Friday Open Thread

What's on your mind?

Comments

[not guilty]

The State of Arizona and Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva have sued the House of Representatives for the refusal of the Speaker of the House to swear in Ms. Grijalva, despite her having won election to the House and meeting all qualifications to hold that office. https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-10-21-Complaint.pdf

The Speaker's conduct is lawless and inexplicable. This lawsuit should be a slam dunk in light of Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 522 (1966) (“the Constitution leaves the House without authority to exclude any person, duly elected by his constituents, who meets all the requirements for membership expressly prescribed in the Constitution”).

[TwelveInchPianist]

It doesn't sound like she has standing, because the case isn't ripe. She can take the oath, then sue if she is denied the ability to do anything.

[David Nieporent]

I mean, the literal point of the suit is that she can't take the oath.

[TwelveInchPianist]

The suit points out that "The Constitution does not specify who must administer the oath, only that Representatives must take it. "

This is the relief they want:

The State and Ms. Grijalva therefore request that this Court enter a declaratory judgment that (1) Ms. Grijalva shall be deemed a Member of the House of Representatives once she has taken the oath prescribed by law, see 5 U.S.C. § 3331; and (2) if Speaker Johnson has not administered the oath, the oath may be administered to Ms. Grijalva by any person authorized by law to administer oaths.

[Stephen Lathrop]

The oath was not required by the House in the first place. It is not the Speaker's cudgel to wield. The oath was required by the jointly sovereign American People, to whom Johnson owes faithful performance. In a better organized system of government, Johnson himself would already be out of office for oath breaking.

[Mr. Bumble]

Thank you Comrade Lathrop.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Bumble — Oath breaking fine with you? Or do you object only to the notion of oath enforcement?

[Brett Bellmore]

You want to cite the relevant clause of his oath?

[Stephen Lathrop]

Bellmore — I thought the oath required him to support the Constitution. Am I wrong?

But of course, no individual, me, or you, or anyone, ought to be empowered to decide whether anyone's oath has been kept. That must be left to joint review by a tribunal of the People themselves, empowered to act at pleasure, and without review by government.

An oath sworn to the People must be judged by the People. They alone are the proper judges of their own satisfaction. In American constitutionalism, their joint power is supreme and uncontrollable.

I know that seems arbitrary to you. It doesn't matter. Every government rests at some point on arbitrary, unappealable power. There is always a power of final decision.

The only choice is where that power resides. You want to put it in government. The founders wanted that power to control government. They were wiser than you are.

[Mr. Bumble]

Please point us to the wording of the oath you believe the speaker has broken.

[Drewski]

"I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter."

[Mr. Bumble]

Where did you find that?
"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and [House of] Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the oath or affirmation required by the sixth article of the Constitution of the United States, shall be administered in the form following, Form of the oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, to be administered to the members of the Senate and to the members of the House of Representatives. to wit: “I, A. B. do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.”
No mention of your wording.

[Drewski]

5 USC 3331 is the oath Representatives take. See https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Oath-of-Office/ for more information.

[Mr. Bumble]

The law and oath you cite does not seem to apply to Congress;
"An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services,"
Congress is not the civil or uniformed services.

[Drewski]

And yet it is the oath the House uses.

[not guilty]

The oath is required by Article VI of the Constitution:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

[Mr. Bumble]

...and who is oath bound to administer the oath?

[David Nieporent]

Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. § 25, the Speaker is.

[Mr. Bumble]

This is all pretty ambiguous. The law you cite is a 1948 amendment to the first law passed by the first Congress (R.S. §30 derived from act June 1, 1789, ch. 1, §2, 1 Stat. 23.)
2 U.S.C. § 25 states that the Speaker can be sworn in by any member and then administer the oath to the other elected members.
So how is an un-sworn member a member capable of swearing in the Speaker?

[David Nieporent]

Since you understood and easily interpreted all of the words, I don't see what's "ambiguous" about it.

An unsworn member is still a member, and the law says that an unsworn member can administer the oath, so an unsworn member can administer the oath.

[TwelveInchPianist]

2 U.S.C. § 25 doesn't say when he has to administer the oath, she has to appear at the house for him to be required to do so, and I don't know if she can do that if the house isn't in session.

In any event, 2 U.S.C. § 25 probably conflicts with the provision that each house gets to make its own rules. But in any event, as Grijalva herself points out, it's not necessary for Johnson to swear her in.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"The oath was required by the jointly sovereign American People..."

And as Ms. Grijalva says, nothing in the Constitution requires Johnson to administer the oath.

[David Nieporent]

The suit points out that "The Constitution does not specify who must administer the oath, only that Representatives must take it. "

The suit also points out that federal law requires the Speaker to administer the oath.

[TwelveInchPianist]

Certainly true, and if they were seeking to compel the speaker to administer the oath, that would be a different story.

But that's not what they're seeking.

[Dr. Ed 2]

This is a separation of powers issue.

[not guilty]

"This is a separation of powers issue."

So what? ". Our system of government requires that federal courts on occasion interpret the Constitution in a manner at variance with the construction given the document by another branch. The alleged conflict that such an adjudication may cause cannot justify the courts' avoiding their constitutional responsibility." Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 549 (1969).

[Krayt]

It doesn't sound like she has standing, because the case isn't ripe. She can take the oath, then sue if she is denied the ability to do anything.

How about her constituents don't have to pay taxes this year? Taxation without representation, Boston Tea Party and all that.

They are denying the rights to the voters who elected her, for better or for worse, for political reasons. Now it's true there's this whole Epstein thing, but you know what? Voting for that anything, including that is why we're here.

Not a fan of this kind of political hardball, but half a million constituents would disagree on a lawyer's "ripe".

If prior restraint on speech is an immediate and unrecoverable harm, as timliness of speech is crucial, especially in a political context, what then, this, as it drags on weeks, then months.

I spent 8 years ripping on (mostly) Democrats over unrelenting weaselry. I'm not Republican, much less MAGA. I'm anti-weasel.

[John F. Carr]

The Massachusetts legislature is required to vote on constitutional amendments proposed by voters. If the amendment is approved by at least 25% of the legislature it proceeds along the legislative process. Two voter-proposed amendments had 25% support but were opposed by the leadership. The President of the Senate refused to hold a vote. The courts refused to intervene. Before the legislative session expired there was no injury. The vote can happen at any time during the session. Maybe it will happen in five minutes. Of course there was no vote before the end of the session and then it was too late to order a vote.

[Commenter_XY]

Does the House need to be in session to swear in a new member, NG?

[Drewski]

Indisputably no. The First Congress was not in session when its members were sworn in. Congress has sworn in members outside of regular sessions since, as well. And the Supreme Court has ruled specifically on this question. Johnson is betraying his oath.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Johnson is breaking his oath, which does not matter at all. Because nobody treats oath breaking as serious.

That is too bad, because for many decades almost all the Constitutional constraints on government short of the impeachment power depended on respect for oaths. And among a great many office holders oaths were respected. Not anymore. Not even by Supreme Court justices.

That leaves the famously useless impeachment power as the only hope of practical government constraint. Trump v. United States was the case which inspired the Trump administration to consider fully the implications of unconstrained power. The results are in.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Supreme Court is not the principal focus of America's political demonstrations.

[DDHarriman]

Unconstrained power = enforcing existing laws...

You people are as melodramatic as a bunch of hens. Are all Leftists feminized lunatics?

[Brett Bellmore]

Johnson is doing something he shouldn't be doing. I have no problem saying that much. I don't think he's actually breaking his oath, which isn't that comprehensive, it's missing a clause requiring him to not be an entitled asshole.

This is mostly performative, so long as the House isn't actually in session. If he refuses to administer the oath at that point, it would actually be consequential.

"For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Supreme Court is not the principal focus of America's political demonstrations."

Because, and I know this will shock you, you live in a country where most people do not share your opinions.

[Sarcastr0]

'Johnson is doing something he shouldn't be doing. I have no problem saying that much. [But] I don't think'

Yeah, we all knew. You're the top of the heap in 'this is bad, but' comments.

Such repetition might give someone else a clue.

[John 4]

Some commenters are referring to Brett Bellmore as an easily-boiled frog.

[wvattorney13]

"For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Supreme Court is not the principal focus of America's political demonstrations."

The Justices are insulated from the political process by design. Once on the bench they are not answerable to the voters. Political demonstrations at the Court are misdirected and show a severe lack of civics knowledge on people who demonstrate.

[Stephen Lathrop]

wvaattoerney13 — On the contrary, people who demonstrate invoke principles formerly used to found the nation and establish the Constitution. That is no ordinary political power—which is the stuff of government—that is sovereign power, to which even the Supreme Court is subject.

[not guilty]

"Does the House need to be in session to swear in a new member, NG?"

No. Every House convenes on January 3 following the November general elections. Per 2 U.S.C. § 25:

At the first session of Congress after every general election of Representatives, the oath of office shall be administered by any Member of the House of Representatives to the Speaker; and by the Speaker to all the Members and Delegates present, and to the Clerk, previous to entering on any other business; and to the Members and Delegates who afterward appear, previous to their taking their seats.

The House is not in session when the Speaker is sworn in. Neither is it in session when the Speaker swears in the other members. Until those events happen, there is no House of Representatives to succeed the outgoing House. A body that does not yet exist is incapable of being "in session."

[Commenter_XY]

Grijalva should be sworn in. It is politics.

This for that. End the shutdown, and Grijalva gets sworn in. That is what it looks like, to me. Also, I am sure the Speaker doesn't want to lessen his House majority and that plays into this as well.

[Martinned]

End the shutdown

I thought the talking point was that the shutdown was irrelevant and/or a good thing?

Most of the government isn't shut down, and Trump can fund all his other expenditure from "donations" anyway.

[DDHarriman]

How has your life been affected by the shutdown?

[Martinned]

I've been having to do more of the heavy lifting in merger control while my US counterparts can only clear mergers, not block them.

[Bwaaah]

In other words, there are fewer other regulatory bureaucracies putting drag on economic activity. So you see yourself as having to compensate for that by increasing the amount of drag you place on said activity?

Is that what you call "heavy lifting?" Helping a regulatory committee issue declarations of "NO"?

[Krayt]

Joy at regulatory burdens supports the Fundamental Theorem of Government.

[Bwaaah]

I would've been disappointed if you didn't show up for that one.

Look at him. He puffs up when even other country's regulators are [momentarily] kept at bay.

[Martinned]

there are fewer other regulatory bureaucracies putting drag on economic activity

No, there are more monopolies putting drag on economic activity.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2025/press-release/

[Mr. Bumble]

How does the state have standing to sue?
It would seem that if anyone does it would be Ms, Grijalva or the citizens of her district.

[not guilty]

Until Ms. Grivalja is sworn in, Arizona has eight representatives in the House instead of the nine that it is entitled to. Arizona accordingly lacks the full representation to which it is entitled because of the acts and omissions of the Defendants.

The wrongful denial of full congressional representation “undoubtedly satisfies the injury-in-fact requirement of Article III standing.” Dep’t of Commerce v. U.S. House of Reps., 525 U.S. 316, 331 (1999).

[TwelveInchPianist]

But how does the remedy being sought, which is a declaratory judgement saying that she should be deemed a Member once she has taken the oath, help with any of that.

Once she has taken the oath, then if she is denied full membership, she will have a claim she can pursue.

[David Nieporent]

That is not the relief sought. It is a two part request, and you are ignoring the second part.

[TwelveInchPianist]

B. Issue a declaratory judgment stating that if Speaker Johnson has not administered the oath, the oath may be administered to Ms. Grijalva by any person authorized by law to administer oaths under the law of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the State of Arizona

How does that change what I said? Nothing is stopping her from taking the oath.

[not guilty]

Are you really that dense, TIP? The point of the lawsuit is to declare Ms. Grijalva's rights in the event that the oath of office is administered to her by someone other than the Speaker of the House. Per 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a):

In a case of actual controversy within its jurisdiction, [subject to exceptions not here relevant,] any court of the United States, upon the filing of an appropriate pleading, may declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration, whether or not further relief is or could be sought. Any such declaration shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and shall be reviewable as such.

It's called a "declaratory judgment" action for a reason.

[TwelveInchPianist]

No, you're that dense.

How's this a ripe controversy?

She can take the oath, and then if any rights are denied to her she'll have a claim. Until then, any harm is speculative.

[not guilty]

It is ripe because she is duly elected, and the Speaker of the House, as of the time of filing the lawsuit, has refused to swear her in. Duh!

On a more colloquial note, the Speaker's refusal is also "ripe" in the sense of being odoriferous.

[TwelveInchPianist]

But the lawsuit isn’t challenging any of that. Duh.

They want a declaration about what her rights would be if she took the oath.

So take the oath, attempt to exercise your rights, and if she”s denied, then there”ll be a ripe controversy. Not before.

[David Nieporent]

You don't seem to understand how declaratory judgments work.

[TwelveInchPianist]

You still need an injury. It’s not like she’s going to get arrested if she takes the oath or something.

[Riva]

It’s such a “ slam dunk” that she and her party of all things lawfare just doesn’t want to file a case.

Meanwhile, in the real world, senate democrats kill a measure to pay essential workers during the democrats’ shutdown. I guess it doesn’t matter how much anyone may suffer as long as the repulsive creeps think they can leverage the matter for their own benefit. It may be time to carve out another exception to the extra constitutional “tradition” of the filibuster. Or at least make the democrat scunge filibuster for real instead of a part time play filibuster.

[David Nieporent]

It’s such a “ slam dunk” that she and her party of all things lawfare just doesn’t want to file a case.

Bot still just repeating programmed talking points. Bot was programmed to respond to any complaint about not swearing her in with the talking point that she must not have a case because she hasn't filed a case, so bot posts exactly that even though the very post that sparked this exchange was about her having filed a case.

[Riva]

Good point asshole. I did err by not reading NG’s usual shit careful. That would be like reading your shit careful. Who would do that?

[Malika la Maize]

Carefully, not careful. Bot displaying multiple errors, in dire need of diagnostics.

[Riva]

Asshole say asshole do.

I won’t insult monkeys by bringing them into this. I’ve probably already offended parrots by comparing them to you.

[not guilty]

Riva, it helps to actually read a comment before responding to it.

[Riva]

I admittedly did not carefully read your ubiquitous first comment here. But my comment on the litigation was really a minor observation and a small part of my original comment. Yet it has provoked quite a massive troll storm. WTF? Calm down.

[not guilty]

Riva, it was a kvetch that you have made on past threads, and you failed to adjust in light of real world events. You parroted yourself.

In other threads where you have squawked about fetal DNA, I have been tempted to suggest in response that your shit contains its own DNA, but that does not mean that each of your turds is a "human being."

Then I recalled the bot characterization that other commenters have made, such that I am not sure whether you do in fact shit.

I deduced that by process of elimination.

[Riva]

I admit further that I have, in the past, pointed out the completely insane nonsense you usually post. And your latest edition is no exception.

My comment above was, in very small part, a modest mistake. Your issues, including legal ignorance as well as logical and moral failings, are far deeper.

[Malika la Maize]

Bot can’t reply, only post.

[Riva]

But I do accept the unforced error and admit my mistake. That’s what adults do. Assholes do what assholes do. With bold print.

[not guilty]

"But I do accept the unforced error and admit my mistake."

Did your freaking keyboard break when you typed that, Riva?

[Riva]

That response was addressed to asshole above, not you NG

Allow me to repeat my response to you:

I admittedly did not carefully read your ubiquitous first comment here. But my comment on the litigation was really a minor observation and a small part of my original comment. Yet it has provoked quite a massive troll storm. WTF? Calm down.

[ThePublius]

This "bot" stuff is obnoxious. I wish you would cut it out.

[Don Nico]

You ask the fool to cut out his tongue

[Commenter_XY]

Proverbs 26:11...As a dog returns to vomit, so a fool to his folly....might also apply here Don Nico.

[Sarcastr0]

You're not here for civility, you just get offended when your compatriots get dinged.

Quit trying to backseat moderate.

Do you even understand why that nickname stuck to Riva?

[TwelveInchPianist]

Whatever you say, Gaslightro.

[Joe_dallas]

The Bot nickname stuck because you and other leftists were incapable of addressing the merits or substance of his comments in an intelligent manner.

[bernard11]

The Bot nickname stuck because you and other leftists were incapable of addressing the merits or substance of his comments in an intelligent manner.

His comments generally either merit or substance. The one that had some, about no suit being filed, was factually wrong. And even when he admitted error he did so in an obnoxious fashion.

Anyway, read the comment that begins, "The sick left..." and tell me what substance merits a response. It's idiocy.

[Riva]

So you thought you’d add your own obnoxious rant, just to prove how much you object to “offensive “ comments? Ignoring, of course, asshole and the parrot troll storm of assholes. Kindly fuck off.

[Joe_dallas]

Anyway, read the comment that begins, "The sick left..."

So - Riva starts his comment with a reasonably accurate statement.

[bernard11]

He starts with some generalized random insults and then continues with some more narrowly targeted ones.

No merit. No substance.

And none from you either.

[Malika la Maize]

jd’s likely not a bot, he’s likely actually this dumb. He can’t get the contradictions here.

[Riva]

The sick left does love dehumanizing insults. They share this pathology with “Buffalo Bill” from Silence of the Lambs. And for related reasons. The left needs this to target and isolate an opponent to justify, well just about anything for some. And of course they lack wit, which is why they parrot the same thing over and over again.

You and asshole above are beneath contempt. And stupid too.

We’ll talk about your absurd projection at a later time. You probably don’t understand. That’s because you’re stupid.

[Malika la Maize]

“And of course they lack wit, which is why they parrot the same thing over and over again.”

See, not self-aware. One thing Riva-bot does is repeat himself and not engage in replies. One can’t dehumanize a bot.

[Riva]

And the second string asshole feels a need to chime in again. You’re trying too hard. Like a child vying for attention. But an asshole.

[Malika la Maize]

Can’t reply, just goes to programmed insults (even in a debate about whether it can do more than that).

Bot.

[David Nieporent]

I am pretty sure that "dehumanizing insults" is not the exclusive province of the left. If we hear someone — typically an illegal immigrant, but oftentimes anyone in or from the "third world" — being described as an "animal," it's unlikely that it was "the left" saying that.¹

But in any case, correctly identifying a bot as a bot is not "dehumanizing."
​​
​​
¹ And, scrolling after posting this (but still within the edit window!), we get Dr. Ed saying "Drugrunners are vermin who need to be exterminated." I am confident that he's not on the left.

[Riva]

Did I write “exclusive” asshole? Pretty much though. But I guess you didn’t watch any of the latest “no kings” rally asshole. Or read any comments here, including your own. Or watched any leftist demonstration for the last 20 years. Or read any newspapers. Or books. Or watched anything broadcast anywhere.

But all this here initially prompted by a brief, introductory part of a larger comment. I wonder what asshole would have written if he had ever bothered to read the rest? This latest troll storm of assholes may continue into 2026 as it is.

[Malika la Maize]

Full of grammatical errors, bot badly broke.

[Commenter_XY]

David, I plead guilty to calling hamas members human animals; their own acts of medieval torture and and murder and brutality toward Jews (and American, and Thai, and arab lives on 10/7/23).define them. I am perfectly fine with ultimate justice being meted out in this world, and let's not wait for the afterlife.

Now look at how hamas openly murders their own (palestinian!) people in the streets. They gleefully upload the videos of the public executions carried out in the streets. They (hamas) behave as animals, except the Jews are no longer there. Their actions define them, as before.

[Malika la Maize]

“You're not here for civility, you just get offended when your compatriots get dinged.”

That’s kind of Pubes’ thing. What do you expect from someone who both supports Trump and cries about civility? Might as well support monogamy and, well, Trump fits there too!

[jb]

Bots are annoying, that's true.

[Joe_dallas]

calling him a bot because you cant address the merits is more annoying

[jb]

That's the thing about Riva, though. It's just a bunch of canned nonsense. As we see here: instead of actually engaging with the post in question, it's just a totally predictable set of talking points that in this case is especially off the mark because they suggest filing a lawsuit in response to a post about Arizona having filed a lawsuit. What possible response on the merits did that post deserve?

No one else here gets called a bot. Riva gets called a bot by doing bot-like things. It's not some generic slur intended to wipe away every point we disagree with.

[Sarcastr0]

I'll once again ruin the joke by overexplaining it -

Riva is terrible at engaging with the actual posts he reads.

He reads till he gets to a word or phrase that he's got a response to, and then stops. He does not read farther even one word. Instead, with machine-like myopia, he posts a response to the one thing he just read.

Said response is often some old right-wing talking point that is itself designed to deflect from actual engagement.

This is his pattern over and over.

So you have
-failure to respond to the full actual comment
-reflexive responses to a trigger words/phrases
-unoriginal content

These are all failures that align *precisely* with the ways pre-AI bots failed to imitate human posters.

Add in his angry inability to change his habits, and you have a nickname with legs.

[Joe_dallas]

Gaslighto is condemning riva for being terrible at engaging with the actual posts he reads.."

That is quite humorous coming from the person who never engages with any level of intelligence

[Riva]

And I doubt it will ever dawn on the gaslighting clown that all he ever does is seize upon a word or phrase and "then stops. He does not read farther even one word. Instead, with machine-like myopia, he posts a response to the one thing he just read." But so do his parrot troll buddies.

Intellectual integrity and self-awareness are not hallmarks of the left. But they do like their projection.

[Malika la Maize]

Very meta!

[Riva]

The leftist sludge here does seem especially intimidated by me, little communist girl that never smiled. I'm flattered.

[Malika la Maize]

“The leftist sludge here does seem especially intimidated by me”

Now it’s misspelling amused. Badly broken.

[Riva]

Not sure I understand your point, little second string asshole parrot troll. Maybe you don't like "sludge" as a negative metaphor for the left? Did I intimidate you again? How about, in a gesture of good faith, I offer "leftist sewage" instead. And at no charge, my little second string asshole parrot troll friend. You're welcome.

[Malika la Maize]

I thought you guys were all about calling entities by what they are, not what they identify as.

[Riva]

I do. I call you a second string parrot troll. A particularly obnoxious and offensive one. But in essence a second string parrot troll nonetheless.

[Malika la Maize]

Repeating itself even within one comment while complaining about it above. Not self-aware, in need of diagnostics.

[Riva]

You can’t even be original in the same comment string. Kind of sad parrot asshole.

[Frank Drackman]

D's pulled the same shit with MTG, letting her get sworn in, but giving her no Committee assignments,
Paybacks, a Bitch they be.

Frank

[SRG2]

Not the same thing at all.

[Don Nico]

Oh no. It was just a harmless stunt in that case.
However, MTG is an extremely stupid person and an anti-semite, so I can actually appreciate the stunt in that case.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I have a hard time getting upset by the "Jewish Space Lasers" comment -- I've heard a LOT worse from Team Hamas.

Ignorant, yes -- but antisemetic? I'm not so sure.

And there is a difference between "could" and "would" -- I think that Israel has the ability to build some sort of incendiary device and light our forests on fire, but I don't think they ever would. The Israelis aren't that kind of people, nor are their leaders.

Does that make me an antisemite?!?

[Frank Drackman]

Just Stupid

[Krayt]

"You guys are just as stupid as our stupidest!"

I sense a Pulitzer for Commentary on the way!

[Krayt]

Actually, now that I think about it...

[hobie]

Does the Constitution require a member get committee seats and other perks, Frankie? Ain't there been plenty of congressmen stripped of the assignments but still served?

[Krayt]

The more powerful the committee seat, the more brilliant the midlife investment savant emergence of the spouse.

[SRG2]

This is about the Epstein files, not the shutdown. Either Johnson et al are engaged in a giant act of trolling by behaving as though the files are bad for Trump but there's nothing in them and when they're released, Trump Johnson, Bondi etc can mock the Dems - which is not impossible but seems unlikely given how long this has been going on - or it really is bad for Trump, in which case it's unsurprising that Johnson is doing what he can to prevent release. And why it's unsurprising that the cultists seem content for him to do so.

[Don Nico]

Sometimes two things can be true.

[Moderation4ever]

All these attempts to stop the release of the Epstein files simply make the interest in the files grow. I have never thought Trump was in danger from the files, but I grow more skeptical about this as time passes.

[Commenter_XY]

Let the chips fall where they may; release the files. Anyone involved with Epstein must be named and shamed, and then bear the consequences of their actions.

[Area Man]

I remember a few years ago when they couldn't elect a Speaker everyone saying that they weren't yet holding office. But that's not what the Constitution says. They hold office once their term begins and just need to take an oath at some point. Failure to take the oath doesn't stop them from holding that office or discharging its duties. Contrast Article VI with Article II, which says, "Before [the president] enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation ...." For the president to execute his office, he must take the oath first. That the same requirement wasn't made for members of Congress shows they don't have the same limitation on executing their duties.

So, I think that, since she's been certified by her state as a representative, she is one and is entitled to all the rights and privileges, including voting, as any other representative. Johnson has no authority to stop her from executing her duties.

[Stephen Lathrop]

I expect Trump’s, “ballroom,” to turn politically damaging, in an enduring way. It can’t be built instantly. It will be evident as soon as it gets structural framing what a monstrosity it is. The art and models shown to the public have been fraudulent, designed to minimize how much larger than the White House is the planned structure. That dawning realization may take a lasting political toll. The ballroom issue will stay in the public eye until election day.

Leave aside for the moment expectations for outcomes in the House. It would be more damaging if Trump lost the Senate. Could that happen? A few months ago I wrote that I thought it possible. Every reply scoffed, insisting at most a 1-seat pickup for the Ds. What does it look like now?

Among sitting Democrats, one seat looks reasonably contestable, in Georgia. Among Republicans, outlooks have already deteriorated. I would be delighted now to take even-money bets on D candidates to win in NC, ME, OH, and MT. I expect D candidates to turn all 4 of those blue. In Alaska incumbent Murkowski looks more and more like an anti-Trump vote on many issues. If that happens, Trump/MAGA would be hard pressed to wield effective Senate control were Trump’s overall political condition to deteriorate further.

[Commenter_XY]

lathrop, I'll gladly take that bet; they will not all turn blue.

Your powers of prognostication are no better than Rev Arthur.

[not guilty]

The House is up for grabs. Control of the Senate is a much heavier lift for Democrats.

[Commenter_XY]

Too early to make any prediction on the House, NG. I don't think redistricting fallout is complete/known.

[Stephen Lathrop]

State-wide races are gerrymander-proof. North Carolina illustrates the problem, and the advantages. I do not rule out bypass of a wave election, to go instead directly to a revulsion election, after news starts to penetrate the heartland about what they have enabled. Tariff effects on prices, and bizarre management of agricultural foreign policy will bypass Fox News, and land with direct influence.

[Martinned]

I'm sure the ballroom will be HUGE. How could it not be, given that it's "the president's main priority"?

https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3m3ux5cr25425

[Stephen Lathrop]

Priorities can shift. Presently there will be action underway to build a
gaudy arena on the South Lawn, to host a UFC brutality spectacle. Justified, of course, as a commemoration of American independence on its 250th anniversary.

I wonder how much forthright cruelty, exploitation, and violence America's population are prepared to accept in trade for their last vestiges of republican virtue.

[Stephen Lathrop]

[Brett Bellmore]

You do realize, I hope, that this sort of thing is Trump's actual profession, right?

I've no doubt there will be more white marble and gold leaf than you can tolerate, and it's going to be in a classical style, won't look a bit like Obama's Presidential library. But I expect it to come out quite nice.

[Martinned]

it's going to be in a classical style

I don't think that word means what you think it does.

‘Dictator-for-life vibes’: our architecture critic on Trump’s bulletproof ballroom bling

[Brett Bellmore]

Sure looks like what I'd call "classical style", and, OK, most of that white would be plaster, not marble, but the gold leaf checks out.

Your critic makes multiple references to Nero, but aside from that, and his complaints about the local community not having any say in the matter, I'm not seeing any evidence that it won't be in the classical style.

Again, I expect it to look really classy. Brutalists will hate it.

[Mr. Bumble]

If it had been there when Billy Boy was president I'm sure it would have been available for weddings (for a small (sic) donation).

[Sarcastr0]

Naw, see Trump may have needlessly demolished a central bit of American history, but he's gonna make it MORE sacred! Brett's sure he knows the style's gonna be the classiest neoclassicest.

The Trump defenders have been forced to show their asses more than usual lately.

[Brett Bellmore]

I don't think the White house is particularly sacred, and the bit of the East wing that's being remodeled isn't exactly steeped in storied history.

But I took Lathrop's complaint to be about the architectural merits of the renovation. Essentially he thinks the result will be such a monstrosity the public will rebel.

On the contrary, the general public rather likes classical style, and as this is in Trump's core competency, I expect the renovation to turn out pretty well.

[Sarcastr0]

A telling concession. Not only that you don't find the WH to have any sacrality to it, but that you haven't bothered to learn what is going on there. No need to keep up on the news when you know your position already!

'the bit of the East wing' is the whole. Have you seen the satellite images? You don't get your own facts.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/new-images-show-entire-white-house-east-wing/story?id=126800684

Just like unilaterally taking money from the treasury, and posting videos where he dumps shit on peaceful protesters, what this shows is contempt for the American Poeple.

You've never cared about those, though. Not when they disagree with you.

So of course this isn't sacred to you.

[DDHarriman]

As far as you know, how many presidents ignored the WH's sacrality and made modifications to the premise?

Is Trump the first?

---

So of course this isn't sacred to you.

Of course, a govie like yourself worships and elevates government idols. Of fucking course. that explains so much about your kind. It's your church. Do you have a little White House next to your Baal shrine?

[David Nieporent]

As far her as you know, how many presidents ignored the WH's sacrality and made modifications to the premise?

As far as I know, none. No other president has ever claimed the unilateral power to make changes without going through Congress.

[Mr. Bumble]

"As far as I know, none."
Wow, that seals it because as we all know, you know everything.
Presidents and First Ladies have made numerous modifications and changes. Congress provided the funding, so maybe that counts as an OK.
Private organizations have also provided finding.
"During the 1930s, the March of Dimes constructed a swimming pool so that Franklin Roosevelt could exercise, as therapy for his polio-related disability. "
West Wing-Wikipedia
See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House

[Life of Brian]

without going through Congress

For public funding when that's needed, or for actual renovation plans? The former isn't in play here; the latter could use a cite or two.

[Krayt]

As Sesame Street may say, one of these things is not like the others:

Bowling alley
Pool
Basketball/tennis courts
Rose garden
Barely sub-Pentagon-sized ballroom

[Mr. Bumble]

Kryat:
"Barely sub-Pentagon-sized ballroom"
Area of the Pentagon:
Technical details
Floor count 7 (2 underground)
Floor area 6,636,360 sq ft (620,000 m2)

Fail!

[Mr. Hook]

C'mon, man, sacred? It's not like the Cracker Barrel logo. Now, that's something that makes Real Americans™ get out their Gadsden flags.

[wvattorney13]

I'm sure that when Trump eats, you guys would complain that he chews too loud.

[Sarcastr0]

You may not be able to see the difference because you feel offended by all criticism of your guy, but he demolished the East Wing of the White House without any coordination.

Most of us can tell the difference between that and chewing too loud.

[Bob from Ohio]

"without any coordination"

You can just do things.

[David Nieporent]

Not to other people's property.

[DDHarriman]

How dare he not get permission from The Great Sarcastr0.

But then again this is the same guy who says a sitting President has to get permission from a Sarcastr0 in order to declassify something.

[Life of Brian]

Not to other people's property.

1. Whose property do you think it is?
2. Who do you think gets to make the call on what happens to it, and why?

[Stephen Lathrop]

My complaints have not been about the architecture. They have been about the scale, the lack of need, the lawlessness, opening the door to graft, and the self-evident role of oligarchy. I suppose I did assume tacitly that if my complaints were addressed, and the project went forward anyway, there would have been better architecture.

[Don Nico]

Stephen,
The need I am not sure about. I have not seen that argued in detail. However, I agree about the scale. It looks like a monstrosity.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Nico — They have existing indoor state dinner capacity at the White House for 140 people. My guess is that the optimal size for a state dinner held to further state purposes might not run much higher than 40 or 50, if you want a biggish dinner.

How many more than that can socialize coherently? I am long accustomed to extended-family Christmas dinner parties which run above 100, and in 40 years of attendance have never found any family member who knows all the others.

[ThePublius]

Yes, and as I said in the last open thread, when you become president you can do as you wish.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Bellmore — What other bits of DC do think are okay for destruction on Trump's say-so? Lincoln memorial? Washington Monument? Maybe just the cherry trees? How about the Smithsonian? Or maybe just knock the portico off the Supreme Court.

[Mr. Bumble]

What "central bit of American history"? FDR's bomb shelter?

[Bwaaah]

Sarc: "[The East wing of the White House is] a central bit of American history."

Yeah. Ever since yesterday.

[Life of Brian]

One wonders why the collective wail-o-meters were so silent when the project was announced and actual renderings were provided to the media nearly 3 months ago. There were even objective, level-headed reports on it less than a month ago.

[Bwaaah]

That was information. This is the popular daily swoon of hyperbole and revulsion we call the "news cycle."

[David Nieporent]

They weren't silent. But new information — namely, the fact that now it's clear from actual facts on the ground they were lying about not destroying the East Wing — has come to light, making the issue more salient.

[Life of Brian]

the fact that now it's clear from actual facts on the ground they were lying about not destroying the East Wing

1. The East Wing isn't being destroyed.
2. They never said the East Wing wouldn't be touched, and nobody with the slightest bit of familiarity with renovation and expansion of existing structures would think otherwise.
3. They in fact provided actual renderings of the position and size of the completed renovations on July 31.
4. The CBS article from last month I liked above says "a 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a seated capacity for 650 people will be constructed in the White House's East Wing," evincing zero confusion that the original East Wing structure would somehow remain untouched.

Nobody actually thought in good faith that this was going to be an entirely separate structure. This is just people seeing demolition cranes and jumping on the opportunity to try to shift the news cycle for at least a few hours.

[Malika la Maize]

“They never said the East Wing wouldn't be touched”

https://globalnews.ca/news/11490918/east-wing-white-house-demolished-donald-trump/amp/

“It won’t interfere with the current building,” he said. “It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

[Life of Brian]

Nobody ever thought "It" and "the current building" was anything but the White House mansion until this distraction presented itself a few days ago.

Even alt-right PBS agrees:

The Republican president had said in July when the project was announced that the ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.

“It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” he said of the White House.

Time to move on to the next breathless fabrication.

[Malika la Maize]

“The ballroom will be the biggest structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition in 1948 of the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn, even dwarfing the residence itself.”

[Life of Brian]

Dwarfing the what?

Again, they supplied a set of renderings on July 31. Zero surprises for anyone but the deliberately confused.

[Joe_dallas]

East wing was first built in 1902, then second story added in the early 1940's. While that is history, that is not exactly a central bit of American history.

[Stephen Lathrop]

What;s wrong with 1902 as a date in American history? Is it a second class date, because Justice Thomas has ruled it out of consideration for gun precedents?

[Joe_dallas]

What an inane response. Not even remotely relevant

[Stephen Lathrop]

Joe_dallas — No better example needed to show why you are not a competent judge of historical context.

[Malika la Maize]

So it was in existence in this country longer than the country existed without it. Yeah, not much there!

[Bob from Ohio]

"central bit of American history"

Talk about showing your ass.

What history occurred there?

[David Nieporent]

I see the latest talking point has gone out. So just to be clear: random statues of loser traitors = indispensable part of our nation's history. An entire wing of one of the most famous buildings in the country: shrug. Not historic.

[Bob from Ohio]

Nobody cared about the East Wing until Trump did.

Nobody here can point to anything historic that occurred there either.

[Malika la Maize]

Are the houses the Founders lived in historic?

[ThePublius]

The founders never lived in the East wing.

[Malika la Maize]

That’s interesting. But I’m asking a different question. Got an answer to that one?

[John F. Carr]

What's the difference between classical, neo-classical, and The Guardian's architect's designation as faux classical?

[Stephen Lathrop]

John F. Carr — If you really want to know, ask an architect. My untutored answer would be a structural steel frame with a modern-materials facade applied as an overlay.

[Commenter_XY]

Concur = I've no doubt there will be more white marble and gold leaf than you can tolerate, and it's going to be in a classical style, won't look a bit like Obama's Presidential library. But I expect it to come out quite nice.

[SRG2]

Which means that contractors will be stiffed, codes ignored, vulgarity will be mazimised and Trump will lie about it. That's what he did as a developer so that's what we can expect here. The bribes are an addition, though.

[Don Nico]

You make charges of criminality without presenting a shred of evidence. So goes your credibility.

[santamonica811]

Don,
Well, he did say, "Trump has screwed contractors on his previous 137 prior projects, therefore it's foreseeable that he'll screw the contractors on this current project." I'd consider that at least a shred of evidence, no?

If you were a contractor and were considering bidding on this project; you'd be a fucking moron if you deliberately ignored Trump's lifelong history of screwing over contractors and people who worked for him. You might still decide to work for him. But what a fucking idiot you would be if you didn't at least factor his history of theft, avarice, and dishonesty into the mix, when submitting your bid, no?

[Given the fact that this project is being funded by third parties, and given the fact that it's 100% in the public eye; I think the contractors will actually all be paid in full. So, I think this will, in that sense, be unlike all other Trump-related construction projects.]

[myself]

I'm just imagining the histrionics if Obama had tried something like that.

Authoritarian to the core, nothing is off-limits, as long as it's your team doing it.

[grb]

Brett Bellmore : "You do realize, I hope, that this sort of thing is Trump's actual profession, right?"

Three Points :

1. Trump's "profession" is hustling rubes. It's been that way ever since his bungling incompetence resulted in scores of millions flushed down the toilet and bankruptcy after bankruptcy. Since then, he stopped being a builder and started selling his name and "brand" to other people who do.

2. I expect it to come out as a bloated monstrosity that visually overwhelms the iconic building it looms over. You yourself confessed reservations on that score previously, but Trump's shoe leather must need fresh polishing.

3. Finally, here's some insider baseball : Setting aside (as you should) the mutant Composite, there are three classical orders, Corinthian, Ionic, and Doric. That's their order of preeminence, first to last, and when a building has all three - say, the Colosseum in Rome - Doric goes on the ground level and Corinthian atop. In an assembly of buildings, Corinthian is reserved for the one most important.

In this case? The iconic White House central building - the "people's house" - image of the country around the world - has the Ionic order. Trump's gargantuan Bling Palace is (of course) Corinthian.

Now obviously Trump is too stupid to know that. At this stage of his accelerating cognitive decay, his thinking is just random neurons firing-off. That's how he ends up ranting about railroads to Hawaii or the perils of windmills while another world leader sits beside him, staring down at his shoes in embarrassment. But someone told Trump and - needless to say - he insisted his gaudy dime-store Versailles take precedence.

See, it isn't just revolting AI videos. Trump's presidential mission is to shit on anything & everything that comes within reach. Nothing is safe from his mindless & petty brat-child desecration. But that's why you and the other MAGA love him him so, Brett. Every time Trump wipes his lard ass on another ethical, cultural, political, or constitutional standard, you hoot with glee and slap your knee. That's all you ever wanted or expected from this cartoon presidency : Entertainment.

[Frank Drackman]

Did you hear? Comes-a-lot is 15 points ahead in Iowa!!! Florida's "Too Close to Call!!!!" Texas is "Competitive"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hobie]

I don't object to a ballroom...per se. But I saw the official purported size of the thing and it is indeed twice the size of the White House itself. That isn't good. It makes it seem like a dick-sizing contest for a man who luxuriates in comparing himself to others.

[Brett Bellmore]

You saw agitprop. People have been circulating claims the that the ballroom is 90,000 square feet. That's the entire renovated East wing including multiple floors of offices.

[hobie]

Look at the mock-up on the NY Times, Brett.

[Sarcastr0]

Twice now on this issue, you come in telling people that they are wrong, believing Trump's actions are more circumspect than they are.

You might want to check your sources.

[myself]

Yeah! Look at this outrageous agitprop!

The White House State Ballroom will be a much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space,

I mean, I can understand why you're confused. I'm not sure Trump has even published plans of what he's planning anywhere, just some high level renderings.

[bernard11]

Don't annoy Brett with facts.

[Don Nico]

Here I agree with you. Trump has the dick-sizing shtick down pat.

[ThePublius]

"The art and models shown to the public have been fraudulent, designed to minimize how much larger than the White House is the planned structure."

Can you back that up?

[Mr. Bumble]

Meanwhile Talcum X weighs in:
"I actually think it's a great idea to build a big ballroom on the White House grounds."
https://x.com/shaunking/status/1981391778977554545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1981391778977554545%7Ctwgr%5E95e787eede5ac267f9e718a38156aa6941f44abc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finstapundit.com%2F752539%2F

[Dr. Ed 2]

The Maine Dems are going to replace Susan Vanilla Collins with a nut with a genuine Nazi SS tattoo?!?

https://www.themainewire.com/2025/10/platner-shows-substantial-lead-over-mills-despite-mounting-controversies/

[hobie]

You don't like pro-Nazi references?

[Sarcastr0]

Ed's the guy who likes to threaten libs with a new KKK forming if they don't shape up.

When he's not straight-out advocating for mass murder.

[Dr. Ed 2]

It's not mass murder if it's state security.

And I have trouble accepting the fact that Nobama's USMC permitted troops to get Nazi tattoos...

[hobie]

Drink!

[Moderation4ever]

I frequently see young people with tattoos that I suspect will not age well. Graham Platner is certainly finding this out now. Good lesson to young people think long and hard about getting a tat and then longer and harder about the image you get put on you. Remember the old saying, "what is the difference between a tattoo and true love?, A tattoo last forever".

[Moderation4ever]

When I read about Trump's White House Ballroom I can help but think of Shelly's poem Ozymandias. Imagine Trump's placard "My Name is Trump, King of Kings, look upon my work and tremble". I am guess Trump rushes the build in 10 years when the flaws show up the decision is make not to fix the flaws but to bulldoze the whole thing. There will be fund raising from the regular public to restore the east wing and only the placard remains.

[Brett Bellmore]

Democrats are fantasizing erasing everything of Trump after he leaves office.

[Sarcastr0]

That sure is a story you've come to tell yourself about what Dems are thinking.

[bernard11]

Erasing his policies is an excellent idea.

[David Nieporent]

Heh. I thought of the same poem, though it's "look upon my works ye mighty and despair." (To be sure, Trump would never use flowery language like that, but he also wouldn't say "tremble.")

[Martinned]

Yes, the Regime is still unapologetically murdering people.

Trump: "I don't think we're necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war, I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We're going to kill them. They're going to be, like dead."

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m3v72u573d2t

[Riva]

Maybe the US should pay reparations to their cartel bosses? Those specially designed drug running boats and submarines ain’t cheap. And the drugs must be worth millions.

[hobie]

If we can confirm who they are, who their bosses are, and whether they were carrying drugs, we could then look into reparations

[Frank Drackman]

Why don't you pretend he's your King, and shut up, before you get a Kamal Khashoggi Special (it's a total "Separation" Package)

[SRG2]

As Trump has repeatedly said that the US is at war here, this suggests that it would no longer be illegal for a cartel member, properly aparrelled, to kill Trump. It would merely be the killing of a legitimate target during wartime. Probably ill-advised, though.

[LawTalkingGuy]

Is there anything psychologically that distinguishes this attitude from the attitude of Dylann Roof or Patrick Crusius?

[Martinned]

Trump apparently has friends, you wouldn't know them, they live in another town, who would be happy to chip in to pay for the federal budget.

Trump: "By the way, a friend of mine called us the other day and he said 'I'd like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrat shutdown. I'd like to contribute any shortfall you have with the military.' Today, he sent us a check for $130 million. It's gonna go the military."

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m3vaffvkqj27

Seriously, all those autopen conspiracy crazies were talking about how Biden was senile, but they don't think there's anything weird about this guy?

[Riva]

Only a leftist paid troll would complain about a patriotic gesture.

[Frank Drackman]

and won't complain about his Pediofile King

[David Nieporent]

Not only is it an obvious fabrication by Trump, but do the math: $130 million would fund DoD salaries for roughly 2 hours. The shutdown has been a bit longer than that.

[Martinned]

Senile, but also corrupt and lying, of course.

COLLINS: Today you pardoned the founded of Binance. Can you explain why you did that?

TRUMP: Which one was that?

COLLINS: The founder of Binance

TRUMP: I believe we're talking about the same person, because I do pardon a lot of people. I don't know. He was recommended by a lot of people.

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m3v6mnpkb52i

[Riva]

Do you actually do any real work today or is this asinine trolling day? Are you always assigned the duty or is there a schedule to rotate the task?

[Frank Drackman]

Does he bugger little boys like your Kingie-Wingie??

[Malika la Maize]

Autopen!

[grb]

Martinned : "Senile, but also corrupt and lying, of course."

Stalin famously (supposedly) said, "One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." I'm beginning to think the same is true of corruption. Remember when everyone was twisting themselves into rubbery knots of absurdity trying to find something more than petty venality with little Hunter Biden? Today Trump is brazenly grifting the presidency for hundreds upon hundreds of millions and people barely notice. And I'm not just talking about MAGA. Trump could rob them at gunpoint and they'd drop to their knees to smooch his rear end afterwards. They're just pathetic.

The latest criminal pardoned by Trump knowingly engaged in money laundering for drug dealers, human traffickers, and pedophiles. His "apology" for his admitted crimes only came after he was caught, convicted, and given a long prison sentence with an order to pay restitution to his victims. But he also dumped tens of millions in Trump's crypto start-up, World Liberty Financial, and therefore bought a get-out-of-jail-free card with all his restitution payments voided.

Trump's supporters know he's a lifelong criminal. They know he's sleazy and corrupt. They just don't care. Damn if I know what everyone else's excuse is....

[Mr. Bumble]

Hey man. Where you been?
Any thoughts on the ballroom?

[grb]

A trip to Rome, Florence, and Venice aside, I've been nowhere special. I just needed a break from banging my head against the national shame of these times.

As for the ballroom, I added my rant above. Its individual distinction is a mini-lecture on the classical orders. Its summary point is Trump's presidential "objective" is to shit on everything within reach. Desecrating the "people's house" is just part of his wider effort to degrade, denigrate, and destroy as much as possible - and score the maximum amount of graft while doing so.

The AI video may have been loathsomely childish, but it's a remarkable accurate mission statement.

[Mr. Bumble]

Wow. Sorry I asked.

[Martinned]

Still amazing that even Newsmaxxx didn't sign Hegseth's loyalty oath. Here are the people that did:

OAN
Epoch Times
Federalist
Real America’s Voice
Lindell TV
Gateway Pundit
Post Millennial
Human Events
National Pulse
RedState
TPUSA
Timcast
Washington Reporter
Daily Signal
Just the News
& some Turkish media and freelancers

[DDHarriman]

There are little kids being groomed and raped in your country and their parents spend more jailtime for complaining about it than the privileged browns that raped their children.

But you're here with your blue-anon nonsense. Weird. Like why aren't you trying to make your community better? Is it because the world has moved on and no one gives a shit about what your muslim country does?

[Martinned]

It is difficult to imagine a comment less likely to make me want to discuss the UK (assuming that that's what you mean by "your country"). The sheer amount of misinformation and racist bile in just 4.5 lines is staggering.

[DDHarriman]

Oh, so you do toe the government line and not only do as your told, you think as your told.

Good little serf. After America was formed, all the good people came here and left the serfs. You're just some DNA legacy from when freedom loving people fled Bongland.

[Frank Drackman]

Martinned's a Serf, his Kingie-Wingie wants his Schlong serviced, Martinned has to "man-up" and take a mouthful.

Frank "Serf's up!"

[SRG2]

Obvious deflection is obvious

[Martinned]

Meanwhile, the Regime is still busy capturing the media.

A Trump official tells @nypost that the administration favors Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros. Discovery — and a number of rival bidders are likely to face stiff hurdles from US regulators in the blockbuster auction. “Who owns Warner Bros. Discovery is very important to the administration,” a senior Trump administration official told On The Money. “The Warner board needs to think very seriously not just on the price competition but which player in the suitor pool has been successful getting a deal done. And that points to the Ellisons.”

[Sarcastr0]

These towering capitalists who find Marxists everywhere turn out to not much care as we act like a command economy.

It was all rhetoric and bullshit.

[Riva]

Not everywhere little communist girl that never smiled. In NY mayoral races, of course. And among democrats in general. And let’s not forget the useful idiots in the media. What would the USSR have done without their useful idiots?

[Malika la Maize]

It can’t reply as it’s not sentient.

[Don Nico]

Your inner bot replies

[bernard11]

Nonsense. It's full of substance and merit. Just ask Joe_Dallas.

[not guilty]

The New York Times reports:

President Trump said on Thursday that he would bypass Congress rather than seek its approval to carry out military strikes against drug cartels that traffic narcotics to the United States, even as he vowed to expand the operation from attacks at sea to targets on land.

“I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” Mr. Trump told reporters of his campaign of deadly strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea near Colombia and Venezuela. “I think we are going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We are going to kill them, you know? They are going to be, like, dead.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/us/politics/trump-military-authorization-cartel-strikes.html

This is lawless, impeachable conduct. It heightens the stakes for control of the House of Representatives in next year's elections.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Of course Trump expects no violent domestic blowback from that. If he is wrong, how far will he be prepared to escalate? All-out war in South America, to achieve colonial control of Venezuela and Columbia?

WTF is wrong with Congress that it is not stopping Trump now? I think the answer is that it is a collective action problem. No one wants to go first. Are they incapable to confer privately?

[Martinned]

The President's party controls both houses of Congress. They were pretty much all elected on a ticket of not opposing Trump. If they voted against Trump on something that would be quite a betrayal of their electoral mandate.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Martinned — Your comment, perhaps inadvertently, reflects poorly on the electoral intentions of much of red state America. I doubt the upper American mid-west, for instance, got the message about the particulars they were destined for if they voted Trump/MAGA. Likewise among some Rocky Mountain region communities. Those regions have not been historically supportive of capricious foreign adventures, or violent cruelty.

[Martinned]

Oh, American voters were lied to by Trump. Trump lies with almost literally every breath. But Trumpist voters voted for Trump, not for some rando they've never even heard of who happens to be the GOP candidate for Congress in their district. That rando got elected on Trump's coattails, and should do as they're told.

[DDHarriman]

Will you post on your Facebook a criticism of UK's migrant policy?

or will you do as your told and not criticize your government?

[Martinned]

WTF are you talking about? There's only one western country where people get thrown in jail for criticising the government, and it's yours. There are examples literally in this thread.

[DDHarriman]

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2025-002239_EN.html

Recent reports in The Times (4 April 2025)[1] reveal that UK police make over 30 arrests per day for ‘offensive’ online communications under vague laws criminalising messages that cause ‘annoyance’, ‘inconvenience’ or ‘anxiety’. Over 12 000 such arrests occurred in 2023 alone, with civil liberties groups warning of a chilling effect on free speech. Most cases do not result in conviction, yet individuals are subjected to police detention and reputational damage merely for expressing controversial views online.

How on Earth did you not know this was happening? Holy shit. How do you know the smell of Trump's farts, but not that your neighbor just got arrested for complaining about their daughter being raped by some moslem?

[Martinned]

That is a) not my country, and b) not arrests for criticising the government. But apart from that, well done!

[DDHarriman]

Yes, you do live in Islamic Bongland. And yes, many of those are for criticizing migrant policy.

Are you deliberately ignorant or is it a genetic trait of subhuman serfs?

[Malika la Maize]

He’s said he’s Dutch, not British. For someone who claims to defend the West you might want to check out the geography of the region.

[Kenneth Almquist]

> And yes, many of those are for criticizing migrant policy.

The link you posted doesn’t make that claim. Nor does the Times article cited by the link. Why did you post the link unless you were deliberately attempting to mislead people?

[CountmontyC]

Is the USA your country? If not that just means your first point is hypocritical as hell since over 90% of your posts involve criticizing a country that is not yours.

[DDHarriman]

Hes Dutch who lives in Londonstan.

[David Nieporent]

Wrong.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I think it is time to consider a travel ban to London.

[ThePublius]

"There's only one western country where people get thrown in jail for criticising the government, and it's yours."

Oh, that's complete bullshit, and you know it!

[Riva]

Yeah, a commander in chief defending the country against narco terrorists? Who does he think he is? And it’s not like drugs ever caused any harm. Has fentanyl ever really hurt anyone?

[Malika la Maize]

Military summary execution of drug dealers?

[Sarcastr0]

Alleged drug dealers.

The admin has not presented evidence at all for any of these killings, that I've seen.

[Frank Drackman]

Sure, like Barry Hussein O did with OBL

[Malika la Maize]

he was killed for drug dealing?

Or, in Francis speech:

he was Killed for )Drug )dealing) ?

[Bob from Ohio]

He was killed for committing crimes.

[Malika la Maize]

For terrorists acts under an AUMF Against Terrorists, right?

[Sarcastr0]

He was killed for committing crimes.

This is tellingly vague as fuck.

Sounds like Iran or China trying to dodge crimes against humanity.

[not guilty]

"Sure, like Barry Hussein O did with OBL"

The two are not analogous at all. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Congress authorized the use of military force, which would include the SEAL team executing Osama bin Laden. https://www.congress.gov/107/plaws/publ40/PLAW-107publ40.pdf

[Commenter_XY]

NG, POTUS Trump was impeached twice; got re-elected.

Threatening POTUS Trump with impeachment is about as effective as bringing a gun with no bullets to a gunfight.

You won't get 67 Senate votes to defend drug dealers.

[Martinned]

The only thing worse than the US Congress literally letting Trump get away with murder is US citizens accepting that that's how life is. If the Regime is going to do this, it's good if US citizens at least get angry about it.

[Commenter_XY]

Eurotrash, you're free to sputter impotently. You do this well. Go to Blue Cry and have a struggle session.

You're a malcontent from a minor pissant country.

[DDHarriman]

A minor islamic pissant country

[David Nieporent]

And you're a fascist who is on a five year tantrum because you couldn't go to a funeral in 2020.

[DDHarriman]

Do you want to 86 him too? You violent sicko.

[Don Nico]

"because you couldn't go to a funeral in 2020."
Why is that an unreasonable complaint? You're being a dickwad to bring that up.

[David Nieporent]

Because it's five years later.

[Don Nico]

which you brought up. You've got to do better David

[grb]

Does anyone remember back when Don Nico pretended to be more than just another 24/7 whiny MAGA Victim™ ? It was usually a threadbare pretense, but at least he put in the effort.

These days he doesn't even bother.....

[hobie]

Rude.

[Sarcastr0]

He just wants to let everyone know that the untermenschen are below his notice.

[Sarcastr0]

Does commenter know what he sounds like when he posts like this?

[Malika la Maize]

Pubes furrows his brow….

[DDHarriman]

They're threatening impeachment over his ballroom.

Impeachment means nothing now.

[John F. Carr]

Congress is not going to stand up to Trump on this issue. A Democrat-controlled House will have a few performative votes with no consequences. Are Democrats willing to pass a bill that will be described as supporting narcoterrorists? I would expect serious opposition for an invasion of Venezuela or Colombia. Democrats could invoke Iraq and Afghanistan. But these recent strikes are very safe for the US military.

There are better excuses for impeachment, especially related to his attempts to reduce, reform, and reorganize government without involving Congress.

[bernard11]

There are better excuses for impeachment,

I'd call them reasons, not excuses. And I'd say a string of murders is a pretty good reason.

[John F. Carr]

No, murder of a nobody overseas is not a good reason. It wasn't a good reason when Nixon bombed Cambodia. It wasn't a good reason during Reagan's adventures. It wasn't a good reason during Bush's excesses in the War on Terror. It wasn't a good reason during Obama's drone campaign. By custom, foreign policy differences are not impeachable. Trump got in trouble because he tried to abuse foreign policy for domestic political reasons.

I called the reasons excuses because Democrats will use any excuse to get rid of Trump. In 1993 three members of the Supreme Court were reluctant to approve of impeachment being used simply to remove a "bad guy". Nixon v. United States, 506 U.S. 224. So Democrats will be more specific just in case. Failure to take care that the laws are faithfully executed would be a safer reason.

[Sarcastr0]

Presidents John F. Carr notes as doing profligate killings:
-Nixon
-Reagan
-Bush
-Obama
-Trump

Good thing Obama went in for the [ill-advised] drone campaign, or we'd really have a trend going!

[bernard11]

foreign policy differences are not impeachable.

That's an awfully lawyerly way of describing a string of murders based only on Trump's assertions about the victims, and which could have been avoided by just taking the suspects into custody and proceeding with normal judicial processes.

It's not like the disagreement is about a trade treaty.

[John F. Carr]

It's not a lawyerly way. It's a political way. If Bush gets away with having people kidnapped and tortured Trump gets away with having people killed on suspicion of drug running. I take no position on whether the killing is murder and whether any person ought to be prosecuted. Prosecution of Trump is unlikely to be possible under recent Supreme Court precedent. Prosecution of soldiers and officers is going to be difficult. An order from a superior counts for a lot. Under current law. I could imagine a future Democrat-controlled Department of Justice and liberal-dominated Supreme Court deciding that orders from superiors count for nothing when blowing up boats.

Nobody in Washington cares much about Venezuelan drug runners and Colombian fishermen. Meanwhile, in domestic policy, Trump is attacking programs that politicians care about.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Nobody in Washington cares much about Venezuelan drug runners and Colombian fishermen.

Substitute, "Indiana," or "Alabama," for, "Washington," and I would concede you have a point. But as you wrote it, I think you got it wrong. And not just because a lot of folks in Washington are anti-Trump partisans. A lot of folks in Washington are anti-Trump because they value rule following and Trump doesn't.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Drugrunners are vermin who need to be exterminated/

[grb]

Uh huh. Remember when Trump disappeared members of Tren de Aragua into a Central American gulag? It took only a few days of reporting to prove many - perhaps most - of the "gang members" weren't gang members at all. They were just warm bodies with brown skin for another Trump cartoon stunt. Because it was just entertainment for Trump's brainless base, many were rounded-up on little or no evidence. What difference did evidence make when the only critical thing was a packed human backdrop for another Noem cosplay photo op?

Why would anyone believe Trump is using a more exacting standard with this latest gimmick?

[Malika la Maize]

Summarily?

I mean, I get this is “mow down migrants with a machine gun” Ediot, but for the same people reading, wtf?

[Martinned]

Also interesting: Trump is such a big fan of the Obama administration's approach to the war in Iraq that he thinks the Regime should use it against US citizens back home as well.

The Federal Government was preparing to “surge” San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress. I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around. I told him I think he is making a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the Law does not permit him to remove. I told him, “It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer but, let’s see how you do?” The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting Crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject. Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others have called saying that the future of San Francisco is great. They want to give it a “shot.” Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!

[DDHarriman]

Classic Fascism!! Lefty Mussolini would be proud.

[Dr. Ed 2]

This is not Fascism.

[Malika la Maize]

When goofs collide.

[Martinned]

I guess there isn't going to be a US-Canada trade deal (at least not today), because Trump didn't like the Canadians quoting Reagan on TV.

Donald Trump has said he is ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada after the release of a television ad opposing US tariffs. The US president accused Canada of “egregious behavior” aimed at influencing US court decisions.

The Thursday night post on Trump’s social media site came after Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the US because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs.

Trump posted: “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is fake, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs.”

The president wrote: “They only did this to interfere with the decision of the US supreme court, and other courts”. He added: “Tariffs are very important to the national security, and economy, of the USA. Based on their egregious behaviour, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated.”

I guess shutting down critical press is harder abroad, but that doesn't stop him from trying...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/24/trump-says-all-canada-trade-talks-terminated-over-ad-criticising-tariffs

[David Nieporent]

86 47.

[DDHarriman]

Threats to assassinate the President do not belong here, you lunatic.

[Malika la Maize]

I guess one would have to leave their mom’s basement to have gone to a bar.

[Drewski]

Neither do professional foreign trolls, yet here you are.

[Malika la Maize]

Nothing professional about Lex!

[SRG2]

Fuckwit, that's not what "86" means.

[hobie]

What is the origin of the term Eighty-Six?

Webster:

"Eighty-six is slang meaning "to throw out," "to get rid of," or "to refuse service to." It comes from 1930s soda-counter slang meaning that an item was sold out. There is varying anecdotal evidence about why the term eighty-six was used, but the most common theory is that it is rhyming slang for nix."

[Mr. Bumble]

Don't start this again. The meaning and usage of words changes over time.
Look at how the word "gay" has changed over time.
"Don we now our gay apparel..." wasn't a reference to homos.

[Frank Drackman]

Now you tell me!

[hobie]

Then how come this definition, unlike other contemporized definitions, has not changed? Was it overlooked, Bumble?

[TwelveInchPianist]

Did you see some of the apparel they wore back then?

[Malika la Maize]

That was good, +1

[Malika la Maize]

But it still means that, ya goof.

Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
eigh·ty-six
/ˌādēˈsiks/
verbINFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH
verb: 86
1.
eject or bar (someone) from a restaurant, bar, etc.
"they were accused of cheating, and eighty-sixed from their favorite casino"
2.
reject, discard, or cancel.
"the passwords will be 86ed by next October"

[Mr. Bumble]

...and it also means to kill. Ask hobies home boys.
"According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, "to 86" also means "to kill, to murder; to execute judicially".[8][9] Other slang dictionaries also contain this definition.[10][11] "

[Malika la Maize]

It’s a much less common meaning. If you hear your boss was terminated do you call the homicide division of the police?

[Armchair]

Threatening to assassinate the President?

[Sarcastr0]

You should call the FBI and report him.

[Malika la Maize]

Here’s another.

[David Nieporent]

I guess English isn't your native language either.

[Armchair]

David.... you know what "86 47" means. Just like you know what "Let's go Brandon means". Any claims to ignorance are null, given the broad amount of press "86 47" received.

Pretending otherwise is just ignoring the truth.

[SRG2]

Just because the Volkischer media got all upset with the term "86" doesn't mean it changed its original meaning.

[jb]

Not even its original meaning, what it means in its normal usage today as well.

[Armchair]

Whatever the original meaning of words...they change.

"N*****" or "Fag" had different meanings originally. Their "slang" usage made them into something else.

Given the press "86 47" has received, whatever the original meaning, the current usage is as slang to call to assassinate the US president. Which David well knows, and meant. There was no other reason to put those numbers together in that order as a stand-alone statement.

[Sarcastr0]

If you truly believe the usage has changed, then report DMN to the FBI.

Otherwise, you're just stirring shit and it's pathetic.

[Malika la Maize]

But it still means that.

Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
eigh·ty-six
/ˌādēˈsiks/
verbINFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH
verb: 86
1.
eject or bar (someone) from a restaurant, bar, etc.
"they were accused of cheating, and eighty-sixed from their favorite casino"
2.
reject, discard, or cancel.
"the passwords will be 86ed by next October"

[Mr. Bumble]

..and it also means to kill. Ask hobies home boys.
"According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, "to 86" also means "to kill, to murder; to execute judicially".[8][9] Other slang dictionaries also contain this definition.[10][11] "

[jb]

It could mean that, but that's by far the less common usage. If there's a common usage that makes perfect sense in context, normal people would go for that if they're not desperately hunting for bad intent by people they disagree with.

[Mr. Bumble]

Sure, if you say so. Guess you know a lot of soda jerks.

[David Nieporent]

Of course I know what "86 47" means; I wrote it. And the "broad amount of press" explained repeatedly that it did not mean "kill."

[Armchair]

But you knew 86 47 was interpreted by many to mean assassinate the president. You know what you're doing. You're seriously going to deny that you knew many people interpreted 86 47 as a call to assassinate the president. And knowing that, you chose to post it anyway?

[Sarcastr0]

My read was immediate - he knew the phrase would fuck with people who are wound too tight.

[Armchair]

Funny how calls to assassinate the president "fuck with people".

[Sarcastr0]

He didn't call to assassinate anyone. That's the part that's fucking with you.

I guess it's still happening, lol!

[David Nieporent]

I am going to deny that any of those people interpreted it that way in good faith. You don't honestly believe it's actually a call to assassinate the president. bookkeeper_joe doesn't sincerely believe it's actually a call to assassinate the president. (To be fair, bookkeeper_joe and "sincere" don't belong in the same paragraph.) You just think (incorrectly) that you found an effective rhetorical cudgel to wield.

[Malika la Maize]

jd might be that dumb.

[hobie]

So taking all parts of your comment at face value as you wish, then all you rubes have been advocating for Biden to get anally sodomized. This is a strange hill to die on, Armchair.

[TwelveInchPianist]

Yeah, these arguments are as bad as the ones back in the day claiming that it was suddenly racist to say, "It's OK to be white." or make the OK sign.

9948!

[santamonica811]

Come on, Armchair; you're not that stupid.

[TwelveInchPianist]

We know the answer was Bill Clinton. But what was the question?

[Kenneth Almquist]

Trump is of course lying. The audio of the advertisement came from an actual radio address by then President Reagan.

https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/radio-address-nation-free-and-fair-trade-4

The advertisement edited the speech down to one minute, but didn’t misrepresent Reagan’s position. Here’s a taste:

You see, at first, when someone says, “Let's impose tariffs on foreign imports,” it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works—but only for a short time. What eventually occurs is: First, homegrown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets. And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition. So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs. The memory of all this occurring back in the thirties made me determined when I came to Washington to spare the American people the protectionist legislation that destroys prosperity.

[John F. Carr]

Reagan, born in 1911, is the last president to remember the start of the Great Depression.

[Dr. Ed 2]

He was 6 years old when it started.
And lots of people thought NAFTA would be a good deal.

[David Nieporent]

NAFTA was a good deal.

[bernard11]

What didn't you like about it?

I thought we were all for markets and trade and whatnot?

[Magister]

He was 6 years old when it started.

Who was 6 years old when what started? Certainly the answers cannot be Ronald Reagan and the Great Depression. (Two presidents were born in 1924 but would have been five years old at the start of the Great Depression.)

[bernard11]

Utterly mind-boggling that people defend this shit, but they'll be here in a minute or two.

The man is a demented idiot on a destructive rampage. And his supporters are accessories to the crimes.

[Voize of Reazon]

I guess Trump isn't quite ready to call Reagan a RINO.

It's interesting that Reagan's anti-tariff position was in opposition to Democratic Presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt who had sponsored protectionist legislature in the House.

[Martinned]

The Regime's intimidation campaign in opposition-held cities continues:

Federal immigration agents targeted Little Village for a second consecutive day Thursday morning, detaining at least five people — including two local high school students — and deployed tear gas at dozens of protesters who gathered at the scene. Chicago police officers also arrested a woman amid the chaos.

Led by U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, the feds rolled into the Southwest Side neighborhood that’s the heart of Chicago’s Mexican community in a caravan of SUVs, prompting residents to post photos and videos on social media and blow whistles outside to warn neighbors of the presence.
(...)
As the scene devolved Thursday, agents detained at least two teenage boys, two women and a man before putting them into vans and driving off. A woman told a Chicago Sun-Times reporter that she was a U.S. citizen before she was put into a van.

Community advocates said the two boys are students at Benito Juarez Community Academy. Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) said one boy was briefly detained and released, and the other was taken and released from federal custody hours later. A Juarez teacher said one of the boys is 16 years old, a junior in school and a U.S. citizen.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/23/feds-make-arrests-deploy-tear-gas-during-face-off-with-protesters-near-little-village-discount-mall

[DDHarriman]

As far as you understand it, is what ICE doing legal?

[Martinned]

Of course. Führerbefehl hat Gesetzeskraft.

[DDHarriman]

I'm sorry, Mohammad, but I don't speak Arabic.

If ICE is acting lawfully, what's the fucking problem.

[Martinned]

That not all laws are morally right? Is that such a difficult concept to grasp, you fascist thug?

[DDHarriman]

I see, so your a Moral Supremacist who wants to violently impose your particular, highly subjective, morals on everyone else.

What a fucking tyrant. You supremacists are the worse of all Lefty subhumans.

I don't share your morals. Millions of Americans do not share your morals. Billions of real humans, do not share your morals. Stop forcing your foreign morality on those of us who reject it. Your disgusting Moral Supremacist. Can your species understand that other people don't share your morals?

"Compassion to the criminal is violence to the victim." - George Washington - White Hero

[Martinned]

Have you been mainlining Leni Riefenstahl movies again?

[DDHarriman]

How do you not understand that morality is subjective and that yours isn't supreme over others?

For real. How does a so-called functioning human not understand this? What is wrong with the lefty mindset? Why do they always want to force their views on everyone else?

Scratch a lefty, find a tyrant, they always say. We see it here manifest.

[Martinned]

I'm sorry you feel so oppressed by having someone disagree with you. I guess that's something you and your Great Leader have in common.

[Frank Drackman]

They're great Movies, Springsteen's a talented singer, Oppenheimer was a Communist, Bill Cosby was a (redacted) I can appreciate works of Genius without honoring the Genius him/her self. It's a characteristic of advanced thinking.

Frank

[David Nieporent]

Remember when George Washington never said that?

[SRG2]

It isn't legal. as Brett Kavanaugh suggested recently. According to him it only takes a few minutes to ascertain US citizenship before release. Ergo, holding a US citizen for hours is illegal.

[jb]

To me, it's interesting how ineffective these raids are. The other day in New York they had a big raid with 50 officers and they caught...9 people. They did manage to temporarily detain a bunch of citizens in the process, though.

[Bob from Ohio]

"ineffective"

Its not the number, its the lesson.

They are very effective pour encourager les autres.

[bernard11]

Ah. A terror campaign. Just the thing.

[Martinned]

In casual First Amendment violation news, Sam O'Hara thinks it's maybe not OK that he got arrested for playing the Imperial March in the presence of the National Guard in Washington DC. I guess we'll find out whether he's right.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.286143/gov.uscourts.dcd.286143.1.0.pdf

[Martinned]

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court still thinks it's OK for a US citizen to be slowly tortured to death: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a457_8nka.pdf

[Commenter_XY]

Anthony Boyd was a murderer who was appropriately punished for kidnapping and capital murder.

[Brett Bellmore]

Wow, that's hysterical. I don't mean funny, either.

People have died walking into inert gas filled rooms. They just dropped in their tracks. The ones who got rescued in time reported going out like a light switch was thrown. No sensation of suffocation at all.

If he suffers any "torture" it will be on account of them stupidly telling him when they turn the nitrogen on, and him holding his breath.

You see, the way this works is that when you're breathing inert gas, your lungs continue working, only instead of removing CO2 and replacing it with Oxygen, they remove both.

Because your breathing reflex is driven by CO2 levels, you never feel the least suffocated. But your lungs rapidly purge your blood of oxygen, and in a couple breaths your blood O2 level drops too low to sustain consciousness. You continue reflexively breathing until it drops too low to run your muscles, then die.

If you hold your breath, OTOH, it takes 2-3 minutes for your 02 level to drop low enough to lose consciousness, and all the while your C02 level is rising, driving a reflexive need to breath, "suffocation". So, it's due to the breath holding, not the N2.

I'm a scuba diver, I've voluntarily held my breath as long as 2 minutes. (At which point my consciousness was starting to fade, and my instructor yanked me out of the water.) I can't say it was pleasant, but I wouldn't say it was torture, either. It certainly wasn't even a tiny bit painful. It was actually getting pretty easy towards the end...

[Stephen Lathrop]

Bellmore, given the remotest chance that something, anything, might intervene to stop your execution, would you conclude it was wiser to not hold your breath, and die quicker? Ought the law insist on criminals who cooperate with their own destruction, lest they be tortured?

[Frank Drackman]

Except in Chronic COPD (a term I hate, because then you're saying "Chronic Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) the Chemoreceptors get "Down Regulated" and Oxygen levels drive the breathing reflex,
Common Intern Error, COPD Patient's Sat drops, you turn up the Oxygen, next thing you know Doctor's Howard, Fine, and Howard are coding your Patient.
Want to impress the Famb-i-ly over Thanksgiving Dinner????
say you've been diagnosed with (Drum Roll)
"Pseudohypoparathyroidism"
and then to make things more confusing, there it's Bizarro condition,
"PseudoPseudohypoparathyroidism"
Shouldn't 2 "Pseudos" cancel each other out??

Frank

[Dr. Ed 2]

Do you have any medical citations on this?
I want to ask my MD about it.

[Frank Drackman]

Any standard Medical Physiology Book (mine is "Guyton" 6th Edition, (1981) I think they're up to a 14th or 15th now, such a Ripoff, the Human Body 1.1 hasn't changed last time I checked)

[Armchair]

Nitrogen hypoxia is generally considered painless. So much so, that it's the chosen method of suicide by many people.

There's even a "suicide pod" that is used in Switzerland which uses this method.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sarco-suicide-pod-how-the-controversial-capsule-functions-and-the-chilling-message-it-delivers-6653103

[Martinned]

Volenti non fit injuria. The objection concerns people who *did not* volunteer for the experience.

[Armchair]

Your contention was that nitrogen hypoxia was "torturing people to death".

Generally speaking, people who commit suicide do not try to "torture themselves to death". Moreover, all the available evidence suggests that nitrogen hypoxia is painless. So much so, that it is actually marketed as such.

[Mr. Bumble]

I suppose any pain is psychological in knowing that your next deep breath will be your last.

[Joe_dallas]

The pro murderer crowd has made numerous arguments against the death penalty for murderers, often based on the alleged torture. One of my clients who is an anesthesiologist made a comment that almost every surgical patient shows signs of pain during surgery, but they are unconscious of the pain during the surgery and therefore never feel the pain.

Would be appropriate if the anti - death penalty crowd would show the same compassion for the aborted babies they want killed.

[Malika la Maize]

Many who oppose the death penalty also oppose abortion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_life

[Joe_dallas]

very few in the democratic party are consistent in opposing both, The vast majority of the left supports abortion and are against the death penalty.

[Malika la Maize]

Because they have an adult view of personhood.

[Brett Bellmore]

We get it that convicted murderers don't generally volunteer to be executed. That doesn't make executing them torture.

[TwelveInchPianist]

And the people who "volunteer" are being told that it's painless.

Are you saying it's not? That would be quite a scandal playing out in Europe.

[Frank Drackman]

I've heard Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, and I can take or leave it if I please.

[Mr. Bumble]

Great movie.
Could a character be named spear chucker today?
Asking for a friend.

[TwelveInchPianist]

Wrong war.

[Malika la Maize]

Why is volunteer in “”?

[Bob from Ohio]

"people who *did not* volunteer "

They did so when they murdered.

[Frank Drackman]

Remember England's last State Hangman Albert Pierrepoint (who hung(hanged?) close to 600 prisoners from 1931-1956, including Irma Ilse Ida Grese[b] (7 October 1923 – 13 December 1945) a Nazi concentration camp Helferin at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Bergen-Belsen. She was known as the "Hyena of Auschwitz" and the "Beast of Belsen" for the atrocities she committed in Birkenau.

After an Execution where the Condemned struggled for a few minutes, the drop failing to fracture his neck,
Pierrepoint was asked if Hanging was "Humane"
"I didn't feel a thing" he answered

Frank

[SRG2]

I doubt that Pierrepoint ever said that.

FWIW in his autobiography he says that occasionally he used special rope for some of his "subjects", including Irma Grese. He also ended up being opposed to the DP, but under an agreement with the Home Office, never explained his reasons.

[Frank Drackman]

Like the Great Yogi, Pierrepoint didn't say all the things he didn't say.

[wvattorney13]

Please. For years you guys said "no gas chambers or electric chairs, we need lethal injection" and when you got that you protested that lethal injection was torture, that nitrogen hypoxia was the way to go. Now that nitrogen is here THAT method is bad.

I get that you are opposed to capital punishment but stand on that ground. Don't keep coming back with how this method of execution is barbarism. Most of us in this thread won't be lucky enough to leave this world so nicely.

[Martinned]

If you're going to murder the guy, I see no reason why you shouldn't let him have the (non-weird) method of execution of his choice.

[Frank Drackman]

That's why you're a Subject, not a Citizen

[Mr. Bumble]

Most of the usual subjects are here and the thread is off to a rip roaring start.

[DDHarriman]

It's evening in the new Caliphate, so we know martinned is in here shitting up the board with his lefty derangement.

[Michael P]

St. Petersburg is quite a few time zones east of the US.

[Frank Drackman]

or West, the Earth is round (I've heard, looks pretty flat from where I am)

[Frank Drackman]

I'm shocked! shocked! to find that Idiocy is going on in the "Conspiracy"!!!!

[Malika la Maize]

Like random capitalizations, spacing, punctuation, and such? Happens all the time!

[Frank Drackman]

That's our Queenie, making my point.

[Malika la Maize]

Francis doesn’t know about points, that’s why they often aren’t at the end of his sentences.

[DDHarriman]

Letitia "The Lawful" James has called for New Yorkers to submit pictures of ICE agents so she could doxx and investigate their personal lives for any lawbreaking.

The usual Lefty Lawfare Chicken Littles are, as expected, silent.

"Show me the man, I'll show you the crime" -- Alphonso Hitler

[David Nieporent]

Voltage guy is lying again.

[DDHarriman]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5568435-letitia-james-ice-investigation/

Your ignorance, and it's pretty extreme, does not constitute me lying.

This may surprise subhumans as they don't have Object Permanence, but things can and do exist outside of their knowledge.

[Malika la Maize]

Federal bootlicker objects to reviewing federal law enforcement’s actions for legality.

From the source:

“New Yorkers who were present should submit videos or photos, and we will review and investigate any violations of the law,” she added.

[DDHarriman]

Given her history of lawlessness, we know she will use the photos to doxx then investigate federal agents, in violation of all norms and even breaking the law.

[Malika la Maize]

Keep licking that boot!

[Frank Drackman]

Better than what you lick.
Oh, just a heads up, done lost my job, might be a little late with da Rent, you think you can let me slide it on?? I'll have it for you tomorrow, next week, I don't know.

[Malika la Maize]

Imagine the ignorance of posting this “I live in your head” stuff as a *reply* to someone not addressing you.

Well, you don’t have to imagine.

you can just Look at )Anything Francis
“writes “

[Frank Drackman]

Everybody funny,
except you,

[Malika la Maize]

pretty )Sad

[David Nieporent]

Your ignorance, and it's pretty extreme, does not constitute me lying.

Your lying is what constitutes you lying. As the article makes clear, James did not call for New Yorkers to submit pictures of ICE agents so they could doxx and investigate their personal lives for any lawbreaking.

[DDHarriman]

Pls dont threaten to kill me like you did President Trump.

[David Nieporent]

The next time DDHarriman speaks, kill him.

That was a threat; see the difference?

[Joe_dallas]

Using different words to mean the same thing is the only difference.

[David Nieporent]

bookkeeper_joe also proving himself culturally illiterate.

[Joe_dallas]

pathetic dodge

[Malika la Maize]

jd doesn’t know how to use dictionaries.

Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
eigh·ty-six
/ˌādēˈsiks/
verbINFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH
verb: 86
1.
eject or bar (someone) from a restaurant, bar, etc.
"they were accused of cheating, and eighty-sixed from their favorite casino"
2.
reject, discard, or cancel.
"the passwords will be 86ed by next October"

[Joe_dallas]

malika likes to be a lying sack of blank

As several others have noted, the definition of the use of "86" includes murder.

Your dodge is as bad as dishonest dn

[Mr. Bumble]

..and it also means to kill. Ask hobies home boys.
"According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, "to 86" also means "to kill, to murder; to execute judicially".[8][9] Other slang dictionaries also contain this definition.[10][11] "

[Joe_dallas]

bumble - typical leftists getting exposed, then lying to cover their tracks

[David Nieporent]

bookkeeper_joe has just discovered that words sometimes have more than one meaning, a common one and a less common one. But why he thinks "Someone could have used that word to mean this less common thing, so therefore they did mean this" is a compelling argument will have to remain one of life's eternal mysteries.

[Joe_dallas]

DN's alibi is BS - he and everyone here knows what he meant.

Armchair accurately sums up Dishonest Dave's bs
Armchair 5 hours ago
Flag Comment
Mute User
David.... you know what "86 47" means. Just like you know what "Let's go Brandon means". Any claims to ignorance are null, given the broad amount of press "86 47" received.

Pretending otherwise is just ignoring the truth.

[David Nieporent]

DN's alibi is BS - he and everyone here knows what he meant.

Indeed. Unlike your pretense to knowing stuff about so many subjects that you know zero about, I am in fact the world's foremost expert on what I meant.

[Joe_dallas]

Foremost expert on what you know claim to say what it meant

The context of your original comment and your alibi dont match up very well - by you have shown your self to be quite dishonest

[Joe_dallas]

Armchair accurately described the meaning of your comment

[Malika la Maize]

jd, Bumble and Armchair are being laughable here. I guess if I say I hope the Jays beat the Dodgers tonight they will say I’m calling for the Jays to strike the Dodgers repeatedly and violently so as to hurt or injure them, typically with an implement such as a club or whip.

In fact, their argument is even worse than that given 86 has a more common non-nefarious meaning.

[DDHarriman]

You need help.

Fast.

[Malika la Maize]

DH can refer you to a good counselor he met through the Daily Stormer.

[DDHarriman]

The current crop of Lefty candidates include:

- A man with TWO NAZI tattoos
- A man who literally trained ANTIFA domestic terrorists
- A man who wants to murder conservative children
- An avowed communist

This is how you save Democracy!

[DDHarriman]

Just this week I've had to report David Nieporent and not guilty to the Secret Service for their assassination threats against President Trump.

You guys have lost your marbles. Hopefully the Secret Service can confine them two before they kill someone.

[Malika la Maize]

Hey, Life of Brian, this guy’s clearly not Lex/Chuck/etc., right? Lol

[DDHarriman]

I bet there's a wildly stupid comment behind ^^^^^ that grey box.

[Malika la Maize]

lol, Lex replied to me upthread! Like’ Daily Stormer can’t get his act straight.

[DDHarriman]

I bet this gray box is even dumber than the other one.

[Malika la Maize]

lol

[Life of Brian]

Man, sorry I left you hanging for so long on this one. Did you scrape up some new supposed evidence that I missed, or are you just strutting?

[Malika la Maize]

Keep digging Bri Bri!

[SRG2]

Cool story, bro.

[not guilty]

Just this week I've had to report David Nieporent and not guilty to the Secret Service for their assassination threats against President Trump.

You guys have lost your marbles. Hopefully the Secret Service can confine them two before they kill someone.

DDHarriman, your assertion that I have made any assassination threat against President Trump is tortious. It is both false and defamatory. And your false report to the Secret Service could support an action for malicious prosecution when it s shown to be unfounded.

This world would be a better place, in my opinion, if Donald Trump were not a part of it, but I have never advocated his assassination. In fact, within hours of my learning of the shot fired in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2024, I wished Trump a full and speedy recovery on the very comment threads of this blog.

[DDHarriman]

Ive got screenshots of your vile post before it was taken down.

You know what you said.

[Malika la Maize]

A District resident who was briefly detained and handcuffed in D.C. last month for following an Ohio National Guard patrol while playing “The Imperial March” from Star Wars on his phone has filed a lawsuit saying his constitutional rights were violated.

The American Civil Liberties Union of D.C. filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Sam O’Hara against an Ohio National Guard sergeant, four D.C. police officers and the District of Columbia. The suit said they had infringed on O’Hara’s First Amendment rights and violated D.C. law when they detained him on Sept. 11 on a public street in Northwest Washington.

The ACLU suit says that when O’Hara saw the National Guard members that day, he began walking behind them playing “The Imperial March” on his phone and recording them. It alleges that within two minutes, one of the Guard members “turned around and threatened to call the police officers to ‘handle’ Mr. O’Hara if he did not stop.”

O’Hara continued to play the song, also known as “Darth Vader’s Theme,” and the soldier called the D.C. police. When police arrived, the suit alleges, O’Hara was “tightly handcuffed” and detained for 15 to 20 minutes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/10/23/star-wars-lawsuit-dc-national-guard-imperial-march/

[Stephen Lathrop]

That is excellent. To the extent possible, all federal law enforcement patrols in America's cities ought to be followed by such accompaniment. The louder the better.

More generally, the tradition of Americans to defend their rights with music goes back a long way. When Joe Hill was leading strikes more than 100 years ago, political opponents organized Salvation Army bands to follow the strikers around, and drown them out instrumentally. Hill, a talented lyricist, composed union tunes to be sung to the melodies of Onward Christian Soldiers, and so forth.

[Martinned]

Because I know you are all keen to discuss non-US stories, I thought I'd mention that the Irish Presidential election is today. The polls will be open until 10pm Irish time, and the counting begins tomorrow morning at 9 am. So no substantive news from me until Monday's Open Thread (if I don't forget), but in the meantime here is RTE's live updates ticker: https://www.rte.ie/news/presidential-election/2025/1024/1540324-presidential-election-voting/

[John F. Carr]

What are the implications? More or less self-flagellation over treatment of women in the 20th century? More or less enforcement of the minimum corporate tax rate?

[Bob from Ohio]

Its for a ceremonial position.

[Martinned]

Mostly ceremonial. I reckon the most substantive power the president has is to refer bills to the Supreme Court if he believes them to be unconstitutional.

[Malika la Maize]

President Donald Trump pardoned cryptocurrency titan Changpeng Zhao, who was convicted of violating federal anti-money-laundering laws in connection with his crypto exchange Binance, the White House said Thursday.…

The pardon marks Trump’s latest act of forgiveness involving high-profile white-collar crimes. Last week, he commuted the sentence of former congressman George Santos, who faced more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft.

In May, Trump pardoned Julie Chrisley and Todd Chrisley, reality TV stars convicted of fraud and tax evasion. In March, he pardoned Trevor Milton, the founder of the electric vehicle start-up Nikola, who had been convicted of securities and wire fraud; he also pardoned three co-founders and an ex-employee of the BitMEX crypto exchange. Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an online drug marketplace that used bitcoin, was pardoned in January.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/23/trump-pardon-binance-zhao/

[Michael P]

One prominent left commenter had this to say about Graham Platner's tattoo:

This isn’t just a Nazi tattoo, this is the symbol of the concentration camp guards, the guys who ran the death camps. The men who murdered socialists, communists, and liberals. They mass-murdered all black men in the French army. This is on par with a swastika.

Then the writer deleted their comment for some reason. Probably that their mask had slipped a bit more than intended.

[Sarcastr0]

Well, this sure is a reach.

It's kind of amazing to see someone so inconsistent in their outrage it seems like they have no core self at all.

Michael P is a partisanship elemental.

[ThePublius]

No comment on the content, just attack Michael. Typical.

[Sarcastr0]

I said it's a reach.

It's corkboard and string whit.

Someone he didn't name who posted criticism of a candidate for the 2026 primary election in Maine and then took it down.

THIS PROVES DEMS ARE NAZIS.

Unsurprised you'd try and white knight this silliness - you're on a tear today.

[Michael P]

Gaslight0 insists that when a popular Dem commenter left out Jews as a notable target of SS mass murders, it only means that I am partisan.

Ironic, isn't it?

[Sarcastr0]

Who was the commenter, Michael? What do they say happened?

Link your source?
Does it identify any of that, or was it just being suggestive and you fell for it like a ton of bricks?

Good thing partisanship elementals don't need critical thinking skills.

[Malika la Maize]

Covid-19 vaccines, credited with saving millions of lives during the pandemic, set off a powerful alarm that rallies the human immune system against cancer and nearly doubles the median survival length of patients, according to a new retrospective study by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Florida.

The study examined the records of more than 1,000 MD Anderson patients who had already started approved immunotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and melanoma, a type of skin cancer, comparing those who received coronavirus mRNA vaccines with those who had not.

“This data is incredibly exciting, but it needs to be confirmed in a Phase III clinical trial,” said Adam Grippin, lead author of the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/10/23/vaccine-cancer-covid-19-mrna/

[Moderation4ever]

Saw this in my local newspaper. While I don't have cancer I will be getting the COVID vaccination. Giving the old immune system all the support I can. This also makes Robert Kennedy Jr. move to cutting funding to mRNA research look more foolish than it already does.

[wvattorney13]

Great. I was vaccinated, so I'll fire up the smokes. I'm immortal.

[Malika la Maize]

The Trump administration has denied Maryland’s appeal for federal disaster aid for at least $33.7 million in flood damage caused by heavy rains in the western part of state in the spring.

On the same day FEMA informed Maryland it would receive no federal aid, Trump rapid-fire posted congratulations messages to a number of other states that did receive disaster relief. Some of those states received far less help than Maryland had asked for, and Trump suggested that he was motivated to provide assistance to states that had supported him in past elections.
“I just spoke with Governor Mike Kehoe, of the Great State of Missouri, and told him that I am approving $2.5 Million Dollars in individual assistance after severe storms, high winds, large hail, flash flooding, and tornadoes, which occurred earlier this year,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I won ‘The Show Me State’ three times in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and it is my Honor to deliver for these incredible Patriots!”

Trump wrote similar posts about Nebraska, Alaska, and North Dakota.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/10/23/western-maryland-floods-fema-aid/

[Stephen Lathrop]

Trump shows perverse political wisdom. He makes it a point to underline his corruption publicly, to encourage more cooperation.

[Sarcastr0]

It's fundamental that the President is the President of all of us. Every President before Trump has had that mindset, regardless of what was going on.
Nixon, GWB, Obama, Biden.

MAGA will support this, because they've become petulant children in solidarity to their leader. It's a bunch of people who are too immature to handle living in a Republic.

If MAGA loses in 2028, it's gonna be a trip.

[Frank Drackman]

2028???? Didn't you hear? Common-Law's up 15 points in Iowa!!!! Florida's "Too Close to Call"!!!!, even Texas is "Competitive"!!!!!!!!!!!

[DDHarriman]

Hey remember when Bidens FEMA was withholding aid to conservatives?

Of course you dont.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/10/21/dhs-exposes-how-fema-officials-under-biden-administration-systematically-refused

[jb]

Yeah, and people got fired for that:

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/09/g-s1-33601/fema-worker-hurricane-trump-signs-florida

Whereas in Trump's case, it's the official administration policy to just withhold aid to entire states that didn't vote for him.

[DDHarriman]

Look at the dates.

One person got scapegoated while the political oppression was rampant.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Is it possible that the DC suburbs are wealthier than Missouri?

[jb]

Yes, that is possible. But Garrett county is closer to Pittsburgh than DC, and its median income is lower than Missouri's.

[Malika la Maize]

And you screamed about it then and are fine with it now, because licking federal government boots is to your taste if the right party is in charge.

[John F. Carr]

The First Circuit partially denied qualified immunity in a police shooting case.

Short version: A man threatened to kill himself so police killed him.

Longer version: A delusional man with a knife attempted a robbery. Newton, Massachusetts police caught up to him in his apartment building where he threatened to kill himself. At first police did the right thing. They called in a social worker and a negotiator. But the officers didn't back off and wait. They talked to the man themselves. Once he put down the knife an officer tried to shoot him with a beanbag shotgun. It didn't fire but made a loud click. The man was startled so police shot him. He may or may not have retrieved his knife when he was shot. He was in his apartment and police had the exits blocked. The social worker was still waiting in her car. The professional negotiation team was still six minutes away.
No liability under the ADA and related laws. The city attempted to accomodate his mental disability.
Qualified immunity for using the beanbag shotgun. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
No qualified immunity for the shooting. Police didn't get their stories straight and it is not clear beyond doubt that police did not use excessive force.

Conlon v. Scaltreto, case 24-1634, https://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/sites/ca1/files/opnfiles/24-1634P-01A.pdf

[Mr. Bumble]

There's a man with a gun over there...
Not quite on point, but..

[Frank Drackman]

Went Deer hunting with my Uncle "Dalton" (actually his real name) when I was 10 or 11, Dalton was the coolest (still is, at 80) Vietnam Vet, had a Harley, in Fall he'd take a month off from his Trucker job and grow his hair/beard out like Charles Manson,
We're sitting in a Tree Stand (you don't want to be on the ground during hunting season in Jaw-Jaw) Big 12 point Buck walks into a clearing (OK, probably 6 point, it was 50 years ago)
Dalton raises his Shotgun,
"CLICK"
he'd forgotten to rack a round in the cylinder, by the time he did
Mr. Buck was 100 yards away, his white tail mocking us like the Roadrunner's tongue...

Frank

[Malika la Maize]

The gibberish of a semi-epsilon moron.

Or, in Francis speech:

teh Gibberish )of a
semi-Episolon moron!!!

[Frank Drackman]

A sign of Alzheimers is patients interpret great literature as "Gibberish" (Sounds like Nancy Pelosi ordering a drink, "Madam Speaker, which Gin would you prefer? "Gibberish!!! and Shawsht Up!!!")
Seriously, my passage couldn't have been written any better by Jack London, Faulkner, Hemmingway (OK, maybe Hemmingway) admit it, you read it, you're in that Treestand, 1973, stinking of Lucky Strike cigarette Butts (Deer can't smell tobacco supposedly) spine chilling "Hawk" coming from the Northeast,
Man, what a great scene, gotta type that up...

Frank

[Malika la Maize]

Deranged gibberish, perfect MAGA.

[Frank Drackman]

We're all out of Gibberish, Speaker Pelosi, would the Bar brand be OK??

[Malika la Maize]

it Speaks )for Itself

[Frank Drackman]

Experientia Est Magistra Stultorum

[bernard11]

Is it authentic?

[ThePublius]

Malika la Maize, your stalking of Frank is tiring. He's entertaining. You're not.

[Sarcastr0]

Humor is in the eye of the beholder, but Frank objectively sucks out loud.

How embarrassing for you that you're defending him.

[Malika la Maize]

More selective pearl clutching from Pubes!

[Bwaaah]

"CLICK"
he'd forgotten to rack a round in the cylinder

And that's how we learn that the coolest people are fuck-ups just like ourselves.

[Frank Drackman]

If it turns out (The) Zoran Mandamn-he was involved in 10-7 does that make him a legitimate target for Moe-Saad???
Theoretically of course, there is no Moe-Saad!!!!!!!!!!!

Frank

[Moderation4ever]

Frank you really are reaching. The conspiracy nuts haven't even suggested this yet and your jumping to asking for conclusions.

[Martinned]

Another non-US update: It turns out that Maccabi Tel Aviv has a hooliganism problem not only when they play away in Amsterdam, but also when they play in Tel Aviv or Birmingham.

The Israeli Premier League derby between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv was cancelled before kick-off on Sunday, after what police described as "public disorder and violent riots".

"Dozens of smoke grenades and pyrotechnic devices were thrown," Israeli police posted on X, adding "this is not a football game, this is disorder and serious violence".

Twelve civilians and three officers were injured, police said, while nine people were arrested and 16 detained for questioning.

The unrest comes just days after officials in the UK said that Maccabi fans should not be allowed to attend the Europa League match at Aston Villa in England next month because of safety concerns.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cgr4n07509wo

[Frank Drackman]

Scandalous!!!!! what if "Hooliganism" spreads to England or Germany!?!?!?!?!?
Can't your Kingie-Wingie do something about it? issue an E-dick? Schedule some Pogroms? Collaborate with Terrorists???
Funny how in Amurica you can wear an Ohio State Jersey in Ann Arbor and the worst you'll get is some curse words thrown your way, not bottles.

Frank

[Malika la Maize]

Uh-oh, now you’re going to get Francis all worked up. Israel and baby holocaust are definitely two of his triggers! Pretty sad edgelord-wannabe.

[Frank Drackman]

Yes, I do suffer from the "White Man's Burden" our ability to think abstractly (I get it, your superior "Fast Twitch" muscles do allow you to escape the Tigers better than other races) allows us to feel empathy for those less fortunate. But go ahead, I hear Man-damn-he's having Free Fried Chicken and Watermelon at his rallies this weekend.
Maybe some Malt Liquor and Kool's too!

Frank

[Malika la Maize]

Shorter Francis:

wah, Sob )sniffle The babies
wont Someone think of the Babies!!!

[Drewski]

I take it you've been reading the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and really latched on to the idea that if people in multiple nations hate Jews, the hatred must be justified. Or perhaps you got it secondhand from your Grand Wizard. Anyway it's an old antisemitic trope, going back to the Inquisitions. It's just as bad now as ever. You, however, have gotten worse.

[hobie]

I fail to see where he used a trope. I got news for you, pal. Jews are animals just like everyone else, and act accordingly. Haven't you seen all the videos of Jerusalem teens marauding the city with impunity like gangs kicking, shoving and spitting on Muslims and Christians?

[Frank Drackman]

They’re just Jewish Soccer fans, if they were wearing Manchester City Jerseys you’d love them

[Bob from Ohio]

"safety concerns"

Hatred of Jews.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Israel is a Western country with Western problems....

[bernard11]

Wait!!

UK officials are worried about Israeli hooligans? GMAFB.

[Malika la Maize]

What’s a good episode of TV to stream for Halloween? My get-together isn’t going to have time for anything more than an hour but it would be nice to have about an hour of some good horror for the grown-ups while the kids divvy up the candy in the other room.

[Frank Drackman]

X-files "The Post-Modern Prometheus" Season 5, Episode 5,

[DDHarriman]

That is a good one!

[Frank Drackman]

Who doesn't get a little teary eyed during that final scene??? (Yes, I cried when Ole Yeller got shot too) Cher singing "Walking in Memphis"??? Mulder and Scully dancing? and filmed in Black & White just like the great Universal Horror movies from the 30's, I'm glad I'm just writing this in my daily Journal and not online where everyone could mock my emotions and sensitivity.

Frank

[ThePublius]

Where can you watch that?

[Frank Drackman]

You know there is this invention called "Television" and on this invention they show Shows??

[ThePublius]

Duh, thanks for nothin' Frank.

[Frank Drackman]

Do you want to know about the Hash Bars?

[hobie]

You know what I've been thinking about lately? Kolchak: The Night Stalker from 1974-75. I was so little when it came out that it frightened the life out of me. In one particular episode the guy had to creep into a car at night while some undead guy in the car was dormant, stuff salt in the undead's mouth then sew its lips shut with string - all without waking it! It was tense!

[Bwaaah]

The Munsters. Any episode where they go for a ride in the family car. It'll scare the b'Jesus out of anybody. (That Marilyn sure could act!)

[Frank Drackman]

Loved Lily, and that white shock in her hair (like Tulsi G) and those Bozangas, and Morticia was sexy too, had both of them, and Agent 99, Ginger, Jeanie, Mrs Brady in my “Spank Bank”

[Bwaaah]

I pine for Miss Crabtree. School would have been unbearable had it not been for my daydreams, and teachers like Miss Crabtree. (Daydreams were good for school, bad for right fielding.)

Tulsi G. LOL. I hadn't realized why she seemed so familiar. Or was it Le Pew?

[Mr. Bumble]

Jay Leno.

[Frank Drackman]

Borrowing from the great Wayne G

“No”

[Bwaaah]

Not a bad comment. But what a fuckin' buzz kill.

Jay Leno? No man. No.

https://youtu.be/A4B0pLDqYqI

[Bwaaah]

And it's kind of like a reverse skunk hue on a big concave punim.

Jeez. No.

[LawTalkingGuy]

I enjoy Deep Space Nine’s Empok Nor

[hobie]

Bondi/(rubes): "...there are apps to track our federal law enforcement officers, and it jeopardizes their lives, where they’re going to be, their location"

Libs: "Jan6"

Rubes: "Trannies"

I've noticed that when there is an uptick in Administration outrages - like last week - that AM Radio switches back to a diet of trannyism.

However, I for one welcome the suppression of speech on social media. We can't let them publish information some consider dangerous.

[jb]

Why does ICE like targeting the priests in particular? First Chicago, now Alameda:

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1254974863339208&id=100064801178020

[Armchair]

Facebook post, skipped.

[jb]

I can't control where the local ABC affiliate posts their updates.

But if you really need another source, while the SF Chronicle doesn't have the video, they have an interview with the priest and a picture of the aftermath:

During the fracas at the Coast Guard base, federal agents deployed apparent flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd and fired a pepper round that struck a clergyman near the chin. The impact caked his face and clothing in orange powder.

The Rev. Jorge Bautista, pastor of the College Heights United Church of Christ in San Mateo, said an agent shot him in the face with the projectile from about 5 feet away.

“I’m in a lot of pain,” Bautista texted the Chronicle from an emergency room in Oakland. “He clearly was aiming for the face.”

[Bob from Ohio]

"clearly"!!

[jb]

If you've watched the video, I'm interested in your alternative hypothesis. Guy just has really bad aim at basically point blank range?

(And to address your point below, fine let's call them "clergymen". As if your pedantry makes ICE's targeting of them more acceptable somehow.)

[Bob from Ohio]

"fine let's call them "clergymen"

That has the virtue of accuracy.

[Malika la Maize]

And pedantry.

[Armchair]

You mean the "fracas" where the U-Haul truck was backing into the police/coast guard line, ignoring all calls to halt, and forced them to open fire?

[jb]

Maybe it would help you to actually look at the video. Clergyman is just standing there. ICE guy walks up and shoots him in the head. No UHaul truck in evidence.

Here's the one where they shot the guy in Chicago:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xc6aKQHFGnQ

(And to be clear: I know they are being shot by non-lethal devices, not guns; but it's still pretty baffling why the ICE hooligans seem to be singling out religious figures who are just standing there.)

[Armchair]

You mean the video you can only find in a facebook post?

Here's a video.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/security-california-coast-guard-base-opens-fire-truck-posing-direct-threat

[jb]

Yeah, that is a different incident later on. Not sure why you think that has anything to do with ICE shooting clergymen in the head with their pepper balls.

[Bob from Ohio]

"priests"

Neither was a priest.

[Frank Drackman]

Holman said they were going to concentrate on the really horrible criminals first.

[Armchair]

In other news, the Netherlands hit a new record, increasing their import of Russian energy more than 72% ( Netherlands' imports surged 72% to 498 million euros ($579 million).

https://kyivindependent.com/seven-eu-states-increase-russian-energy-imports-in-2025-reuters-reports/

And people wonder...how is Russia somehow financing this war against Ukraine....

[Armchair]

Not like the Netherland have massive natural gas reserves to use instead. Oh wait...they do? And they're just shutting down the field?

Hmm...

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/dutch-senate-approves-law-permanently-close-groningen-gas-field-2024-04-16/

[Martinned]

Oddly Dutch people don't like living on top of a man-made earthquake zone. We're crazy like that.

[Mr. Bumble]

No, many of you would prefer to live below sea level. Go figure.

[Armchair]

Instead, you prefer to fund the Russian war machine and its killing of Ukranians.

[hobie]

I will admit, that is shameful of the Netherlands. They need to walk the walk. There's plenty of other crude available on the open market

[Frank Drackman]

They’re the Dutch, smell like Cabbage, small hands.

[Martinned]

It's not the crude that's the problem, it's the gas. Which we typically get from Norway, and have increasingly got from the US and Qatar. But that gas needs to be brought over on ships, while Russian gas gets pumped through existing pipelines.

[Bob from Ohio]

Excuses, excuses. You are helping to kill Ukrainians.

Find another source or go without.

[Martinned]

If only someone had thought about that!

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/10/20/council-agrees-its-position-on-rules-to-phase-out-russian-gas-imports-under-repowereu/

[Armchair]

With a full ban in...checks notes...2028.

Wow. Three years from now.

[ThePublius]

Shaun King? Knock me over with a feather!

"I actually think it's a great idea to build a big ballroom on the White House grounds.

It's virtually impossible to hold events of any size there and they are always wasting millions on tents and heaters and chairs and lights and everything else.

Stop acting like you have some emotional attachment to the East Wing. You don't."

https://x.com/shaunking/status/1981391778977554545

[Sarcastr0]

You may be part of a cult of personality, but the rest of us got no problem disagreeing with people on our side.
Shaun King doesn't seem to understand why we do preservation of historical sites at all. That's on him.

It's funny how appeal to authority is a fallacy, but MAGA people keep forgetting that because for Trump and them, it's not.

[DDHarriman]

Do you think Obamas basketball court was historically extracted from his childhood in Kenya?

[Bob from Ohio]

"historical sites "

It was a wooden wartime addition. It has very little history about it.

[Sarcastr0]

Yep, wood can't hold history and America really hasn't had a lot happen since WW2.

[Bob from Ohio]

What history occurred there? Its just old, not historical.

[LawTalkingGuy]

History doesn’t occur anywhere. Events in the past do. History is the discipline of the studying of past events and the genre of placing it in a narrative form.

Any event that happened in the east-wing that is used by someone studying the past and placing it into a historical narrative is “historical.” Whether it is of great or little significance is obviously debatable. As is the cultural or societal value of the east-wing itself both today and at earlier periods in time.

So essentially we don’t know the “historical” value of it unless and until someone writes history that uses events that occurred there in a way that people find significant.

[Sarcastr0]

This isn't the history of textbooks, this is the history of museums.

Our modern Presidents, present one excepted, spent time living in the White House as they went through historical events. Our Presidents are historical figures.
These historical figures lived through history. They did quotidian things, human things, during times of inhuman stress and moment.
I think the President's movie theatre was there! That alone was a helluva room to consider - the leader of the free world watching our major cultural export, both the profound works and the ridiculous ones.

There's something important in just that. It's why we have historically preserved houses that were similarly just where important Americans lived during important times.

MAGA doesn't understand thinking like this. They don't revere this country's story like that. They don't revere much except for Trump, really.

[ThePublius]

That's such a bullshit narrative. The White House isn't a museum, meant to be preserved, as-is, forever for visitors to enjoy. It's a functioning, living residence and office for the POTUS, and must be updated and modified to satisfy current needs.

[Sarcastr0]

That's not my thesis.

My thesis is simply that it *matters* and you shouldn't needlessly demolish it on the whim of one dude.

You don't think it matters, because you're a huge tool. I'm not generally one for counterfactuals, but I 100% believe that if Obama or Biden did that your head would have burst from the rage.

[Bob from Ohio]

OMG, they crushed the MOVIE THEATER!!!

You are pathetic.

[LawTalkingGuy]

Not as pathetic as using the dictionary to try and win arguments about the fundamental nature of things.

[Sarcastr0]

What a soulless existence you seem to have.

[Bob from Ohio]

definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
his·to·ry
/ˈhist(ə)rē/
noun
noun: history; plural noun: histories

1.
the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.
2.
the whole series of past events connected with someone or something.

You are describing #1, #2 also exists.

History occurs whether or not anyone writes about it.

[LawTalkingGuy]

Oh wow. A descriptivist dictionary decision. That’s certainly contains everything you need to know about historiography and epistemology. I guess Hayden White wasted his time. Should have just cracked a dictionary.

Check it out guys: I used the Bob method and now there are no more problems in cosmology:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/universe

Are you really dumb enough to think that this is dispositive? What an intellectually lazy answer. And you probably have the nerve to complain about conservatives not being taken seriously in academic disciplines.

[Bob from Ohio]

Crabby today. Lose another case?

[LawTalkingGuy]

No. I just find everything about you extremely offensive and think you should know.

[Drewski]

Such a weird little bubble many of the commenters live in. Nobody else gives a shit about the ballroom one way or another. Only the cultists think it's important and good, only extremely online liberals think it's important and bad. Your average person thinks, "Huh," and goes about their day.

[Sarcastr0]

This is a political message board. Did you come to the wrong place?

[Bob from Ohio]

I'm not a"cultist" but its not important at all. On balance, I think a new room for state functions and more office space is good but its not something I will worry about.

My comments are directed at how ludicrous the left here is being. Wallpaper and movie theaters!

[Sarcastr0]

Nothing says not caring like a post explaining how all your other posts should not be interpreted as you caring.

[Commenter_XY]

That is where I net out. A larger ballroom makes for more options in a state dinner or event that weren't there before. It is a donation to America, which I appreciate as a taxpayer.

The history of the East Wing, written and oral, has been recorded.

[David Nieporent]

That is where I net out. A larger ballroom makes for more options in a state dinner or event that weren't there before.

1) Why is that important?

2) Assuming it is, why is it important for Trump to do it unilaterally and underhandedly, rather than following the standard procedure?

[DDHarriman]

What's the standard procedure? Who published it? Why does it bind a President? Who does the President have to get permission from?

[Armchair]

In other news, the government shutdown continues. Republicans continue to try to fund the government. Democrats continue to filibuster reasonable bills. Now, SNAP benefits for millions are on the table...people who depends on this to stop from going hungry.

Republicans have tried repeatedly to fund the government and fund the SNAP benefits for poor people. Democrats...well, they continue to filibuster bills that would feed poor Americans.

[hobie]

"Republicans have tried repeatedly to fund the government and fund the SNAP benefits for poor people."

[David Nieporent]

GOP: "Will you vote for this bill?"
Democrats: "What concessions are you offering us?"
GOP: "None."
Democrats: "Well, then, no."
GOP: "Shrug. We tried."

GOP: "Will you vote for this bill now?"
Democrats: "What concessions are you offering us?"
GOP: "Still none."
Democrats: "Well, then, still no."
GOP: "Shrug. We tried."

[ThePublius]

Well, yes, their constituents don't want to fund free health care for illegal immigrants, and the Dems do. Simple.

[David Nieporent]

This dispute still has nothing whatsoever to do with free health care for illegal immigrants, and your comment would be non-responsive to the point I was making even if it were accurate: the GOP didn't "try repeatedly." Arguing that their refusal to try is justified is one thing; arguing that they actually did try is just fiction.

[DDHarriman]

Where did Mr. Clean Bill go?

Let us know how the Secret Service visit goes.

[ThePublius]

"This dispute still has nothing whatsoever to do with free health care for illegal immigrants, "

Baloney, it has everything to do with that.

[Sarcastr0]

That talking point has been gathering dust for like a month.

Never too surprising what sticks in you mind, though.

[wvattorney13]

Do you have a cite for that? It is a GOP talking point, and I am a strong conservative, but I call bullshit.

AFAIK, the Dems want to extend the ACA tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year. That's it. We can disagree with that policy, but illegal immigrants are not eligible for those credits. What page of the Dem bill says that we are paying for health care for illegal immigrants?

[Mr. Bumble]

Then why use the CR to try to advance it? The "clean" CR passed by the House was to keep the government going at the current spending levels while a regular appropriation bill was hammered out.

[Malika la Maize]

Why would objecting to the CR make sense if the objection were about undocumented care vs the subsidies?

[ThePublius]

"Even some Democrats and their Mainstream Media allies are beginning to admit that they know this is true:

Reporter: “Are Democrats demanding health care for illegal aliens?” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.): “Democrats are demanding healthcare for everybody.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.): “The amount of money actually is going towards people who are undocumented is a small portion of the Medicaid cuts or the Affordable Care Act.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper to Leader Jeffries (D-N.Y.): “But what [Democrats] support does bring back funding for emergency Medicaid to hospitals, some of which does pay for undocumented immigrants and people who don’t have health insurance.”

Bloomberg’s Erik Wasson: “To be clear the full $1.4T they want isn’t to boost healthcare for undocumented. It’s a tiny fraction of that…”

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.): “And if that means we got to shut this government down, so be it.”

[Sarcastr0]

This text was copied from a press release from Rep. Mike Johnson that was posted October 02.

[DDHarriman]

If you look closely you'll see the quotes.

[JRipplefireEsquire]

Dems have demanded rollbacks of the BBB health tax break recissions in order to continue government funding. According to the National Immigration Law Center, the Big Beautiful Bill enacted this summer imposed new restrictions on access to health coverage for lawfully present immigrants. Lawfully Present may include those who may have entered illegally but then sought asylum or refugee status by claiming persecution. This often allowed lawful presence during their application process as was liberally granted under the previous administration. Outside of prosecutorial discretion to ignore their illegal entry crime, I have never come across a statutory defense to that entry crime contained within every refugees or asylum seekers processing. However I have no immigration law expertise, only political interest in this hugely significant topic and am open to expanding my knowledge. But as I now see it, if one is convinced that any of the refugee or asylum claims were made in bad faith or incompletely then it could be claimed that the Dems are demanding to restore health funding to some illegal aliens as a condition to reopen the government.

[Armchair]

" the GOP didn't "try repeatedly."

12 separate times they tried to fund the government. Each time, filibustered by the Democrats. Words have meaning, even if you don't like them. Trying something 12 separate times is trying it "repeatedly"

[David Nieporent]

If your recent college grad son who moved back home after graduation just lay on the couch all day drinking beer rather than supporting himself insisted that he has "tried repeatedly" to get a job, but when you asked him what he had done he said, "I called this employer and asked if they would hire me, but they said, 'Hell no,' and so I called them eleven more times and asked the same question and they said the same thing each time," would you accept that characterization?

[CountmontyC]

So the Democrats are holding SNAP recipients hostage until they get what they want?

[Malika la Maize]

You cops wont give us what we demand, you’re going to get the hostages we got here hurt!

[CountmontyC]

What is wrong with a clean continuing resolution? A clean R is what the Democrats have demanded in the past.

[Malika la Maize]

Don’t hurt your back moving those goalposts.

[CountmontyC]

How can I hurt my back when I am not the one moving the goalposts? The Democrats in the past have literally called Republicans hostage takers for not voting for a clean CR. They did it when all Trump was asking for was money for the border wall which was an insignificant amount compared to what the Democrats are asking for
So every Republican is now voting for a clean CR and all but a few are Democrats are voting against a clean CR.
The Republicans even made a proposal to fund SNAP and military families but enough Democrats voted against that so it couldn't pass because of the filibuster.
So tell me why the Republicans are at fault for the Democrats filibustering.

[Malika la Maize]

The “clean bill” is just no concessions and virtually no negotiation after the OBB and the rescission thing.

[CountmontyC]

The clean bill is continuing current spending at current levels while a full bill is worked out and as I pointed out in my previous post the Democrats demanded clean CRs in the past when Republicans wanted to add anything ( such as the border wall under Trump). And in the past when Republicans demanded anything other than a clean CR the Democrats called the Republicans hostage takers and terrorists. So why is this time different?

[Armchair]

Didn't realize getting people food snaps required "concessions" from the Democrats.

GOP: We want to pass a bill that will feed hungry Americans.
Democrats: "Well, what you gonna give us to let you feed hungry Americans?".

[Malika la Maize]

Didn’t they cut those stamps in the Big Pretty Bill?

[Dr. Ed 2]

What's gonna happen if we have mass looting of supermarkets?
Ignoring the logistics, are are jurors going to convict? I wouldn't.

And if you cut the airline on trailer truck, the spring brakes will lock up and the 8 tires on the trailer will not move. So you can loot the truck at a stoplight.

[John F. Carr]

Three mosquitoes were found in Iceland recently.

The best part of the story for me was this guy noticing a strange fly he had never seen before. Most of us in habitable parts of the world are familiar with mosquitoes. The hero of the story was interested in insects . He was baiting moths with red wine. When some mosquitoes approached him he didn't recognize them. They haven't been seen in Iceland before.

Report in Icelandic: https://www.natt.is/is/frettir/2025/10/moskitofluga-greind-islandi-i-fyrsta-sinn.

It is unclear if global warming is to blame. Possibly mosquitoes escaped from a shipping facility nearby, bred during the unusually warm summer of 2025, and will not be able to sustain their population long term.

(In addition to using wine you can attract moths with a mix of beer and rotting bananas. That old saying about attracting more flies with honey than vinegar is not true. Plenty of flies like vinegar.)

[ThePublius]

"That old saying about attracting more flies with honey than vinegar is not true. Plenty of flies like vinegar.)"

Not true? So, honey doesn't attract more flies than vinegar, even though some flies are attracted to vinegar?

Well, I searched, and it turns out you're right; vinegar attracts more flies than honey! It seems vinegar smells like decaying fruit, which is their preferred food source and place to lay eggs.

[John F. Carr]

Once I looked closely at an injured tree leaking sap and saw several kinds of insect I've never seen anywhere else. The sap was fermenting and growing mold. Fermentation and mold are both attractive to many insects.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"Fermentation and mold are both attractive to many insects."

Disgusting! I myself prefer to snack on a good strong Roquefort with a glass of wine.

[ThePublius]

Very good!

[John F. Carr]

There's a scene in Larry Niven's novel Ringworld or its sequel where a not-quite-human but still sexually available woman looks at Louis Wu's dinner and says she doesn't eat rotten food or spoiled meat. So he dumps the cheese and aged steak to get her something more primitive.

[Mr. Bumble]

"Fermentation and mold are both attractive to many insects."
Democrat insects. Who knew.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Cider vinegar is made from fermented apples.

[hobie]

Even a broken Ed is right twice a...no, actually Ed is never right

[ThePublius]

No, you are wrong.

Apple cider vinegar is made from fermented apples, which undergoes a two-step fermentation process. First, yeast converts the natural sugars in apple juice into alcohol, and then a second fermentation converts that alcohol into acetic acid.

[hobie]

If it means anything to you, Publius, I looked up your claim and it is correct. 'Fruit' flies are indeed predisposed to vinegar. That aside, let's talk about Ed's homophobia

[Stephen Lathrop]

Doesn't seem likely a former lack of mosquitoes in Iceland is explained by climate. They abound in the terrestrial arctic. They can breed on the snowpack in high mountains.

[John F. Carr]

In a trial for a man accused of killing his cheating wife, should jurors hear that he searched for cheating wife porn? https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/metro/brian-walshe-porn/

In other sexy Massachusetts news, the Appeals Court ruled that jurors in a drunk driving case were allowed to hear that the defendant was at a strip club named the Golden Banana. https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/10/13/massachusetts-man-who-went-to-the-golden-banana-strip-club-before-driving-drunk-loses-appeal/

[Martinned]

One of the benefits of not having juries is that you also don't end up having endless discussions about which pieces of evidence the jury should or should not be allowed to hear, lest the poor idiots be misled into taking the wrong decision.

[Frank Drackman]

Why not just have your Kingie-Wingie decide Guilt/Innocence, he is supposed to be 'Divine"? You know, when he's not got his Royal "Package" up some young boy's (Redacted)

Frank

[wvattorney13]

To me both of those seem non-controversial. They both come into evidence.

I have seen WAY worse stuff come in than that. The 404 (b) evidence has really loosened up over the past several years. These really aren't even 404 (b); they are intrinsic, part and parcel of the offense. If the guy was drinking at a nude bar prior to driving that is an integral part of the story that the State can present to the jury. Without it, they have to say he was drinking *somewhere but you jurors can't know the name.

[Dr. Ed 2]

There is the Green Apple and Golden Banana on US Route 1 -- you used to have to drive by both on the gap in I-95. One was gay -- I forget which.

Wouldn't that be prejudicial?

[David Nieporent]

The prosecution's evidence is supposed to be prejudicial.

[ThePublius]

This moron, Sharmine Narwani, Columbia School of Journalism graduate, says:
"Christ was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, a Muslim majority country. Be more tolerant, Jesus."

"Impressive that Jesus managed to be born in a Muslim-majority county more than 6 centuries before Islam was even founded.

The Columbia School of Journalism in the bio really brings the whole thing full circle."

https://x.com/AGHamilton29/status/1981562827581108224

[ReaderY]

Especially considering that what Hamas considers to be Palestine doesn’t have a Muslim majority even today.

[Martinned]

*especially today

[Sarcastr0]

"Be more tolerant, Jesus" does not make that sound like this was a serious post.

[ThePublius]

You will find any rationalization to counter anything I post.

[Sarcastr0]

I don't know what to tell you - no doubt my judgement is shaded when it comes to something as subjective as humor.

But I highlighted the weird phrasing and the logic behind my take.

You don't seem down to do the work to demonstrate otherwise, just jerk that knee.

[John 4]

Easily done when you’re a moron.

[OpinionsVary]

Believe it or not, but the man named Jesus of Nazareth was in fact born in... Wait for it... Nazareth! The historical consensus is that the Bethlehem nativity story was a later creation by the gospel writers to tie him the Davidic decent myth. Some of the gospel writers considered it very important to tie Jesus to the line of King David and so created the nativity. This is fairly obvious if you look at the stories. The whole idea of a census where you need to go to somewhere you *don't live* is nonsensical and simply not something the Romans or Roman clients did. Maybe if you were an seasonal agricultural worker but even then you wouldn't be moving to somewhere you'd never lived.

[Moderation4ever]

Good analysis. You might also add that the birth of Jesus was not in December and the December date was meant to replace the winter solstice holiday.

[Martinned]

the man named Jesus of Nazareth was in fact born in... Wait for it... Nazareth

How do you know that? Did you ask him?

[hobie]

Did the Greeks introduce lighter skin to Palestine? I think the Greek empire had access to the northern regions: regions that had not made their way into Palestine until then.

[Frank Drackman]

They introduced Homosexuality

[hobie]

They introduced Caucasian homosexuality, Frankie. The neegroes (some black, some dark tan) of the Levant probably had their own boy-love...a lot of that is depicted in the old testament

[DDHarriman]

Thats what I like about the Old Testament, clearly alot of the laws and rules were about hygiene. Thats why there is such OT revulsion to faggots. Their gross and disease vectors.

Its why the natural response for most people to fags is disgust. Its a survival mechanism, scientifically validated.

[DDHarriman]

Can yall smell the new ballroom narrative? Now its about "historical preservation" and all the typical toadies are regurgitating it as of it were true.

Some dipshits are even suing Trump which of course will get "randomly" assigned to some lunatic judicial insurrectionist.

[Moderation4ever]

Everyone but you seems to know that when a historical building like the East Wing of the White House is demolished the space is carefully cataloged by preservationist. Important pieces if the structure like molding and wall papers are preserved for historical purposes. Trump is going fast to avoid public blow back and in the process denying the American people a right to object.

[Bob from Ohio]

Its not historical, no history occurred there.

"denying the American people a right to object"

THERE ARE RULES, TRUMP! WHAT ABOUT THE WALL PAPER!

[Moderation4ever]

The East Wings was the home of the First Lady's office and staff, but maybe that not important because they are women. It was also the reception entrance and as such likely home to a lot more history than you may imagine. As Betty Ford once noted, "“If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, then the East Wing is the heart,” So, yes taking it down should have been a more thoughtful enterprise.

[ThePublius]

"So, yes taking it down should have been a more thoughtful enterprise."

So, how do you know how much though went into this? You presume to know what was in their heads, what analysis and work was done, what the architects' thoughts were, and so on, all without know anything about it! You just hate Trump, so anything he does is wrong and thoughtless, right?

Or maybe I'm wrong. Tell me what you know about the process.

[Bob from Ohio]

No, its not important because they are just spouses, not presidents. The "heart" quote is laughable, sorry.

Place where Hillary screwed up health care I guess is sort of historic.

[Malika la Maize]

President Johnson Signs Civil Rights Act
Creator: Cecil Stoughton, July 2, 1964.
By signing the Civil Rights Act in 1964 in the East Room of the White House, President Johnson helped eliminate voting discrimination against African Americans. The act also abolished racial discrimination in public facilities and in public education. Martin Luther King Jr. attended the signing and stands behind the President.

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/president-johnson-signs-civil-rights-act

Bob probably thought that was a bad thing so didn’t think of it….

[Bob from Ohio]

"East Room"

Epic fail!

Not in the East Wing, in the actual White House

Try again.

[Frank Drackman]

That’s our Queenie!

[Malika la Maize]

Unlike Francis’ father regarding him, I’ll own up to that one.

[Frank Drackman]

You’re about 63 years late with that one, he always asks why I didn’t get his 20/10 vision, blonde hair (that he still has) and 6’2” height (Moms smoking may have had something to do with the latter)
I did better him with the nose….

[DDHarriman]

I bet that grey box has a humongous retarded fail.

[not guilty]

"Some dipshits are even suing Trump which of course will get 'randomly' assigned to some lunatic judicial insurrectionist."

I don't know what remedy a court could afford at this point to anyone aggrieved by the destruction that Trump has wreaked, so I'm not sure what the point of suing would be.

[ReaderY]

A New York Times editorial auggests that the primary goal of indicting Letitia James is not to obtain a conviction, but to create an aura of criminality around her so to discredit her politically. The indictment permits her opponents to rail on her as a criminal in campaign attack ads and the like. The goal ist to destroy her politically career.

For this reason, the chances of conviction, indeed the evidence, simply don’t matter. The goal is not a conviction. The goal is to use the aura of criminality that comes from leveraging the Justice Department’s traditional store of credibility to destroy her politically.

If this theory is correct, one way to test this is to see if the Administration keeps postponing her trial until after the 2026 election. The last thing the current admjnistration would want is a court hearing in which she would have an opportunity to show just how flimsy the United States’ case is, let alone an acquital. Indicting and then simply stringing things along would maximize the effectiveness of the available evidence, which was sufficient (when highly cherry-picked) for a friendly grand jury to indict but not sufficient to go any further.

[Zarniwoop]

James is already going after Halligan for extrajudicial statements, rules violations, and failing to comply with federal records retention laws. Halligan’s complete lack of experience and professionalism is already evident.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26195598-james-extrajudicial-statements-motion/

[Kenneth Almquist]

James has also filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground that Lindsey Halligan was not validly appointed, and suggested that it be referred to the judge handling a similar motion in the Comey case.

Lindsey Halligan managed to find another attorney willing to work on the case: Roger Keller from Missouri, of all places. It took Keller two tries to correctly enter a notice of appearance. Not a good start.

Oct 22, 2025 — Notice of Correction re 18 Notice of Attorney Appearance - USA. The document is an incorrectly saved PDF fillable form which we have removed. Please refile the document after saving it correctly. To correctly save the PDF fillable form, click on the File menu, select Print, and then select your PDF writer from the Printer Name List, then click on Print or OK depending on your program.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71601419/united-states-v-james/

[jb]

Okay, I did literally LOL at the "here's how to actually save a fillable PDF".

[Zarniwoop]

Heh ... the Clerk's office is full of stone cold snark.

But it makes sense that you'd have to look as far as Missouri to find enough of a sucker to work with Halligan.

[Moderation4ever]

If you theory is correct Letitia James should push for a fast trail. I suspect she would be acquitted. That would be a great contrast with Trump who was found liable by a jury in the case she brought.

[David Nieporent]

A New York Times editorial auggests that the primary goal of indicting Letitia James is not to obtain a conviction, but to create an aura of criminality around her so to discredit her politically. The indictment permits her opponents to rail on her as a criminal in campaign attack ads and the like. The goal ist to destroy her politically career.

That doesn't make a lot of sense. Being nakedly politically indicted by Trump's DOJ is not going to discredit her politically in New York, which is where she'd be running.

For this reason, the chances of conviction, indeed the evidence, simply don’t matter. The goal is not a conviction. The goal is to use the aura of criminality that comes from leveraging the Justice Department’s traditional store of credibility to destroy her politically.

I don't think so. The goal is simply to make her suffer, both for having had the temerity to have taken legal action against him in the past and of course pour encourager les autres, He wouldn't mind a conviction, but spite is the real motivator here. Well, that and the fact that he was looking foolish and weak for not having taken any action against her up to this point beyond ranting on social media.

[hobie]

It's the old 'Lock Her Up' bait and switch. Will the rubes fall for it again?

Anyway, you're probably right, Roger. If they had any intention of winning, they wouldn't have put a hack beauty contestant in charge of it.

Also, I think Jack Smith is way ahead of you. This week he offered Congress to immediately seat him before the house so that he can tell them all under oath about his own criminality in the documents and election stealing cases...before an indictment or trial even starts.

Obviously this is a steel trap of a thousand fangs laced with cyanide. But it puts the insurrectionists in another Epstein pickle: do they want the justice they claim exists even though it will expose - all over again - Trump's criminality?

So yeah...delay, delay, delay...otherwise they are gonna get the reckoning they completely brought upon themselves

[not guilty]

"If this theory is correct, one way to test this is to see if the Administration keeps postponing her trial until after the 2026 election. The last thing the current admjnistration would want is a court hearing in which she would have an opportunity to show just how flimsy the United States’ case is, let alone an acquital. Indicting and then simply stringing things along would maximize the effectiveness of the available evidence, which was sufficient (when highly cherry-picked) for a friendly grand jury to indict but not sufficient to go any further."

I seriously doubt that this trial judge will let that happen. The case is presently set for jury trial in January. That is likely to be moved because of pretrial motions, but I expect the judge to move the case along as rapidly as possible.

[DDHarriman]

Black heart, gold heart theory in action.

When Letitia ran on getting Trump and then went after him with very unique and novel charges - well since she is a Dem she has a golden heart and therefore is pure.

When Letitia James gets indicted over obvious and irrefutable mortgage fraud? Well she is only getting in trouble because of Trumps black heart. Only conservatives get charged with mortgage fraud, not James The Pure.

[David Nieporent]

This is just lazy. Let us count the ways:

1) You make a claim about what James "ran on" but of course do not quote.
2) You fail to identify anything "unique" or "novel" about the suit (not "charges").
3) You claim that her fraud was "obvious" but cite absolutely zero facts in support of the claim that she committed any fraud at all.
4) She is only getting in trouble because of Trump's black heart; this is one of the rare cases where all the evidence for that is out in the open. The real prosecutors concluded that there was no evidence of fraud, and refused to proceed, so Trump fired his own appointee and hired his personal insurance lawyer who has never prosecuted a criminal case in her life to get an indictment. She had to go to the grand jury herself, despite not understanding how those worked, because no other lawyer was unethical enough to proceed.

[ThePublius]

David, you're in complete denial. Don't ask for citations here, read a little news. She did run on getting Trump, and she did lie on mortgage applications. Get real.

[DDHarriman]

Do you think he really is this ignorant or just playing it as part of a paid gig or something?

[Malika la Maize]

Why are you so averse to citing claims?

[ThePublius]

This is hilarious, if perhaps in poor taste:

"The German company that built the forklift used in the Louvre robbery uses a photo of the heist to advertise itself: “When things need to be done quickly.”"

https://x.com/BowTiedMara/status/1981342686742302990

[John F. Carr]

Apparently real: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd2zyl304do

[Sarcastr0]

I applaud the moxie.

[Dr. Ed 2]

You do know that Germans and French don't like each other....

[Bwaaah]

None of 'em? Is it genetic? Something in the water?

[hobie]

It would have been more tasteful if they had AI'd the lift spewing sewage all over the guards (wearing sombreros) and visitors

[Zarniwoop]

I LOL'd, thanks for bringing that to our attention!

[David Nieporent]

Another Abrego Garcia hearing reportedly goes badly for Trump, as Drew Ensign is caught in more lies. I very very very much hope that he is disbarred.

The Trump administration has the consent of both Abrego Garcia and the government of Costa Rica to deport the guy to Costa Rica, but they're bad faithedly refusing to do so, because this is not about getting a supposedly dangerous illegal immigrant out of the country; this is about making Abrego Garcia suffer.

https://www.allrisenews.com/p/abrego-ghana-xinis-hearing

EDIT: I see this is actually two weeks old. Comments are still accurate, though.

[Sarcastr0]

I hear the Admin's latest punishment attempt is to send him to Liberia.

The refusal to send him to Costa Rica really shows what's going on here is about a show of force against an outgroup. And probably no shortage of spite.

[hobie]

This is long-game thinking but how about:

Wealthy lib donors pay top dollar for all properties surrounding Mar a Lago. Put Abrego-Garcia's family in one mansion and tranny neegroes in all the others. Bribe the government of Costa Rica to make Abrego-Garcia their ambassador to the US. Then have the immune chap sit in a lawn chair in front of his mansion on the roadside.

[ThePublius]

Does someone pay you to spam this blog with inane posts?

[hobie]

I have a hard time figuring you out, Publius. You're here, so obviously you're an adult. You post a lot of shit with references, so we all follow the references and find out you were making things up (nothing like MichaelP though)...which is also adult-like behavior. But when you're called out you don't admit....like a child. And when you have nothing to say, you make a little wispy gripe like the one above...also like a child.

[M L]

"I’ve been in the East Wing of the White House at least a half dozen times over the years. For those who haven’t, it’s really more of a functional passage than a grand space. There’s a reception portico, a small holding area where guests are packed in after going through security, a hallway, a coat room, a family movie theater, and offices for the First Lady and her staff. It’s the public’s entryway, but compared to the rest of the White House, it’s pretty modest.
The East Wing wasn’t even part of the original White House. It was added in the 1940s to conceal construction of an underground air-raid shelter during World War II and later became office and event space.
The historic main White House East Room and State Dining Room, where so many memorable events have taken place, are also surprisingly small by modern standards. Having seen most areas of the White House firsthand, I can say that while the architecture carries immense history and symbolism, it was never designed for the size of today’s state events, security needs, or media presence.
So for anyone feeling a little sad or frustrated about the construction and the addition of a ballroom, I understand the sentiment—but also the need for the change. I’m not particularly sentimental about the East Wing. The White House will remain the same historic home and symbol it has always been, just a little better prepared to welcome the modern world that gathers within it."

https://www.facebook.com/lee.gross.12/posts/pfbid0329BHT1g9Z1vkYuSqXq6qquQWyWvwB1yWBEx8eapvLneRZu6NwBhNQGSSzjEb1pMNl

[grb]

This seems a reasonable statement but is nothing but strawman-grade deflection, top to bottom. There are four objections to the ballroom and none are based on "sentimentality" about the East Wing. They are as follows:

1. There was no submission to any historical review agency before Trump bulldozed a major portion of the White House complex. I seen people claim that "permissible" via a technicality but previous presidents managed to follow the rules. Of course they cared about this country's history and heritage more than the current occupant's cognitively-impaired ego allows.

2. There was no review or effort to preserve elements of the East Wing before it was plowed into rubble. We have vague statements from Trump's staff that "something was done" but that carries two caveats : First, no statement from this White House has any value as truth. Second, we would have seen a legitimate preservation effort with the building's exterior at least and it did NOT happen.

3. There are serious concerns about the scale and design of Trump's proposal - most noticeably given it's over twice as large as the iconic central building that is the "people's house" and image of the United States the world over. As I noted in a earlier comment, the proposed building doesn't even make a rudimentary effort to defer to the main White House structure. That the design is a grossly tacky gold-plated Bling Monstrosity is also worthy of consideration.

4. Given the extent of Trump's corruption, sleaze, and grifting, the backroom funding of this venture is unsurprisingly more of the same. After all, he just pardoned someone who laundered money for drug dealers, pedophiles, and human traffickers after the convicted criminal channeled tens of millions into Trump's crypto business. But - needless to say - the funding mechanism here reeks all on its own. Given DJT's lifelong criminality, it isn't speculation the "possibility" of corruption will prove actual. Remember, when they dug into the finances of his fraud charity, people found Trump used it to pay little Don Jr's seven dollar Boy Scout fee. A alleged billionaire who commits charity fraud for that is someone who enjoys being a criminal. That's always been true of Trump.

[DDHarriman]

What rules didnt he follow?

Made up ones? Whose permission does the President need for this work?

[Sarcastr0]

I'll stand up for sentimentality.

I think post-war stuff can be significant. Because it feels significant to those who have studied history and have some empathy for the people in it.

I think there's something special in the place where Truman thought about what the Korean War would mean, or Nixon made all those late night drunken calls, or Johnson navigated the country through the civil rights acts.

Doesn't mean it has to stay up forever, but the objections I have are more than procedural. [Though they are that as well.]

[DDHarriman]

Or that lawn where cute little RFK, Jr rolled around with puppies and kittens that got steamrolled for a ghetto basketball hoop. That was so ghetto it had chains for nets.

Also that front lawn where that topless tranny was shaking his fake tits for the cameras. How could we let that get paved over?!?!? I weep for the memories. Its so historical. It was the first topless tranny to ever shake their fake tits on the WH lawn. Its another Stonewall moment if he dares mess with that without getting permission from a Democrat civil servant first.

[DDHarriman]

LBJ: "I'll have those niggers voting Democrat for 200 years"

Sarcastr0: " we must save the sacred carpet where LBJ stood when he saved humanity".

[ThePublius]

Four bullshit points (and I use the term loosely) from a Trump hater. Lump it.

[bernard11]

Why are they BS? I agree with grb and am curious as to your objections.

[Sarcastr0]

Are you just against all the historic building efforts governments from local up to federal all have?

Do you think all that is bullshit?

I guess there's no room in your life for sentiment when you're schedule is full of angryposting.

[DDHarriman]

Why does The Wise Latina weep for that Alabama guy in her dissent for a painless death but not for his victim that he burned alive.

He and a partner tied up and doused in gasoline then burned alive another man over a $200 cocaine dispute.

Where is the compassion for him? Or his family ?

Liberals are sick. The moral framework is downright evil.

[Malika la Maize]

I don’t think even Thomas thinks the heinousness of the crime allows any punishment.

[DDHarriman]

It was the three libs in dissent. Sotomayor's dissent was embarrassing. More so then KJBs typical whinging.

[Malika la Maize]

This is non-responsive, like you when you see an attractive woman.

[DDHarriman]

If only the the three idiot amigos dissented that means Thomas was with the majority which refutes your stupid grey box claim.

[Malika la Maize]

So there’s two women?

[Frank Drackman]

Love how with the endless appeals today’s condemned get the worst of both worlds, a long prison sentence THEN we execute you.

[David Nieporent]

The victim is beyond compassion and outside of her jurisdiction. Her job was to address the defendant, not the victim.

[DDHarriman]

You may not know this, but humans have families and when one member is murdered humans also consider the immediate family as victims too. What's it like for your kind? Do yall even have "families" or is just big communes like in a zoo or something?

[Krayt]

Radiolab is running its free speech episode with Oliver Wendell Holmes supporting censorship because it got in the way of Congress' power to raise armies for war, and how he changed his mind.

[Frank Drackman]

Not normally one for “Conspiracies” but strange that no Autopsy reports been released on Charlie Kirk(his name is Charlie Kirk) and that photo of him in his Coffin only shows a hand…..
Not saying the gushing blood was a Hollywood Special Effect……
Like Columbo would do, who had motive, opportunity, and who benefitted?????

Frank “excuse me Mrs Kirk?? Just one more question……”

[Malika la Maize]

Francis is )on the Case of teh Missing punctuation

[DDHarriman]

Ok fellow 1776 Patriots I have a new fun game for you. Before visiting this site for the first time on a day go scan the headlines on http://old.reddit.com/r/all.

Then for every narrative regurgitated on here by the usual suspects you mark your bingo card. For every argument NOT on reddit take a mark away.

This morning I thought I was gonna hit narrative bingo early, but that fucking eurotrash shitted up the board with posts about the goings on in a bunch of 3rd world shitholes that no one cares about.

*edit*
Protip:
If you click "follow" on Sarcastr0 you will often get a bingo quickly if its during working hours in DC. When hes on the clock, the narrative rules.

[DDHarriman]

Trumps a great businessman but he sure did miss an opportunity with this ballroom thing. He should've sold off all the construction debris as sacred relics for the Left to worship at their altars.

But then again who could've foreseen this abject craziness and idol worship?

[ThePublius]

Yes, like relics of the true cross. 🙂

[Malika la Maize]

This is pretty bizarre. It’s not radical for people to find it important for historical buildings to be preserved. In a more logical universe it would even be something big with those that call themselves “conservatives.”

And then you add to that that Trump has himself stoked this whole “king” thing. Building grand ballrooms can seem like a king kind of thing.

Ultimately I see it as a poor hill to fight over. Listening to Trump talk about it, it seems like one of the few reasonable moments he has and one of the few non-trolling things he does.

But if someone can’t figure out why people are upset, that’s a failure of them to put themselves in others’ shoes.

[DDHarriman]

Ok, I normally dont respond to stupid gray boxes, but never before have people gotten this upset by a Presidential renovation/addition of the WH.

Its TDS plain and simple.

[Malika la Maize]

Is this renovation=previous ones?

Also, I get you went to the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good (And Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too) before having to drop out, but there’s that whole second paragraph there.

[DDHarriman]

The WH Twitter account put out a great video comparing this work to previous works.

If anything this is less than some other renovations.

Go watch the video for yourself. Historical facts are hard to refute.

[ThePublius]

O.K., now for something completely different. This is a smart crowd, so I thought I'd ask here.

I put the steel mesh filters for my range hood in the dishwasher, put a detergent packet in the dispenser, and set it to the max: heavy duty, sanitize, high heat, and all of that. It was a 4 hour+ cycle!

They didn't come out clean! I think the insides are clean, but there's a yellowish film on the outside of the mesh. It comes off with a scrubby pad and dishwashing liquid, but, what the heck?

Any advice on cleaning these things?

[Zarniwoop]

Is the frame also metal, with no (repeat NO) flammable/meltable/burnable bits?

If so, you could consider a propane plumbers torch to burn off the accumulated oily film. Works great to blast off cruft from metal screens, although it does require a deft touch. Smoke the film off, but don't let the screen metal glow yellow/orange or it will structually weaken it and reduce the overall life.

[ThePublius]

Thanks, but yes, there are plastic parts for the clips/fastenings that keep it in the hood.

[Zarniwoop]

Alas. It does work well on steel splatter screens for frying, which also have a steel housing.

Yeah, tricky. You probably don't have a sonication bath that's large enough (they're miraculous, but usually not anywhere near big enough).

Pre-soak for an extended time (12+ hrs) with an alkaline soap, then try mechanical cleaning with a brush.

And consider the total dollar value you place on your time + cleaning materials versus simple replacement. I don't prefer that answer, but it works for a lot of folks.

[Zarniwoop]

And I'm guessing/assuming further disassembly isn't a good option.