Open Thread

What’s on your mind?

Comments

[not guilty]

Are we going to have a pissing contest between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Admiral Frank M. Bradley as to who on September 2 ordered the illegal strike to kill survivors of the first strike in the Caribbean Sea? https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/01/hegseth-caine-boat-strikes-caribbean/

I would recommend indicting them both in federal district court for murder and conspiracy and let twelve men and women good and true sort it out. Tie their tails together and hang them over a clothesline to fight it out!

[bloocow2]

You forget that the Washington Post story was a complete lie, that they made it up just to make Trump and Hegseth look bad.

...what? They did!

[Josh R]

Leavitt acknowledged there was a second strike.

[Commenter_XY]

NG, there was neither murder nor conspiracy. And your constant whining incessant opining about it won't change that.

What there was: Members of a designated foreign terror group (designated by EO), were transformed to shark shit in int'l waters b/c they were attempting to smuggle drugs into America.

The constitutional tool you have is impeachment. All you need to do is persuade 67 Senators to your viewpoint. Start with Senators Blackburn and Hagerty.

Buena Suerte. 😉

[Josh R]

It's illegal under federal law to commit a war crime. Are you arguing no war crime was committed if the second strike targeted helpless survivors? Are you claiming the rules of war don't apply to designated terrorists (if so, citation)?

[Michael P]

Are you arguing that no one could have landed on the moon if it is made of green cheese? Are you claiming the law of gravity does not apply to astronomical bodies made of dairy products (of so, citation)?

[Riva]

That’s nonsense. No one targeted helpless survivors. That’s a bullshit WP false narrative based on more anonymous “sources.” (Shades of the Russian collusion fraud past). The armed narco terrorist boats remained a threat and were fair targets. Please provide a cite to any “rule of war” that provides that a military gets only one shot at a threat.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I have a better idea -- jailing everyone at the Washington Post until they identify their sources, and then court martialing them for release of classified information.

And I mean EVERYONE...

[Riva]

First things first. We’ll address other commendations after we give the turtle a medal. https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1995291042346852861

[Frank Drackman]

You really want to start this Bullshit? Barry Osama killed more Civilians in Iraq/Afghanistan, and Bill Clinton ordered the killing of actual Amuricans at Waco. Indict both, umm, maybe in Hayden Lake Idaho and let twelve men and women good and true sort it out.

Fran

[santamonica811]

Was anyone else bothered (amused? frightened???) by Trump's response to questions about his recent MRI? I'm talking about him saying that he had no idea what part of his body had been scanned.

I've had more than a dozen MRIs and CT-scans over the years. And if you asked me what body part had been checked; of course I could have given an immediate response. (If Trump had given this sort of response after he was shot, then of course I would not expect a perfect or even an accurate memory . . . it would be completely normal for someone shot to not be thinking clearly at all.) Or if someone had been in a bad car accident, and was unconscious in the hospital, then no one would be shocked that you weren't aware of what had been scanned...especially if several different body-parts had been injured. You weren't awake at the time, so that's completely understandable.

But here? He went in for some advanced testing, and fortunately all seems to be well re his heart, internal organs, etc.. But the fact that he had *no idea* what part of his body had been checked is worrisome to me. That was my dad's response, during the first few years of Alzheimers.

The letter from his doctor should be reassuring to me. But after the crazy "All is good, and Trump could live to age 120" reporting from his old doctor (Dr. Harold Bornstein), I don't think I can trust any medical professional associated with our President.

[Mr. Bumble]

"I've had more than a dozen MRIs and CT-scans over the years."
You should take better care of your health.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Bumble, many patients suffer chronic, progressive medical problems. Some inflict those problems on themselves, with unhealthy practices. Others are afflicted genetically, or on account of environmental exposures they were powerless to control, especially if those happened while the patients were young. Thus, your uninformed criticism is inappropriate.

[Dr. Ed 2]

You do know that the MD reading the MRI is not the MD who ordered it, right?

I had a recent MRI to look for something in my lungs that fortunately wasn't there and it included a summary of my heart, liver, and other things in the immediate area. So if I were, say, a busy POTUS with a lot of other things on my mind -- and knew that I was receiving the best of medical care from a caring and qualified staff of MDs, I might not ask exactly why they wanted the MRI and when it came back exactly as mine did, say it said that there was nothing wrong with me without knowing (or caring) why it was done.

I think that medical & legal people look at this sort of thing differently from how a busy executive -- who has always essentially had boutique health care -- looks at it. My guess is Trump asks "anything I need to know" and accepts "no" as an answer.

[Commenter_XY]

That is a lot of radiation = I've had more than a dozen MRIs and CT-scans over the years

After the pandemic, and The Cauliflower's presidency, with all the lies that were told (for our benefit, of course), how can you really trust any federal medical professional? To borrow Loki13's phrase: they lie, they lie, they lie.

POTUS Trump plays golf regularly (did you see him sink the chip shot from off the green last week), eats well, has money to take care of small problems before they become big problems.

Cognition isn't the problem here, for you. Political viewpoint is.

PS: Stay tuned for a special Hanukah drink. You know I will dig something up for you and your partner. 😉

[Riva]

You’re a clown. He was answering facetiously an overly aggressive reporter. And the same media would never have even questioned Biden’s inability to understand that he even had a test.

[Frank Drackman]

Not everyone's a Hypochondriac like you. I see Veteran's every day who say they have no Heart problems when they have a CABG scar on their chest.

[Kazinski]

I'm glad the heartfelt concerns about President Trump's health turned out to be baseless.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5lx240greo

"US President Donald Trump "remains in excellent overall health" after undergoing a "comprehensive executive physical", according to his White House physician.

Captain Sean Barbabella released a memo on Monday that said advanced imaging of the 79-year-old president's heart and abdomen came back "perfectly normal".

He wrote the president underwent the MRI during a physical in October "because men of his age group benefit from thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health".

The release comes as Democrats, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have been pushing for the results of the scan amid concerns about Trump's age in his second term."

Its good to know Tim Cares.

"In his memo, Barbabella wrote that there was no evidence of arterial narrowing impairing blood flow or abnormalities in Trump's heart or major vessels.

The doctor added that overall, Trump's cardiovascular system "shows excellent health".

Likewise, the doctor, a US Navy emergency physician who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said results of Trump's abdominal imaging showed that "everything evaluated is functioning within normal limits with no acute or chronic concerns".

The doctor called the scan "standard" for an "executive physical" for someone at Trump's age."

[Mr. Bumble]

The likes of not guilty, santamonica811 and the other usual suspects will not be happy until Trump's medical report is in the form of an autopsy.

[Commenter_XY]

They're still pissed that Crooks missed.

[Dr. Ed 2]

More that Trump can eat the diet he does and not have massive coronary artery deposits. Which would have shown up on a MRI and apparently didn't because they apparently aren't there.

[Frank Drackman]

Stick to whatever your pretend Doctorate is Dr. Jill, I mean "Dr. Ed". Diet has abso-tu-lutely nothing to do with Coronary Artery Disease. Elevated LDL Cholesterol is a different story, and is mostly determined genetically. The other 3 proven risk factors are Smoking, Family History of early MI, and Hypertension.

[Mr. Bumble]

...and speaking of Minnesota Governor Dancing Queen Tim Sgt Major Pepper Walz; are the walls closing in yet or will the Minnesota Morons re-elect this prancing retard?

[Josh R]

The doctor called the scan "standard" for an "executive physical" for someone at Trump's age."

Sounds like bullshit. Something prompted the imaging.

[Sylvie1]

Sounds like you want that to be the case. Do you?

[Frank Drackman]

The Doctor ordered it, or maybe "45/47" asked for it, patients do ask their Doctors to order things. There's a company that advertises all the time about their Scans that supposedly saved peoples from Cancer/Heart Attack/Strokes.
I've thought about getting one just to see what my Pancreas looks like but afraid I'll jinx myself.
Too bad Parkinsonian Joe's Doc didn't order a $45 PSA (that Joe wouldn't even have had to pay) 15 years ago (His Doc was just following the "Standard of Care") might have saved him from dying a painful death from Metastatic Prostrate Cancer.

Frank

[Dr. Ed 2]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/person-rescued-house-fire-somerville-201513262.html

Somerville is an old once-gritty, now-yuppie city next to Boston. Eversource is an electric & gas utility holding agency.

Why am I thinking that corporate legal is going to be giving that guy a whole lot of grief for doing this?

[Commenter_XY]

https://www.breitbart.com/pre-viral/2025/12/01/organizations-rage-texas-gov-abbott-deeming-cair-terrorist-organization/

A question about this. What are the limits to these declarations.

Suppose a red state governor states that the Democrat Socialists of America is a foreign terrorist organization and transnational criminal organization. Or even better, a blue state governor makes that same designation toward the Republican Party.

What stops them from taking state action (stripping of property and/or financial assets, for example) based on the state (not federal) designation? The states have broad latitude via their police powers; how far do state police powers go?

[Dr. Ed 2]

See McCullen v. Coakley, 573 U.S. 464

[Brett Bellmore]

You're kind of, like, ignoring the possibility that it's a valid designation. That a lot of the Muslim organizations the left like actually ARE fronts for groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. That "From the river to the Sea!" actually IS a threat of genocide.

I'd say that's the appropriate limitation on such designations: You need to actually make the case.

Abbot has made some factual claims. Now CAIR will have the opportunity to dispute them in court.

But they seem pretty solid. Abbot's got a long list of CAIR personnel, highly placed, who've been convicted of terrorism related activities.

Their founding member in Texas, sentenced to 65 years in prison for financing terrorism. Checks out.

Their civil rights coordinator, sentenced to 20 years for conspiring to aid Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Checks out.

Their community relations director, pleaded guilty to fraud to funnel money to terrorist causes. Checks out.

Maybe you ought to consider the possibility that they're not accidentally hiring this sort of people? That they actually ARE a front group for terrorists?

[Sarcastr0]

Commenter was positing a hypothetical, which you ignore because you want to cheerlead Texas here.

Abbot has made some factual claims. Now CAIR will have the opportunity to dispute them in court.

Not how the burden should work. The worst libertarian.

Did you ever research these accusations? You lay them out. They're not very good.

The community relations director thing is from 2003
The 'founding member' is a dude from the *Texas* chapter. That's from 2002.
The civil rights coordinator thing is from 2004 and he doesn't seem to have been highly placed.

As always you tune your skepticism depending on what you want to believe, and no surprise you come down in favor of a conspiracy. A bigoted one in this case. But then you've always had a thing for Muslims having an internet tendency towards evil.

[Mr. Bumble]

...and in social news:
NJ Senator Cory "Spartacus" Booker has acquired a"beard" at age 56.
Does this mean he has plans for higher office?

[Commenter_XY]

Mazel Tov to Senator Booker and his bride.

May they have a life together filled with joy, happiness, laughter and love of Torah. For the uninformed, Senator Booker used to study Torah with Rabbi Boteach.