Monday Open Thread

What's on your mind?

Comments

[not guilty]

On yesterday's open comment thread, I called attention to Donald Trump's unhinged diatribe on Truth Social:

Just in: Documents show conclusively that Christopher Wray, Deranged Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, Lisa Monaco, and other crooked lowlifes from the failed Biden Administration, signed off on Operation Arctic Frost. They spied on Senators and Congressmen/women, and even taped their calls. They cheated and rigged the 2020 Presidential Election. These Radical Left Lunatics should be prosecuted for their illegal and highly unethical behavior!

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115432378654253078?ftag=YHF4eb9d17

This screed curiously omits identification of any particular "illegal . . . behavior" that Messrs. Wray, Smith and Garland of Ms. Monaco engaged in, for which any of them should be prosecuted.

Since neither Trump nor any MAGAt commenter here has identified any such criminal conduct, this topic deserves further discussion. How about it, MAGAts?

[Kazinski]

Anyone, especially a lawyer, who is looking for any legal edification from a Trump Truth Social post is a fool.

If and when any of them get indicted then you can ask the question again, after we read the indictment.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Kazinski — A fool? I am not qualified to opine with any confidence, but maybe lawyers who know more can refresh us on the concept of judicial notice, and whether stuff published by litigants out of court can affect the outcomes of cases.

[David Nieporent]

I am curious as to what you think judicial notice is, and how you think it is relevant to anything.

[not guilty]

Pursuant to Article II, § 3 of the Constitution, the President has a duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." It is not too much to expect that, before calling for criminal prosecution of any individual, the President should "take care" to ensure that a crime has been actually committed.

The mere act of having displeased Donald Trump is no crime. Why can't the MAGAts acknowledge that simple truth?

[Martinned]

The mere act of having displeased Donald Trump is no crime.

Are you sure? It was enough to get Canada on the wrong end of an emergency and a 10% tariff.

[DDHarriman]

It didnt take long for the Left to come out in support of foreign countries meddling in US elections.

[David Nieporent]

The ad has absolutely nothing to do with elections. It's about tariffs.

[Martinned]

What do you mean the Left? Doug Ford is a populist right winger. And in this case he and I are agreeing with Ronald Reagan. How did Reagan end up as a figurehead of "the Left" in Trumpland?

[wvattorney13]

It is a one paragraph post and the alleged illegal behavior is stated right in the middle of it:

"They spied on Senators and Congressmen/women, and even taped their calls. They cheated and rigged the 2020 Presidential Election."

Now, of course Trump did not attach the investigatory files to his post, so we are unable to determine whether he has enough evidence to prove these allegations. You are free to believe that he does not have enough or any such evidence. But the allegations are not a mystery.

[Stephen Lathrop]

wvattorney13 — More often than not, Trump's allegations do turn out mysterious. Help me out. What does it take to keep lending them credence? Is there any point where allegiance to default presumptions ought to give way to experience? Or is it the point of a default legal presumption to assist malefactors and opportunists to blow up the judicial system?

[Michael P]

No level of detail ever provides enough "particular" to satisfy the sealion that a leftie can be prosecuted. Conversely, when it comes to conservatives, a federal indictment need only recite the bare elements of the crime to provide sufficient notice (according to the sealion).

[Sarcastr0]

To the real MAGA handmaids, Trump's constant evidenceless statements are just proof of how much evidence he's already provided!

[Life of Brian]

Not exactly sure why I'm feeding this troll, but the entire point of the thread you parachuted into is that social media posts aren't legal proceedings.

[Magister]

"Social media posts aren't legal proceedings" is pretty clearly not even a major point of the thread, but it is entirely reasonable that social media posts by the President could affect legal proceedings, like when Richard Nixon declared that Charles Manson was guilty.

[John 4]

“the entire point of the thread” — what? The entire point of this thread is a question: “What illegal conduct?”

The fact that you degenerates tried to turn it into “it’s ok if Trump makes stupid, careless statement about prosecuting people because it’s not a legal proceeding” doesn’t change that. Dear heavens.

[hobie]

As president, Trump has a duty to re-open the stolen 2020 election cases. I whole heartedly endorse bring it all back to light.

[ReaderY]

Since Trump was in charge during the 2020 election, the Biden -Administration would not only had to possess a time machine, they would have had to violate temporal consistency, to go back in time in order to bring themselves into being. As a matter of logic, the statement is complete nonsense.

This may well be intentional. Trump wants a power so absolute that, like the totalitarian states in Orwell’s 1984, it requires people to surrender all of their own ability to sense reality and for their reality to be exclusively what he says it is.. As O’Brien said to Winston Smith in Room 101, if the Party says 2 + 2 equal 5, then two plus two equals five and that’s that.

The lies and the nonsense are not some weird personal quirk. They are essential. They are a critical test o whom he can rely on. Trump identifies who is loyal to him by identifying people not only willing to repeat his lies and contradictions of logic, but believe them.

[Riva]

Again? Maybe you should educate yourself on the disclosures related to Arctic Frost, disclosures involving an ongoing investigation, rather than engaging in yet another absurd effort to excuse something for which you have no real understanding? Tthis massive weaponization of federal law enforcement under the Biden administration targeted President Trump and 92 Republican groups and individuals, including Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. Did the thug Smith unlawfully obtain the records, which let’s not forget included the phone records of eight Republican senators? Well if the thug lacked probable cause, the future looks bleak for him.

And beyond any criminal liability, exposing these gross abuses for the purposes of reform is just as, maybe even more, important.

But you engage in some asinine sealioning variation to preemptively discredit and/or foreclose any investigations and resulting liability for something that, from what is known, makes Watergate pale in comparison. What a fucking amateur troll clown show this comments section has become.

[BrotherMovesOn]

You have mistakenly posted to this blog/thread, as an attorney. With attorney-ish questions.
Haven't you gotten the message that your kind is not welcomed here?

[Stephen Lathrop]

BrotherMovesOn — Folks who quote Trump trouble Trump/MAGA types. Folks concerned about Trump welcome the quotes. Make it a point to notice that, BrotherMovesOn, then try to figure out why it happens that way.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Yesterday, I was accused of fabricating an incident of a police dog being rescued by Narcan.

Well, here's what a major vet college had to say:
"Dogs that work with police and other agencies are being exposed to deadly drugs in the line of duty. During an opioid overdose, handlers can quickly and easily administer the antidote, which is naloxone, also sold as Narcan. Taking this action on the scene will potentially stabilize the working dog, allowing for transport to the treating veterinarian for evaluation and continued care."

https://vetmed.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/opioid-emergency-protocol.pdf

Bleep you, David...

[Drewski]

Specifically, you lied and claimed that a police dog had absorbed fentanyl through its paws. If you started drinking less you might have a better memory of the things you've said.

[David Nieporent]

Just tone clear, I said he was a liar about babies, not dogs. I just mocked him about dogs. But the best part about this is that his triumphant post above, which he apparently spent all night googling for after saying he wasn’t going to do that, doesn’t actually cite any instance of it happening.

[Armchair]

You know that they make fentanyl patches that are transdermal, right? IE, you slap it on your skin, and get a dose of fentanyl.

[David Nieporent]

Yes, I know. And those work incredibly slowly. (Otherwise people would be dropping dead from touching them, let alone wearing them.)

[Dr. Ed 2]

What's the difference between beer and Barcardi 151?

Think the patches might (a) have diluted fentanyl and (b) something to delay absorption over hours instead of all at once?

[David Nieporent]

*Just to be clear.

[Dr. Ed 2]

How do you think a dog gets it if not through paws?

A disciplined dog is not going to be licking anything, not going to be sucking in enough air to inhale it sniffing, what????

[Drewski]

86 47

[Kazinski]

Must be frustrating to be wishing so hard for something you'll never get, and if you actually did get it, then you'd get JD Vance too.

[Frank Drackman]

Oh, we're doing disembodied threats that aren't really threats? I'm Game!
"You never hear the bullet"

Frank

[TwelveInchPianist]

426947

[Kazinski]

CPI came out late this month and everyone who isn't actively rooting for higher inflation was pleasantly surprised.

And the stock market responded appropriately.

BLS said the CPI was .3, and Core CPI was .2. Both numbers were 3% y/y.

These are the Core CPI numbers as published by the St Louis Fred, from the BLS data. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPILFESL

date - index - m/m % change
2024-10-01 321.688 0.27%
2024-11-01 322.619 0.29%
2024-12-01 323.296 0.21%
2025-01-01 324.739 0.45%

2025-02-01 325.475 0.23%
2025-03-01 325.659 0.06%
2025-04-01 326.430 0.24%
2025-05-01 326.854 0.13%
2025-06-01 327.600 0.23%
2025-07-01 328.656 0.32%
2025-08-01 329.793 0.35%
2025-09-01 330.542 0.23% 1.79% 2.68%

Annual CPI 3.03%

Biden Months (Oct24-Jan25) annualized 3.65%

Trump Months (Feb25-Sep25) annualized 2.68%

I calculated the numbers a little differently this time using the delta in the index divided by the base period, since that is what BLS does, rather than use the monthly change rounded to 10ths of a percentage that they publish in their monthly report, there is too much accumulated rounding error using the monthly numbers to calculate a year over year figure.

[Drewski]

Snivel all you want, people know what they spend and they're spending more to get less.

[Kazinski]

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

Maybe boast, brag, gloat are more what you are thinking about, I'm not the least upset about the CPI numbers.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Kazinski — Went for a tour of the meat museum at my local market yesterday. They had great beef specimens on display. Valuable too. Assessments for rib roast were running twice those for halibut in the nearby fish case.

Never saw beef much higher than halibut before. The very best beef—the prime stuff which was twice-weekly table fare when I grew up lower middle class—had recently been running about the same per-pound as halibut fillet. But that beef was always sold bone in, making the halibut a more affordable luxury. Now it's not even close.

Hard to tell whether Trump's farm policy is strangling his foreign policy, or vice versa. If it keeps up, maybe look for a few notable red state election returns.

[Kazinski]

Must be frozen halibut, last time Costco had fresh halibut it was 28$ lbs, but my wife just picked up some wild rockfish that was under 4$ a lbs, had that tonight, it was pretty good. I baked it whole, I didn't want to fillet it.

Pork and chicken are still cheap though, and the Australian leg of lamb is going at Hamburger prices.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Kazinski, nope. This is New England. Rarely frozen halibut, even when it comes from the Pacific. Most folks want to think it's local, so they won't buy frozen. A little bit of it still is local, sometimes, if you know where to look. Tends to run low $20s to the pound no matter where it comes from. It was just under that yesterday. The beef I was looking at was above $40 per pound. Impressive.

What species do you suppose that, "rockfish," was? In the Chesapeake Bay area that's a local name for striped bass. Not likely that, at $4 per pound. But I have seen small stripers sold live in Asian-style markets in the U.S. Those would be too small to be legal to keep if wild caught around here. I hear that out west they do cultivate stripers in fresh water sometimes.

In New England we get new opportunities to buy oysters with evocative local names, suggesting distinctive flavors for shellfish from different bodies of water. I don't think any of it is wild harvested; all farmed.

Just in general, market names for fish species are all over the place. Probably several times as much not-red snapper gets sold as actual red snapper. Turns out red coloring is commonplace among fish species which hang out at depths similar to those where red snappers live. Red is the first color to fade to grey as light levels attenuate with depth. Might have something to do with that.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Kazinski — Because I cannot afford rack of lamb, leg of lamb is my favorite cut of meat. But here in New England it is getting increasingly hard to find fresh leg of lamb anywhere. Most of what does show up is closer to mutton, and comes out of a cryovac bag stinking to high heaven.

That's mysterious to me. When I ask the meat department managers they say that locals always get outbid for the real lamb by middle eastern immigrants, so go look in middle eastern specialty markets. That seems to be particular to New England. In the middle Atlantic states, no such problem. Maybe not so many middle eastern immigrants there?

[Frank Drackman]

Used to be a place in downtown Omaha, "Joe Tess Fish Place" where the specialty was fried Carp.
Inside was a Lounge/Restaurant that looked just like the one where Billy Bats told Tommy to go get his Shine Box.
Went there frequently in the early 70's when Dad had a staff job at Offutt, only day Joe was closed was Mother's day.
Went by there on business trips 2013, 2022,
Unfortunately Joe went tits last year, "Because Covid"
Oh, and Sleepy Joe's Inflation, those Carp don't swim there themselves (be pretty cool if they did though)
Anyone know a place that serves Carp? (Don't want to smell up my one kitchen)

Frank

[Commenter_XY]

Kaz: We're still 50% above target = 2% CPI. This is light years better than The Cauliflower.

No need to lower rates, yet. We can wait a little. One of the big mistakes made in the 70's and 80's was taking the foot off the inflation brake too soon. That is a danger here.

[Poxigah146]

Agreed. The 3% is better than the 9% under Biden, but it's still bad.

Also, the mania in stocks also has the potential to destabilize the economy. Call it what you will, but every indicator is that the stock market is at or near the most expensive ever. Buffett indicator of 224%. P/E at 31. Schiller P/E at over 40. Retail leverage at record highs.

Call it what you want, and people can come up with whatever justifications they want for these valuations (from auto 401k buying, to the tech "ecosystem," to "AI advances") but these factors have the potential to turn an orderly correction into a cascade for the exits, which could destabilize the banking system and the economy. Perhaps the Fed shouldn't have let these bubbles get so pervasive in the first place.

[Poxigah146]

Who exactly was pleasantly surprised? First, OER was miscalculated because of the shutdown, making it artificially lower. Second, setting "expectations" at 3.1% so that you can gloat about 3.0%, which is still a full 1% over target, is not impressive. It's the same as "analysts" setting expectations for public company earnings low so that they can "beat them" every time.

Other than the top 5% with large stock portfolios that don't really care about America, the status quo, and the last 5 years, during which we had cumulative 25% inflation, no one is happy.

[Kazinski]

There was another peace deal Trump helped broker over the weekend:

"Thailand will release Cambodian prisoners and Cambodia will begin withdrawing heavy artillery as part of the first phase of the deal.

Regional observers will monitor the situation to ensure fighting does not restart.

"We did something that a lot of people said couldn't be done," said Mr Trump, who has previously taken credit for the ceasefire between the two nations.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet called it a "historic day", and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the agreement created "the building blocks for a lasting peace".

The ceremony was Mr Trump's first event after arriving in Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN summit."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-26/donald-trump-lands-in-kuala-lumpur-ahead-of-asean-summit/105935552

Not that this will resolve the underlying issue in the conflict, which is that Thai nationalist parties need a conflict with Cambodia to use as a domestic political issue against Thai populist parties, so the military revs it up as an issue when they lose an election.

[Martinned]

Hahaha!! You're funny!

[Malika la Maize]

At Tulane University, early decision isn’t just a process. It’s practically the brand of its admissions department...

So when Tulane quietly placed Colorado Academy, a private high school in Denver, on an early-decision suspension for one year, it set off alarm bells. The ban prevented the high school’s next senior class from applying early decision after a student there backed out of an early-decision agreement at Tulane last year…

Experts say universities not only shape their classes with early decision but also benefit financially. By locking in students early, they stabilize enrollment and secure tuition dollars, often before students have the chance to compare financial aid offers from other schools. Critics have long argued that the system favors wealthier applicants and deepens inequality in the college admissions process.

Those criticisms are now part of a broader legal fight. A new antitrust lawsuit filed by five current and former students in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts accuses 32 top colleges and universities, along with two major college application platforms and a private consortium, of illegally working together to enforce early-decision rules and inflate college costs. The lawsuit argues that these institutions share admissions and financial aid information in ways that reduce competition and hurt students.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/business/tulane-early-decision-colorado-academy.html

[Commenter_XY]

In other news.....NJ governor race now a toss-up, LMAO!

Incredibly, Mikie 'Money Hungry' Sherrill continues her self-immolation tour throughout the People's Republic of NJ. I cannot believe her political ineptitude. /smh

This race has changed from Labor Day. I still thinks she squeaks by, but a couple more public self-immolations, and she is done.

[Malika la Maize]

Premiums for the most popular types of plans sold on the federal health insurance marketplace Healthcare.gov will spike on average by 30 percent next year, according to final rates approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and shown in documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

The higher prices — affecting up to 17 million Americans who buy coverage on the federal marketplace — reflect the largest annual premium increases by far in recent years. The higher premiums, along with the likely expiration of pandemic-era subsidies, mean millions of people will see their health insurance payments double or even triple in 2026.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/10/24/obamacare-premiums-rise-30-percent/P

[Michael P]

If you like your health insurance/doctor, you can keep your health insurance/doctor. Right?

[Martinned]

You can, but not if you elect a president and a congress whose sole animating purpose is to set it all on fire.

[Frank Drackman]

It's amazing Sleepy Joe didn't set himself on fire.

[ReaderY]

Under Obama, yes. But that was a long time ago. Trump is in office now. Trump is responsible for what happens now. Lowering the subsidies aand changing the rules, and then blaming Obama for the consequences, is just the sort of behavior we’ve come to expect of Trump. And his shills.

[Michael P]

That wasn't even true under Obama, you liar.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/13/250694372/obamas-you-can-keep-it-promise-is-lie-of-the-year

Those of us with brains pointed out before the bill was passed that Obama's claims about this could not be delivered, and that Obama's administration would break those promises even if they could keep them. People like you insisted otherwise.

[hobie]

"Those of us with brains"

[ThePublius]

Wrecking the health care system takes time, and it started with ACA under Obama and a Democratic legislature. It could take decades to undo the damage, if anyone had a will to try to do so, and stayed in power long enough. ACA, for example, gave birth to the enormous healthcare coding industry, which sucks billions from the system every year to no benefit to the consumers of health care, and to the great consternation of providers.

[Malika la Maize]

I’m. I can of the ACA but health insurance was a mess before that The doctor thing is pretty silly too, Obama got was wrong or lied about keeping your doctor but people were increasingly being pushed towards in-network doctors and such well before.

[Life of Brian]

Time to look for new dictation software.

[SRG2]

The GOP had 40 years to formulate their own healthcare plans, but instead, preferred to undermine Democratic attempts - from Hillary in the 90s.

Before his first term, Trump promised a cheaper and better healthcare system. Then he tried to repeal ACA without offering a replacement.

But sure, it's the Democrats' fault.

[Martinned]

The GOP had 40 years to formulate their own healthcare plans

They did formulate their own plan. It was called Romneycare, and it was a great success.

[Sarcastr0]

Haha Michael, your but Obama instincts did not serve you well his time!

[Bwaaah]

In health care, you have a range of expensive, specialized, technical, laborious products and services. And you're trying to make them FREE. So you've added a huge number of [needy] consumers for whom you guarantee unlimited free consumption at the unlimited expense of others.

And then you let in millions of uninsured immigrants who can't afford any health care. What do you think happens when they show up at emergency rooms that are required to provide treatment regardless of anybody's ability to pay?

Your considered strategy to address that is to assure an uninterrupted, unlimited availability of money (that you don't have and therefore need to borrow) in order to cover your unlimited, increasing costs?

If only good intentions were enough to solve our problems. But you stand there with a pile of poop in one hand, want in the other, waiting to see which one will get filled first. (ht to your nemesis)

Good intentions. Good intentions. Good intentions. And aside from that, pretty much nothing.

[Sarcastr0]

First, you disproved Medicare and Medicaid. Congrats on proving too much.

Second, none your anti-immigrant song and dance has anything to do with the GOP refusing to fund SNAP.

There's money there - it was in the contingency planning doc (https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fns-2021-contingency-plan.pdf).

This reversal puts SNAP funding's lapse is at the foot of the GOP. Not the Dems, not the immigrants, not anyone else.

[Magister]

Thinking that anyone in the US ever tried to provide every form of healthcare for free pretty clearly shows an ignorance of reality. Other countries have workable healthcare systems, you know.

To end the shutdown, Republicans could offer any number of compromise positions just to address the concerns expressed: restore ACA subsidies for citizens in return for eliminating emergency treatment (probably too unpopular to be suggested), funding and national IDs to make checking citizenship always as quick and certain as Justice Kavanaugh thinks it is (probably also too unpopular), or fund ICE being stationed at emergency rooms to apprehend for deportation any illegal aliens who come for emergency care (ICE already unpopular).

[Malika la Maize]

For months, companies and officials throughout Asia have been waiting for President Trump to address a question that cuts to the heart of his disruptive plans for global trade.

How will he decide the origin of goods in a world where virtually all the things we buy, from computers and phones to sofas and cars, contain parts that come from different countries?

The determination that the Trump administration makes on the so-called rule of origin could blow up laboriously negotiated agreements. That is because if a product is shipped from one country but does not meet the origin criteria, it will be hit with a hefty special tariff, which Mr. Trump has warned will be 40 percent.

Trump administration officials have been vocal about setting one rule-of-origin target for the region. They have focused on 30 percent: Any product containing more than that level of foreign parts or content sent to the United States would face the special transshipment tariff. While discussions are fluid, one thing is clear: For much of Southeast Asia, such a low figure would be difficult to meet.

Even if the administration clarifies a final number, for many companies and governments there are many more questions. What counts as foreign content? Does it include foreign investment in a factory? A foreign-branded machine? Foreign workers? In recent years, many factories from China have moved some of their operations to countries like Vietnam but have created local supply chains and employ local workers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/business/trump-tariffs-southeast-asia-transshipment.html

[ReaderY]

Why should he give a shit about that?

[Malika la Maize]

Well, if you’re going to have different tariffs on products from different countries but lots of products have inputs from many countries Incan see why you’d have to establish how to classify goods to determine what country they “come from.”

[Martinned]

I'm sure Trump has been working feverishly on a 1000-page rulebook establishing a coherent set of Rules of Origin. What else do you think he does all day?

[Frank Drackman]

Probably doesn't diddle little boys like your Kingie-Wingie (I know, he's "Divine")

[Magister]

Infrastructure Week Part II!

[Mr. Bumble]

"Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside...
Come inside, the show's about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
Greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth
You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo..."

[ReaderY]

We are seeing in Trump not an ordinary mild authoritarianism, but elements of the kind of absolute totalitarianism described in George Orwell’s 1984. In Orwell’s novel absute power meant power to control people’s minds, to get people to believe whatever they wanted to believe. Followers were required to surrender any independent ability to observe and to think, and to so absolutely surrender themselves to the Leader that not just their thoughts but their perceptions would be what the Party says they are.

Trump’s systematic use of lies and logical nonsense are not personal quirks or signs of mental incapacity, but are elements of a strategy to develop and extend a cadre of followers willing to completely surrender their minds to him. He can know whom to rely on as followers by identifying the people willing to fervently repeat his lies. And as he gains power, he can punish those who articulate a different version of reality.

Punishing Canada for speaking truth is simply a more advanced version of a strategy we saw when he insisted that the audience at his 2017 inauguration was the largest in history.

As Orwell presciently observed, truth and logic are tbe enemies of absolute totalitarianism. They are Trump’s enemies. And he has so far been very effective at chipping away at America’s tradition of respecting them. It is no coincidence that the class whose influence he is seeking to diminish in this country is exactly the class that values them.

[Michael P]

Get help, dude. Donald Trump is not shipping people to concentration camps in freight cars, he's not organizing two minutes' hate, and he's not even ripping the context away from a press secretary explaining that the new White House ballroom is Trump's top priority among White House renovation work.

[David Nieporent]

Donald Trump is not shipping people to concentration camps in freight cars,

Right; he's doing so in airplanes. Much better.

he's not organizing two minutes' hate,

He absolutely is organizing two minutes' hate, and by two minutes I mean two years. Or more.

[Mr. Bumble]

Deporting illegal aliens is not sending people to concentration camps no matter what the mode of transit is.

[David Nieporent]

Ordinary deportations, no. But deporting them to prisons without trials where the operator brags that nobody gets out, on the other hand…

[Brett Bellmore]

I think that's actually a fair complaint, and if Democrats could concentrate on complaining about that, and not the deportations themselves, you'd get a hell of a lot more traction.

[Mr. Bumble]

"Ordinary deportations, no."
Then say that instead of implying that every being deported is going to concentration camps.

[David Nieporent]

One has to love how the defense of Trump is, "You're being misleading. Trump is only sending some immigrants to concentration camps."

[Mr. Bumble]

He's not sending any illegal aliens (the proper term) to concentration camps.

[Michael P]

Your incessant screeching about Trump doesn't count as him running two minutes' hate, it just shows that you treat him like Emmanuel Goldstein.

[David Nieporent]

Jack Smith, Tish James, Jim Comey, and others say hello.

[Michael P]

Their incessant screeching about Trump doesn't count as him running two minutes' hate, it just shows that you all treat him like Emmanuel Goldstein.

[Sarcastr0]

Bare denial alongside a pretty strained 'I read 1984 too!' ref.

I'm at a loos to describe what it would look like if Trump's were training MAGA hate at disfavored people and groups.

[David Nieporent]

Their incessant screeching about Trump doesn't count as him running two minutes' hate,

Right, but Trump's endless screeching about them does.

[Swede425]

LOL!
What are these people going to do when Trump leaves office after this term?
Poor President Vance. He's going to get 8 years of "Everything He Does Is Fascism!" by these victim larpers.
I wonder does President DeSantis get the same thing or will age/health issues weed out these performative clowns?

[ReaderY]

If he does things like raise tarriffs on a close American ally because it puts out an ad that truthfully quotes Ronald Reagan disagreeing with him and insists the truthful quote is a lie, or firing career prosecutors because they say there is no evidence a political enemy he wants indicted has committed a crime, then I can only hope that this country will remain free enough that people are still allowed to express this kind of criticism. He would RICHLY deserve it.

[Swede425]

LOL!
Imagine being "a close American ally" and putting out an ad directed at Trump.
I wonder if that ally's cabinet was like "Hey, know what would be a good idea? An ad!".
That ally, like a spoiled child being whiny while getting sent to bed, is still going to bed. Hope it was worth it!
And you won't have to worry about being "free enough that people are still allowed to express this kind of criticism", drama queen. Your "NO KINGS" drama festival prevented that from ever happening. Well done!

[David Nieporent]

Imagine being "a close American ally" and putting out an ad directed at Trump.

Um, Canada didn't put out that ad. A provincial government did.

[SRG2]

Donald Trump is not shipping people to concentration camps in freight cars

Yet. And if he did, you'd defend it, as would pretty much every cultist here.

[Michael P]

Congratulations to Javier Milei, La Libertad Avanza, and the people of Argentina for the solid plurality won by Milei and his party in their midterm elections. This is a positive sign for the country, and a way for them to continue to build strong institutions.

[Malika la Maize]

Nothing says strength like being propped up with US aid!

[Area Man]

Better than being propped up by Chinese aid, which apparently everyone on the left is just fine and dandy with. Truth is, Argentina has been run into the ground for so long by leftists that it’s been more difficult to overcome that one hoped it would be. But the important thing is that it’s on the right track now, and if it needs a helping hand to continue improving it’s better it’s ours than China’s.

[Malika la Maize]

Forty billion helping hands!

And some old fashioned what-aboutism!

[Sarcastr0]

I'm actually all for some Truman Doctrine-type aid.

That's what USAID did.

Don't pretend there's any strategy here. You're claim is that this move by Trump is about competing with Chinese aid? It's purely doleing out American wealth to someone the President likes.

More like the actual operation of the supposedly leftist Chavez regime than you'd like to admit.

[Frank Drackman]

Any Lou Christie fans out there? Just saw he passed earlier this year (I didn't even know he was sick)
Biggest hit was "Lightning Strikes" Dec 1965 (and featured in one of the most bizarre "Party Scenes" ever in the 1981 Slasher Flick "Strange Behavior" (AKA "Dead Kids" "Small Town Massacre", "Shadowlands" not a good sign when a movie has to keep changing its name)
Filmed in New Zealand, for what it's worth

Frank

[Mr. Bumble]

Great falsetto voice from the 60's.

[Ska]

With the number of times I heard that song as a kid (my parents were forever playing CBS 101 oldies at home and in the car), I always pictured it as Ben Franklin singing with the crazy falsetto. I think I have a new AI project to work on...

[Mr. Bumble]

Maybe include Frankie Valli another great falsetto voice.

[Frank Drackman]

Loved when he went to Hollywood.

[Sarcastr0]

I was a weird kid and CBS 101 was my station of choice growing up as well.

Till my senior year in HS when a hipper friend introduced me to Ben Folds and Sublime.

I still have a huge gap in my musical knowledge for the 1980s.

[Mr. Bumble]

You have a "huge gap" in your knowledge of everything.

[Bwaaah]

I never heard of the guy. I'd probably have died never again hearing one of those songs. And yet, a quick trip to YouTube and I see that those tunes are as familiar now as they were back then. A real holy-shit-remember-THAT-one? moment.

[Armchair]

Thanks Democrats...

https://www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-26-at-5.58.27%E2%80%AFPM.png

[ThePublius]

Error 1011 Ray ID: 9951e13e3da79035 • 2025-10-27 11:33:40 UTC
Access denied
What happened?
The owner of this website (www.powerlineblog.com) does not allow hotlinking to that resource (/ed-assets/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-26-at-5.58.27%E2%80%AFPM.png).

[Mr. Bumble]

Link worked for me.

[Life of Brian]

Fails most of the time, but occasionally loads. Strange.

In any event, it's front and center in this article.

[Brett Bellmore]

We flew out to Sedona (By way of Phoenix) Friday for my niece's wedding. No problems. Flew back Sunday, and while our first flight was running late, so was our second.

Wish they'd told us that BEFORE we sprinted the length of the airport at Nashville...

No indications that the flight delays Sunday were due to flight controllers, they were weather related.

Sedona, by the way, is very nice, and my wife wants to go back some time when we actually have time to sight see.

[Life of Brian]

This was to be a root-level post, I take it?

I spent a day or two driving around the Sedona area way too many years ago. Really beautiful territory.

[hobie]

Yeah, link doesn't work for me either. I will note that the homepage is festooned with Charlie Kirk silver coin adverts. I'm sure Kirk would approve the grift

[SRG2]

This should do it: Mendacious cartoon

[Armchair]

Huh.

Here's the parent post.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/10/schumers-shutdown-starts-to-bite.php

[Dr. Ed 2]

Gotta love Trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7m6vmx4nEs

[Area Man]

Looks like Argentina has retained its sanity. Way to go Milei! Though, he better not let Trump hear that his stated goal is to “put an end to populism.”

[Martinned]

Plague on all their houses. It makes sense that the corruption and mismanagement of parties like the UCR would make even an authoritarian lunatic like Milei look good.

[Area Man]

Milei: I want to reduce government and end populism so individuals, and in turn the country, can flourish.

The Left: He’s an authoritarian lunatic!!!!

Jesus, you people are parodies of yourselves.

[Martinned]

That's certainly one way to summarise Milei. Not a correct way, mind, but *a way*.

[Bob from Ohio]

I'll bite, how is he authoritarian?

[Mr. Bumble]

Might want to change your screen name.
"Area man threatens Pam Bondi"
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/10/area-man-threatens-pam-bondi.php

[Bwaaah]

Martinned: "Plague on all their houses."

You might want to hide your fangs, lest the many come to know the contempt you hold for them.

"Vote for the Martinned plan, and the plague you deserve."

[hobie]

Amusing to see the MAGA faithful now moved to tears over a country they didn't give a shit about their entire lives. Jonestown level koolaid drinking

[Martinned]

Catherine Connolly has won the Irish presidential election in a landslide. I haven't been following Irish politics as closely as I did when I lived there, but I don't think I would have voted for her if I had been Irish. Sinn Fein in all but name.

That said, Heather Humphreys has all the charisma and leadership skill of a wet dishtowel, and the Fianna Fail candidate, Jim Gavin, dropped out before the election even started, because he failed to repay €3,300 owed by him for several years to a former tenant. (Imagine that.) So there wasn't much to choose from.

Presumably, that's why 12,9% of voters spoiled their ballot, which is a crazy high percentage in a system without mandatory voting. I saw mentions of people voting for Postman Pat and Donald Trump.

I don't know that it was a big loss to the Irish nation that Conor McGregor and Michael Flatley didn't end up with enough nominations, and Maria Steen (who ended up three nominations short) seems to be so reactionary that even Mike Pence would say she should loosen up a bit. So I'm not sure who in the Irish body politic would have hypothetically gotten my support in an ideal world. But it doesn't matter, because Catherine Connolly is who they've got. She will be sworn in on St. Martin's day.

[Mr. Bumble]

Meanwhile what's the outlook for the Dutch elections this week?

[Frank Drackman]

I heard their King's 20 points ahead in Iowa, and Florida is "Too Close to Call"

[Michael P]

Based on what I hear (from Frank Drackman), the election is likely to result in still being ruled by a king with a history of being accused repeatedly of pedophilia, necrophilia and oenophilia.

[Bwaaah]

(I hadda look that last one up.)

[Martinned]

The polls are popping up and down, but the basic result remains unchanged: 4-party coalition involving the centre-right, the centre-left, and whatever the christian-democrats are.

So the question is still which of those 4 is going to be the biggest, and will therefore most likely supply the PM. The Christian-Democratic leader Bontenbal, who was the favourite for that honour, lost his part five virtual seats last week (from 25 down to 20) because he said on TV that religious schools have a constitutional right to teach that homosexuality is wrong. Which may well be right as a legal matter, but isn't very popular in a country where hardcore bible thumpers have their own parties to vote for, and don't tend to vote for the main christian-democratic party.

[JEP41]

I'm just a curious layman. Apologies if this has already been discussed; if so, I missed it.

Since Trump seems to be claiming he intends to serve a third term as president and virtually all the commenters I have heard simply say it's impossible because of the 22nd ammendment, I am wondering how he might accomplish that despite the 22nd ammendment. I realize that the 22nd ammendment appears to prevent Trump from serving a third term, but have I begun wondering if the ammendment really does that.

As I understand the 22nd ammendment, it actually says (with a few qualifying statements) you can't "run" for the office of president, if you have already served two terms as president.

So does that mean that Trump cannot appear on state ballots for president? How would that be enforced ... especially if the Congress favors Trump being president at the time? And if Trump is prevented from appearing on any ballots, what about write-in votes?

A thornier question in my mind: if Trump managed to get enough votes for president to win the election (and the Congress favored Trump being president), who could take what action to prevent him from actually serving.

[I believe Trump has children who are qualified to run for president, so I suspect he might support having one of them run, then become the de facto president if the child won the election.]

[Life of Brian]

Since Trump seems to be claiming he intends to serve a third term as president

Do you happen to have a serious cite for this, or is "seems to be" carrying the load?

[gVOR08]

https://politicalwire.com/2025/10/27/trump-would-love-to-run-for-third-term/

He is, but his usual both sides of his mouth maybe I am, maybe I’m not, take me seriously but not literally crap.

And if he does, it all comes down to Dread Justice Roberts and his accomplices.

[Life of Brian]

I saw the tidal wave of froth over the words "I'd love to."

That's why I included the word "serious" in my inquiry.

[Longtobefree]

Easy as one, two, three.
1. Other republicans run and win.
2. Trump is appointed speaker of the house.
3. The president ad vice president both resign.

[Magister]

You'd also need a step where enough Republicans who are down with this plan (to appoint an 82 year old as president over Republicans who won the presidency on their own) form a majority in the House.

[Frank Drackman]

I-ANAL but it's pretty simple (If I can understand it, it's simple)
22nd Amendment only says a POTUS can't be "Elected" more than 2 times. Here's the exact words:
"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once."
So the way I understand it is "45/47" runs as Vice President with JD, they win (could happen, especially with a CA/NY Ticket such as New-Scum/Man-Damn-He (who really is ineligible being a native of Uganda))
JD resigns, Voila', 45/47 becomes "49"
where it gets weird is if JD steps down before he becomes POTUS.

Want some real weirdness?? what happens if a "POTUS-Elect" dies before the Electrical College meets??? Can Erectors vote for a Dead Candidate??? (Cue Sleepy Joe Joke)
OR even more weird, if there is no Electrical College Winner and the Erection goes to the House (voting by states, who said the Founding Fathers didn't have a sense of humor?) and THEN one of the Candidates dies....
Cue 20th Amendment, which addresses the ish-yew directly

"The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them"

Of course Congress has never made any law, and it's only been 90+ years

Frank

[Swede425]

He's getting rid of elections because you don't elect kings.
A king rules by divine right.
Elon Musk is working on a cyborg body for him so that he can remain king forever!
LOL! Sleep tight, liberals.

[Frank Drackman]

Divine Right was nominating Common-Law Harris after receiving exactly ZERO Votes in the DemoKKKrat Primary.
Worked out well for them, didn't it?

Frank

[Bob from Ohio]

"Trump seems to be claiming he intends to serve a third term"

He's playing you cats. And the more you cats foam about it, the more he will play.

You don't have to chase the pointer.

[Sarcastr0]

"they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. "

[Life of Brian]

[JEP41]

"Do you happen to have a serious cite for this, or is 'seems to be' carrying the load?"
Frankly I think the question is just as interesting without any reference to Trump's plans.
I said "seems to be" since it's difficult to know just what Trump's intentions are. But I think you should have no problem locating articles on the subject, if you really think that's of value.

[Mr. Bumble]

...and in shut down news:
"The country’s largest union representing federal workers on Monday called on Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown immediately by passing a short-term spending measure."
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oct/27/federal-workers-union-demands-end-government-shutdown-ups-pressure/