Hauslohner, et al., of the Washington Post: “Pete Hegseth..., Donald Trump’s contentious pick for defense secretary, narrowly cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Thursday, as Republicans demonstrated en masse that they are undeterred by the allegations of misconduct that have clouded his nomination. The full Senate voted 51 to 49 to advance Hegseth’s nomination toward a final confirmation vote, expected Friday night, with two Republicans, moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), joining the chamber’s Democrats in opposing the former Fox News personality’s bid to run the Defense Department.” The NBC News story is here.
Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during ... Donald Trump’s first term, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to serve as CIA director. The vote to confirm Ratcliffe was 74-25.” The CBS News story is here.
Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “To people who have studied conspiracy theories, [Kash] Patel’s suspicion of the government is a public embrace of conspiracist thinking. The approach, some say, raises concerns over how Mr. Patel would run the F.B.I., whose core mission centers on sifting fact from fiction.”
Dasha Burns & Holly Otterbein of Politico: “Some of ... Donald Trump’s key aides and allies are furious with Elon Musk for publicly trashing his $500 billion artificial intelligence mega-deal. A White House official said Musk 'very much' got over his skis when the tech tycoon launched a daylong screed against the AI project.... Another Republican close to the White House ... [said] Trump’s staff is 'furious' over Musk using his massive social media platform to pour cold water on the infrastructure deal that Trump called 'tremendous' and 'monumental' just a day prior.... 'The problem is the president doesn’t have any leverage over him and Elon gives zero fucks.'... Trump [told reporters] it did not bother him that Musk criticized the deal, saying, 'No, it doesn’t. He hates one of the people in the deal.'”
GOP House Members Sexted Trump Aide. Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: “An aide to House Speaker Mike Johnson advised Republican colleagues against subpoenaing former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson as part of their investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack in an effort to prevent the release of sexually explicit texts that lawmakers sent her, according to written correspondence reviewed by The Post and a person familiar with the effort. The aide intervened last June.... Multiple colleagues had raised concerns with the speaker’s office about the potential for public disclosure of 'sexual texts from members who were trying to engage in sexual favors' with Hutchinson, according to correspondence produced at the time that detailed the conversation.... Johnson revived the investigation this week as part of an effort by ... Donald Trump and his allies to seek retribution against perceived political enemies, including those who investigated his role in the Capitol attack.... The Washington Post ... has not seen the purported sexually explicit messages nor identified who sent them or whether Hutchinson responded.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Dan Mangan of CNBC: “A Republican House member introduced a resolution Thursday to amend the U.S. Constitution in order to allow ... Donald Trump — and any other future president — to be elected to a third term in the White House. Trump 'has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal,' said Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who proposed extending the current maximum of two elected terms.” MB: These Republicans seem to really like the idea of dictatorships.
Even Big, Tough CEOs are A'Skeert. Emma Goldberg of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump ... revoked an executive order signed in 1965 that prohibited discriminatory hiring and employment practices for private government contractors. Perhaps most alarming for business leaders was the order’s focus on private corporations, whether they do business with the government or not.... The executive order instructs the federal government to look at private sector D.E.I. initiatives: Each federal agency, it says, will identify 'up to nine potential civil compliance investigations' that could include publicly traded corporations, nonprofits and large foundations, among others. 'We’re already seeing that this flurry of orders has created fear and confusion,' said David Glasgow ... at N.Y.U. Law.... Plenty of companies, reading the writing on the wall, had begun to shift their approaches to D.E.I. before Mr. Trump took office.... Some companies have stood firm in support of D.E.I., including Costco, Patagonia and Microsoft.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: It is quite amazing that Trump is effectively telling private corporations, even those with no government contracts, "You must hire the white boys."
Claire Miller, et al., of the New York Times: “Instagram and Facebook have recently blurred, blocked or removed posts from two abortion pill providers. Instagram also suspended the accounts of several abortion pill providers and hid the providers from appearing in search and recommendations. The actions ramped up in the last two weeks, and were especially noticeable in the last two days, abortion pill providers said. Content from their accounts — or in some cases, their entire accounts — were no longer visible on Instagram. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, confirmed some account suspensions and the blurring of posts. The company restored some of the accounts and posts on Thursday, after The New York Times asked about the actions. Meta has been under scrutiny since Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive, announced sweeping changes to the company’s speech policies earlier this month. Mr. Zuckerberg vowed to loosen restrictions on online speech, causing concerns among misinformation researchers and others....”
Marie: As you may know, the Associated Press has a "stylebook" that many news organizations and writers follow when deciding how to, say, refer to a bishop or place commas and semicolons, or spell names in translation. So now there's this: ~~~
~~~ "President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday shortly after his inauguration calling for the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America, and Denali, the tallest peak in the United States, to revert to the name Mount McKinley. The Associated Press sent its staff the following style guidance for both geographic areas. We will use Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging the name Gulf of America in our copy. We will also use Mount McKinley rather than Denali. — The AP"
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Reader Comments (12)
Marie noticed the similarties of T**** to "a comic-book presidency* run by a comic-book villain". Tom Nichols, in The Atlantic, noticed the similarities to a Paranoid Thriller
"One of the most important differences between the novel [1965s Night of Camp David] and real life is that until the titular night at Camp David, [the president] is a highly intelligent and decent man, a president respected by both parties after a successful first term. His new plans (which, in another moment of life imitating art, also include unleashing the FBI on America’s domestic 'enemies') are wildly out of character for him, and in the end, [a senator] finally manages to convince the Cabinet that the president is suffering from a sudden illness, perhaps dementia, a nervous breakdown, or the onset of paranoia."
A little Instagram humor.
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king, the
palace becomes a circus.
He wanted to name the Gulf of Mexico after himself, but the
Bay of Pigs was already taken.
Since telework is out in the federal government nothing DJT does, says or signs any place but the White House should be official. Force him to stay in DC for the whole four years. No trips to Florida or any golf courses.
@laura h. So it appears there are three fantastic -- i.e., not true-to-life -- premises in the book: (1) that the fictional president was a normal, decent guy; (2) that the voters chose as their president a normal, decent guy; and (3) that a majority of the president's own Cabinet could be convinced the normal, decent guy was suffering from a sudden-onset mental illness & had to be removed for the good of the nation.
Fiction is more pollyannish than fact.
Evil Asshole Deluxe
There are assholes, then there’s Trump.
What else can he do?
How about RAISING the price of drugs for Americans.
That’s right. Biden brought drug prices down? Fat Hitler ain’t gonna stand for that. He’s gonna bring ‘em right back up again. Why? Cuz he ain’t gonna go for anything Biden did. That’s why.
Also…he needs to kill Medicare, Medicaid, Dept of Education, Social Security, the CDC, government funding for advances in science and medicine, FEMA (let the states do it), green energy research…why?
Tax cuts for him and his billionaire buddies, that’s why. Gotta pay for those somehow.
Besides, who cares if old people on a fixed budget have to pay through the nose for life saving medication? He won’t have to worry.
Taxpayers pay for his healthcare.
There’s evil, and then there’s Trump.
Good job, Trump voters!
https://digbysblog.net/2025/01/23/trump-moves-to-hike-drug-prices/
Thought about the AP stylebook decisions yesterday when I read about its place name decisions.
They at first seemed like playing politics by hewing to the middle, saying to the Pretender, one for you and one for good sense.
This morning I'm thinking it might have had more to do with geographic boundaries. The Pretender, the AP stylebook conference committee might have decided, has the right to change names within the U. S., but not outside of it....in other words a rational decision about irrationality.
That discussion must have been worse than a faculty meeting.
Will Stancil
"So, Democrats: your job is to argue that Trump is unfit, corrupt, decrepit, incompetent, and authoritarian. You want voters to form a mental image of him as unsafe, unreliable, untrustworthy, immoral, and inept. He can is selling out to the highest bidder; he is motivated entirely by greed, hate, and stupidity. His family is corrupt, and everyone who touches him is corrupt. He elevates violent men because they praise him, and dictators because they also praise him. He’s liable to get us all killed or destroy the federal government. When he’s president you can’t sleep easy at night, because there is no one competent leading the country who can respond to any crisis. It’s indecent and insane he’s president.
Then, you just flood the zone with every horrible thing he’s done. React appropriately and angrily. It does not matter if every Democrat is reacting to the same thing, as long as the reaction is appropriately negative.
Indeed, it’s useful to have people mad about many different things at once, which maximizes the chance that some of it will land. Think about how information works in the modern media ecosystem: some stuff blows up, goes viral, and is seen by everyone, but you can’t predict in advance what it will be. Better to have lots of people saying lots of things to maximize your odds, than everyone saying a single thing, and hoping it’s right."
Marie -
Agreed that the fictional Night of Camp David is far more Pollyannaish than our current situation with the "stupid Hitler" and his supporting characters like JayDee and Hegseth.
According to Wikipedia, the novel spent 18 weeks on the bestseller list and the The New York Times review called it "too plausible for comfort." Imagine if the author, Fletcher Knebel, had more closely predicted T****. His novel would probably have been panned as absurd. After all, I wake every morning thinking I've had an absurd dream.
Katy, bar the…oh never mind…
So…Fat Hitler and his idiot spawn release a scam meme coin into the fetid swamp that constitutes the kleptocurrency world, a world FH once decried as Scam City. They make off with billions because, well, crooks and imbeciles, that’s why, THEN a week later, he issues an official proclamation promoting kleptocurrency!
No conflict of interest there, right?
But this cheap-ass grifter is not only putting the weight and reputation of the United States government behind his latest chosen scam, he’s committing billions in taxpayer dollars to the brazen Ponzi scheme that is klepto.
Back in the summer, after klepto-bros gave him $25 million for his campaign, he trundled his bilious blubber onto a stage in Nashville at a national klepto conference where he promised to make the US the klepto capital of the world.
He also promised to fire SEC chair Gary Gensler, enemy number one in the klepto world for trying to publicize the essential con game nature of this phony currency and for trying for both transparency and regulatory oversight of the industry, two things klepto-bros and the Trumps all despise.
What’s the good of a scam if there’s transparency and oversight? Much harder to gull the rubes that way. (Gensler retired before Fat Hitler could fire him).
Another thing FH promised was to create a long desired uber scam beloved of the klepto crooks: a national klepto repository, underwritten by taxpayers. And now they’ll have it.
Here’s how it works:
First, kleptocurrency long ago was rejected as something of value in the real world. No one pays for their dinner or goes to the movies using bitcoin or Trumpcoin, or any of the thousands of bullshit, unregulated currency-like thingies out there. It’s devolved into a giant gambling operation, digital three card monte.
It’s a true Ponzi scheme. You have a supply of klepto, you find a way to jack up the price, then you find other gamblers (or morons) and you say “Hey, my coins jumped 50% in value in just a week! Get in on this NOW!” Others buy the coins and hope to sell them if the price goes up further.
But eventually, the supply of chiselers and idiots dries up. The only ones who can make a profit are the filthy rich who buy a shitload of phony currency and hope it goes up a fraction of a percent so they can unload it on the next idiot.
Who has more money than the federal government? The scheme here is to get taxpayers to underwrite the investment made by the klepto-bros to guarantee them a profit when we (taxpayers!) buy their coins. The sales pitch that a sleazy real estate con man like Trump will make is “We’ll double our investment in a week! Act now! Operators are standing by!”
Of course, it’s a lie. Who is going to come along with $300 billion to take this load of phony crap off our hands?
No one.
Know who likes klepto, besides scammers like the Trumps?
Chinese gangsters, sex traffickers, drug cartels, authoritarian regimes like North Korea, and garden variety con artists. It’s a perfect way to launder money through a totally anonymous, unregulated market.
And now Trump is tying the full faith and credit of the United States of America to an international Ponzi scheme favored by criminals. To make sure HE turns a profit.
But no conflict here. Right?
Neither altruistic nor humanitarian actions are transactional enough for Fat Hitler and his lackeys.
This fat lying prick has claimed that legal immigration was something his “administration” would support.
Not in this or any other possible universe, at least not for any non-white, non-northern European Christians. Anyone else can just fuck off.
Afghans who put their lives on the line to assist American troops for decades and have patiently put themselves and their families through arduous, years long vetting processes, and have been approved have had the door slammed in their faces, left to twist in the wind, because what’s the personal benefit to the Trump Crime Family or the PoT Bible beaters to allow these people to escape daily dangers accepted in order to help Americans to come to this country?
Cruelty is certainly the point, but so is appalling inhumanity.
There cannot be a circle of hell torturous enough for all eternity to punish this astoundingly evil prick and his enablers. I want Bible Mike to be one of the first to be submerged into a lake of hellfire.
Did Jesus say “Treat others with love and compassion as long as you get something for it?”
These people are beyond evil.
Clearly, Fat Hitler’s “outrage” at the Biden administration’s handling of the retreat from Afghanistan (a retreat agreed to and set up by Trump!!!!) was purely opportunistic. Like everything else this vile pile of jiggling blubber engages in.
Interesting that Fat Hitler, who has sicced his brainless MAGA thugs on Anthony Fauci, then pulled his security, sez he has no responsibility nor care if he gets killed.
Mob bosses could learn a few things from our president*, well, not MY president*, but the fat puke selected by MAGAts.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/01/24/supreme-court-public-religious-charter-school/
The headline say the Court will "consider," quite a stretch for many of them.
One commenter suggested that in the name of equal treatment the Court's approval would open the door too religious schools of all stripes.
Wrong. Equal treatment is the last thing the White Christian supremacists are interested in.
I don't that coin has dropped for the nation. Yet.