Open Thread

What’s on your mind?

Comments

[Malika la Maize]

Who writes about themselves like this? Who wants this kind of person as POTUS? Remember folks, MAGA is totally not a cult following a narcissistic weirdo!

Truth Social Post by Dear Leader
Only the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game, and very successfully, at that! Nobody will touch this sacred piece of Land, especially since the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake.

[bloocow2]

Truly breaking all the paradigms.

[Malika la Maize]

First of all, capitalizing his own name and title in the third person. Secondly, the weird “and very successfully, at that.” And the weird capitalization (remind any folks of someone here?).

This is a narcissistic weirdo. Worse, a bunch of people here not only voted for this guy to be POTUS but continue to defend him.

[Krayt]

It does strain to maintain it is some kind of 4D chess button pushing.

[Frank Drackman]

Define "Paradigm" without looking it up.
I hate people who use that word, Med Screw-el Dean was the first, for years I thought it was "Pair of Dimes" never made sense.

Frank

[Malika la Maize]

English confuses Frankie.

[Mr. Bumble]

Given the errors in spelling and grammar that appear here daily, he is not alone.

[Frank Drackman]

You don't know either.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Normal, well adjusted persons simply don’t run for President.

And just think, we could have heels up….

[Moderation4ever]

I'm pretty sure we are at the point where so many are wondering why Trump got elected again and wishing that Harris had one.

[Frank Drackman]

Oh, Harris has had way more than "One"

[Moderation4ever]

Definitely should have finished my coffee before writing that .

[SRG2]

Normal, well adjusted persons simply don’t run for President.

Proof? And even if true, that doesn't mean everyone who runs is similarly maladjusted. Clearly, Obama was far less crazed and malign than Trump, for example.

[Frank Drackman]

You can go on Youtube and hear Barry Hussein say the "N-word", find me any other POTUS saying it.

[Moderation4ever]

I suggest you check out the following article, which by the way references Obama's use also.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/8/30/18420888/5-white-u-s-presidents-who-used-the-n-word

[SRG2]

When he says it, it's different from when a racist POS like yourself uses it.

[Frank Drackman]

The old
"You can't say the N-word, only N-words can say the N-word"
and since Barry Hussein's only 1/2 N-word, shouldn't he only have said "Nig"????

Frank

[not guilty]

President Bone Spurs Chickenhawk continues to threaten a forcible takeover of Greenland if necessary. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/denmark-confirms-shoot-first-rule-for-us-invaders-as-trump-threatens-greenland/ar-AA1TNNKW

This raises some crucial questions regarding the NATO alliance. https://www.justsecurity.org/128581/the-north-atlantic-treaty-and-a-u-s-attack-on-denmark/ The 1949 North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) established the NATO Alliance and set the terms according to which the Parties to the instrument (the “Allies” in NATO parlance) would respond to an “armed attack” on an Ally in collective defense. The key provision is Article 5:

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

This article does not provide any asterisk exempting an armed attack by one NATO member against another. Will we wind up in a situation where Denmark invokes the provisions of Article 5, whereby the armed forces of our European allies should help to repel an invasion by the United States?

[bloocow2]

Not to worry, I'm sure the Board of Peace will intervene to stop this sort of thing.

[Moderation4ever]

Board of Peace, sounds like it is out of the novel 1984.

[Frank Drackman]

More like "The Mouse that Roared" Jeez, am I the only Culturally Literate one on this Blog? (Culturally, not Grammatically)

Frank

[Brett Bellmore]

Medical professionals should be cultured. How else do you prove to them why it's necessary for them to wash their hands so often?

[MoreCurious]

Your comment makes me think that you believe Frankie's b.s about being a doctor. Seriously? Has anyone who has proven to be as stupid as he is ever made it through med school?

[Brett Bellmore]

Frank's act is pretty stupid, but that doesn't mean he's lying about being a doctor, (Or telling the truth, for that matter.) it just means he finds it amusing to play the idiot.

It was a joke. Went over your head?

[Riva]

1984? The projection is strong with you young troll but you're not a Jedi yet.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Like the Boston Navy Yard, which was closed in 1973, exactly why is NATO still needed? We aren’t gonna fight wars in Europe anymore, and if we did, it probably be against members of NATO.

Greenland is more important to us strategically than Europe is.

And Denmark is an ally? Exactly what good would Denmark do as an ally? Wedon’t need ports anymore, we have C5s. One US aircraft carrier could counter both the entire Danish navy, Air Force, and army for that matter — this isn’t the 20th century anymore.

So please explain how NATO benefits the United States? Particularly when it involves alliance, there is largely being overrun by infidels.

[Malika la Maize]

NATO benefited the US in the long Cold War when we were desperately trying to get the world on our side. They chose the right side, let’s not punish them for doing so.

[Krayt]

A free, capitalist economy, however belabored under socialism, is still light years more economically powerful than corrupt dictatorships. It is, was, and always will be in the interests of the free west to have as many countries on the free side as possible. A tiny, broken, corrupt dictatorship doesn't add much to an axis of evil, but adding nothing at all is best.

This is the same reason we should defend Ukraine.

[jb]

NATO was created to counter Russian aggression. There is literally a war of Russian aggression going on in Europe as we speak. NATO is more relevant now than at most points throughout its history.

[Mr. Bumble]

... and what has NATO done regarding Russian aggression?

[jb]

Seems unlikely that Ukraine would still exist as an independent country without NATO, despite them not being a member.

[Mr. Bumble]

You're confusing NATO member countries (of which the US is one) with NATO.

[Martinned]

Funny how Trump seems profoundly indifferent about actual Russian aggression while pretending to worry about potential Russian aggression somewhere else...

[not guilty]

"So please explain how NATO benefits the United States? Particularly when it involves alliance, there is largely being overrun by infidels."

Other than helping to prevent another world war since its inception in 1949?

FWIW, only one nation has ever invoked the mutual defense provisions of Article 5: the United States in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

[Riva]

Allow me to repost a comment from another chain.

If you’re this worked up over Greenland, I’m looking forward to the meltdowns here if President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act to combat the organized violence Minnesota officials welcome as a convenient distraction from the industrial level fraud they enabled. The reactions from Court decisions upholding tariffs and the president’s birthright citizenship policy will be equally amusing.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I don’t see how Trump has a choice. The face act a federal law, defines interrupting a church service equal to invading an abortion clinic.

[Malika la Maize]

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, denied in a televised interview on Sunday that her department had used pepper spray and similar tactics curtailed by a judicial order issued last week, then backtracked and blamed protesters after being confronted with a video of federal agents deploying such measures against crowds in Minnesota.

“That federal order was a little ridiculous, because that federal judge came down and told us we couldn’t do what we already aren’t doing,” Ms. Noem said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
But after being pressed on a video that backed up the accounts provided to the court, she changed course.

Protesters were to blame for the use of force, she said, adding that federal officers “only use those chemical agents when there’s violence happening and perpetuating.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/us/politics/noem-chemical-agents-minnesota.html

[not guilty]

Secretary Dogkiller should remember that one reason God gave us each five fingers on each hand is to remember the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

Disobedience or resistance to a lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command of a federal court is a federal crime, punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, at its discretion by a United States District Court, such contempt of its authority. 18 U.S.C. § 401(c).

If push comes to shove, President Bone Spurs Chickenhawk will no doubt pardon her, but her acceptance of such a pardon constitutes an admission of guilt pursuant to Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79, 94 (1915).

[Commenter_XY]

The Cauliflower set the new standard, issuing pardons for cabinet members and family members. I foresee POTUS Trump doing the same thing, and probably future POTUS' as well.

We aren't going back to Reagan/O'Neill days. The rage and bitterness is too great.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I would say again what I said when Brandon did it, every president who doesn’t pardon himself and his entire staff as the last act of office is incompetent and stupid.

[Sarcastr0]

But Biden is once again not going to cover for Trump's profligate use of the pardon to reward kiss-asses and bribery.

His rage when that Dem he pardoned didn't switch party gives the game away, and it's well beyond whatever you're going to complain about Biden.

[David Nieporent]

The Cauliflower set the new standard, issuing pardons for cabinet members and family members. I foresee POTUS Trump doing the same thing, and probably future POTUS' as well.

Not only are whatabouts inherently pathetic, but false ones are especially pathetic. Biden, who was — and is — far more intelligent, alert, and rational than Donald Trump, did not pardon any cabinet members.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Please explain how she is liable for what would be, at worst incompetence. What is she supposed to do? Go out there with a .45 and shoot every ice guy who breaks the rules?

And what do you propose doing about something like this?
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/viking-bathtub-gets-chased-fuming-36572076

Hint: read the whole article before reacting. I know no one will, but I’m still presenting that as a caveat.

[jb]

You know, you can just quote the small portion of the article you're trying to get us to pay attention to instead of go through all those ads to find out Viking bathtub guy was an AI clip and another dude trained crows to steal red hats.

As for what Noem should do about either of those things: absolutely nothing.

[Michael P]

If you're Neera Tanden, you complain vociferously about ICE agents chasing the Viking in the bathtub: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/biden-adviser-deletes-x-post-200559523.html

[Michael Ejercito]

Anyone who thinks accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt is in denial of reality. "A pardon reaches both the punishment prescribed for the offence and the guilt of the offender, and when the pardon is full, it releases the punishment and blots out of existence the guilt, so that, in the eye of the law, the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offence. " Ex Parte Garland, 71 U.S. 333, 380 (1866)

Also, I notice your failure to criticize Hillary Clinton and FJb for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War.

[Brett Bellmore]

As I understand it, refusing a pardon for a crime you've been convicted of doesn't obligate the government to keep you in prison until your former sentence is complete. In that sense you can't refuse one, the government is bound regardless, can't continue to treat you as guilty.

But if you're pardoned for an offense you haven't actually been tried for, refusing the pardon can preserve your 5th amendment right to not incriminate yourself, at the expense of preserving your risk of being prosecuted. You're allowed to refuse the pardon because accepting it would compromise a constitutional right.

[Krayt]

I would think you don't need to accept a pardon, though you do have the right to refuse it.

Which came about, IIRC, by folks who were abusing the pardon process to their own ends. Thanks, lads of yore!

[Bob from Ohio]

"Although the Supreme Court's opinion stated that a pardon carries "an imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it,"[2] this was part of the Court's dictum for the case.[4] Whether the acceptance of a pardon constitutes an admission of guilt by the recipient is disputed. In Lorance v. Commandant, USDB (2021) the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "there is no confession and Lorance does not otherwise lose his right to petition for habeas corpus relief for his court-martial conviction and sentence. The case was remanded for further action not inconsistent with the court’s opinion."[5] Also, "Brian Kalt, law professor at Michigan State University's College of Law, said that the idea that accepting a pardon is equivalent to admitting guilt is 'based on a widespread misunderstanding' of the Burdick ruling" because "'[i]t is certainly true that as a practical matter, and a matter of public opinion, a pardon can make the recipient look guilty,' Kalt said. 'But sometimes people overread Burdick and say that accepting a pardon has some sort of formal legal effect of declaring someone guilty. That is not the case.'"[6] According to experts, "[s]ometimes presidents use their pardon powers not just to forgive, but to exonerate."[6]" wikipedia

Dicta is not a holding but no one expects you to know that, given your consistently wrong "opining".

[not guilty]

There is dictum and there is dictum and there is Supreme Court dictum. It is not to be disregarded casually.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"but her acceptance of such a pardon constitutes an admission of guilt pursuant to Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79, 94 (1915)."

I don't know why people claim this. There's no dispute that accepting a pardon and confessing guilt are two different things. Nothing SCOTUS says, in dicta or otherwise, can change that.

There might be an argument that the two are legally equivalent for some purpose, but no one is making any such argument.

SCOTUS can say that accepting a pardon means that you fucked a goat. But if you accept a pardon and your dick has never touched a goat, then you haven't fucked a goat.

[Stephen Lathrop]

The Guardian reports: "Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, told CBS News on Sunday that Frey should set up “a peaceful protest zone” for demonstrators."

The Governor of Minnesota, and the Mayor of Minneapolis, should inform Kristi Noem that they consider every foot of every public street—except controlled-access high-speed highways—to be part of the, "public square," in conformance with originalist usage of that term. They should invite demonstrators to peaceably assemble wherever they wish in those streets, and provide a guarantee of access for city, state, and private emergency vehicles which will be implemented by state and local police.

[Bunny495]

I was probably five years old when I was first told 'don't play in the street.

[Malika la Maize]

Free speech zones!

[Commenter_XY]

Leftists like lathrop are stuck in anomie.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Indeed. Playing in the streets can be unwise. It is dangerous, better done elsewhere, and not Constitutionally protected. Peaceable assembly, on the contrary, is best done in the streets. Also, doing it there is Constitutionally protected, which is more than you can say for using the streets for vehicular traffic.

[Michael P]

Tell us that you don't know how any of this works with your usual verbal emesis.

Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116 (1958) is one case that recognizes that the Constitution protects the right to travel. In contrast, peaceable assembly is best done on sidewalks or other public spaces rather than streets, as legitimate time/place/manner restrictions on pedestrian use of streets are considerably stricter than those for motor vehicle use.

You also clearly have no idea what a public square is, or what distinguishes it from public roads in general.

[Dr. Ed 2]

PEACEABLY assemble…

Can you justify this?
https://www.foxnews.com/us/anti-ice-mob-storms-minnesota-church-over-pastors-alleged-ties-immigration-enforcement

[jb]

Or this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/578045650415806/posts/1228732692013762/

I don't support the protestors disrupting an unrelated church service like that; but I also don't see anything violent in that protest so not sure why you think it's not peaceful.

[Brett Bellmore]

"I'm not beating in his head, I'm just shouting in his face and keeping him from going about his business!" is not as great a defense as it might at first seem. It's like those assholes who invade restaurants and stand their yelling at people they don't like while they try to have a peaceful meal.

[Sarcastr0]

Equating speech with violence is bad, Brett.

Stop getting more like Ed.

[Brett Bellmore]

The point is that you don't have to engage in capital V "Violence" to be violating rights. It wouldn't be particularly "violent" to play rabbit screams outside your window all night long, at just short of hearing damage level. But it would piss the hell out of you, and would be legally sanctionable.

Or I could penny lock your front door shut. Not the tiniest bit violent.

[Mr. Bumble]

Now nickle lock?

[Joe_dallas]

Sarcastr0 4 hours ago
"Equating speech with violence is bad, Brett."
"Stop getting more like Ed.:"

Dont be so ignorant that believing their actions disrupting the church service was only speech.

You should emulate Dr Ed. He at least writes something intelligent about half the time. You on the other hand never accomplish that.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Brett, the question is why don’t they protest in mosques?

Could it have something to do with the fact that it would be rather harmful to their physical safety to do so? Of course if someone pulled a stunt like this in my church, they’ll be lucky to leave the island alive. And hence the lock on the front door of the church is put on backwards, to keep the door shut when the window is blowing, but so that anyone who needs to go in and sound the fire siren can do so without a key. It’s a light switch labeled with a handwritten sign that says.”this is not a toy.”

[ThePublius]

I read that the took the parishioners hostage, i.e., wouldn't let them leave. That's criminal.

They also violated the parishioners' rights to exercise their first amendment rights. One's first amendment rights, i.e., the protesters', don't extend to violating others' first amendment rights. And, if the pastor asked them to leave, i.e., 'trespassed' them, they would have to leave, otherwise they would further be breaking the law.

That's not peaceful. I don't know why you apparently don't get that.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"but I also don't see anything violent in that protest so not sure why you think it's not peaceful."

I suppose if people did that in your home you wouldn't think it was peaceful.

[Joe_dallas]

JB - "I don't support the protestors disrupting an unrelated church service like that; but I also don't see anything violent in that protest so not sure why you think it's not peaceful."

Can you provide a coherent response why disrupting a church service is peaceful?

[not guilty]

Disruption of a worship service can be a federal crime, per 18 U.S.C. § 248(a)(2), providing that whoever:

by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship

commits a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for a second or subsequent offense. The statute also provides for civil remedies including injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages and attorney fees.

The same statute prohibits similar conduct regarding access to abortion facilities.

But what is the point here in this discussion, other than a whatabout? The FOX story that Dr.Ed. 2 links does not clearly indicate that the anti-ICE protestors employed "force or threat of force or by physical obstruction". It was still a dick move, however, and likely counterproductive.

[Brett Bellmore]

The left have developed a strong preference for forms of protest that obstruct other peoples' lives, because otherwise they just get ignored. Taking over public spaces, obstructing roads, getting in people's faces while they're eating.

That doesn't mean that obstructing traffic is actually constitutionally protected.

[Malika la Maize]

I’ve always thought blocking streets is incredibly stupid.

Say you’re mad at the police. Go block their parking lot. Same press, more potentially justified target.

[Frank Drackman]

So advising people to commit a Felony? and I'm the Deranged one??

[Malika la Maize]

Yes.

[Frank Drackman]

I actually agree with you on both counts, as Doc Holliday said,
"Well, I suppose I'm deranged, but I... I guess I'll just have to call."
I try to quote Doc at least once a day, there's practically no Sitch-You-Asian a Doc Holliday Quote can't make more enjoyable.

Frank

[Stella Link's Ghost]

Who the fuck is Doc Holliday?

[ThePublius]

You seriously don't know who Doc Holliday is?

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

[Sarcastr0]

The left does the speech kind of protest as well. And the photographing.

You ignore that stuff because you'd prefer to tell yourself a story of zealotry.

[Brett Bellmore]

No, I ignore that stuff because I don't find it objectionable, and so worthy of mentioning.

Say somebody puts ketchup on their mac and cheese, and plays loud music over a PA system at 3 AM. Is it so strange that you'd only comment on the latter?

[Sarcastr0]

You: "The left have developed a strong preference for forms of protest that obstruct other peoples' lives"

You: "I ignore [the non-obstructionist] stuff because I don't find it objectionable"

Congrats, you've played yourself.

[Brett Bellmore]

You'd think so, of course.

I look at the two ends of the political spectrum, and it just appears to me that the left is much more fond of doing things like obstructing traffic, chaining themselves across doors, taking over public parks (Or neighborhoods!) and excluding other people from them, than the right is.

I think it's because you're afraid if you protested in a way that was not obnoxious, people would be free to ignore you, and would. And there's a strong element of extortion, "Give us what we want if you don't want us to keep this up!" to it, too.

While the right, (Though often mistaken about it.) is much more confident that they have the public on their side, so they don't NEED to be obnoxious.

[Sarcastr0]

I pointed out that there are lots of counterexamples. You said you ignore those.

So...your conclusion is overdetermined and says nothing about what's actually going on.

[ducksalad]

It's true that right-leaning protests tend to directly target the thing or institution they are against - abortion clinics, federally owned land (Malheur), counting the electoral vote.

A core part of the left's philosophy is that ordinary people are too complacent and comfortable. They no longer call it false consciousness but it's the same idea. It's not just that oil companies are bad, it's that you don't care enough about it, and they're going to do something about that.

The other thing is that the right is more into tribal thinking. That's got plenty of bad consequences but it does mean there's less expectation that everyone will or should agree on some universal values. They better understand the concept of just not caring too much about some other tribe's pet issue.

(Although you do occasionally run into someone with the attitude that all of life is sinful hypocrisy as long as abortion exists.)

[David Nieporent]

While the right, (Though often mistaken about it.) is much more confident that they have the public on their side, so they don't NEED to be obnoxious.

J6 has entered the chat.

[Stella Link's Ghost]

Senator Slotkin of Michigan has claimed the she and her family have received a plethora of threats since she participated in the great revolution. Since the original October Revolution actually happened in November, perhaps we could label this as the "October Revolution of 2025. I suppose all those threats are originating from all the leftists pissed off because the senators were not sufficiently aggressive.

[Magister]

Slotkin attributed this surge in threats to President Trump calling the actions of her and other Democratic lawmakers "seditious" and "punishable by death". Do you think that leftists go after Donald Trump's enemies?

[Stella Link's Ghost]

As long as J6 has been brought up, here is a youtube short by Elizabeth Oyer telling us about what great people the J6 tourists are.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wxQlHqylR_U

Oh yeah, fine people on both sides.

I wonder if anyone has compared the rates of criminal conduct among J6ers and undocumented immigrants.

[Stella Link's Ghost]

" Do you think that leftists go after Donald Trump's enemies?"

Well, they must be leftists as we have been assured that the Trump suckers have the American people on their side so don't need to engage in such outrageous behavior.

[Bwaaah]

SL...why'd you carve out "controlled-access high-speed highways" from all other "public streets" as not being part of the "public square"?

[Stephen Lathrop]

Bwaaah — I do not advocate originalism. But if I choose to rely on a historically-based argument, I prefer to keep as close to the historical record as possible.

That the public square consisted of the public roadways in cities and towns is a readily defensible historical assertion. Examples to illustrate it abound. In the places the term first came into general use. Some of the same roadway intersections called public squares during the founding era continue with that designation today.

By contrast, high-speed limited access highways have no founding era precedent. Never since their invention have they been considered ordinarily accessible to foot traffic. Hence, they have not been historically valorized for public assemblies.

[David Nieporent]

I was probably five years old when I was first told 'don't play in the street.

If only Jonathan Ross had been told that, MAGA would have to find a different excuse for his commission of murder!

[jay.tee]

Since he didn’t “play in the street” or “murder” anyone, telling him that likely wouldn’t have changed the course of history.

You have a real problem with the truth, David.

[Commenter_XY]

Ross, the ICE LEO that was hit by Renee Good in her SUV, did not murder anyone. You know that. You're a lawyer.

[Joe_dallas]

Commenter_XY 3 hours ago
"Ross, the ICE LEO that was hit by Renee Good in her SUV, did not murder anyone. You know that. You're a lawyer."

He is going a good name for the ambulance chasing lawyers.

[David Nieporent]

I do not think one could secure a conviction b.a.r.d., but one is not required to use that as the standard for assessing guilt outside of court. I haven't studied the Minnesota penal code in a couple of years so I don't know OTTOMH which flavor of homicide it might be, but based on the video evidence I've seen I think he killed her without legal justification.

[not guilty]

It was also a federal crime, per 18 U.S.C. § 242.

Mr. Ross intentionally violated Ms. Good's Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

As Justice Douglas wrote in Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91 (1945):

Those who decide to take the law into their own hands and act as prosecutor, jury, judge, and executioner plainly act to deprive a prisoner of the trial which due process of law guarantees him. And such a purpose need not be expressed; it may at times be reasonably inferred from all the circumstances attendant on the act. See Tot v. United States, 319 U. S. 463.

325 U.S. at 106 (plurality opinion).

[Bunny495]

When will the libtards stop taking the bait. All Trump has to do is post or comment and they ignore the 72 hour mandatory rule about taking anything Trump says seriously. And if you don't believe that you are a lying dog faced pony soldier who does not think Cornpop was a bad dude.

[Malika la Maize]

When will MAGAns realize that a POTUS involved in providing “bait” for fellow Americans is puerile behavior unbecoming of a President?

[OpinionsVary]

"Don't listen to the President of the United States of America. He might not mean it." - this isn't the sterling defence you think it is.

[AmosArch]

Prim and proper social media died long before Trump if it ever even existed. I mean Republicans have been called literal Nazis over social media since the Bush era and beforehand.

Russia and China and many other countries beat their chests on a regular basis over social media before Trump and the Dems have eagerly followed the President's example if they weren't already doing it.

You can get some reasonable mileage out of 'Social media communication by officials needs to be formal and respectful' argument but not that much if your side is similarly in the gutter.

[Malika la Maize]

So your defense is Trump is in the gutter but so are others?

[AmosArch]

To be fair I think twitter slapfights are kind of dumb for all sides. But Dems treat trump talking mean as 1000 different criticisms of him. Everytime mean tweet is brought up theres this puffed up unbelieving pretend outrage as if this totally is new and unprecedented and flooring everybody. But its like Repubs saying Biden is incomprehensible and listing it as the top 1000 things he did wrong. Its the same stylistic issue you can only get so much mileage out of. Not 1000 different issues.

[Stephen Lathrop]

AmosArch — Digital images of Trump's conduct and utterances will survive far into the future. Expect historians centuries hence to study them with bafflement, trying to understand how a society equipped with legal process to eject an obvious lunatic from office failed for so long to do it.

Whether that study gets relegated to historical footnotes, or becomes enduring high-priority preoccupation depends a lot on how much destruction this nation, and other nations, experience before and after Trump is out of office. .

[Michael P]

Historians are smarter than Stephen Lathrop, so they will understand that Democrats corroded and destroyed our government processes and civic integrity, and that is why the United States got Donald Trump. The problems that Lathrop decries date from before Trump left -- and even entered -- office.

[Malika la Maize]

Mikie Q: yes Trump is awful but it’s the Democrats fault because we don’t have agency!

[Joe_dallas]

Michael P 10 hours ago
"Historians are smarter than Stephen Lathrop,"

That maybe questionable! Or are we arguing who has the poorest grasp of history?

The latest historical rankings of president from of the people that the left regards as great historians have biden ranked as 14th or 15th best, and the president who thought it was a great idea to make Iran a regional power is ranked as the 8th best. Funding the mullahs that sponsored hezbellah, hamas, the yemen terrorists seemed to have a poor grasp of geopolitics.

[Commenter_XY]

The answer is: The libtards will never fail to take the bait. It is TDS.

[Malika la Maize]

It’s deranged for people to point out deranged behavior?

[Bwaaah]

Every day? For ten years?

[Malika la Maize]

I get you’re so disaffected, and so recently!

But if someone is fucking a goat in the public square it doesn’t matter if he’s been doing it for a long time. Normal people will call that deranged.

Now, recently disaffected liberals like you pretended to be might feel differently. Given your past here you’d like to ask if the goat-fucker is really as bad as the Democrats and if people aren’t being judgmental of him (well, if he’s a Republican). But I’m operating in the world of normals, not phonies on the internet like you.

[jb]

Bunny's whole point is that Trump is apparently engaging in a constant stream of deranged behavior. Are you suggesting that once he does a certain amount of it, we should just start to ignore it?

[SRG2]

The answer is that you cultists will approve of what Trump does and says with scarcely a hint of criticism and your cries of TDS are merely defences of the cult in the way that any cult thinks it's the people on the outside who are the loonies.

[jay.tee]

I wonder: does the claim of cult membership really mean anything when the claimant himself is firmly ensconced in his own, opposing cult?

[Martinned]

You've caugt SRG2! Democracy and the rule of law are definitely a cult!

[jay.tee]

Of course, if he was only actually concerned about democracy and the rule of law, he wouldn’t be a leftist cultist.

His posting history belies that, unfortunately.

[SRG2]

Fuckwit, my posting history proves I'm not a leftist.

Time to repost:

Me: I'm in favour of generally free markets - some light regulation, though, generally free trade, private enterprise and ownership, etc.
MAGAman: what do you think of Trump?
Me: He's an incompetent authoritarian lying crooked POS.
MAGAman: SOCIALIST!!

[Mr. Bumble]

What did you think of Harris? The alternative to Trump in the last election.

[SRG2]

Mediocre but better than Trump.

[Mr. Bumble]

Mediocre is not a synonym for incompetent.

[SRG2]

So what?

[jay.tee]

Sure, whatever you say SRG2. But we’ve all seen your posting history. As opposed to a Trump cultist who believes everything that comes out of Trump’s mouth, you’re a reactionary cultist. The other side of the cultist coin, so to speak.

[SRG2]

Well, at least you've conceded I'm not a leftist. Perhaps, as you're so familiar with my posting history, you can explain why you made such an ignorant and stupid error in the first place.

[jay.tee]

You may not be a leftist, but you certainly espouse leftist views here. Almost exclusively so.

[SRG2]

You may not be a leftist, but you certainly espouse leftist views here. Almost exclusively so.

Ah, the ignorance continues. I express anti-authoritarian views. But to the intentionally ignorant like you, any deviation from the Regime's orthodoxy is somehow leftist. Thinking the US shouldn't invade Greenland? Leftist. Thinking that blowing up the deficit is a bad idea? Leftist. Thinking that fluoridation is beneficial? Leftist.

[jay.tee]

Ah, the ignorance continues. I express anti-authoritarian views.

You’re full of shit. Attacking the RKBA is decidedly not “anti-authoritarian.”

But to the intentionally ignorant like you, any deviation from the Regime's orthodoxy is somehow leftist. Thinking the US shouldn't invade Greenland? Leftist. Thinking that blowing up the deficit is a bad idea? Leftist. Thinking that fluoridation is beneficial? Leftist.

Your ignorance is glaring. You obviously don’t know or are intentionally misrepresenting my views.

[not guilty]

I am curious, jay.tee. To what cult do you posit that SRG2 belongs?

For your convenience, here is the definition: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult

[jay.tee]

Asked and answered. Please keep up.

[Joe_dallas]

SRG2 5 hours ago
"Fuckwit, my posting history proves I'm not a leftist."

DN claims the same -

Both of you do a pathetic job of impersonating a libertarian.

[SRG2]

To the extent I'm anything, pragmatic or Brinian libertarian gets close to it. But I don't go around calling myself anything - merely correcting others who assign me to a political category to which I do not belong. Nor do I try to be anything other than myself.

I understand why this causes you problems.

[Joe_dallas]

it would not cause me problems if you were a libertarian. Its that you do a pathetic job impersonating a libertarian.

[SRG2]

I impersonate nothing. I have some libertarian views and heuristics. But people like you who need to categorise others - so you can decide whether to agree with them on fora like this - might reach incorrect conclusions about my political views, and it seems you're blaming me for your poor perceptions.

Let me give you an uncontentious analogy. Suppose I run a restaurant that serves some of my favourite dishes as entrees.

* Steak roquefort
* Abbacchio al forno
* Confit de l'oie
* Peking duck

Someone looks at the menu and says, "you're doing a crappy job of being a French restaurant". My response will be, "I'm not trying to be a French restaurant. I'm choosing to serve dishes I like." And if he comes back with, "but obviously you're trying to be". Why bother to engage him further? There is no rule that says a restaurant has to stick to one cuisine, though there are usually good reasons for doing so. (Long Island has places that serve Thai, Chinese, and Japanese. I would not go to those places for omakase.)

[Joe_dallas]

SGR - I you actually had libertarian views, then you would state them.

My assessment of you being a far leftist is based on your statements which are for the most part far left talking points.

[SRG2]

My assessment of you being a far leftist is based on your statements which are for the most part far left talking points.

Trump: "The earth is flat"
Me: "The earth is round"
Joe_Dallas: "SRG posting far left talking points"

You have no idea what leftist means, it seems. Economically, I am a moderate capitalist. You can't be that and be a leftist - as you would know if you had any political understanding.

It is also the case that I am less concerned about modest adverse outcomes than extreme ones, and so when the Democrats fuck up, I don't get bent out of shape, and I don't particularly worry if the ship of state isn't headed in any particular direction. However I regard the modern GOP under Trump as being a major threat to genuine liberty, to the longevity of the US as a democratic republic, and in their foreign policy, a threat to the international order. Under the Trump regime, the ship of state is in danger of crashing onto the rocks because that's the direction Trump is pointing to, to the cheers of people like you.

FWIW I do have some libertarian views, particularly wrt free speech, drug legalisation, abortion, and I have a libertarian heuristic or two but I am not a hard libertarian. But I don't feel the need to state libertarian views or opinions just to satisfy the curiosity of someone like you.

[David Nieporent]

The problem is that you're too fucking stupid and ignorant to know what a libertarian is. (To be fair, a lot of people don't know much about the topic, but they don't all flaunt their stupidity the way you do.) I am somewhat less isolationist than a quintessential libertarian, but otherwise my views are paradigmatic.

That's why although you routinely make the claim, you (as is true 150% of the time) provide no facts in support of your claim.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"The problem is that you're too fucking stupid and ignorant to know what a libertarian is. (To be fair, a lot of people don't know much about the topic, but they don't all flaunt their stupidity the way you do.)"

I hear you, brother. I find that I'm often the only one that truly understands a topic, everyone but me misunderstands it.

[Joe_dallas]

A true libertarian would not be the most prolific liar on the planet demonstrating complete disregard for the facts.

You have made virtually zero factually accurate statements on Renee good and I have not seen a factually accurate statement from you on the minnesota church invasion.

Given your history of being a patheric liar, who is going to believe your alleged claim of being a "libertarian"

[David Nieporent]

A true libertarian would not be the most prolific liar on the planet demonstrating complete disregard for the facts.

Libertarianism is a philosophy about the proper relationship between individuals and government. Being a truth teller — while obviously a good thing — is orthogonal to that. There are libertarian liars, liberal liars, conservative liars. Also, of course, you wouldn't know truth if it shot you in the face.

You have made virtually zero factually accurate statements on Renee good

See what I mean?

and I have not seen a factually accurate statement from you on the minnesota church invasion.

But what's even worse is that not only don't you know the difference between truth and lies, but you don't even know what facts are. I have made no factual assertions about the Minnesota church "invasion". Are you doing the same thing as yesterday when you falsely attributed something not guilty had said to me? (I suppose someone who was incapable of grasping the English language might view "They were just peaceful tourists" as a factual assertion, but it was not intended as such; it was a sarcastic comment implying exactly the opposite.)

[David Nieporent]

I hear you, brother. I find that I'm often the only one that truly understands a topic, everyone but me misunderstands it.

Most Americans could tell you something about Catholicism or Baptists or Judaism, but very few could tell you anything about Jainism. That's not because they're all stupid; it's because it's an esoteric topic that few people have any familiarity with.

If one eliminates the trolls most people could provide reasonably accurate information about Democrats or Republicans. But few have any familiarity with libertarianism. (For years leftists used to disparagingly say, "They're just conservatives who like to smoke pot." And now MAGA accuse all principled libertarians of being "leftist" because we support individual liberty and they don't even recognize what that is.)

[jay.tee]

And now MAGA accuse all principled libertarians of being "leftist" because we support individual liberty and they don't even recognize what that is.)

No. People call you a leftist because you blatantly attempt to twist, or outright lie about, anything that casts your left-wing shibboleths in a bad light.

For example, as established in yesterday’s thread, you continue to defend the infamous FISA warrants despite every party now acknowledging they were invalid. That includes Judge Boasberg and Alexander Downer.

[Commenter_XY]

Cultist, lmao. You know, a fellow Tribe Member once noted that if you agreed with him 6 or 7 times out of 10, that was great, but if you agree with him 10 out of 10 times, you needed your head examined. I don't know a single person here at VC that does not have have multiple disagreements with The Donald, myself included.

What cult? Is there a Team R cult and a Team D cult?

[SRG2]

I don't know a single person here at VC that does not have have multiple disagreements with The Donald, myself included.

You blocked Riva?

And here we see the No True Cultist fallacy.

[Michael P]

I am glad that President Trump and his administration are protecting the right of Christians to assemble in peaceful worship without trespass by CNN hosts or other domestic terrorists.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/01/more-minneapolis-madness.php

[Michael P]

Correction: former CNN hosts (fired for malpractice).

[The Margrave of Azilia]

The incident made the Hindustan Times.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/who-is-don-lemon-and-what-is-the-face-act-what-to-know-after-ex-cnn-anchor-storms-cities-church-in-minneapolis-101768788530227.html

The FACE Act would be as much implicated if a crowd burst into an abortion clinic while *it* was holding services.

[Brett Bellmore]

The FACE act actually expressly extends to both abortion clinics and religious institutions. A compromise necessary to get it passed.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Legally, a mob invading a church during is equivalent to invading into an abortion clinic during *its8 services.

Let's see if the law *actually* treats the current case the same, and how much the media will sqeal if equal treatment is meted out.

Apparently Lemon was fired from CNN, so maybe the media won't be committed to defending him.

On the other hand, he's black and gay, so the media might protest the bigotry inherent in prosecuting him. On the other other hand, he was fired for misogyny toward white women, which may prompt the media to keep its distance and not defend him.

[Mr. Bumble]

"On the other hand, he's black and gay, so the media might protest the bigotry inherent in prosecuting him. On the other other hand, he was fired for misogyny toward white women, which may prompt the media to keep its distance and not defend him."
You left out dumber than a post.
He was arguing with the pastor that they had a First Amendment right to invade the church services.

[Swede425]

In Lemon's defense, he's completely retarded.

[Dr. Ed 2]

He’s black and gay, and the southern Baptist Church is big in place of such as Texas. He might be safest in jail….

[David Nieporent]

They were just peaceful tourists. Which provision of the FACE Act do you think Lemon violated?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Just imagine a mob of people in MAGA hats invading an abortion clinic during business hours because of a grudge against the abortionist, and see how your anaylsis changes.

"peaceful tourists"

You certainly refuted the version of me in your head who thought the January 6 stuff was legal.

[David Nieporent]

Which provision of the FACE Act do you think Lemon violated?

[ThePublius]

David, you are either stupid or being deliberately obtuse (sealioning?):

"The FACE Act (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994) is a U.S. federal law making it illegal to use force, threats, or physical obstruction to prevent people from obtaining or providing reproductive health services or exercising religious freedom at places of worship." [emphasis mine]

[David Nieporent]

Did Don Lemon use force, threats, or physical obstruction?

[TwelveInchPianist]

He filmed himself standing among the chairs where people would normally be hearing service. People couldn't use those chairs to hear the service with him standing there. He wasn't the only one obstructing, but he was obstructing.

[Joe_dallas]

Another display of DN having issues dealing with the truth.

Did Lemon use force, threats or physical obstruction ?

Stupid question from DN - but that doesnt stop DN from lying about the law nor does is it stop DN fron lying about the facts.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I’m amazed I have to explain this to an alleged attorney, but have you ever heard of precedent?

The same statute has been used to prosecute and punish people protesting abortion. What standard have courts used for that?

Physically being present is a standard court use for violations of FACE, hence physically being present is enough of a threat to be a violation here.

[David Nieporent]

I’m amazed I have to explain this to an alleged attorney, but have you ever heard of precedent?

I have; thanks for asking.

Have you ever heard of making shit up?

Physically being present is a standard court use for violations of FACE,

Oh, I see you have.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"Which provision of the FACE Act do you think Lemon violated?"

The same provision you would cite in the scenario I outlined, if an abortion clinic got disrupted.

Apparently, the Trump administration has recently decided to water down enforcement of the FACE Act. I take it you agree with this? Or only where houses of worship are concerned?

[Commenter_XY]

Section 2

[David Nieporent]

Do you think Lemon used "force or threat of force or physical obstruction"?

[ThePublius]

Yes! Physical obstruction in that they interfered with, obstructed, and stopped the exercise of religious expression. Are you numb?

What's your shtick here? Just being anti-conservative, anti-freedom, anti-rights? You've picked a side and they are always right? So stupid and offensive.

(I trust you haven't watched the video. But then, you are never objective, anyway.)

[David Nieporent]

Yes! Physical obstruction in that they interfered with, obstructed, and stopped the exercise of religious expression. Are you numb?

Are Don Lemon's pronouns "they/them"? I didn't ask about other people; I asked about Don Lemon.

[TwelveInchPianist]

He was part of a group that was preventing a church from conducting a service by physically occupying the space where the service was to occur.

[Joe_dallas]

I thought libertarians were the ones that told the truth.

[jay.tee]

To be fair, lies aren’t the purview of any political party in particular.

David’s problems with the truth aren’t related to his closeted leftism or professed libertarianism.

[Joe_dallas]

Problem with the truth?

of course not - Its DN

[CountmontyC]

DN has no problem with the truth anymore than a KKK member has problems with black people

[Joe_dallas]

At one point in time he made an attempt to be honest. These last two weeks, over 100 posts with zero factual basis

[Swede425]

LOL!
Just Don Lemon and his Brown Shirts interrupting church to check papers.
You know, to stop fascism.
PAPERS NOW!

[Malika la Maize]

What an incredibly stupid and immoral thing for anti-ICE protesters to do.

[Brett Bellmore]

They think they're entitled to establish that nobody is allowed to disagree with them AND have a normal life.

[Martinned]

A normal life running around dragging US citizens out of their homes at gunpoint? Gee, how unreasonable of them...

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/video-ice-agents-raid-st-paul-home-detain-elderly-us-citizen-on-frigid-sunday

[Swede425]

LOL!
So, that's a "yes, they're entitled" from the Tulip Rancher.

[Joe_dallas]

dragging out of their homes?

do you proof that ICE is doing that in central america?

[Bob from Ohio]

The chief organizer of the church invasion has helpfully identified the other ringleaders on her social media account along with more video.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Is an insurrection a rebellion? In other words, if Trump institutes the insurrection act, does that include a suspension of the writ of habeus corpus?

I think that these terrorist, which is what they are, are relying on jury notification and friendly judges. Even if a jury did subsequently nullify the charges, a suspension of the writ would enable the Feds to essentially disappear people in a prison in Texas or even GITMO.

Much like Brandon‘s response to January 6, doing this would end this foolishness overnight. It’s time for some shock and awe from our side.

If Millie standing on a sidewalk outside abortion clinic and forcing a baby killer to walk around, you is worth nine years in federal penitentiary, going inside a church and disrupting the service, under the same law, it be worth at least a similar sentence.

[Commenter_XY]

Let's see if these people are charged under the FACE Act, and whether there are swat teams sent to arrest them.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Is an insurrection a rebellion? In other words, if Trump institutes the insurrection act, does that include a suspension of the writ of habeus corpus?

I think that these terrorist, which is what they are, are relying on jury notification and friendly judges. Even if a jury did subsequently nullify the charges, a suspension of the writ would enable the Feds to essentially disappear people in a prison in Texas or even GITMO.

Much like Brandon‘s response to January 6, doing this would end this foolishness overnight. It’s time for some shock and awe from our side.

If merely standing on a sidewalk outside abortion clinic and forcing a baby killer to walk around, you is worth nine years in federal penitentiary, going inside a church and disrupting the service, under the same law, it be worth at least a similar sentence.

[David Nieporent]

Is an insurrection a rebellion? In other words, if Trump institutes the insurrection act, does that include a suspension of the writ of habeus corpus?

No. Only Congress can suspend the Great Writ.

[Michael P]

Germany has already withdrawn its soldiers from Greenland. They stayed less than 48 hours. Were they there just to roll out a red carpet for the US?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/german-military-withdraws-soldiers-greenland-125830390.html

[OpinionsVary]

It was a 48 hour mission from the start. It was a reconnaissance mission, to look into what was needed for a more long term mission. But don't let that get in the way of cooking up a 'win'.

[Dr. Ed 2]

In 2025, it’s really necessary to physically visit a place?

Why?

The weather is known, the climate is known, the terrain is known, the logistics are known, what more is there? The data from the USAF failed camp century is known — whatever became the nuclear reactor isn’t, but the problems the US encountered a well-known.

So why do you need to go and physically be there?

[Michael P]

Yes, that brief a trip is usually better done via teleconference and Google search, but maybe junkets are all the Wehrmacht -- I mean the Bundeswehr -- can do.

[OpinionsVary]

Maybe you could do it via someone local walking around with a video call on their iphone but having troops also has the advantage of making a point when Trump is sounding off.

[Bob from Ohio]

"making a point"

Point: We're impotent!

[Bob from Ohio]

"It was a reconnaissance mission, to look into what was needed for a more long term mission."

The Luftwaffe's original transport plane couldn't land because of bad weather so they had to lease a plane from a Polish airline.

Bad weather in Greenland in winter. No one could expect that!

The idea that the Bundswehr can effectively oppose a hypothetical US invasion 4000 miles from home is laughable.

Fortunately, the US is never invading

[Martinned]

No, they were there to roll out a red carpet for whatever NATO forces are necessary to defend the island.

[Mr. Bumble]

Haahahahahaha.

[Martinned]

So far it seems to have worked. Today the Regime is busy launching military attacks against domestic enemies instead.

[Bob from Ohio]

"NATO forces are necessary to defend the island"

The US can provide all NATO forces that are necessary to defend the island.

[Malika la Maize]

Mikie Q is here to celebrate might makes right!

[hobie]

I didn't think it could happen, but over the weekend the hayseed comments at National Review were all for impeaching and removing Trump. Even the crazies were saying so.

Why? It appears to be the taking of the Peace Prize medal in combination with the Greenland shit. But mostly it was the medal.

You hayseeds here at VC are theoretically more learned and advanced. Yet it doesn't appear to be the proverbial straw for you lot.

[Brett Bellmore]

That seems... weird.

Accepting the freely given medal might arguably be tasteless, (As was Obama accepting being awarded it before he'd actually DONE anything.) but I can't see how it's the stuff of impeachment. What was the basis, an emolument? Bzzt! The emoluments clause limits gifts from foreign governments, Machado isn't a government or ruler of one.

But, I'm not seeing any mention of impeachment here. Just that Trump is an ass for accepting it, which, yeah, he is.

Threatening a member of NATO with invasion, OTOH, absolutely the stuff of impeachment. If the House voted to impeach Trump over THAT, I'd be hard put to come up with a valid defense, I'd be hard put to even WANT to put up a defense. Impeach his ass, he'd finally be getting it for something proper.

That said, this motivated me to visit NRO again for the first time in several years. Where's the talk of impeachment?

Oh, wait, you meant in the comments. I can't seem to get them to open.

[Krayt]

I said that days ago (god time moves fast). It is an impeachable offense, and a true, real one, as in removal from office, as in a political judgement of such awful character the nation need not suffer it, unlike the previous three, all hyperbolated up by opposition who wanted to get their political opponent.

So now what? Too much boy who cried "Wolf!" If the nation is tired and jaundiced at sketchy motiviations, this lies at your feet, hyperbolators.

Thanks for your heartbeat!

[Brett Bellmore]

To be fair, if you're talking about Clinton, he was after all using White House employees to obstruct justice in a private legal proceeding, which might not be a high crime, but sure was a misdemeanor.

I recall that they had a lot of other potential charges, but once Clinton demonstrated that Filegate wasn't just for shits and giggles, the Republican leadership caved and just did a pro-forma impeachment.

In the end the Republican leadership were too dirty themselves to dare lay a finger on him. I mean, sheesh, Livington got outed, and who did they replace him with? Dennis Hasteret! Man, I bet HIS file was something to see.

[grb]

Brett Bellmore : "Oh, wait, you meant in the comments. I can't seem to get them to open."

It's a mystery. Sometimes most of the NR's posts display comments even to non-subscribers. Sometimes it's only a handful and often it's none. I can't really make any consistent sense out of it. A few minutes ago I was on the site and read their post about the "Nobel-snub Greenland Invasion Justification". The comments were available there/then and (like hobie) I was astounded by their tenor. Plus-minus 85% were on the mental-illness / 25th Amendment bandwagon.

[grb]

Here's one pair of comments from that post (picked for wit) :

Reader Paul_Kersey : So, I repeat my question from earlier: if Donald Trump were to suffer from some sort of mental breakdown, how would we tell?

Reader NotAnonymous : If he ever starts acting like this, something will have gone terribly wrong:

He prioritizes humility, institutional norms, and respect for democratic processes over personal brand, confrontation, and immediate impulses. He communicates carefully and consistently, favoring evidence, expertise, and calm rhetoric rather than provocation or spectacle. His decision-making emphasizes coalition-building, transparency, and the long-term public interest instead of loyalty tests or personal power. Overall, his conduct projects steadiness, restraint, and a clear separation between personal ego and the responsibilities of the office.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/greenland-as-second-prize/?

[Artifex]

Germany has already withdrawn its soldiers from Greenland. They stayed less than 48 hours.

Pshaw. That's more than enough time. Did anyone check to see if there was a bunch of dead foreign security and Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen is missing or did the Germans screw up the operation ?

[TwelveInchPianist]

Greenland will be a test case.

If Denmark caves on that, we'll know that we can get anything we want from them. Land, gold, cheeses, what have you, we can extort whatever we want from them.

They'll never get rid of us.

[Bob from Ohio]

Once you pay the Trumpgeld...

[TwelveInchPianist]

I was thinking yankgeld, what that works too.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Trump is a dysfunctional response to a dysfunctional establishment. The critics of *Trumpismo* tend to be people who want to replace Trump with a Democrat, which is like curing a headache by bonking yourself on the head.

To take one issue at random, Trump will kill babies if he can get votes from doing so. Democrats kill babies out of principle, whether they can get votes out of it or not. This is why the prolifers tend Republican and the proabortionists tend Democratic, because the difference remains significant.

[Sarcastr0]

...The fuck?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Pick a Team, buy the paraphenalia, and shut up!

[Bwaaah]

It's a sign of the state of things that your remark makes sense. You nailed it, and that's how fucked up *it* is.

[grb]

Ah, yes! The "disaffected liberal" endorses raw rightwing hackery.

(and who could EVER have predicted that!)

[Brett Bellmore]

Sounded about right. Democrats treat abortion as almost a sacrament, something to celebrate. They're proud to support it even if it hurts them politically.

Trump, while almost certainly privately pro-choice, lacks that enthusiasm for the procedure.

[Sarcastr0]

Democrats treat abortion as almost a sacrament

This was bullshit when Rush Limbaugh sloganized it, and it still is.

You confuse an act of protest for worship.
It's no different than the movement for gays to come out of the closet and show everyone how common and everyplace they are. Also an act of protest, not of worship.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

From the Web site of the Religious Community for Reproductive Choice:

Under the heading "We Believe," they say "Reproductive decision-making is sacred."

https://www.rcrc.org/

I see why they call you Gaslightro.

[Malika la Maize]

Do you think most pro-choice people are part of that?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"Reclaiming Abortion as Sacred: An Act of Healing and Empowerment"

https://crushingcolonialism.org/reclaiming-abortion-as-sacred-an-act-of-healing-and-empowerment/

"Abortion is Sacred: Native perspectives on the overturning of Roe vs. Wade"

https://eltecolote.org/content/en/abortion-is-sacred-native-perspectives-on-the-overturning-of-roe-vs-wade/

[The Margrave of Azilia]

From an article entitled "Is Abortion Sacred?"

"The fact that a quarter of women, regardless of their beliefs, also decide to end pregnancies at some point in their lifetimes: are they not acting in accordance with God’s plan for them, too?"

This is from that obscure publication, The New Yorker.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/essay/is-abortion-sacred#rid=8d090e30-8195-4452-a150-9c321df4499c&q=is+abortion+sacred

[Malika la Maize]

You don’t get that the New Yorker is certainly obscure?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Apart from the New Yorker and the Religious Community for Reproductive Choice, absolutely nobody thinks abortion is sacred!

(bear in mind that all it took to find these references was a quick Internet search; I doubt I exhausted all the references)

[Malika la Maize]

You’re beclowning yourself, the New Yorker is very obscure to the vast majority of the nation. That other thing even more so.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"It has won eleven Pulitzer Prizes since 2014, the first year magazines became eligible for the prize.... ["Is abortion sacred" was *not* one of the prizewinning essays, by the way - so spare me the innocence-by-association]

"According to a 2009 survey-based estimate of magazine audiences by MediaMark Research, the average New Yorker reader was 47.8 years old, with a household income of $91,359. In the same period, the average household income in the United States was $58,898."

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

[David Nieporent]

The New Yorker is not in any way obscure. But The New Yorker didn't write that; someone named Jia Tolentino did. And Jia Tolentino is obscure.

But even if she were a household name, Jia Tolentino would be… Jia Tolentino. Not — as Brett tried to claim — "Democrats."

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Again, turn the situation around and see how your analysis changes.

Imagine that Tucker Carlson, instead of interviewing Nick Fuentes, interviewed a previously-obscure Klan leader from East Hicksville, Mississippi and gave the guy a platform to defend his racist ideas to Tucker's large audience, without contradiction.

In the same way, the New Yorker used its influence to publish this article for the edification of its readers. Even if you stipulate that the author was as obscure as my hypothetical Klansman, the publication of the article in the New Yorker refutes the idea that this is some unrepresentative, obscure position.

[bernard11]

When you interview someone in person you have every opportunity to challenge their opinions and statements. When you publish an essay in your magazine you don't.

What do you want the magazine to do, publish a note saying "We don't agree with all of this?" Maye they agree with some - abortion should legal - but not the religious part. Should they write a long counter-essay?

I think the complaint is BS. It is one thing to think something should be legal, another to believe it is sacred, and it is perfectly reasonable to publish an essay saying it is sacred even if you don't believe it is.

I, like pretty much everybody, believe Holy Communion should be perfectly legal. But I don't believe the religious implications. Is that hard to understand?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Take it up the New Yorker. They're like Tucker Carlson interviewing the Klansman without contradicting him in any way. Would you be as understanding of Carlson in that situation?

[bernard11]

This was an essay by one writer, not a New Yorker editorial position.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Yes, it was a totally random essay.

Let's see what happens when you search for New Yorker articles using the term "reproductive rights."

Plenty of articles.

https://www.newyorker.com/search?q=%22reproductive+rights%22

Now let's see what happens when you search for New Yorker articles using the term "unborn babies."

ONE result - a cartoon which uses the term satirically.

https://www.newyorker.com/search?q=%22unborn+babies%22

[Frank Drackman]

Why does Sacastr0 hate Black Babies???????

[Mr. Bumble]

Because too many grow up to be thugs, which is why he moved to Whitelandia, VA.

[Michael Ejercito]

They have definitely been far more pro choice than in the 1980's.

FJB voted for the Human Life Federalism Amendment.

[TwelveInchPianist]

"Democrats treat abortion as almost a sacrament"

Feminists have been saying for years that if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

Now they've apparently come to believe that men can get pregnant, so I assume that they also believe that abortion is a sacrament.

[Malika la Maize]

Brett, if it’s a person it’s murder, but if it’s not why should there be shame about it?

[Brett Bellmore]

I happen to think that's not a binary state, that you start out at one end with a single cell that has the biological potential to become a person, and you come out on the other end with an actual person, (And you arrive at that point significantly before delivery!) and there is a largely continuous and graduated transition between the two.

This is not the doctrine of the church, just the way I'd be inclined to view it.

From this perspective, abortion becomes somewhat murderish well before it becomes murder proper.

[hobie]

Hasn't hurt us politically at all. Every constitutional referendum in every red state has passed by large margins. Hell, the hayseeds may want it more than the Libs!

[Frank Drackman]

50,000,000 fewer (lesser?) Blacks since 1973???, (YMMV, depends on the Fertility rate of the Un-Aborted XX's, the Mortality rate of the Un-Aborted XY's) Who can be against that? Even the Blacks want fewer of their own kind.

[Malika la Maize]

Cal’s working some stuff out (namely how can he support Caligula).

[The Margrave of Azilia]

This would be a more appropriate occasion for Sarcastr0's response.

[Malika la Maize]

Whatever helps you sleep at night after supporting porn star banging violent megalomaniacs for Jesus’ sake.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Is there enough medicine in the world to cure your psychosis?

Do you even know what "dysfunctional" means?

[Martinned]

I think everyone does these days, given how the US Regime operates...

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Malika thought I was endorsing Trump by criticizing Democrats.

As if criticizing Lenin made me a Tsarist.

[Malika la Maize]

On a comment literally comparing the two.

Again, you’re plainly working out how you can support the adulterous vainglory aggression Trump.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Even Martin recognized the negative connotations of the word "dysfunctional," a term I applied to Trump.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

[moved]

[Malika la Maize]

Sure, but you clearly used the term in conjunction with saying his is comparatively lesser and someone else’s fault.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

As far as I can tell from your rants, you're responding to my claim that Trump is a dysfunctional response to a dysfunctional establishment.

Whatever he does is his own fault, but he'd still be an amusing rich New Yorker, far from the White House, if the establishment hadn't been dysfunctional.

In other words, he's a dysfunctional response to a dysfunctional establishment, like I said.

[Malika la Maize]

Yes, his blame is lessened because of the “establishment’s” blame.?

The party of personal responsibility!

[The Margrave of Azilia]

And yet you refuse to take personal responsibility for your own side, even though you defend your side with apocalyptic, hysterical rhetoric.

[Malika la Maize]

You’re wrong about “my side” and my stance there, but more importantly, as a Christian, should you be conflicted about your stance because of what others take?

One of the most beautiful things about our religion is it eschews utilitarian calculations.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

If you eschew utilitarian calculations, why vote Democrat to express your opposition to Trump?

The only reason a non-insane anti-Trumper would vote for a Democrat is because voting Democrat represents the best chance to replace Trump with someone else. Yet you remove that from your calculation by disavowing what you call utilitarianism.

[Malika la Maize]

Yeah, I didn’t advocate that. Vote third party or write in.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I do beg your pardon, I was confused by your bizarre binary thinking, which I tend to associate with Democrats proclaiming "us or Trump!"

I apologize for my mistake.

[Malika la Maize]

It’s your lesser of two evils that is literally (morally) bizarre binary thinking.

But, hey, let’s say that’s correct. Trump’s not up for election right now. People that would vote for him saying what he’s doing now sucks is an incredible change agent. Trump’s not brave, he’s quite craven. If his base wavers he’ll respond.

Want a better Trump? Just say so.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"It’s your lesser of two evils that is literally (morally) bizarre binary thinking."

Can you read?

When you adopted your bizarre comparison of Trump v. Democrats with Hemingway v. Fitzgerald, I said "Maybe I'd vote third party, maybe I'd vote for the lesser evil."

In any event, can you think of an election where one of the major parties was represented by the angel Gabriel, or the other major party was represented by Lucifer? Because that's the only situation I can think of where there would be no issue of voting for the lesser evil.

And I really have no idea what you mean by a "better Trump."

[Malika la Maize]

If you’d normally vote GOP criticize Trump for his bad positions. You’ll get a better Trump.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

If he changes his positions in response to electoral considerations, then morally speaking he's not "better," though he may be responding to better incentives.

[Bwaaah]

The Malicias and their shrill how-dare-you-all voices not only became the intellectual center of the Democratic party, but the center of American governmental institutions. (Minnesota is their latest photo op.)

Malicia squats atop the center of the dinner table, feigning powerlessness. He/she is thoroughly defined, and incensed, by the mere presence, the gall, of opposition. But little else, really.

- Disaffected Liberal ™

[Bwaaah]

And by the way...I too exist (here) merely to oppose my opposition, the Democratic Party. I don't pretend to stand atop virtue, or some notion of Republican or Trump "principles." There's little to defend.

That's the part Malicia doesn't reconcile...he/she opposes all who oppose that which he/she doesn't actually defend. (He/she is actually not so foolish as to defend.)

- Disaffected Liberal ™

[Malika la Maize]

I do, and I also know that comparing it to what one thinks is a greater dysfunction is how folks minimize the former. Hemingway used to say sure I have a drinking problem, but have you seen Fitzgerald?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

You've exempted yourself from any need to defend Democratic policies. Democrats could serve barbecued babies at a political fundraser, and your response would be "what about Trump"?

If Hemingway and Fitzgerald were running against each other for election to a responsible position, under the major-party tickets, I'd deplore the fact that the ultimate winner, whoever he was, would have a drinking problem. Maybe I'd vote third party, maybe I'd vote for the lesser evil.

Wait a second - were you just comparing Trump to Ernest Hemingway?

[Malika la Maize]

You’re clearly trying to convince yourself as to why you should throw in with Caligula (well, his policy on potential persons is somewhat better), I’m not going to talk you out of it.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Yes, I know what you're insinutating: Not Democrat = Trump supporter.

When you guys abandoned traditional religion, you kept the apocalypticism and applied it to politics.

[Malika la Maize]

Lots of Never Trumpers are not Democrats.

You shouldn’t be deciding what you believe in by what others believe in.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

So which non-Democratic candidate will you vote for?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

(see my apology above for accusing you of being a Democrat.)

[Malika la Maize]

I live in Maryland where it’s a foregone conclusion, I wrote in Hogan.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Again, I sincerely apologize for falsely making such a serious accusation.

[ThePublius]

Are The Margrave of Azilia and Malika la Maize the same person?

Seems like sock-puppeting to me.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I'd have to be cleverer than I am to act as stupid as Malika.

[Magister]

I remember when Margrave pretended to have no preference at all between the two major parties when he advocated for reforms that would "help" third parties despite all the ways that Republican dirty tricks used third parties and ghost candidates (among so many other tricks that were both anti-democratic and anti-Democratic). His subsequent advocacy for anti-choice positions explained much. Good to see he's finally owned up to his lesser of two evils preference.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"His subsequent advocacy for anti-choice positions"

Subsequent? That, sir, is a terminological inexactitude.

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

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"pretended to have no preference at all between the two major parties"

I wonder if you would be so kind as to provide a citation for that assertion.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Exactly how is this different from what happened in Nazi Germany to the Jews?
https://www.foxnews.com/us/anti-ice-mob-storms-minnesota-church-over-pastors-alleged-ties-immigration-enforcement

I don’t say that lightly. A line was crossed in Germany when they went after the synagogue I disagree with the Southern Baptists on a variety of theological issues, but this is bullshite.

And where the hell were the cops? Where the hell was Tampon Tim’s National Guard?

IT’S TIME TO DECLARE MARSHALL LAW IN MINNESOTA. DO IT NOW!!!

[Michael Ejercito]

It is not.

I must wonder if such a thing happened in the 1950's or 1960's due to a church's view on racial equality before the law.

[Malika la Maize]

I don’t say that lightly.

lol, what do you say lightly?

[Martinned]

Well, you know, MARSHALL LAW!

[David Nieporent]

Exactly how is this different from what happened in Nazi Germany to the Jews?

You mean besides the lack of genocide?

IT’S TIME TO DECLARE MARSHALL LAW IN MINNESOTA. DO IT NOW!!!

1) There is no such thing as "MARSHALL LAW."

2) The phrase you were looking for is martial law, except that there isn't such a thing as "declaring martial law" under our constitution.

[Martinned]

NORWAY PM: I HAVE REPEATEDLY CLEARLY EXPLAINED TO TRUMP THAT IT IS AN INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE THAT AWARDS THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

[Martinned]

For context, this morning we got this from PBS Newshour correspondent Nick Schifrin

NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials:

Dear Ambassador:

President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state]

“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”

[Martinned]

The Norwegian PM has now confirmed that this is legit: https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/q6AdB0/trump-i-melding-til-stoere-foeler-ikke-lenger-noen-forpliktelse

[SRG2]

That Trump post is insane.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tmd-ClpJxA

(Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do)

[Malika la Maize]

It’s cult leader behavior: he needs to have his name on all the buildings, his face on all the coins, all the prizes go to him etc.,

MAGA is a cult.

[Brett Bellmore]

I think it's actually more like he'd like it to be one.

Seriously, I'm beginning to believe that Trump is going to get 25th amendmented. Hopefully Millenia has more concern for his welfare than Jill did for Joe.

[Malika la Maize]

Well said.

[Mr. Bumble]

Melania?

[Moderation4ever]

Problem for Melania is that with the 25th comes not just the Presidency, but likely calls for him to step aside from the Trump business side and that money in her pocket.

[ThePublius]

Explain to me how that's the case.

[ducksalad]

It's not the case for many of his businesses, the ones where people are supposed to buy stuff solely because it has his name on it. There could even be a whole line of profitable goods (t-shirts, mugs, etc) protesting that he'd been 25thed. Some of the potential customers post here. The actual production of trinkets and bling is contracted out so there is no need for competence.

But for more normal businesses, e.g. ones that involve skilled people producing goods or services and a board of directors that actually represent stockholders, there's the issue that the 25th would be a public acknowledgement and confirmation that he is mentally incapacitated and no longer qualified to manage affairs or have responsibilities. There could even be stockholder lawsuits against the corporation for knowingly retaining leadership that has been certified insane by an act of Congress.

[ThePublius]

That's a stretch. It's no stretch to believe a 25th Amendment call could be purely politically motivated. And, it's ridiculous to say that Congress can certify anyone as insane by an act. Unless you can show me the law and precedent for that. That's the province of the medical community, and it can certainly be challenged.

[David Nieporent]

It's no stretch to believe a 25th Amendment call could be purely politically motivated.

Yes, it is a stretch. The 25th requires the vice president and the cabinet — all people handpicked by POTUS — in order to be invoked.

And, it's ridiculous to say that Congress can certify anyone as insane by an act.

If the 25th were invoked and Trump contested it, Congress would have to find that he was unfit in order for him to be removed. That would not mean he could be committed to an asylum or the like — there's a separate process for that — but (as ducksalad described) it would certainly be legitimately raised in any shareholder lawsuit against the board of directors of any company that they allowed Trump to keep running.

That having been said, that describes very few companies. Trump's core businesses are all private so that he can avoid scrutiny. Other than his fake social media company vanity project — which he, formally, does not run — I can't think of any public company he's got a major interest in.

[Mr. Bumble]

@ducksalad:
"and a board of directors that actually represent stockholders,..."
Tell me where that exists.

[Brett Bellmore]

Seriously, the Trumps are so freaking wealthy that they could lose 90% of their wealth without materially impacting their living standard. They're at a level where it's just scoring points. So I don't see that as a real problem.

[Moderation4ever]

The problem is that you like me would be happy to have a fraction of the wealth people like the Trumps have. The difference is that at their level making more wealth is just part of what they expect. Rosie O'Donnell, like her or not, asked the question "why does a person need more than $100 million dollars?" I would agree with her and be happy to have that much money. But then I am not a Trump.

[Brett Bellmore]

That was maybe Jill's problem. For most of Joe's career, he wasn't exactly dirt poor, but he'd never gotten on the gravy train the way a lot of Washington politicians had. So unlike Milenia, she actually had to worry about a serious hit to their (recently elevated) standard of living, if the money stopped flowing, and the money WAS only flowing because Joe was President.

[Mr. Bumble]

It's Melania Brett; not Millenia or Milenia.

[Brett Bellmore]

Yeah, I have a hard time remembering that spelling, didn't get engrained before my decline began...

[ThePublius]

"Milenia?" It's Melania. Go to the movie:

https://www.amazon.com/salp/melaniamovie?hhf&dclid=CjkKEQiAprLLBhDQ7bDht8_BqOsBEiQAZuq-POSXJEl3ncVBGKmUV1qyYP7BsAhEUFt4BcFmsrb0yunw_wcB&gad_source=7&utm_campaign=34940334&utm_source=10413985&utm_medium=436867481&utm_content=247673410&tag=reasonmagazinea-20

(I'm dating a woman who could be her twin, 'though not quite as tall; mine's 5'9", not 5'11")

[Moderation4ever]

What does Jill Biden have to do with this? We are talking the Trump family.

[ThePublius]

It's just a parenthetical, what's your problem?

[Martinned]

Sure, but it's also autocrat thinking. The unthinking assumption that the government is in charge of the country and everything that's in it. It's the same as last year's "deal" where Europe promised to spend countless billions in the US, without actually specifying who would be doing that spending or how the European Commission was going to ensure that that would happen. For Trump it's all the same.

[Mr. Bumble]

@Martinned:
"Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament."
Doesn't sound so independent.

[Martinned]

O, and for those still terminally naive, the Regime is still trying to come up with a reason to go to war with the American people. (See also various commenters above supporting that goal.)

Pentagon readies 1,500 troops for potential Minnesota deployment, US officials say

The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government's deportation drive, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday.

The U.S. Army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the midwestern state escalates, the officials said, though it is not clear whether any of them will be sent.
(...)
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order, which was first reported by ABC News.
The soldiers subject to deployment specialize in cold-weather operations and are assigned to two U.S. Army infantry battalions under the 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska, the officials said.
(...)
Local leaders have accused the president of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence to justify sending in troops.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, against whom the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation, has mobilized the state's National Guard, opens new tab to support local law enforcement and the rights of peaceful demonstrators, the state's Department of Public Safety posted on X on Saturday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-readies-1500-soldiers-possibly-deploy-minnesota-washington-post-reports-2026-01-18/

At least they've noticed that it's really cold in Minnesota in winter, and that the locals have cunningly deployed water and ice against the invading forces.

[Krayt]

When China got btfo on Tiananmen Square, they fired up a round 2 by bringing in fresh troops and keeping them well out of the city until the attack. They dared not let The People talk to them again as they sat there in the city itself.

You control the message without opposing voices.

[David Nieporent]

And, of course, Trump praised China's response to Tiananmen Square.

[Malika la Maize]

A sweeping new study of psychiatric and genetic records has the potential to change treatment for millions of psychiatric patients, finding that many conditions involve similar genes and may not need to be treated as distinct illnesses…

Published in Nature, the paper addresses the boundaries psychiatry uses to separate similar conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The research also suggests that linking genes to the brain processes they influence will provide psychiatrists with greater insight into their patients, and guide researchers toward new therapies.

The findings could also spare patients the burden of carrying multiple different diagnoses that require an assortment of different pills…

To produce the Nature study, a large international team of researchers spent five years analyzing records from more than 1 million people diagnosed with one of 14 psychiatric disorders, and 5 million people with no such diagnosis.

The scientists found that genetic similarities among the 14 disorders suggest that they fall into five essential categories: substance use disorders; internalizing conditions such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder; neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; compulsive conditions such as anorexia nervosa, Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder; and a fifth group that includes bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The study found that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia share about 70 percent of the same genetic drivers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/01/01/psychiatric-disorders-genetic-bipolar-schizophrenia/

[Mr. Bumble]

They left out TDS.

[Malika la Maize]

Well, Trump supporters, like many cultists, could be said to be deranged but that might not rise to the level of psychiatric disorders.

[ThePublius]

So you're saying that all Trump supporters are cultists and deranged? Right.

[Martinned]

At this point that seems like a fair assessment.

[ThePublius]

No, it's a stupid, partisan generalization.

[Martinned]

What do you mean "partizan"? Increasingly it's just the cultists who still approve of what the Regime is doing.

https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin

[ThePublius]

This cultist stuff is just crap coming from the left, part of the Alinksy playbook.

[Sarcastr0]

the Alinksy playbook

The book I'd never heard of till the right started talking about it for Obama's entire administration, and then it dropped off the radar again?

It's not even a conspiracy! It's like an imitation conspiracy theory - 9 out of 10 dumbasses can't tell the difference!

[ThePublius]

You had never heard of Rules for Radicals until Obama? Where had you been? You don't recall the Hillary Clinton/Alinsky connection?

And who said it's a conspiracy?

"In 1969, Hillary Rodham wrote a 92-page senior thesis for Wellesley College about the views advocated by community organizer Saul Alinsky, titled "There Is Only the Fight . . . ": An Analysis of the Alinsky Model." (wikipedia)

'Alinsky significantly influenced Barack Obama's early career as a community organizer in Chicago, teaching him to mobilize working-class people.'

[Sarcastr0]

Haha you sure are all in.

Now do Cloward-Piven!

[ThePublius]

I think you're going to have to consult Ilhan Omar on that one.

[David Nieporent]

This cultist stuff is just crap coming from the left, part of the Alinksy playbook.

1) You have never read "the Alinksy playbook."
2) Neither has anybody else in the last 50 years.
3) The only people who have thought about it in that time are MAGA, inventing fake boogeymen.

[ThePublius]

Fuck you, David, I have too read it, and also a couple of books countering it. Don't be so arrogant and smug that you can say what I have or haven't done, you asshole.

There, you made me break my civility resolution.

[David Nieporent]

So you're saying that all Trump supporters are cultists and deranged? Right.

Not all; some cough*StephenMiller*cough are evil and just don't care that Trump's crazy, because he's a tool (in every pejorative way) for them to get what they want.

[Martinned]

Meanwhile, all over Europe far-right parties are distancing themselves from Trump. They're decidedly mealy-mouthed about the value of the EU, but are definitely insisting that "Europe" should tell Trump to fuck off.

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-donald-trump-afd-greenland-nicolas-maduro-national-rally/

Italy’s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”

The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni said, adding it was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t identify.

Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”

Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/europe-warns-dangerous-downward-spiral-after-trump-threatens-129324725

[Brett Bellmore]

Ironically, that's actually Trumpism: One of Trump's key points about governance is that a nation's government is supposed to focus on THAT nation's welfare, not the welfare of the world.

And that's what they're doing here: Acting based on how Trump's moves affect their own countries.

[Sarcastr0]

You make an assumption about the European far right that is pretty telling about your worldview. Or your ignorance about those parties.

Either way.

[Martinned]

Well, they're mostly acting based on how wildly unpopular Trump is in their own countries. Accusing far right parties of caring about their nations' welfare seems naive in the extreme.

[David Nieporent]

One of Trump's key points about governance is that a nation's government is supposed to focus on THAT nation's welfare, not the welfare of the world.

A nation is part of the world.

[Mr. Bumble]

Is Amazon having any MLK day sales?
Aren't holidays in America celebrated that way?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I think we're still in the "Holy" phase of "holiday." Freeing it, as far as I can tell, from the taint of Mammon.

But give it time, and they'll find a way to make it commercial, like they've done with previous holy days.

[LexAquilia]

No one celebrates this day except the small slice Americans who get it as a paid holiday.

[Mr. Bumble]

Mostly government employees.

[Frank Drackman]

They should, they can call it......

"Black Monday"

Frank

[ThePublius]

Good one. 🙂

[Mr. Bumble]

"They should, they can call it......

"Black Monday" "
With 100 percent reparation discounts for selected customers.

[MarkJawz]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/18/us/st-paul-church-ice-protesters-disrupt-service-hnk

Love this so much. Hopefully they get prison sentences like the old ladies Biden prosecuted for praying outside abortion clinics.

[Michael P]

Unsurprisingly, a Biden's word cannot be trusted. Not even when breaching that trust means contempt of court.

https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/hunter-bidens-baby-mama-wants-him-jailed-over-broken-child-support-deal/

[Malika la Maize]

How weird is it to be obsessed with Hunter Biden now?

[ThePublius]

It's literally in the news the last two days!

[Mr. Bumble]

A comment about a story that is in the news is "obsessed"?

[Martinned]

Is it in the news? Or is it being talked about in the Trumpist blogosphere?

[ThePublius]

Do this: go to google, search "Hunter Biden," click on the "news" tab and judge for yourself.

[ducksalad]

I just did. Google came up with articles from Fox News, the New York Post, and the Free Beacon.

I'll concede the first two minimally qualify as news, so you aren't absolutely wrong. But Martinned wasn't that far off either.

[ThePublius]

Also the Telegraph, Times of India, KATV News, K8 News, The Daily Mail, AOL.com, and others, all within the last two days.

Don't expect anything soon from the NY Times, WSJ or WaPo.

[Martinned]

Go Google Rupert Murdoch.

[Mr. Bumble]

"Keith Rupert Murdoch (/ˈmɜːrdɒk/ MUR-dok; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian and American former business magnate, investor, and media mogul.[3][4] Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the United Kingdom (The Sun and The Times), in Australia (The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, and The Australian), in the United States (The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post), book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News (through Fox Corporation). He was also the owner of Sky (until 2018), 21st Century Fox (until 2019), and the now-defunct News of the World."
From wiki.
No mention of failure to pay child support.

[Mr. Bumble]

Obviously in their great wisdom, the NYT has decided it is not fit to print.

[Moderation4ever]

Trying googling Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein and report back what you find. I found the WSJ reporting that Trump was sending young Mar a Lago employees to Epstein's house.

[ThePublius]

Stuff your whataboutism.

[Moderation4ever]

Not really whataboutism. The Wall Steet Journal hasn't had a Hunter Biden Story for 6 months. I think they are over Hunter. The WSJ story I mentioned on Trump-Epstein is less than a month old.

[ThePublius]

Yes, but what the fuck does the Trump-Weinstein story have to do with the Biden thing this thread is about? That's the definition of whataboutism, or at least deflection, trying to derail the conversation.

[Moderation4ever]

There are many in the MAGA world that have and as we see continue to let Hunter Biden live rent free in their heads. President Trump seems obsessed with preventing the American people from seeing the extent of his relationship with Jeffery Epstein and that he, Trump, may have some relationships with underage girls. So lets instead worry about Hunter Biden.

[ThePublius]

Stuff your whataboutism.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

I'm reading Julia by Heather B. Moore.

It's a work of historical fiction based on the life of Julia Child. She did intelligence work during WWII, which is where she met her husband.

A former member of the CIA wrote a foreword blessing the accuracy of the intel stuff while also praising the book overall.

Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci were charming as Julia and Paul Child in the film Julie & Julia.

One other tidbit: Julia Child liked cats. Multiple books talk about that, including at least one children's book. Meow.

[Krayt]

As if that wasn't enough, she did a beef roast by using a "larding needle", where you core out a long thin cylinder and replace it with a cylinder of fat. Of course you start with well-marbled beef.

Then, if your beef is dry, just in case, she slaps an entire slab of suet on top, only then thrown in the oven.

Evil, evil low-fat beef.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Remember Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail?

Remember why he was *in* jail? Because a court ordered him to obey Birmingham's unconstitutional parade ordinance (parades needed the approval of Bull Connor), and King paraded anyway (shockingly, without Connor's approval). King went to prison for violating the court order, not the unconstitutional ordinance.

And here is the Supreme Court upholding the court order because the courts must be obeyed:

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/388/307/

And here's the Court confirming that the underlying parade ordinance was unconstitutional (not that this helped King by now):

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/394/147/

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Michael Dorf provides a classic post to celebrate the holiday.

He notes in part:

Is it true that rich powerful white people inculcated racism in poor whites to blind them to their own economic interests? Yes, to some degree. But it's also true that poor and working poor whites often took racism well beyond the interests of rich powerful white people.

He also suggests that Thurgood Marshall was a possible civil rights "saint," but King was chosen for various reasons.

https://www.dorfonlaw.org/2026/01/for-mlk-day-classic-with-new-preface-on.html

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I have a simpler explanation of the King holiday:

(a) Jim Crow needed killing.

(b) King was a prominent figure who helped kill Jim Crow (there were many others in the movement, but it's fair to say King was prominent in it).

(c) The defeat of Jim Crow was as significant as the defeat of George III, and if the latter gets a holiday, the former should, too.

(d) King was a political martyr, while Marshall died of old age.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I'm sure the rich whites were happy to exploit pre-existing racial prejudice, but it's noteworthy that when the rich whites wanted to tap the brakes and go moderate when segregation got out of hand, a lot of poor whites protested, and wanted to hit the accelerator instead. So the rich were not simply puppetmasters.

[David Nieporent]

Isn't that literally what the Dorf quote says?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

No, Dorf literally gave a single example - he discussed the poor-white rioting in the Groveland case, which the rich whites opposed.

The conflict I was thinking of was the willingness of rich whites to negotiate settlements (often token settlements, to be sure) to avoid the risk of unrest, versus certain poor whites (perhaps with less to lose) who were more into rioting and violence.

Obviously this was not a universal rule. There were peaceful poor whites and rich whites who were into violence.

[Frank Drackman]

Don't forget, he had a Scheme.

[Bunny495]

Something in my feed came up related to "The Gangs of New York". While I enjoyed the moved (never saw Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis movie I did not enjoy) it has a mixed street rep.

The movie downplayed the anti-draft riots that were the result of poor white Irish disliking having to fight for what they viewed as helping blacks take jobs from them along with the rich being able to pay three hundred bucks to get out of the draft. While we will probably never know the extent of the death and destruction the Irish inflicted on blacks in NYC let's not pretend it was not one of the ugliest incidents in American history. These riots were not confined to NY, throughout the Union there was massive sentiment against fighting an unpopular war.

[Dr. Ed 2]

It was only $200 in Maine.

Buy from what I understand, the majority of the Irish rage was that they were being taken fresh off the boat and sent to war.

[ThePublius]

This seems very even handed, sensible, and neutral:

https://www.newbedfordpd.com/2025/09/federal-immigration-enforcement-operations-faq/

[Bwaaah]

An important reminder about DJT: he's a narcissist (as in "narcissistic personality disorder.")

I was once sitting at a table with a narcissist and his wife. She said, "People think that as a narcissist, David thinks he's the most important person in the world. That's a misunderstanding. From his perspective, he is the *only* person in the world. There's no way around that for him."

David gave a look of resigned agreement. He couldn't deny that as being a proper take. (David was actually a very charming and successful professional, and unbeknownst to many, the center of the universe.)

[ducksalad]

Exactly how many people were at that table? Trying to figure out if you are David, David's wife, or a third party observer. Or more than one role at once...

[Mr. Bumble]

Seems obvious he was a third party observer and David was our very own David Notsoimportant.

[ducksalad]

I can picture the dinner now.

Nieporent is sitting there doing the facepalm while his wife Riva (who he married before finding out about her family genetic history, kind of like Rochester's first wife in Jane Eyre) bizarrely lays into him for supposedly being a narcissist. He doesn't deny it because she'd bite or stab him if he crossed her.

Meanwhile, Bwaaah tells the waiter that he's a lifelong Bud Light drinker, but was recently disaffected by their trans friendly ad campaign. Instead he orders a Trump Blonde Lager, the one that comes in a white can with gold script.

[Bwaaah]

I'm disappointed in you. You still think I'm a bullshitter.

[ducksalad]

Don't feel too bad about it. Some of my best friends are bullshitters.

[Bwaaah]

Why would I feel bad? You show no concern about missing my points due to miscalculation. That's pretty lame (like Sarcastr0 and Malika and Magister and others around here). I think you're a capable thinker, but too often lazy. (Malika is capable too, but inexorably stuck on a side.)

Anyway, my father was a bullshitter (among other not-so-lovely ways). I liked him, but had to ignore more of him than might otherwise have been worthy of consideration. (There was a lot of real substance packed into that bullshitter.)

You are dismissive, to a point of fault. I'm probably not the first person to have told you that.

[ducksalad]

Actually that particular criticism (dismissive) is a new one. But maybe I just missed it in the avalanche of other complaints.

[Bwaaah]

I figured that word might miss. How about "condescending?"

[ducksalad]

Not that one either. I appreciate these new insights.

Back when "serving" as department chair, there was a periodic evaluation where the department would provide anonymized critiques on my "leadership". Avoids confrontation, disorganized, doesn't call out liars strongly enough (no really), not assertive enough, biased against men (they thought 3 women out of 15 was too much given that they were a smaller fraction of applicants), biased against Asians (literally 3/4 of my hires were born in Asia but they pointed out it should be 100%). But not dismissive or condescending. Maybe they forgot, or had a word limit and had to prioritize.

Fortunately for everyone, I had no power to respond by implementing tariffs or seizing Greenland, and had to limit myself to thanking them and promising to try harder.

[Bwaaah]

Very interesting. (You are easily redeemed with sincere commentary like that, as you do with some frequency.) It appears that online conversations have their own unique social dynamic that don't necessarily comport with "real life." (I'm less of a douche bag in real life than I am here.)

Maybe online anonymity grants you selfish latitude you would normally eschew as a matter of survival?

And not to dismiss your finishing point, indeed, it is freakish and concerning to me to see a U.S. President with such a striking personality disorder.

"2026: The American Conquest of Greenland!" How long have we been needing that?

[ducksalad]

Online anonymity grants you selfish latitude you would normally eschew as a matter of survival

Volokh should delete the "maybe" and the question mark, and then make that the permanent inspirational banner at top of the daily Open Thread. I think that's how we all operate, excepting the brave Brett Bellmore and the new arrival Michael Molovinsky.

[David Nieporent]

I object. I'm the condescending one around here.

[Bwaaah]

There were a bunch of people at the table (9?), including his two daughters. ("David" is a pseudonym.) I was an acquaintance of his, not a friend. We were at the end of the table, with ~5 of us paying attention to that conversation. I was questioning him and his wife about his unusual proclivities when she made that remark.

This is my attempt to accurately recount that moment. It is not allegory. It was an eye-opening moment for me about the nature of narcissistic personality disorder.

[Bwaaah]

When you wonder how a person can seem to so easily trample upon the concerns of others as DJT does, e.g. with respect to Greenland, it's helpful to understand that as a narcissist, there are no other people to trample upon. It's like everything else and always for him. Life is a one-man show.

[ducksalad]

[Snark mode switched off]

I could believe your take for the classical Narcissus, who was content to spend the day looking at his own reflection. Everyone else is irrelevant. He could be happy in solitary confinement if there was a mirror.

But Trump seems to crave the adulation of others. He's obsessed with what they think about him, to the extent of deluding himself about poll numbers and crowd sizes. He not only acknowledges others, he needs them and their affirmations. He would quickly wither away in solitary confinement, even in a luxury suite.

[Bwaaah]

The pursuit of adulation is common in NPD (narcissistic personality disorder). They typically seek to be the center of attention, and often succeed. That's a natural reaction to their loneliness...a byproduct of the fact that even in a crowded room, they feel isolated.

It's important to recognize how unusual and counter-intuitive is the nature of NCP. It manifests as an all-encompassing pathology, like other significant mental disorders.

"David" never just came into the room. He always made an entrance. He was The Man, like DJT. To the world, he was charming (much more broadly than DJT). To his family, despite him always being present and seemingly engaged, he was emotionally unavailable and unreachable. His wife and daughters spoke pointedly about this in front of him, expressing notable measures of pity and regret. But all he could do was shrug in agreement. (He seemed to be a relatively honest guy.) It wasn't a secret. He was alone. (In that moment and after, I felt bad for him, even though he was still always The Man.)

[ducksalad]

It must have been pretty bad if the wife and daughters were willing to call it out in front of a tableful of acquaintances-not-friends.

He seemed to be a relatively honest guy.

That makes a huge difference. It can mitigate even very severe personality defects. But of course the problem is, DJT is not relatively honest, even on the scale used among thieves.

[Bwaaah]

"David's" family's criticism of him didn't hurt him, nor did my questions. In significant regards, there was no difference to him between family, friends, acquaintances and strangers. He always treated his family very well, vis-a-vis the look of it. As everybody knows, "The Man is always good too his family."

Emotionally, he was thoroughly and inescapably isolated. Like a high-functioning sociopath, he was quite aware of the look of other people's feelings, but didn't/couldn't actually feel them, as in feelings of empathy.

[David Nieporent]

When you wonder how a person can seem to so easily trample upon the concerns of others as DJT does, e.g. with respect to Greenland, it's helpful to understand that as a narcissist, there are no other people to trample upon. It's like everything else and always for him. Life is a one-man show.

That is not a good take on Trump. In fact, he is pathologically insecure, desperate for the approval of others. (Hence the whole Nobel Prize thing.) He's what Ayn Rand called a second-hander. He only thinks about what other people think of him.

[John 4]

Trump wants to seize Greenland because he didn’t get a shiny medal.

“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.“

Lol, clown show.

[LexAquilia]

I think a better read is that Trump no longer feels beholden to some implied expectation of his foreign policy stance and that the hateful exclusion in essence frees him from this secret contract to consider all possibilities for protecting our Nation.

It seems like a perfectly reasonable conclusion. Kudos to putting American interests above European policy preferences.

[John 4]

Haha!

[Moderation4ever]

Doesn't seem reasonable. It seems like "I going to take my ball and go". American has no interest in Greenland that can not be address as things now stand with Greenland and Denmark.

[Michael P]

Just like Mamdani's rental czar, NYC's new equity czar deleted a Xitter account full of crazy, bigoted claims.

https://thepostmillennial.com/mamdanis-equity-chief-faces-backlash-over-deleted-posts-targeting-white-liberals

[LexAquilia]

Did Don Lemon and those Democrat activists violate the FACE Act when they terrorized that church yesterday?

https://x.com/i/status/2013119981047677088

[LexAquilia]

This is why we post armed guards at our church services. Those insurrectionist terrorists would've gotten shot before they had a chance to say "Hands up, Don't Shoot" --- that old recycled Ferguson lie.

[ThePublius]

I hate to say so, but when I go to church, which is admittedly infrequently, I always dress respectfully (suit and tie) and I always carry. You never know when some nut will burst in and start shooting.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Planned Parenthood v. Casey noted that reproductive choice is a matter of conscience.

The Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion (CCS) was a group of American clergy who counseled and referred people to licensed doctors for safe abortions before the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade made abortion legal nationwide.

The Baptist Press had this explainer after Roe v. Wade was handed down:

Question: What is the Southern Baptist position on abortion?

Answer: There is no official Southern Baptist position on abortion, or any other such question. Among 12 million Southern Baptists, there are probably 12 million different opinions.

Question: Does the Supreme Court decision on abortion intrude on the religious life of the people?

Answer: No. Religious bodies and religious persons can continue to teach their own particular views to their constituents with all the vigor they desire. People whose conscience forbids abortion are not compelled by law to have abortions. They are free to practice their religion according to the tenets of their personal or corporate faith.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/baptist-press-initial-reporting-on-roe-v-wade/

The Southern Baptists later changed their position.

There are various religious positions on the question:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/06/21/where-major-religious-groups-stand-on-abortion/

[The Margrave of Azilia]

You mean the Southern Baptists used to be wrong about a human-rights issue, but now they're right?

Like they were with slavery?

[Swede425]

Will Fartsmell get to continue his run to be Temu Newsom?
How many bedrooms fit in a PO Box?
Inquiring minds...

[LexAquilia]

If 4,500 CA Voters can live in a Port-a-Potty, their Senator can live at his lawyers PO Box.

Makes perfect sense in a Democrat state.

[David Nieporent]

The thing about our MAGA trolls is that they're not even timely or accurate. There was no "PO Box" and this was debunked yesterday anyway.

[ThePublius]

Oh, bullshit, it wasn't debunked. People just responded with speculation that he may be renting in CA, or 'living in his mother's basement,' and that the D.C. mortgage was in his wife's name, not his, but all of this contradicts the original reporting.

[David Nieporent]

No. I went and looked at the form. And posted a link to it. It does not ask for his home address, so claiming that he listed his lawyer's office as his home address has been debunked. (I expressly reserved judgment on whether he actually has a residence in California, because there's no information about that specific fact that I've found.)

[LexAquilia]

There's a literal image of the form he signed with the lawyer's address on it.

How was it debunked? I expect what you meant to say "an excuse no matter how thin that was plausibly acceptable was provided and every Democrat now clings to it"

[David Nieporent]

As I just mentioned above, I posted the link to the form in yesterday's open thread. But it doesn't say that it's his home address.

[ThePublius]

Oh, man, you're bending over backward to defend Swalwell so far that you can look up your own asshole.

[Sarcastr0]

You couldn’t provide a response to him yesterday and you can’t now.

Your just mad because you wanted another liberal scalp, and maybe it’s not as cut and dried as when you just believed the Comer nonsense.

[ThePublius]

I'm not mad, clairvoyant Sarc, and I didn't agree with DN yesterday, and I don't agree today.

Fortunately, time will likely tell, and we won't have to argue about it.

[ThePublius]

Holy shit! Shades of the UK and Germany (and Nazi Germany):

"Miami police are now flagging residents Facebook posts and sending police to their homes to intimidate them for talking badly about the mayor."

https://x.com/dom_lucre/status/2013258908912046336

(This woman did a pretty good job. But, after talking to my two attorneys and watching a whole bunch of legal youtube, I wouldn't even open the door and talk to police. If they have a warrant I'd want to see it, and I would caution them to confine their search to what's explicitly mentioned in the warrant. I would call my lawyer and record everything. Don't talk to the police!)

[hobie]

First we go after students, universities, law firms, and media for their political speech. Then journalists covering the pentagon. Then media orgs. Then tourists' social media history to see if they've badmouthed Trump/America.

Now we're going after Floridians that are badmouthing yet another politician?!

Bro, I'm with you on this one. Gotta stop all this nonsense!

[LexAquilia]

Remember how they were crowing how a Democrat won the Mayorship in what is now Red FL? How that was a signal of their resurgence...

This is just how they govern. They do it in their districts. Their tribe does it all over Europe. They are, and always have been, tyrants.

[OpinionsVary]

You're mixing up your mayors here. Eileen Higgins is the mayor of Miami and she is indeed a democrat. The mayor involved in this story is the mayor of Miami **Beach**. He's Steven Meiner and ran as a Nonpartisan (as did his opponent).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Miami_Beach_mayoral_election

[LexAquilia]

Mea culpa.

Thanks for the clarification. The behavior is disgusting and we're seeing it on the rise.

[ThePublius]

Right. I would tell them to get off my property, and go fuck themselves.

[TwelveInchPianist]

It's a version claim that harshly criticizing someone incites violence. It's a fairly common anti-speech trope. People on the left, including famously the NYT, made it about Sarah Palin's crosshairs map. Mike Johnson made it about Biden's bullseye comment. Sarcastro and others frequently make it about LibsOfTikTok.

The encounter with police looks like a consensual knock-and-talk. I don't think there are any rules against this, though there probably should be.

[Bwaaah]

New York City is now running YouTube commercials to let everybody know that "free or low-cost health care" and other services are available to "everybody including undocumented people."

Unsurprisingly, there are also commercials running (by some political action group I never heard of) declaring that New York City needs more funding from New York State, and that the state has lots of money but is pretending that it doesn't.

So for all you illegal aliens out there, be aware that New York City has lots of FREE STUFF FOR YOU.

I'm looking for an intelligent person, who isn't a socialist or other such political outlier, to put forward a cogent defense of the City's advertising campaign. How will that result in overall improvement of life in NYC? (Is that the wrong question?)

[Swede425]

LOL!
It'll be Learing Centers all the way down in NYC.
And it should be.
It's demonstrably what they want.
And they should get it.

[ThePublius]

I'll contribute to Fung Wah bus fares to send illegals in Boston and surroundings to NYC, the land of milk and honey.

[LexAquilia]

My how the Overton Window shifts:

What’s happening in Minnesota is a real insurrection, far different from the J6 riot, and Trump needs to treat it like one.

https://thefederalist.com/2026/01/19/trump-has-a-real-insurrection-on-his-hands-in-minnesota/

Very powerful argument. Hard to refute. It is a real insurrection. Let's hope that division in Alaska is locked and loaded, ready to defend our country.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Beware the Greenland Defense Front

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS0wFiWpU4U

[Bunny495]

A great example of how AI vids are everywhere. While the message can be debated the production values are better than average. One thing I have noticed is no matter what side you are on if the content fits your narrative the fact that it is AI makes no difference.

[Bwaaah]

I've begun to pass on any youtube video from an unestablished source that looks and sounds polished. A couple of months ago, I watched an interesting documentary from a nowhere channel. Every day since, that channel has churned out another quality production just like that first one. The narrator voices are of especially high quality, although they frequently mispronounce less common words.

I believe 2026 is destined to be the year of "peak bullshit." A useful future will only be found in trustworthy provenance. (Not that many people at this point care.)

[Bunny495]

When you see polar bears with automatic weapons driving pickup trucks it does raise questions about reality. As someone who makes videos using AI a keen eye can usually spot AI created stuff. It does get harder when the video starts out with real raw footage and then morphs into AI. As an aside I don't always trust established sources. There have been several MSM edits that made Kamals sound almost rational, but when the raw footage surfaced it was her usual word salad. Same goes for some of the videos of Biden stumbling around like a drunken sailor when in reality the raw footage was not so bad.

[Bunny495]

I am seeing stuff about hotels closing or partially closing in Minneapolis. One claim was that notes were slipped under the door of some guests saying their reservations were cancelled and they would have to vacate. There seem to be verified reports that ICE agents had their reservations canceled in some part due to noise (and maybe safety concerns) directed at ICE agents.

This is not my area of expertise, but it seems to come dangerously close to a discrimination issue if a class of guests is refused service while other are not. There is no question when integrating business in the South the presents of blacks disrupted the businesses but for the most part that was a non-issue. What do all you smart guys think.

[ThePublius]

"presents of blacks" - did you mean presence of blacks?

[Bunny495]

Oh no, the grammer police strike again. Spelling to explode liberal heads; they always take the bate.

[ThePublius]

Ha, ha, good one.

[Michael P]

I always wanted to be a Gregorian monk, but I never got the chants.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Under the common law of the laws of most states, a public house must accept all patrons who are well behaved, and able to pay.

[David Nieporent]

False. That was true in England, but has never been true here. That's why public accommodations laws were necessary.

[Bob from Ohio]

Funny no lib NYT link on this story though it "broke" the story.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/18/politics/josh-shapiro-book-kamala-harris-israel

[Swede425]

LOL!
"Say, are you an Israeli spy or have you ever conversed with an Israeli spy?"
"Wut?"
"Never mind, we're going with Elmer Fraud!"
The smartest people in the room, ladies and gentlemen.

[Bob from Ohio]

"Elmer Fraud"

Good one!

[Sarcastr0]

Yeah, why doesn't the NYT post nonstories?

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/19/politics/tim-walz-kamala-harris-josh-shapiro
"Walz was also asked about foreign ties during Harris vetting, sources tell CNN.

The Minnesota governor — whom Harris ultimately picked — was asked by her vetting team if he had ever been an agent of China, prompted by aides’ review of the multiple trips Walz took to China before running for office.

That was the same line of questioning, four people involved with that process say, which led to top lawyer Dana Remus asking Shapiro if he had ever been an agent of Israel, in a conversation that Shapiro recounts in his memoir set to be published next week."

If you'd Googled you'd have saved us all some time.

[Mr. Bumble]

All of which proves that Trump's win saved us from a group more incompetent than Biden's.

[Bunny495]

Just saw a few posts in my feed about this. From the looks of the video the sling is so tight I doubt he could shoulder the rifle. Not my clowns, not my circus but play stupid games win stupid prizes.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/trying-to-protect-my-people-man-in-minneapolis-seen-with-guns-against-ice-agents-viral-video-sparks-concern/articleshow/126667468.cms

[Swede425]

LOL!
Built like a block of ballistic gel.

[ThePublius]

If ICE shows up and he points that gun at an agent unprovoked, he can wind up dead. What on earth does he think he's protecting? Illegals? Why?

[Swede425]

Liberal chicks LOVE displays of testosterone.
I hope she sees this, tubby!

[Sarcastr0]

And if an ICE agent points a gun at a citizen unprovoked, and then shoots them, you'll cheer them on and call that citizen a terrorist.

[SRG2]

Yup.

We know that ICE are acting extra-constitutionally, and we know that a major, if not the #1, purpose of 2A is to allow individual citizens to arm themselves as a protection against tyranny. This patriotic citizen should be applauded by the right-wing posters - more, indeed, than they applaud the Jan 6 rioters. But the (R)eich must be obeyed.

[Commenter_XY]

We do not 'know' any of the sort = We know that ICE are acting extra-constitutionally...

[SRG2]

We do, because they have seized and detained US citizens without reasonable suspicion.

[RedheadedPharoh]

People don't have a 1A right to target a lawful government function,much less a 2A right.

[SRG2]

True. They do have a 2A right KBA in order to forestall unlawful government action.

[Brett Bellmore]

"We know that ICE are acting extra-constitutionally, "

Give me a stinking break already. The whole freaking federal government has been acting extra-constitutionally for most of a century. Exercising powers it was never delegated, doing things it was explicitly forbidden to do. And most of it at the urging of the Democratic party, which has no problem AT ALL with the government grossly violating the Constitution, so long as it's doing something they approve of.

You only problem here is that they're looking to enforce a law you'd rather were left unenforced.

[Bunny495]

Did you even watch the vid. The weapon was slung so tight to his chest/belly there is no way he could shoulder it at point at an ICE agent. In fact his belly is so big I doubt he could even shoot himself in the foot. Unlike the NFAC clowns who not only shoot each other but their moron leader describes it as "shit happens".

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/three-injured-in-accidental-shooting-at-louisville-protest-tensions-high-in-portland-88292421824

[ThePublius]

How the hell do you know what I would do in some hypothetical situation? Get lost.

[SRG2]

Give it a few weeks and there'll be another chance for you to express outrage.

[ThePublius]

To put this another way, your first amendment rights don't allow you to disrupt and shut down a church service.

"Greg Price
@greg_price11
I'm no historian but I don't think there's ever been a situation in the last 100 years where the people storming the churches were the good guys."

Exactly.

https://x.com/greg_price11/status/2012999618410299433

I hope they arrest and charge and prosecute all who did this, including that loser Don Lemon.

[Michael P]

Apparently the warmth of collectivism is due to heated water splashing your nether parts. One of Zohran Mamdani's aspirations is to install a few bidets in Gracie Mansion.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/14/zohran-mamdani-bidet-new-york-mayor-gracie-mansion/88185069007/

[Absaroka]

Cheaper than a ballroom, I'd guess.

[Mr. Bumble]

Mamdani's mini ballroom.

[ThePublius]

That's funny.

[SRG2]

Wins the internet today!

[Michael P]

Won't anyone please what about the whatabouts?

The Presidential Ballroom will allow foreign dignitaries to urinate and defecate indoors, rather than in outhouses -- among other hygienic and comfort-giving features. It's been a long time since the US deserved to give the impression that we are a nation of hillbillies who are strangers to indoor plumbing. Will the bidet-equipped restrooms be used to accommodate state guests?

[Absaroka]

Well, I have no problem with foreign leaders thinking we are a nation of hillbillies who are strangers to indoor plumbing. If outdoor plumbing is good enough for our cabin, by gum, it's good enough for the president of France, harrummpf. Besides, if they think we're poor they won't ask for as much foreign aid.

On a more serious note, geez. I don't like Mamdani. I agree it's ironic that he's moving into Gracie Mansion, probably with servants, yadda, yadda, instead of making a big deal of living in a cheap apartment somewhere. But ... putting bidets in the house is probably way, way, way down the list of silly things he will spend taxpayer money on.

FWIW, I also don't like paying for Trump's new gold upholstery. or Obama's Audacity of Taupe remodel. I think going upscale on furniture means Ikea instead of the thrift store. But neither of those were the worst things those two men have done, by a long shot.

[David Nieporent]

The Presidential Ballroom will allow foreign dignitaries to urinate and defecate indoors, rather than in outhouses

I am quite confident that several additional indoor bathrooms could have been constructed without razing the entire East Wing to the ground.

[SRG2]

It's been a long time since the US deserved to give the impression that we are a nation of hillbillies who are strangers to indoor plumbing.

Yup. Now we give the impression that we are a nation with a large number of hillbillies only with indoor plumbing.

[Sarcastr0]

Norman Borlaug
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

Borlaug is often called "the father of the Green Revolution", and is credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation.
...
He was awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply.
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Borlaug attributed his decision to leave the farm and pursue further education to his grandfather's urgent encouragement to learn: Nels Olson Borlaug (1859–1935) once told him, "you're wiser to fill your head now if you want to fill your belly later on."
...

Wrestling taught me some valuable lessons [...] I always figured I could hold my own against the best in the world. It made me tough. Many times, I drew on that strength. It's an inappropriate crutch perhaps, but that's the way I'm made

...
To finance his studies, Borlaug put his education on hold periodically to earn some income, as he did in 1935 as a leader in the Civilian Conservation Corps, working with the unemployed on federal projects. Many of the people who worked for him were starving. He later recalled, "I saw how food changed them. All of this left scars on me".
...
In 1940, the Avila Camacho administration took office in Mexico. The administration's primary goal for Mexican agriculture was augmenting the nation's industrialization and economic growth.
U.S. Vice President-Elect Henry Wallace, who was instrumental in persuading the Rockefeller Foundation to work with the Mexican government in agricultural development, saw Avila Camacho's ambitions as beneficial to U.S. economic and military interests.
The Rockefeller Foundation contacted E.C. Stakman and two other leading agronomists. They developed a proposal for a new organization, the Office of Special Studies, as part of the Mexican Government, but directed by the Rockefeller Foundation. It was to be staffed with both Mexican and US scientists, focusing on soil development, maize and wheat production, and plant pathology.
...
In July 1944, after rejecting DuPont's offer to double his salary, and temporarily leaving behind his pregnant wife and 14-month-old daughter, he flew to Mexico City to head the new program as a geneticist and plant pathologist.
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Besides his work in genetic resistance against crop loss, Borlaug felt that pesticides, including DDT, had more benefits than drawbacks for humanity and advocated publicly for their continued use. He continued to support pesticide use despite the severe public criticism he received for it.

[Dr. Ed 2]

It was DDT, which eliminated bedbugs, and banning DDT is why they’re back. DDT saved thousands probably millions of lives by controlling malaria, which used to be a problem in the United States. At one point, Malaya was a problem in Massachusetts.

It was the inappropriate and over expanded use of DDT, which caused the problem. DDT got into mice, which is how it bothered the Eagles, except there are a lot of eagles in hotels, at least ones without guitars.

We should bring back DDT, and tightly control it.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Josh Blackman's "Bost" entry is a serious interpretation of the recent decision. He has it in him. He just chooses not to do it.

[Bunny495]

Kinda old news but worth mentioning. Between 1990 and 2000 China threw away a hundred million perfectally good women. Today there are a hundred million men in China having problems getting laid. More to the point the demographics in China are a disaster. China's population is decreasing and is predicted to do so. It turns out if you want babies women are a necessary ingredent. Even worse is the problem of too many retired peeps and too few working peeps. There is not a happy ending to this story.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/china-s-big-people-shortage-just-got-bigger-and-the-risks-are-growing-too/ar-AA1UwZsX