As JVL pointed out yesterday, Tillis and Kennedy voted to confirm Noem, so I agree with JVL that they don't get credit now for going after her after all this horrendous shit has happened.
I agree with JVL but sometimes think we get a little too obsessed with the idea of credit. Why Tillis and Kennedy might be choosing this moment to go after Noem is a more interesting question than whether or not it earns them any cosmic karma.
Andrew, I don't have any expectations of decent, thoughtful behavior from anyone on the GOP side of the Senate. We're talking about the same group of people who confirmed Hegseth, Kennedy, Bondi, Patel, Gabbard, and so on. None of them are actually interested in establishing a humane immigration and/or border security policy. So for me, the politics of why Kennedy and Tillis are going after Noem is far less important than the fact they have largely abdicated their Constitutional duties in order to stay on Trump's good side.
Agree. That being said, any commotion that renders the Trump administration as a freak show is good with me. Their motivation may be to protect Trump but in doing that they make the fact that Trump selected her a reminder that everything he touches corrupts and dies
Very valid point. Which is why I would have to think twice if the Dems did regain control of Congress as to whether an impeachment is a good thing (I want it, but I think Vance could be competently more dangerous)
I keep going back and forth about that, Dave. The more cynical side of me wants Trump exactly where he is so the voters can experience for themselves what they signed up for. Trump has inflicted a massive amount of damage, but only because a plurality of the electorate signed up for that damage. On the other hand, Trump's a malignant narcissist who appears to have deepening dementia and is enabled by the most craven, morally desiccated people in Washington who by law has total control over our nuclear arsenal. There are no good outcomes here. Only outcomes that have unacceptable levels of risk.
We've got to stop demanding perfection in people that are in elected office. It's counter productive in the situation we find ourselves in and in the event that an impeachment process might be mounted against Noem. A vote to convict by Tillis and Kennedy is valuable. And haven't we learned that if you piss off people like them they will return to devotion to their party and people and refuse to convict?
I'm not saying we should accept general stupidity, corruption, murder, and sexual assault in them just because they are giving someone like Noem a hard time in a hearing. Not at all. But give them a little credit for seeing a problem and calling it out. Tillis and Kennedy's activity in the hearing yesterday was a good thing. We can and should recognize that and maybe even add in a smug "we told you so back when Noem was in the confirmation process."
No thinking person expects perfection in elected reps. What should be demanded is decency, honesty and competence. None of those things have been or are in evidence in the GOP.
And if the Senate was truly serious and operating in good faith, there would be a move to impeach Noem for a myriad of reasons. The GOP side isn't going to go along with that because ultimately they care more about their seats than they do Noem's blatant corruption and incompetence.
They failed to realize at the time that that incident did not show off her sterling moral character to great advantage. They could start a “Why didn’t anybody tell us?” club with Dr. Cassidy.
Shooting a dog and presenting DJT with a mockup of Trump's mug on Mt Rushmore got her what she wanted. Speaking of Mt Rushmore, I surprised Mt Tushmore hasn't come up with the idea of putting his face up there!
Well Kennedy was dragging her for telling the truth: she is just a public mouthpiece for Steven Miller. Apparently it's common knowledge in DC that Miller tells Corey Lewandowski what to tell Noem to do and say regarding policy. Her own concerns being centered on personal perks and servants' attention to her security... er, security blanket.
There will come a day where Miller will have to answer for his actions. It may not be soon, but it will come, and my dearest wish is he experiences the same legal process the exact same way that those he hates experience it.
I hope this isn’t too crude, but I imagine a prison laundry room scenario, akin to the menacing apartment scene in the film Training Day, in which that little bastard is politely asked by a gang of fellow prisoners “Excuse me little sir, have you ever had your s*^t pushed in?”
I've often posted that anyone who supports and/or enables this administration who believes they're not bound by the rule of law has no moral or philosophical claim of protection under the rule of the law. Miller grew up in a pluralistic, liberal society and is now feverishly working to destroy the very system that allowed him to become successful. So fuck him.
He will but only if he (Trump) thinks himself safe. If Trump has any indication that he is going down, he will not pardon anyone and instead bring them down with him
No kidding. When (and I think it's only a matter of when, certainly not a matter of "if," those puppies burst open, there'll be enough silicone to fill a 5-gallon bucket.
I thought long and hard about this, and the best I can come up with is this: I'm sure the horse that made such a valuable contribution to her hair extensions has a very sweet disposition.
Don’t forget multiple murderer. I can’t wait for the tribunals. Her Stony, Cortenide/Duranium facial structure, and laminated, artificial facial integument will look so good sitting in the dock.
My brother served on one of the aircraft carriers in the Strait during the first Gulf War, and I understand the fear of the families who have service members on them now. I am so grateful he is no longer in the Navy. Though his service doesn’t seem to matter because he isn’t white, so he now has to fear ICE picking him up in some idiotic “sweep” looking for “illegals” since the only thing that proves citizenship to them seems to be white skin. We actually have a plan in place for my niece (he’s a single dad) if he disappears. Maybe the Gulf would be safer.
People should know. It’s heartbreaking. That a preteen needs to have a plan in case her law abiding veteran parent is disappeared by our own government is insane. There are actually social media veterans groups sending out warnings and sightings of ICE to their members. Even in my rural area of my blue state I see ICE vehicles on the side roads watching the vehicles on the main highway as they go by.
If justice ever comes to the clearly corrupt admin folks, I suspect it will happen when they begin turning on each other. I hope I live long enough to see it.
Don't mess with Texas! And if you've got a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, consider giving to the Talarico campaign. This is going to be an expensive race, maybe the most expensive Senate race in history.
On a sadder note, Bill Kristol's favorite congressman from Houston, Al Green, is down about 2,000 votes in his primary due to congressional redistricting. Hopefully, if Christian Menifee wins, he'll find a way to get himself tossed out of next year's SOTU in Green's honor.
Great turnout! I liked both Candidates. I do have a concern about voting in TEXAS. Yesterday morning, my husband browsed the local paper. We learned that our old precinct had been changed to “REPUBLICANS ONLY”. The new location was “DEMOCRATS ONLY”. The new one was about 4 miles away and less accessible. Some people vote on the way to work and may not have the time to vote. This could be repeated in NOVEMBER! I don’t trust the Republican Party in TEXAS. Not one bit. Not too long ago, many polls in TEXAS were WHITES ONLY.☹️
And people laugh at California's "jungle primary" in which everyone can vote for any primary candidate regardless of party and the sending of vote by mail ballots to all registered voters. The voters have their ballots and don't need to figure out what precinct they're supposed to go to. Doing it the California way robs political operatives and corrupt governmental officials from playing games such as what we saw in Texas yesterday.
A Texas NYT commenter noted that some polling places in Crockett's Dallas district were mucked up. This from a Dallas TV station: "Voting was extended until 9 p.m. in Dallas County after the Dallas County Democratic Party asked for an extension on Tuesday due to confusion over precinct-specific voting locations and issues with the county's elections website."
The late votes were not counted. The Texas Supreme Court ordered the responsible to REMOVE all votes that came in after 7:00pm. I’ve never seen them separated like that in Houston, but I’m new to the area.
Most counties, including Harris County (Houston) had a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by both parties that allowed voters of either party to vote anywhere in the county. Dallas County didn't do that b/c the local Republicans demanded paper ballots.
That is really weird. We went on the last day of early voting. They had split the poll workers into 2 rows - Democratic or republican. The poll worker at the entrance asked us before we entered what party are we voting for. They were all very helpful and polite, I've just never had that happen before when voting.
It was very heartening to see a higher Democratic turnout - and some were out loud and proud about it.
Same here. I early voted in Galveston county, which is about R+40. And everyone that came in while I was there voted on my row (Democrats). Not a single voter was using the machines on the other row. That was my first clue that the Democratic energy was high.
Great. So now they have cellphone/license plate data on every voter and can target those who voted in the Democratic primary with surgical precision. Imagine showing up in November and being told you were being investigated for fraudulent voting because your last name ends in a "z."
EXACTLY. It just feels like a setup disguised as a minor issue. I’m suspicious due to past incidents of fraud. You can do anything if you have a building full of Democrats: start a fire, lose ballots, trash ballots. When Trump ran against Clinton, the odds favoring a Clinton victory were 91 to 9. Trump would have definitely lost without a lot of “help”.
Texas primaries are run by the parties rather than the state government. So, each party gets to pick it's polling locations. In the past, the two parties cooperated to make life easy for voters, but that may be breaking down. However, that particular problem won't affect the general election in November.
Oh, OK; that's a relief. I could just imagine ICE's job harrassing voters being infinitely easier if they only had to go to Dem polling places. Thanks for clearing that up.
For those interested in what happened at the polls in Dallas and Williamson Counties, in the Democratic Senate primary campaign in Texas, here’s some details from the Texas Tribune.
The results began coming in Tuesday evening after a day of turmoil at the polls in Dallas County, Crockett’s home base and the state’s second most populous county. Confusion arose over a rule change about where voters could cast ballots — pushed by the Dallas County GOP — which led to numerous voters being turned away at the polls.
Earlier Tuesday evening, a district judge granted the Dallas County Democratic Party’s request to extend polling hours in the county to 9 p.m. Soon after, at the request of Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily ordered that votes cast by people who were not in line to vote by 7 p.m. — when polls were originally set to close — should be separated out, casting uncertainty over whether those ballots would be included in the county’s final tally.
And when voters tried to find their polling places online they could not because the system crashed. Too many people looking at once or more ratfuckery from a GOP govt determined to keep GOP control?
I actually did that. I was so impressed with "Rev. James" on the Ezra Klein show I emailed his campaign and asked if a Wolverine might throw a $20 at a Texan ...
I hope the Dems don't take a deal to ditch Noem in exchange for freeing up the DHS money. She'll just be replaced by someone quieter but equally as bad, and the GOP will line up to rubber-stamp the nomination.
DHS should just be abolished, it's rotten to the core. Putting a few guardrails in place will just legitimize something that is beyond redemption. From the top down this maladministration has mowed over every guardrail that was supposed to constrain it. What makes Democrats think they'll straighten up and fly right with a few guardrails?
OT - Not looking forward to more tasteless and disgusting commercials featuring paxton and cornyn throwing hands with each other.
I intend on writing to my representatives to say that ditching meaningful DHS changes (respecting the 4th amendment, judicial warrants, removing masks, requiring ID and video cam) simply to remove Noem is a betrayal. Without meaningful guardrails, the leader of DHS doesn’t mean much. We would just have a more competent leader hiding these abuses.
Shots: "Using that tactic (among others), Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper “sank” a huge number of Navy ships in a mock exercise about the Strait of Hormuz called Millennium Challenge 2002. His success was so unexpected and overwhelming that he almost ruined a multi-hundred-million-dollar military exercise and caused a scandal."
24 years later, I still remember sitting in my car and hearing a story about this. Van Riper was incredibly clever, using motorcycle messengers and some basic forms of transmission and confounding the latest technology at every turn. (The Ukrainians have been equally enterprising, though making use of some modern inventions, like the drones.)
I don't know if the Iranians are that shrewd, but all you need is a few to figure things out. Hegseth sure as hell won't.
Depending on what is left of it, the Iranians had turned themselves into one of the major drone producers with a capacity to churn out an estimated 10,000 per month. Now imagine running Van Riper’s experiment again while having low cost drones at your disposal. Even if we destroy the Iranian navy, small boats launching drones in the straight to attack shipping could become a major problem. This would essentially be a larger naval version of what the Ukrainians have been doing. How well would conventional warships respond to a situation like this?
I remember reading about that too. I seem to recall that the Navy claimed that the Red Force wouldn’t have been clever enough to pull that off, and that it was essentially cheating by Van Riper. I got news for ya admirals, the enemy is gonna cheat. When I was in the USAF, our instructors told us, “If you ain’t cheatin, you ain’t tryin!”
Plus, the Navy is spread as thin as too little butter on too much bread, given the high profile procurement disasters over the recent years. The Zumwalt Class, the Littoral Combat Ships, and the Constellation Class.
I think many people are under the impression that naval vessels today are heavily armored like back in WW2. Nope, an Arleigh Burke Class Flight III Destroyer weighs 9,700 tons. It’s got 70 tons of Kevlar armor around the Combat Information Center, and machinery spaces, to mitigate fragmentation from a hit.
A hit from an Iranian anti-ship missile carrying a 500 pound warhead probably wouldn’t sink her, but it would be a mission kill, requiring extensive repair back in the states.
I hope that the powers that be pay attention to Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper. I fear that in their arrogance they won't, just like Gen. Billy Mitchell wasn't listened to about the Navy's vulnerability to air attack and his prediction that the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor could be wiped out by air attack on a Sunday morning. The arrogant admirals and higher ups didn't listen and the rest they say is history.
It is time we shifted from being a "Resistence" to "Reclaiming America". Thinking we are a noble Resistence to Trump/MAGA suggests the corrupt, criminal mob that is running our country has some legitimacy. They don't. Trump and his goons have stolen all semblance of collaborative, democratic governance. The current illegal decapitation assault against Iran is further proof that Trump now believes he's not just the "supreme ruler" of the US but also the "supreme ruler" of the world of nations. WOW! Who knew. He's the stuff of Myth and Legend. It is time we start Reclaiming the language and symbols of our Nation and the way we are governed. Apparently, Trump fears things he can't control. If that is true, he should be very afraid. Perhaps if Trump read the Preamble to the Constitution he might pause and fear. We the People are the foundation of governing power in America. We the People grant that power to elected officials who promise to follow the Constitution. Trump had grossly failed to follow his promise. It is time for the People to kick him out.
One hopes. It's difficult to feel confident this far out, and taking into consideration the Texas SC's interference in Dallas last night ... just one example of testing the waters on voter suppression. Republicans only win if turnout is small; big turnout means long lines that should necessitate leaving polls open longer. Then some arbitrary requirement that you had to be in line at a certain time makes no sense if the poll is open til 8:00 getting there at 8:00 should suffice. State elections commissions best be doing some gaming out possible interference and responses.
Indeed. Or things will begin to wobble, and come undone in unpredictable ways. Given the nonexistent plan for the Iran shit show, I don’t think Trump has gamed out the non-permissive environment his actions could precipitate here.
Thank you for discussing the non-American deaths. One thing that I find very hard to take, even when listening to Bulwark podcasts, is the comments about "4 dead", or "6 dead", as if the American dead are the only deaths occurring.
"Thom Tillis—who is retiring next year—uncorked a whole Festivus’s worth of grievances on Noem ...." Truly well-played, Mr. Egger. This is among my favorite "Eggings."
Off topic, but important. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has announced that since the outbreak of the war they have received complaints from almost 200 uniformed military about commanding officers describing this war as the beginning of Armageddon to usher in the return of Jesus. The complaints have come from 40 different units staged at 30 different installation. The DOD has not yet responded to requests for clarification. The FFRF has stated they have no video or audio confirmation at this time. I should think that would be hard to get in a classified operational setting. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/investigating-claim-us-troops-were-224500808.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
I have followed the rise of Christian Nationalism and the Dominionist movement in the military for two decades. That this is absolutely true would not shock me at all. The Air Force Academy and the Army have had real issues with this movement and it's spread in the officer corps. Bibi has played this movement for all it's worth in spite of the fact it calls for the damnation of all Jews who refuse to convert. Not shocking that the 'Rev' Huckabee is our Ambassador to Israel or that Hegseth fancies himself a Crusader. Trump has no idea of what a mess he has unleashed in Iran. We could have a real Holy War on our hands.
I agree with the three risks mentioned in the article pertaining to escorting ships. The big issue with all of this is that the administration has no strategy or goals and it is doubtful that decision makers even considered the consequences of their actions. My major concern with this war is that the US has finite resources and Iran is really not a geopolitical threat or worthy of some major action. Further, this war has the potential to divert important resources from East Asia, which is far more vital to our long-term geopolitical strategy.
I watched Tillis rain down on her yesterday. I have to admit, that was so enjoyable. But while she is uneducated, mean, ignorant and so trashy, it doesn't get to the heart of our problem. If she goes, God only knows what nightmare Trump will put in that position next. And now Hegseth has become so dangerous to the entire planet, it is hard for me to focus on Noem and ICE. Which I guess is one of Trump's favorite ways to deal with tearing us apart. Vote Blue, spend time every day educating someone about some of these worst problems with Trump and help people prepare for voting. We cannot make any mistakes with this next election.
Shout-out to voters here in NC: Cooper got almost twice as many votes as Whatley; and Ager got ~1400 more votes than Edwards. Turnout was low, so a high turnout in Nov. could make a difference; but lots of us are celebrating.
As JVL pointed out yesterday, Tillis and Kennedy voted to confirm Noem, so I agree with JVL that they don't get credit now for going after her after all this horrendous shit has happened.
I agree with JVL but sometimes think we get a little too obsessed with the idea of credit. Why Tillis and Kennedy might be choosing this moment to go after Noem is a more interesting question than whether or not it earns them any cosmic karma.
Andrew, I don't have any expectations of decent, thoughtful behavior from anyone on the GOP side of the Senate. We're talking about the same group of people who confirmed Hegseth, Kennedy, Bondi, Patel, Gabbard, and so on. None of them are actually interested in establishing a humane immigration and/or border security policy. So for me, the politics of why Kennedy and Tillis are going after Noem is far less important than the fact they have largely abdicated their Constitutional duties in order to stay on Trump's good side.
Agree. That being said, any commotion that renders the Trump administration as a freak show is good with me. Their motivation may be to protect Trump but in doing that they make the fact that Trump selected her a reminder that everything he touches corrupts and dies
Can you only imagine how bad things could *really* be if the administration were competent?
It is pretty damn bad now when incompetent.
Very valid point. Which is why I would have to think twice if the Dems did regain control of Congress as to whether an impeachment is a good thing (I want it, but I think Vance could be competently more dangerous)
I keep going back and forth about that, Dave. The more cynical side of me wants Trump exactly where he is so the voters can experience for themselves what they signed up for. Trump has inflicted a massive amount of damage, but only because a plurality of the electorate signed up for that damage. On the other hand, Trump's a malignant narcissist who appears to have deepening dementia and is enabled by the most craven, morally desiccated people in Washington who by law has total control over our nuclear arsenal. There are no good outcomes here. Only outcomes that have unacceptable levels of risk.
Spot on!
They just had "concerns".
When it comes to MAGA, any shred of what might be termed decent or correct behavior is seized upon like on a person in a coma blinking.
“It’s amazing what gets accomplished when we don’t care who gets credit.” —HS Truman “The buck stops here.”
We've got to stop demanding perfection in people that are in elected office. It's counter productive in the situation we find ourselves in and in the event that an impeachment process might be mounted against Noem. A vote to convict by Tillis and Kennedy is valuable. And haven't we learned that if you piss off people like them they will return to devotion to their party and people and refuse to convict?
I'm not saying we should accept general stupidity, corruption, murder, and sexual assault in them just because they are giving someone like Noem a hard time in a hearing. Not at all. But give them a little credit for seeing a problem and calling it out. Tillis and Kennedy's activity in the hearing yesterday was a good thing. We can and should recognize that and maybe even add in a smug "we told you so back when Noem was in the confirmation process."
No thinking person expects perfection in elected reps. What should be demanded is decency, honesty and competence. None of those things have been or are in evidence in the GOP.
True. That said, in extreme times, having a broken clock around useful, at least twice a day.
I recall being very pissed off that EVERY Democratic Senator voted to confirm Rubio!
Kennedy called her out for throughong Miller under bus — does Miller want her out?
Kennedy is a sleaze - is hatchet man for Miller
Andrew, I strive to develop your shrewd, devious mind!
Exactly! The time to bring up her cruel puppy and goat killing spree was during her confirmation hearing! And then vote against her. 🤬
And if the Senate was truly serious and operating in good faith, there would be a move to impeach Noem for a myriad of reasons. The GOP side isn't going to go along with that because ultimately they care more about their seats than they do Noem's blatant corruption and incompetence.
Impeachment is forever deader than a doornail.
They failed to realize at the time that that incident did not show off her sterling moral character to great advantage. They could start a “Why didn’t anybody tell us?” club with Dr. Cassidy.
Fuck Cassidy.
Right on.
Exactly! She was a well known loathsome person before she was nominated.
Just ask ALL nine tribes in SD that banned her from entering their lands.
Shooting a dog and presenting DJT with a mockup of Trump's mug on Mt Rushmore got her what she wanted. Speaking of Mt Rushmore, I surprised Mt Tushmore hasn't come up with the idea of putting his face up there!
I thought he did several times. And enough people heard him that there are videos saying can't happen. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gcGF3NisZzM
That said, I wouldn't mind seeing him UNDER Mt Rushmore, deep under.
But Tillis developed a spine only after he decided to retire.
But they did have concerns! :(
Well Kennedy was dragging her for telling the truth: she is just a public mouthpiece for Steven Miller. Apparently it's common knowledge in DC that Miller tells Corey Lewandowski what to tell Noem to do and say regarding policy. Her own concerns being centered on personal perks and servants' attention to her security... er, security blanket.
There will come a day where Miller will have to answer for his actions. It may not be soon, but it will come, and my dearest wish is he experiences the same legal process the exact same way that those he hates experience it.
And is placed in general population of a prison. No club fed.
I am sure Bukele down in El Salvador could make room for him for the right price. That is the sort of place he deserves.
👍🏾
Don't reach down for the soap, Stephen.
Or do. We can allow him to have one or two small pleasures.
I can't write what I'm really thinking here, Keith. LOL!
I hope this isn’t too crude, but I imagine a prison laundry room scenario, akin to the menacing apartment scene in the film Training Day, in which that little bastard is politely asked by a gang of fellow prisoners “Excuse me little sir, have you ever had your s*^t pushed in?”
I know. I’m a rough beast.
Please stop with the prison rape comments. It's not a joke. One of my son's classmates hanged himself at 22 after it.
I wasn’t joking.
Personally if I were the new President I would declare Miller a security threat to the U.S. and rendition him to somewhere
I've often posted that anyone who supports and/or enables this administration who believes they're not bound by the rule of law has no moral or philosophical claim of protection under the rule of the law. Miller grew up in a pluralistic, liberal society and is now feverishly working to destroy the very system that allowed him to become successful. So fuck him.
I would not be surprised in the least that DJT does a preventative pardon for the whole lot.
That said, it turns out that a good number of people he pardoned are under arrest again.
He will but only if he (Trump) thinks himself safe. If Trump has any indication that he is going down, he will not pardon anyone and instead bring them down with him
Could not agree more. Miller has always been an extremist and a bigot. He definitely will get his.
Noem is nothing but the weekend anchor for DHS, Miller and Corey are running the show.
Probably true, but she is the one in front of the Senate committee so she gets the heat. That's what departmental heads are for.
I love it when JVL is a ranting, raging bull. Even Sam and Andrew were entertained!
Typical GOP.
Noem? Vain, self-centered, greedy, ignorant, evasive, manipulative, cruel? What's not to loathe?
She may be the quintessential MAGA man's dream.
She does have that Mar A Lago face…
She's got a face that makes a train take a dirt road.
That’s mean, but I love it. 🤣
Botox will do that.
She's probably using the generic version of that: Hotox.
Love that expression, Tim!
The only obvious physical enhancement/improvement(?) remaining for Ms. Noem is to acquire a pair of Bezos's wife's tits.
They would clash with her bird legs. Apologies in advance to all birds.
Yikes!!
No kidding. When (and I think it's only a matter of when, certainly not a matter of "if," those puppies burst open, there'll be enough silicone to fill a 5-gallon bucket.
You've just rattled off her good points!
I thought long and hard about this, and the best I can come up with is this: I'm sure the horse that made such a valuable contribution to her hair extensions has a very sweet disposition.
If I had a face like that I'd walk backwards.
She pays extra for the human trafficked Epstein hair.
Ouch...
If the horse knew of the destination of its 'contribution,' it would have refused to give it.
j2
Don’t forget multiple murderer. I can’t wait for the tribunals. Her Stony, Cortenide/Duranium facial structure, and laminated, artificial facial integument will look so good sitting in the dock.
The hair extensions? No...never mind...
All good adjectives and appropriate
My brother served on one of the aircraft carriers in the Strait during the first Gulf War, and I understand the fear of the families who have service members on them now. I am so grateful he is no longer in the Navy. Though his service doesn’t seem to matter because he isn’t white, so he now has to fear ICE picking him up in some idiotic “sweep” looking for “illegals” since the only thing that proves citizenship to them seems to be white skin. We actually have a plan in place for my niece (he’s a single dad) if he disappears. Maybe the Gulf would be safer.
Thanks for that perspective.
People should know. It’s heartbreaking. That a preteen needs to have a plan in case her law abiding veteran parent is disappeared by our own government is insane. There are actually social media veterans groups sending out warnings and sightings of ICE to their members. Even in my rural area of my blue state I see ICE vehicles on the side roads watching the vehicles on the main highway as they go by.
Reminds me of that line in "West Side Story:
"Life is all right in America!
If you're all white in America!"
I was half surprised Noem didn't just shoot Tillis. He's clearly untrainable.
In the really dark timeline, I think that's basically where this kind of governance ends up.
Republicans should abandon the elephant symbol and replace it with a dead goat.
If justice ever comes to the clearly corrupt admin folks, I suspect it will happen when they begin turning on each other. I hope I live long enough to see it.
Calling Joni Ernst for castration!
Don't mess with Texas! And if you've got a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, consider giving to the Talarico campaign. This is going to be an expensive race, maybe the most expensive Senate race in history.
On a sadder note, Bill Kristol's favorite congressman from Houston, Al Green, is down about 2,000 votes in his primary due to congressional redistricting. Hopefully, if Christian Menifee wins, he'll find a way to get himself tossed out of next year's SOTU in Green's honor.
Great turnout! I liked both Candidates. I do have a concern about voting in TEXAS. Yesterday morning, my husband browsed the local paper. We learned that our old precinct had been changed to “REPUBLICANS ONLY”. The new location was “DEMOCRATS ONLY”. The new one was about 4 miles away and less accessible. Some people vote on the way to work and may not have the time to vote. This could be repeated in NOVEMBER! I don’t trust the Republican Party in TEXAS. Not one bit. Not too long ago, many polls in TEXAS were WHITES ONLY.☹️
And people laugh at California's "jungle primary" in which everyone can vote for any primary candidate regardless of party and the sending of vote by mail ballots to all registered voters. The voters have their ballots and don't need to figure out what precinct they're supposed to go to. Doing it the California way robs political operatives and corrupt governmental officials from playing games such as what we saw in Texas yesterday.
A Texas NYT commenter noted that some polling places in Crockett's Dallas district were mucked up. This from a Dallas TV station: "Voting was extended until 9 p.m. in Dallas County after the Dallas County Democratic Party asked for an extension on Tuesday due to confusion over precinct-specific voting locations and issues with the county's elections website."
But the Texas Supreme Court cancelled the extension. Consensus on the MSNOW panel was GOP playing games intentionally mucking up the election...
Grrrrrr.
The late votes were not counted. The Texas Supreme Court ordered the responsible to REMOVE all votes that came in after 7:00pm. I’ve never seen them separated like that in Houston, but I’m new to the area.
Most counties, including Harris County (Houston) had a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by both parties that allowed voters of either party to vote anywhere in the county. Dallas County didn't do that b/c the local Republicans demanded paper ballots.
That is really weird. We went on the last day of early voting. They had split the poll workers into 2 rows - Democratic or republican. The poll worker at the entrance asked us before we entered what party are we voting for. They were all very helpful and polite, I've just never had that happen before when voting.
It was very heartening to see a higher Democratic turnout - and some were out loud and proud about it.
What business was it of theirs WHICH way you were going to vote? Isn't that why ballots are private?
Same here. I early voted in Galveston county, which is about R+40. And everyone that came in while I was there voted on my row (Democrats). Not a single voter was using the machines on the other row. That was my first clue that the Democratic energy was high.
Great. So now they have cellphone/license plate data on every voter and can target those who voted in the Democratic primary with surgical precision. Imagine showing up in November and being told you were being investigated for fraudulent voting because your last name ends in a "z."
EXACTLY. It just feels like a setup disguised as a minor issue. I’m suspicious due to past incidents of fraud. You can do anything if you have a building full of Democrats: start a fire, lose ballots, trash ballots. When Trump ran against Clinton, the odds favoring a Clinton victory were 91 to 9. Trump would have definitely lost without a lot of “help”.
Happens in states without crossover voting in primaries. Not all states allow crossover voting, though I think it's the parties that determine that.
Surely that's not legal???
Texas primaries are run by the parties rather than the state government. So, each party gets to pick it's polling locations. In the past, the two parties cooperated to make life easy for voters, but that may be breaking down. However, that particular problem won't affect the general election in November.
Oh, OK; that's a relief. I could just imagine ICE's job harrassing voters being infinitely easier if they only had to go to Dem polling places. Thanks for clearing that up.
For those interested in what happened at the polls in Dallas and Williamson Counties, in the Democratic Senate primary campaign in Texas, here’s some details from the Texas Tribune.
The results began coming in Tuesday evening after a day of turmoil at the polls in Dallas County, Crockett’s home base and the state’s second most populous county. Confusion arose over a rule change about where voters could cast ballots — pushed by the Dallas County GOP — which led to numerous voters being turned away at the polls.
Earlier Tuesday evening, a district judge granted the Dallas County Democratic Party’s request to extend polling hours in the county to 9 p.m. Soon after, at the request of Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily ordered that votes cast by people who were not in line to vote by 7 p.m. — when polls were originally set to close — should be separated out, casting uncertainty over whether those ballots would be included in the county’s final tally.
And when voters tried to find their polling places online they could not because the system crashed. Too many people looking at once or more ratfuckery from a GOP govt determined to keep GOP control?
Also too, the online precinct maps posted by the Texas Secretary of State’s office were incorrect.
THEY MAY DO IT AGAIN IN SEPTEMBER. TEXAS cheats like crazy and they are not alone. In a close election, every vote counts.
I actually did that. I was so impressed with "Rev. James" on the Ezra Klein show I emailed his campaign and asked if a Wolverine might throw a $20 at a Texan ...
I hope the Dems don't take a deal to ditch Noem in exchange for freeing up the DHS money. She'll just be replaced by someone quieter but equally as bad, and the GOP will line up to rubber-stamp the nomination.
Yeah, that's a shell game.
Seriously.
DHS should just be abolished, it's rotten to the core. Putting a few guardrails in place will just legitimize something that is beyond redemption. From the top down this maladministration has mowed over every guardrail that was supposed to constrain it. What makes Democrats think they'll straighten up and fly right with a few guardrails?
OT - Not looking forward to more tasteless and disgusting commercials featuring paxton and cornyn throwing hands with each other.
I intend on writing to my representatives to say that ditching meaningful DHS changes (respecting the 4th amendment, judicial warrants, removing masks, requiring ID and video cam) simply to remove Noem is a betrayal. Without meaningful guardrails, the leader of DHS doesn’t mean much. We would just have a more competent leader hiding these abuses.
The part that worries me is that the GOP bootlickers would be just fine with just Noem out. No other reforms needed in their eyes.
Cheap Shot - Yes, The Bulwark has great commenters!
Shots: "Using that tactic (among others), Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper “sank” a huge number of Navy ships in a mock exercise about the Strait of Hormuz called Millennium Challenge 2002. His success was so unexpected and overwhelming that he almost ruined a multi-hundred-million-dollar military exercise and caused a scandal."
24 years later, I still remember sitting in my car and hearing a story about this. Van Riper was incredibly clever, using motorcycle messengers and some basic forms of transmission and confounding the latest technology at every turn. (The Ukrainians have been equally enterprising, though making use of some modern inventions, like the drones.)
I don't know if the Iranians are that shrewd, but all you need is a few to figure things out. Hegseth sure as hell won't.
Depending on what is left of it, the Iranians had turned themselves into one of the major drone producers with a capacity to churn out an estimated 10,000 per month. Now imagine running Van Riper’s experiment again while having low cost drones at your disposal. Even if we destroy the Iranian navy, small boats launching drones in the straight to attack shipping could become a major problem. This would essentially be a larger naval version of what the Ukrainians have been doing. How well would conventional warships respond to a situation like this?
I remember reading about that too. I seem to recall that the Navy claimed that the Red Force wouldn’t have been clever enough to pull that off, and that it was essentially cheating by Van Riper. I got news for ya admirals, the enemy is gonna cheat. When I was in the USAF, our instructors told us, “If you ain’t cheatin, you ain’t tryin!”
Plus, the Navy is spread as thin as too little butter on too much bread, given the high profile procurement disasters over the recent years. The Zumwalt Class, the Littoral Combat Ships, and the Constellation Class.
I think many people are under the impression that naval vessels today are heavily armored like back in WW2. Nope, an Arleigh Burke Class Flight III Destroyer weighs 9,700 tons. It’s got 70 tons of Kevlar armor around the Combat Information Center, and machinery spaces, to mitigate fragmentation from a hit.
A hit from an Iranian anti-ship missile carrying a 500 pound warhead probably wouldn’t sink her, but it would be a mission kill, requiring extensive repair back in the states.
I hope that the powers that be pay attention to Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper. I fear that in their arrogance they won't, just like Gen. Billy Mitchell wasn't listened to about the Navy's vulnerability to air attack and his prediction that the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor could be wiped out by air attack on a Sunday morning. The arrogant admirals and higher ups didn't listen and the rest they say is history.
With the Iranians, It might not so much of a question of being shrewd, it may be a question of necessity. They're effectively using what they have.
It is time we shifted from being a "Resistence" to "Reclaiming America". Thinking we are a noble Resistence to Trump/MAGA suggests the corrupt, criminal mob that is running our country has some legitimacy. They don't. Trump and his goons have stolen all semblance of collaborative, democratic governance. The current illegal decapitation assault against Iran is further proof that Trump now believes he's not just the "supreme ruler" of the US but also the "supreme ruler" of the world of nations. WOW! Who knew. He's the stuff of Myth and Legend. It is time we start Reclaiming the language and symbols of our Nation and the way we are governed. Apparently, Trump fears things he can't control. If that is true, he should be very afraid. Perhaps if Trump read the Preamble to the Constitution he might pause and fear. We the People are the foundation of governing power in America. We the People grant that power to elected officials who promise to follow the Constitution. Trump had grossly failed to follow his promise. It is time for the People to kick him out.
Just wait till November gang. Shits gonna get real.
One hopes. It's difficult to feel confident this far out, and taking into consideration the Texas SC's interference in Dallas last night ... just one example of testing the waters on voter suppression. Republicans only win if turnout is small; big turnout means long lines that should necessitate leaving polls open longer. Then some arbitrary requirement that you had to be in line at a certain time makes no sense if the poll is open til 8:00 getting there at 8:00 should suffice. State elections commissions best be doing some gaming out possible interference and responses.
Indeed. Or things will begin to wobble, and come undone in unpredictable ways. Given the nonexistent plan for the Iran shit show, I don’t think Trump has gamed out the non-permissive environment his actions could precipitate here.
That’s the most pleasant way I can put that.
Do you think we will have anything approximating free and fair elections?
I think they’ll try to make them not.
Thank you for discussing the non-American deaths. One thing that I find very hard to take, even when listening to Bulwark podcasts, is the comments about "4 dead", or "6 dead", as if the American dead are the only deaths occurring.
"Thom Tillis—who is retiring next year—uncorked a whole Festivus’s worth of grievances on Noem ...." Truly well-played, Mr. Egger. This is among my favorite "Eggings."
Great phrase!
"You've been Egged!" - Councilman Jam
Yup. Getting rid of Noem doesn’t solve the problem. This is a mentally sick cabinet.
Off topic, but important. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has announced that since the outbreak of the war they have received complaints from almost 200 uniformed military about commanding officers describing this war as the beginning of Armageddon to usher in the return of Jesus. The complaints have come from 40 different units staged at 30 different installation. The DOD has not yet responded to requests for clarification. The FFRF has stated they have no video or audio confirmation at this time. I should think that would be hard to get in a classified operational setting. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/investigating-claim-us-troops-were-224500808.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
I have followed the rise of Christian Nationalism and the Dominionist movement in the military for two decades. That this is absolutely true would not shock me at all. The Air Force Academy and the Army have had real issues with this movement and it's spread in the officer corps. Bibi has played this movement for all it's worth in spite of the fact it calls for the damnation of all Jews who refuse to convert. Not shocking that the 'Rev' Huckabee is our Ambassador to Israel or that Hegseth fancies himself a Crusader. Trump has no idea of what a mess he has unleashed in Iran. We could have a real Holy War on our hands.
Really disturbing stuff - there needs to be more reporting on this.
There needed to be more reporting on this long before Trump. The FFRF has been the lone voice in the wilderness on this specific issue.
This is terrifying
I agree with the three risks mentioned in the article pertaining to escorting ships. The big issue with all of this is that the administration has no strategy or goals and it is doubtful that decision makers even considered the consequences of their actions. My major concern with this war is that the US has finite resources and Iran is really not a geopolitical threat or worthy of some major action. Further, this war has the potential to divert important resources from East Asia, which is far more vital to our long-term geopolitical strategy.
Well said!
I watched Tillis rain down on her yesterday. I have to admit, that was so enjoyable. But while she is uneducated, mean, ignorant and so trashy, it doesn't get to the heart of our problem. If she goes, God only knows what nightmare Trump will put in that position next. And now Hegseth has become so dangerous to the entire planet, it is hard for me to focus on Noem and ICE. Which I guess is one of Trump's favorite ways to deal with tearing us apart. Vote Blue, spend time every day educating someone about some of these worst problems with Trump and help people prepare for voting. We cannot make any mistakes with this next election.
Shout-out to voters here in NC: Cooper got almost twice as many votes as Whatley; and Ager got ~1400 more votes than Edwards. Turnout was low, so a high turnout in Nov. could make a difference; but lots of us are celebrating.