The Conversation -- January 25, 2025
Marie: Here's something I missed in all the excitement over Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Thanks to Jeanne for the heads-up: ~~~
[It is my hope that the president] exercises his presidential authority so the Council can continue to advocate for fitness and good health for all Americans. These are bipartisan issues … nonpartisan issues.... May God give you the wisdom, Mr. President, to put politics and name calling aside…and instead lift up the everyday people working to bring America together. Let’s build longer tables.... -- José Andrés, responding to Donald Trump's false claim that he had fired Andrés ~~~
~~~ Kelly McCarthy of Good Morning America/ABC News: "Humanitarian and chef José Andrés spoke out Tuesday after ... Donald Trump claimed he had 'fired' Andrés from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition shortly after being sworn in for his second term. Andrés served as co-chair of the federal advisory committee for two years, having been appointed to the position on March 23, 2022. Trump posted what he called a 'Official Notice of Dismissal' on social media early Tuesday morning, stating that his office would be 'identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.... Let this serve as Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon: Jose Andres from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President's Export Council -- YOU'RE FIRED!'...
"Andrés responded in his own social media post later on Tuesday morning, stating that he had already submitted his resignation earlier in the month, at the conclusion of his two year term. Less than three weeks ago, the Spanish American chef and World Central Kitchen founder was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in part due to his work providing relief to 'communities affected by natural disasters and conflict around the world,' the White House stated at the time." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I cannot figure out what upside even a cartoon villain like Trump sees in publicly insulting someone who is best known for providing humanitarian aid in the worst of conditions. We know Trump is the biggest jerk in the world but does he want more recognition for it? Or what???
The Way We Were. This week, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to remind Americans that in this country, "We hate Nazis." Yesterday Heather Cox Richardson went into some detail on that topic. A fine read. ~~~
~~~ Marie: What we're seeing now is a metaphorical Battle of the Bulge. The fascistic forces who championed the Lost Cause of the Confederacy are prevailing to the extent that they feel emboldened to demand our surrender. There's no doubt they're "bulging." But it's up to us to say "NUTS!"
Here's a Guardian's story on the same topic as a Politico story linked below: “The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has ordered a halt to virtually all foreign aid, but made an exception for funding to Israel and Egypt, according to an internal memo to staff at the US state department.... [The underlying executive order, issued by Trump on Monday,] is unlawful, argued a source, [because]... the US Congress sets the federal government budget.... 'Organizations will have to stop all activities, so all lifesaving health services, HIV/Aids, nutrition, maternal and child health, all agriculture work, all support of civil society organizations, education,' said [a USAid] official.” P.S. Take a look at the Guardian's new(ish) fundraising pitch at the bottom of the article. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Okay, Trump & Rubio may be acting illegally, but who would have standing to sue? Foreign governments who expected aid? Maybe. But their case is kind of embarrassing: you promised us a gift; now you must send it. Or the Congress whose powers Trump & Rubio have usurped? Uh, would Bible Mike's Congress have the nerve to sue Trump?
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⭐This Was the Week That Was, An Overview. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “'I think we’re going to do things that people would be shocked at...,' Donald Trump declared on his second day in office. It was one of the few true things he said all week. The crush of vindictive, cruel, unconstitutional and just plain bonkers orders and actions coming from the restored Trump administration in its first week makes even the worst-case predictions look conservative. But if you’re feeling knocked off-kilter by the fire hose of bad policies, well..., Trump himself seems downright bewildered.” [Milbank reports incident after incident in which Trump shows his “astounding ignorance” by contradicting his own orders or remarks, misstating facts or just seeming to know nothing about what he's doing.] MB: I'd give this column a Pulitzer, even if Milbank did have to share it with Trump for providing all the raw material. ~~~
~~~ Melissa Goldin of the AP: “... Donald Trump stepped back into the presidency this week moving quickly to set a new agenda, but from his inaugural address continuing through a flurry of executive actions, press conferences and interviews Trump relied on an array of false and misleading information to support his case. Here’s a closer look at the facts.” Way less fun than Milbank's column.
Abigail Hauslohner, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Senate on Friday confirmed ... Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth ... to become the country’s next defense secretary.... Hegseth secured his post Friday night in a vote of 51-50, after Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote. It marks the second time in U.S. history that a vice president’s vote was necessary to confirm a Cabinet official, and Republicans applauded as Vance entered the chamber. Three Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) joined the chamber’s Democrats and independents in opposing Hegseth, following a heated confirmation process that centered on allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement. Hegseth steadily and vigorously denied any wrongdoing.'Winning is what matters, right?' Trump told reporters in Los Angeles, upon hearing news of Hegseth’s confirmation.” The NBC News story is here. The AP report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: For anyone thinking of giving props to the Turtle for doing the right thing for once, I remind you that we very likely would not be stuck with a president* who would even think of nominating a falling-down-drunk misogynist teevee personality to head the Pentagon had Mitch had the spine to lead his party in finding against Trump in his impeachment trials. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution: "Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States...." Once again, we're in a terrible fix because Mitch & Trump's many other GOP enablers. P.S. Wondering who was the only other Cabinet officer to require the veep to break a tie for confirmation (because, weirdly, the WashPo article, doesn't tell us)? Why, it was Forrest M.'s neighbor, the lovely Betsy DeVos, another Trump nominee (NYT link).
David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: “The White House late Friday fired the independent inspectors general of at least 12 major federal agencies in a purge that could clear the way for ... Donald Trump to install loyalists in the crucial role of identifying fraud, waste and abuse in the government. The inspectors general were notified by emails from the White House personnel director that they had been terminated immediately, according to people familiar with the actions, who like others in this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private messages. The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire a Senate-confirmed inspector general. Oversight of some of the government’s largest agencies was affected: the departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Energy, Commerce and Agriculture, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration.” ~~~
~~~ The New York Times story, published later, puts the number of IGs Trump fired at 17. Oh, Trump "violated federal law"? Meh. It's what a felon does.
Different Strokes for Different Folks. Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “President Trump toured disaster zones on Friday in North Carolina and California, where he sparred with Democrats over recovery efforts, called the Federal Emergency Management Agency 'a big disappointment' and said government help — at least for one blue state — would come with a catch. The visits were a reminder of Mr. Trump’s willingness to flout the unwritten rules that have long governed the nation’s disaster responses: Cooperate with officials at all levels of government. Bury political differences. Act as a comforter and healer. And promise aid with no conditions attached. Mr. Trump began the day by warmly embracing supporters in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina and pledging to deliver 'the support that you need to quickly recover and rebuild.' He said that he would also help fire-scorched California, which unlike North Carolina is a state he lost in the November election, but he first wanted the state to impose voter identification laws and change its environmental policies.” ~~~
~~~ Once Again, Trump Shows He Does Not Know How to Behave in Public. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “... [Donald] Trump repeated falsehoods about California’s firefighting efforts on Friday and blamed Democratic officials for a wide variety of issues affecting the response to wildfires as he toured areas of Los Angeles damaged by the disaster. In a meeting with state leaders in Pacific Palisades, a community that was heavily damaged by fire..., Mr. Trump blamed the local bureaucracy, Democratic politicians, and a small species of protected fish known as the delta smelt for water supply issues that made it harder for firefighters to get the blazes under control. Water experts in California have said that many of those claims are wrong.... [Trump singled out officials who were at the meeting, including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.] In one bizarre exchange, Mr. Trump accused Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat who represents Pacific Palisades, of causing insurance companies to pull out of the state of California. 'You did something, Brad, where every insurance company in the country left California,' Mr. Trump said. 'So you have no insurance. You made it so impossible, and the people that think like you — ' 'People like me? Mr. President, I don’t know,' Mr. Sherman said before Mr. Trump cut him off.” ~~~
~~~ Blake Jones, et al., of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Friday demanded concessions from California Democrats on two pet issues unrelated to the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires — requiring voter ID at the polls and sending more water from Northern California to other parts of the state — in his clearest public indication yet of what he wants in exchange for federal disaster aid. The stunning salvo — mere hours before Trump was set to land in Los Angeles to tour the area — instantly undermined a strategy from local officials and members of Congress, who had hoped a firsthand view of the destruction would appeal to the president’s emotions.... Democrats decried the notion of wildfire aid being used as leverage in an election policy debate.”
Alice Ollstein & Carmen Paun of Politico: “... Donald Trump’s campaign-trail promise to leave abortion regulation to the states lasted just a few days into his presidency. He issued executive orders on Friday that revive some anti-abortion policies from his first administration — including restrictions on federal funding for family planning and other health programs abroad that discuss abortion as an option or provide referrals for the procedure. The president signed the executive orders hours after addressing the annual anti-abortion March for Life in a prerecorded video that included no mention that the policies were coming.... Vice President JD Vance, who spoke at the march in person, similarly did not mention them or other policy promises, but assured the crowd that Trump would be 'the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes.'... The order[s] came on the same day that Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to rejoin the Geneva Consensus Declaration, an international anti-abortion pact signed during Trump’s first term. One day earlier, in another move that thrilled abortion opponents, Trump issued pardons for roughly two dozen people convicted of forcibly entering and blocking access to abortion clinics.”
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.” (Also linked yesterday.)
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.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: “In virtual remarks to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland..., Donald Trump on Thursday spouted many false or misleading economic claims. Here’s a quick rundown.” MB: If you check out Dana Milbank's column at the top of today's page, you'll notice that many of Stupid Hitler'sTM:digby remarks were spoken off-the-cuff; not so here. The Davos speech was scripted, & Trump read it from a teleprompter. That is, Trump's speechwriters are writing porkies for him, perhaps at his direction, perhaps not. Lies and propaganda are administration policy.
Katie Hawkinson of the Independent: “... Donald Trump told Denmark’s prime minister he is serious about taking over Greenland in a 'fiery' phone call last week, the Financial Times reports. Trump and Mette Frederiksen spoke on the phone for 45 minutes last week after the president said he wanted the US to take Greenland, despite officials repeatedly saying it’s not for sale. One official with knowledge of the conversation call[ed] it 'horrendous'. 'He was very firm, another unnamed source told the Financial Times. '... Before, it was hard to take it seriously. But I do think it is serious, and potentially very dangerous.' Officials also told the Financial Times Trump was aggressive and confrontational, despite Frederiksen’s offer to increase Greenland-US cooperation on military bases and natural resource exploitation.”
Robbie Gramer, et al., of Politico: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio halted spending Friday on most existing foreign aid grants for 90 days. The order, which shocked State Department officials, appears to apply to funding for military assistance to Ukraine. Rubio’s guidance, issued to all diplomatic and consular posts, requires department staffers to issue 'stop-work orders' on nearly all 'existing foreign assistance awards,' according to the document.... It is effective immediately. [The order] appears to go further than ... Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which instructed the department to pause foreign aid grants for 90 days pending review by the secretary. It had not been clear from the president’s order if it would affect already appropriated funds or Ukraine aid.”
Courtney Kube & Jonathan Allen of NBC News: “Mexico denied a U.S. military plane access to land Thursday, at least temporarily frustrating the Trump administration's plans to deport immigrants to the country, according to two U.S. defense officials and a third person familiar with the situation. Two Guatemala-bound Air Force C-17s, carrying about 80 people apiece, flew deportees out of the U.S. Thursday night, the sources said. The third flight, slotted for Mexico, never took off. It was not immediately clear why Mexico blocked the flight, but tensions between the U.S. and Mexico, neighbors and longtime allies, have risen since President Donald Trump won the November election.... After the publication of this article, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted, 'Yesterday, Mexico accepted a record 4 deportation flights in 1 day!' A White House official, however, did not clarify whether they were military, commercial or private flights.” MB: I see Leavitt is into Trumpunctuation.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: “U.S. officials are preparing to send thousands of additional troops to the U.S.-Mexico border — including, potentially, infantry soldiers equipped with 20-ton Stryker combat vehicles, according to four U.S. officials familiar with the planning. The Pentagon is rushing to cobble together options for an operation that ... Donald Trump has declared a national emergency. These additional service members and capabilities, if all approved, would vastly expand the military’s footprint from Texas to California, where roughly 2,500 troops are positioned to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the detection and apprehension of migrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.... The flow of people and illegal drugs across America’s southern frontier ... plummeted last year after U.S. and Mexican authorities introduced new efforts to stem the flow of migrants looking to enter the United States.”
Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “Department of Homeland Security officials have ordered what amounts to a pause for a range of programs that allowed immigrants to settle in the United States temporarily, including a key initiative providing an entryway for Ukrainians. The directive, contained in an email sent by the top official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday..., demands an immediate end to 'final decisions' on applications related to the programs while the administration reviews them and decides whether to terminate them. The scope of the programs mentioned in the pause is vast, and the decision will block the entrance of immigrants fleeing some of the most unstable and desperate places in the world. In addition to Ukraine..., the programs offered a pathway to immigrants from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela, among others.... [Donald Trump] signed an order on Monday demanding that the Department of Homeland Security end 'all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in my executive orders,' or programs that allow a wide number of people to enter the country under a temporary status known as parole.”
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.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Zach Montague of the New York Times: “The Education Department said on Friday that it would no longer investigate schools that remove books from their libraries, emphasizing its new stance by dismissing 11 pending civil rights complaints related to book bans in public schools. The move, immediately hailed by conservative groups, represents a significant whittling-down of the department’s traditional authority as President Trump’s incoming administration makes rapid strides toward its goal of relinquishing oversight of education to the states.”
Weird Nominee Was MIA for Key Meeting. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “For two hours [last week], incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem and other intended members of ... Donald Trump’s Cabinet hashed out their roles and responsibilities in the event of a crisis — splitting their time between a hypothetical avian flu outbreak and a hypothetical terrorist attack in New Orleans — as outgoing Biden officials shared lessons and guidance from their real-world experience. National security officials in previous administrations have characterized the exercise, which is a required part of the presidential transition, as essential preparation to ensure that a new government is ready for an emergency on Day 1. But ... Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the pivotal agency when a pandemic strikes, [did not attend].... Kennedy was two miles away, on Capitol Hill, seeking to sway senators skeptical of his candidacy to serve as the nation’s top health official.... Kennedy left some of them deeply rattled by sharing debunked theories about vaccines and making other questionable assertions, the people said.... It would fall to Kennedy — who has never held a senior government role nor steered an emergency response — to oversee key decisions [during a pandemic], or make them himself.”
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “A little over two years ago, prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington obtained a landmark conviction against Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, on charges of seditious conspiracy for the role he played in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. On Friday, the same office — now led by one of ... [Donald] Trump’s appointees, Ed Martin — effectively assumed the role of Mr. Rhodes’s defense lawyer, filing court papers that sought to reverse a federal judge’s order from earlier in the day that barred him and other convicted members of the far-right group from visiting Washington without permission.... On Friday morning, Judge Amit P. Mehta, who oversaw Mr. Rhodes’s case, issued an order altering the terms of his supervised release, saying he could no longer enter Washington without the judge’s permission. Unlike hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants, Mr. Rhodes was not fully pardoned by Mr. Trump; his 18-year prison term was reduced to time served. So Judge Mehta asserted control over his conditions of release....
“[Mr. Martin] was a prominent member of the 'Stop the Steal' movement that sought to overturn Mr. Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.... According to his own social media posts, he also appears to have been at the Capitol on Jan. 6.... Moreover, Mr. Martin is still listed as a board member of the Patriot Freedom Project, one of the most prominent fund-raising organizations working to help pay legal fees for Jan. 6 defendants. He has also represented some of those defendants himself, squaring off against the very same federal prosecutors he now leads.”
Hannah Ziegler & Julian Mark of the Washington Post: “Target said Friday that it plans to scale back many of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including efforts to hire from underrepresented groups, amid a tougher legal environment for those programs and new threats from the White House. The retailer ... said it will end the DEI goals it sets in three-year cycles and curtail racial equity initiatives aimed at improving representation for Black businesses and suppliers, according to a memo shared with staff by Kiera Fernandez, Target’s chief community impact and equity officer. The company also said it will stop conducting external diversity surveys and submitting information to the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates corporate policies on LGBTQ+ inclusion....
“The shift comes only days after ... Donald Trump issued executive orders meant to quash DEI programs in the public and private sectors. He directed agency heads to draw up lists of publicly traded companies to investigate over their DEI programs, which legal experts said could send further chills through the corporate sector. Many large companies began reassessing the legality of their programs after the Supreme Court in 2023 overturned affirmative action in university admissions, which sparked dozens of lawsuits alleging that certain programs violated federal civil rights laws.”
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North Carolina. Ari Berman of Mother Jones: “In early January, the Republican majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court blocked the State Board of Elections from certifying the victory of Democratic Justice Allison Riggs after she led by 734 votes following two recounts. Riggs’ Republican opponent, Jefferson Griffin, had asked the court to overturn the election by throwing out more than 60,000 ballots. On Thursday, the court rejected Griffin’s extraordinary request to appoint him the winner — for now — and sent the case back to the lower courts for a full trial. The court continued to block the state board from certifying the election; it is now the last uncertified race in the country. Worse, three of the court’s Republican justices expressed full-throated support for overturning the election -- a stunning outcome that would have major ramifications for free and fair elections across the country....
“Rather than accept a narrow defeat, Griffin challenged the eligibility of 60,000 voters, claiming that ballots were wrongly counted from people who submitted incomplete voter registration records. But Griffin’s campaign couldn’t point to a single instance of an ineligible voter casting a ballot, and all of the 60,000 voters he challenged showed identification while voting by mail or during early voting. His list of challenged ballots included example after example of lawful voters — including Riggs’ own parents....”
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Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: “Four Israeli female soldiers were released by Hamas in Gaza City on Saturday morning, marking the start of a second week of a protracted ceasefire and hostage release deal that has halted 15 months of fighting and delivered Hamas a new platform to project optics of power. The highly choreographed event showed the women, dressed in army-green outfits, being forced by their captors to take the stage, smile and raise their arms for a gaggle of cameras before being transferred to the Red Cross vans that would bring them home to Israel. Shortly afterward, the Israel Defense Forces said the women had been transferred to them in the Gaza Strip. The event in Gaza City occurred several hours earlier than expected. The women’s parents, siblings and friends could be seen crying, overjoyed to see the women walking on their own feet, and waiting to embrace them in Israel.”
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Reader Comments (12)
There's an 18 year old business man (business child?) who's going
to be really upset when the workers on his projects are rounded
up by ICE and flown to Central America. I doubt if he could even
pound a nail by himself.
Barron Trump has launched his own real estate company and plans
to build luxury houses in Utah, Arizona and Idaho.
I doubt that will help the housing crisis. Working families don't
usually buy ten million dollar houses.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DFLDvJlo_dR/
@Forrest Morris: Here's more on the Boy Trump's luxury home business, which he dissolved recently but plans to relaunch this spring.
After #47s lovefest in North Carolina I'm wondering how long it would take the state to repair and restore the damage from Helene and where and how they would get the funds. Then there's California. Not only do they have a disaster hard to comprehend but the federal government is rounding up the people who would repair and restore the damage. The construction industry there is nearly 60% immigrants and a good percentage of those are undocumented.
Add in agricultural workers and you have another disaster on your hands. No wonder #47 wants to disband FEMA.
Trump's complaints about FEMA in North Carolina conveniently don't include the fact that he and the Right were spreading dangerous conspiracies during the recovery. Government workers feared for their safety because of the lies he was spreading and the unstable people he was encouraging to confront them.
Fat Hitler wants to dissolve FEMA. “States should take care of their own problems and not bother me when they KNOW I have an early tee time at my golf club.”
Yeah. Listen, moron, FEMA exists because states CAN’T handle huge natural disasters on their own.
But for Trump, and his band of cowardly lemmings in Congress, the federal government exists purely to fulfill his wish list of greed and vengeance. Nothing more. In that regard, why do states even need representation? Party of Traitors congressional cowards should just go home. It’s not like they do anything useful.
@Akhilleus & @RAS: Quite right. As Peter Fischer, a Bush II Treasury undersecretary once said, "The U.S. government is an insurance company with an army." (Krugman knows everything!) The whole idea of having a FEDERAL government is that we help out one another. One nation of 13 states is stronger than any one of 13 nation-states.
Obviously, the reason Trump doesn't get this is that the very concept of sharing anything is anathema to him. He's perfectly happy to take the money from California, which contributes more to the federal government per capital than most other states, but he's not willing to give it back when Californians need it because they aren't "loyal" to him.
Also anathema: reality and personal responsibility. He would never take responsibility for his own lies and those of his loyal band of lunatics. Everything is somebody else's fault even when he is the sole or primary cause of the problem.
From yesterday, but I thought this one bore repeating.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/01/24/supreme-court-public-religious-charter-school/
This morning I'm also thinking we should all be applying for Hungarian citizenship since if Project 2025 has its way (and so far it’s doing just fine) we'll soon be living in Hungary, West.
The headline says the Court will "consider,” which is quite a mental stretch for many of them.
One commenter suggested that in the name of equal treatment the Court's approval would open the door to religious schools of all stripes.
Wrong. Equal treatment is the last thing the White Christian supremacists are interested in, but that coin hasn’t dropped for the nation.
Yet. If it ever will.
Jonathan Chait, in The Atlantic on the lack of resistance to t**** and how the lines of normal have moved
"The most revealing statement on the pardons came from House Speaker Mike Johnson. 'The president’s made his decision,' he said. 'I don’t second-guess those.' Here, Johnson was stating overtly what most of his colleagues had only revealed tacitly: that he does not believe that his job permits him to criticize, let alone oppose, Trump’s actions."
and since it has now come to pass, a repeat of Jonathan Chait's November piece on why Hegseth is the most dangerous cabinet pick
@Marie
More on what you said:
We are seeing infantilism writ large as a political movement... Or on an even larger scale? A nation of very young children whose parents failed to teach them how to behave.
Thanks, everybody, for the good reporting. It seems that the cruelty that we have long noticed is exclusive to the Party of Traitors is now in triplicate. I just hope we have great lawyers in the private sector who can challenge some of these lies and inflations and drivel and revenge that are coming out of the mouths of the inarticulate supposed congress people who don't seem to have noticed they are following a demented autocratic already-moron who can't string three words together that make sense. And a religious bigot. And a sexist and a racist. What a guy.
Loved the photos in NC of the whiner and his handlers; slurred his words and then launched into lies about FEMA, which has gone through hell since those damn floods for which hurricanes are to blame. I seriously am out of patience with the stupids who "think" like Stupid Hitler.
The ways the volume of agencies and committees are falling like snow is hard to even grasp. The better to loot the treasury, I guess. Not only is the remaining federal government full of lying monsters, there is going to be zero oversight for anything. Won't that be great when our troops are everywhere, wars are inevitable, and they will be pretenders at every level of every specialty? The interesting part is how private corporations and companies are vying to be the most loyal to the Idiot In The White House--when they needn't kowtow to the cabal. Target? Guess I won't be going there again. Racists, sexists, ignoramuses, cruelty-ridden toxic waste.
I cannot even categorize Mitch McConnell, whose animosity and cruelty match that of the others even if he did vote against HedgeHog. I guess his "standards" are a miniscule measure only slightly above the hayseeds working with Fatass-- but not enough to get him elevated above those hellish people he usually votes with...Yes. It is his fault, along with John Roberts.
Sir Stinky Pants fired Chef Jose Andres. That is really the living end of this country's capitulation to the lowest band of hell. Okay, I am out of expletives.
Trump likes to fire people publicly, even if they don't work for him or the government anymore, because it makes him feel important and powerful. Plus doing it publicly means he doesn't have to face the person since he is such an epic coward. I also think that right wing losers get briefly reminded of how far they have fallen from decent humanity when they see genuinely good people doing good and selfless deeds. So they have to try to pull others down and attempt to humiliate them so that fewer people will have the audacity of providing better role models that make them look like the cruel, cheap, and pathetic losers they truly are.
ICE
"Navajo Nation officials have contacted the governors of Arizona and New Mexico to address concerns about Navajo citizens being detained by ICE.
In response to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the deportation of immigrants in the country illegally, Acting Navajo Nation Deputy Attorney General Kris Beecher recommended that tribal members carry their Certificate of Indian Blood along with other forms of identification.
Social media has been flooded with posts about Navajo citizens being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and questioned about their U.S. citizenship.
The unverified reports of people being detained and what leaders were doing to keep their citizens safe were discussed at a Navajo Nation committee meeting on Thursday. Beecher said Navajo Nation executive officials had contacted New Mexico and Arizona governors' offices with concerns."