I have a very dear friend whose son-in-law is a federal employee. They have two little kids, and he has been fired and re-hired already. They don’t know which end is up. But the cruelty is the point, isn’t it?
I guess Trump dislikes the vast institutional knowledge and capability of the core federal bureaucracy built up over decades. Sure, it’s the Deep State. Every successful country needs one to keep the lights on.
A thought I've been playing with all day like a loose tooth that won't come out:
Why did Bukele send the invitation to Luna from Florida?
Other than her Mexican American family roots, the reasons for choosing this particular US Representative from Florida at this particular time are intriguing to me.
Luna has one heck of a tragic family history (tragic beyond most ordinary measures of tragedy); and as anyone who has followed her career in the House knows, she has been MAGA extreme along with the likes of MTG, Matt Gaetz, and Byron Donalds. If she was not so extreme in her reactionary politics, she would be a truly sympathetic person.
Perhaps it is time for more American citizens to be informed about the lesser known MAGA extremists who are in a position to rule with the FIC in the coming American junta. And Ana Paulina Luna is high on the list.
So, the answer to my question above is just another question for now:
Do Trump and Bukele have anything in mind regarding the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia with a fanfare "victory" by Luna?
"Isn’t there still a sense that indulging open, Orwellian lies hurts the case they’re trying to make?" Worst is yet to come. Donald "The Beast" Trump is building a wall once again. Colossal tariff wall that is the beginning of the end for the system of down. At first the beast will pull the plug out of the global economy. The worst financial crisis of human history will pull a swarm of the banks underwater and the bank run begins. Then the beast will collapse a mountain of debt shattering the backbone of the monetary system causing a systemic risk to realize. Finally the beast will cast American citizens into a system slavery under the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan, just to "honor his legacy" count the number. After the destruction a new world order will be established in the US. And the Golden Age begins from the ruins of the world wide collapse. All of the system slaves will love it. No more cash - just digital transactions. No more traditional criminal activity. No more tax evasion. No more transactions without the "all seeing eye". Outcasts will hate the world without freedom, hope and privacy. To cover up the mess and distract the public by smoke and mirrors, the beast will engage in a war with Iran. Lies and deceit, corruption and decay, dancing on the graves will continue. Until; Black hole sun, won't you come, won't you come... I want to play a game. Time has come to opt out of the empire of filth. Live or die...
While I appreciate Bill's optimistic take on those polls, they show that 1/3 (Fox), 1/5 (Pew), or 1/7 (Reuters/Ipsos) of Americans don't understand the separation of powers doctrine.
I finally figured out why Steve Witkoff is the Special Envoy on Russia when I saw a handshake picture today. He's slightly shorter than Putin when the stand side by side. I think that's his only qualification
How incredibly unimportant to yet again announce that the False Messiah's legal shenanigans have been caught again "in the act." Get used to it. Benumbed are we yet all ye legal scholars? This is another byproduct of the absurd SCOTUS "immunity" ruling with a shitload of more to come. Therein lays the monster they have created. There is no nobility to be found in allowing these procedurally tedious time delaying tactics and sorry, the citizens interpretation of "rule of law" amounts to two things: "Don't tell me what to do, bro" or "Is it legal to charge twelve dollars for my six-pack?"
Kilmer Abrego Garcia was not deported to El Salvador. Deportation is a legal proceeding that involves reasonable notice and a hearing. Garcia and the others sent to El Salvador were kidnapped.
These stories should end with a warning that Abrego Garcia and the others could be any one of us. If the Federal government can get away with this, why stop with immigrants?
When the media uses the phrase "deported to El Salvador", a reader might assume "Well, that's just President Trump doing what he was elected to do !"
But, like you said, deportation isn't what's happening here.
1) Deportation involves process.
2) Deportation just removes you to your country of origin, where you can at least try rebuild your life there. Deportation doesn't send you straight to prison.
What is happening is these people are just being sent straight to CECOT, a mega prison known for its human rights abuses. CECOT is not a correctional center. My understanding is it was built in response to El Salvador's gang problem to permanently remove suspected gang members from society.
With respect to the people the US sends, as far as I know, no one the US has sent to CECOT has been convicted of any crime or received a sentence from a judge. Since no one the US has sent is actually serving a prison sentence, there isn't any legal process in place for these people to ever leave CECOT.
Unless something changes in the future, the people the US sends there are essentially receiving life sentences with zero due process.
And, finally, to add insult to injury, in cases where the administration has admitted it wrongfully sent people, it is refusing to correct its error and at least get the people released from prison if not returned to the US as ordered.
In my opinion, the idea that the administration is just locking people up for life without any sort of judicial process and then refusing to correct mistakes should horrify all Americans.
Can Kilmar Abrego Garcia sue the various government officials that clearly are slandering and libeling him by stating as fact that he is a cartel member and a MS-13 gang member? Clearly he is not a public figure (or wasn't before they started lying about him) so it should be a simple case and even if he is considered a public figure, they clearly are showing malice towards him.
NBC News: "Russia overnight Thursday launched one of the most devastating bombardments on Ukraine's major cities since the war began, killing at least twelve people, hours after President Donald Trump said he believed he had struck deals with both sides to end the war. After the attacks, Trump wrote 'Vladimir, STOP!' on his website Truth Social..."
Putin humiliates Trump and our president responds with a pathetic plea. How can so many folks not see the contempt with which Vladimir holds dear Donald? It's one of the most hopeless interpersonal abuse cases on the planet. Donna so wants Vlad's love and respect, but that sexy bad boy can't change his ways.
Garvin - Putin understands weakness. For example, he seeks to hide his own under devastating bombardments of Ukrainian civilians.
Trump's weakness is quite visible. Republican congresspeople could be the check on it - they have more power than Trump but fear to use it. Some fear they'll lose the scraps of influence they gain by being his abettors. Some fear being targets of his retribution because they distrust that their colleagues would join together to rid their party of the interloper (lacking the wisdom of children on a playground who unite to oppose a bully).
A weak old man can continue to abuse power when supported by enough weak comrades in the right positions. It's a weird trick indeed.
This administration and the leaders in it are lazy, lazy, lazy. Peace in Ukraine? Oh that’s too hard to negotiate for Mr Brilliant Deals. Give up after a few weeks. Due process for deportees? That’s too much work. Determining if someone is dead before marking them dead by SSA? Who has time for that? No one ever told them running a country would be so hard!
John Podoretz of commentary magazine’s podcast today twice repeated the lie that Senator Van Hollen was having margaritas in El Salvador. I cannot believe responsible journalist do this.
The Republican party is wasting away in margueritaville.
I have a very dear friend whose son-in-law is a federal employee. They have two little kids, and he has been fired and re-hired already. They don’t know which end is up. But the cruelty is the point, isn’t it?
I guess Trump dislikes the vast institutional knowledge and capability of the core federal bureaucracy built up over decades. Sure, it’s the Deep State. Every successful country needs one to keep the lights on.
A thought I've been playing with all day like a loose tooth that won't come out:
Why did Bukele send the invitation to Luna from Florida?
Other than her Mexican American family roots, the reasons for choosing this particular US Representative from Florida at this particular time are intriguing to me.
Luna has one heck of a tragic family history (tragic beyond most ordinary measures of tragedy); and as anyone who has followed her career in the House knows, she has been MAGA extreme along with the likes of MTG, Matt Gaetz, and Byron Donalds. If she was not so extreme in her reactionary politics, she would be a truly sympathetic person.
Perhaps it is time for more American citizens to be informed about the lesser known MAGA extremists who are in a position to rule with the FIC in the coming American junta. And Ana Paulina Luna is high on the list.
So, the answer to my question above is just another question for now:
Do Trump and Bukele have anything in mind regarding the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia with a fanfare "victory" by Luna?
Just a loose tooth, as I said.
"Isn’t there still a sense that indulging open, Orwellian lies hurts the case they’re trying to make?" Worst is yet to come. Donald "The Beast" Trump is building a wall once again. Colossal tariff wall that is the beginning of the end for the system of down. At first the beast will pull the plug out of the global economy. The worst financial crisis of human history will pull a swarm of the banks underwater and the bank run begins. Then the beast will collapse a mountain of debt shattering the backbone of the monetary system causing a systemic risk to realize. Finally the beast will cast American citizens into a system slavery under the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan, just to "honor his legacy" count the number. After the destruction a new world order will be established in the US. And the Golden Age begins from the ruins of the world wide collapse. All of the system slaves will love it. No more cash - just digital transactions. No more traditional criminal activity. No more tax evasion. No more transactions without the "all seeing eye". Outcasts will hate the world without freedom, hope and privacy. To cover up the mess and distract the public by smoke and mirrors, the beast will engage in a war with Iran. Lies and deceit, corruption and decay, dancing on the graves will continue. Until; Black hole sun, won't you come, won't you come... I want to play a game. Time has come to opt out of the empire of filth. Live or die...
While I appreciate Bill's optimistic take on those polls, they show that 1/3 (Fox), 1/5 (Pew), or 1/7 (Reuters/Ipsos) of Americans don't understand the separation of powers doctrine.
I finally figured out why Steve Witkoff is the Special Envoy on Russia when I saw a handshake picture today. He's slightly shorter than Putin when the stand side by side. I think that's his only qualification
Eric Adams is simply put, a tool
How incredibly unimportant to yet again announce that the False Messiah's legal shenanigans have been caught again "in the act." Get used to it. Benumbed are we yet all ye legal scholars? This is another byproduct of the absurd SCOTUS "immunity" ruling with a shitload of more to come. Therein lays the monster they have created. There is no nobility to be found in allowing these procedurally tedious time delaying tactics and sorry, the citizens interpretation of "rule of law" amounts to two things: "Don't tell me what to do, bro" or "Is it legal to charge twelve dollars for my six-pack?"
Kilmer Abrego Garcia was not deported to El Salvador. Deportation is a legal proceeding that involves reasonable notice and a hearing. Garcia and the others sent to El Salvador were kidnapped.
These stories should end with a warning that Abrego Garcia and the others could be any one of us. If the Federal government can get away with this, why stop with immigrants?
I came here to say the same thing.
When the media uses the phrase "deported to El Salvador", a reader might assume "Well, that's just President Trump doing what he was elected to do !"
But, like you said, deportation isn't what's happening here.
1) Deportation involves process.
2) Deportation just removes you to your country of origin, where you can at least try rebuild your life there. Deportation doesn't send you straight to prison.
What is happening is these people are just being sent straight to CECOT, a mega prison known for its human rights abuses. CECOT is not a correctional center. My understanding is it was built in response to El Salvador's gang problem to permanently remove suspected gang members from society.
With respect to the people the US sends, as far as I know, no one the US has sent to CECOT has been convicted of any crime or received a sentence from a judge. Since no one the US has sent is actually serving a prison sentence, there isn't any legal process in place for these people to ever leave CECOT.
Unless something changes in the future, the people the US sends there are essentially receiving life sentences with zero due process.
And, finally, to add insult to injury, in cases where the administration has admitted it wrongfully sent people, it is refusing to correct its error and at least get the people released from prison if not returned to the US as ordered.
In my opinion, the idea that the administration is just locking people up for life without any sort of judicial process and then refusing to correct mistakes should horrify all Americans.
Can Kilmar Abrego Garcia sue the various government officials that clearly are slandering and libeling him by stating as fact that he is a cartel member and a MS-13 gang member? Clearly he is not a public figure (or wasn't before they started lying about him) so it should be a simple case and even if he is considered a public figure, they clearly are showing malice towards him.
NBC News: "Russia overnight Thursday launched one of the most devastating bombardments on Ukraine's major cities since the war began, killing at least twelve people, hours after President Donald Trump said he believed he had struck deals with both sides to end the war. After the attacks, Trump wrote 'Vladimir, STOP!' on his website Truth Social..."
Putin humiliates Trump and our president responds with a pathetic plea. How can so many folks not see the contempt with which Vladimir holds dear Donald? It's one of the most hopeless interpersonal abuse cases on the planet. Donna so wants Vlad's love and respect, but that sexy bad boy can't change his ways.
You're forgetting, Biden was a "laughingstock." Trump is the strongest one. [Life is so different here in AM radio land. 😀]
Garvin - Putin understands weakness. For example, he seeks to hide his own under devastating bombardments of Ukrainian civilians.
Trump's weakness is quite visible. Republican congresspeople could be the check on it - they have more power than Trump but fear to use it. Some fear they'll lose the scraps of influence they gain by being his abettors. Some fear being targets of his retribution because they distrust that their colleagues would join together to rid their party of the interloper (lacking the wisdom of children on a playground who unite to oppose a bully).
A weak old man can continue to abuse power when supported by enough weak comrades in the right positions. It's a weird trick indeed.
This administration and the leaders in it are lazy, lazy, lazy. Peace in Ukraine? Oh that’s too hard to negotiate for Mr Brilliant Deals. Give up after a few weeks. Due process for deportees? That’s too much work. Determining if someone is dead before marking them dead by SSA? Who has time for that? No one ever told them running a country would be so hard!
Lazy leaders are expert at conning impatient, gullible marks.
"I'll just tell them I can solve everything on day one, and because all they want are quick fixes, they'll believe me."
Naively, I would ask those respondents (notwithstanding those low percentages) who favor Trump in all this,
something to the effect
"What is your impulse feeling/assumption, as a U.S. citizen:
Do you feel that an individual's civil liberties is more or less important than the unilateral power of one individual?"
I am sure I would be shocked at their answer... but maybe it would plant a seed in their minds about what America is supposed to be about.
#I-am-at-a-loss-to-understand
John Podoretz of commentary magazine’s podcast today twice repeated the lie that Senator Van Hollen was having margaritas in El Salvador. I cannot believe responsible journalist do this.
I cannot believe people think John Podhoretz is, or ever was, a responsible journalist.
Does he expect us to believe that Van Hollen couldn't just get a margarita here in the USA?
Podhoretz