Look at the misguided but heavy weight team W. Bush had when he went to Iraq. At least Cheney and Rumsfeld and those guys had a clue and knew how the wider world works. This Administration is a collection of light weights hanging on by their finger nails and trying to please an unstable Trump from minute to minute, day to day
That also literally describes the entire Republican side of Congress in the years 2025-2026. Over 270 federally paid politicians. Tremendous waste of yet more of our tax dollars.
Not quite. There are moments of lucidity on the R side in the House. Two of them "dared" to vote against Trump's Big Bad Bill last summer: Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY).
And even though she has retired from her seat, Marjorie Taylor Greene stood up, very publicly against Trump several times. She should get a nod for that.
I think she is a total ass, but she was the only Republican that stood up to Trump and said his stubborness was out of control and her constituents were suffering due to his withholding snap benefits and medicaid. Also, she demanded the Epstein files be released.
Correction. Cheney and Rumsfeld THOUGHT they had a clue. It turned out that they didn't. And the same goes for Trump. He thinks he has this all worked out. He's a dangerous idiot.
He farts an idea out of that deteriorating mind of his, then promptly forgets it and moves on to the next stupid idea. His cabinet (of fools) are supposed to run with it. How are you supposed to implement anything when he's barking out the next batshit thing he wants? He's not mercurial, he's on the road to dementia.
I saw Woody Allen's 1973 comedy Sleeper some years ago, and somehow the accelerating rot and absurdity of the Trump era has brought it back to mind. The future it describes (high tech, totalitarian, weirdly silly and distinguished by mediocrity) is governed by a dictator known only as The Leader: or rather, by all that remains of him after a rebel bombing, which turns out to be the dictator's carefully preserved nose, which his inner circle hopes to use to clone a new Leader.
High art is represented by the poetry of Rod McKuen: haute cuisine by a McDonalds whose sign boasts that 795 followed by 50 zeroes hamburgers have been sold--this would be 795 octodecillion, or so Google informs me. The great technological achievements of the era include the orgasmatron: use your imagination.
The authoritarian state has embarked on something called the Aries Project, a plan to control human minds and bodies through high-tech re-engineering.
It might have seemed outlandish to all but the most dedicated pessimists back when it was made, but it looks almost tame in the time of Trump, when a collection of the puniest minds, sleaziest grifters, and creepiest fifth-raters and hacks in US history have more or less taken over all three branches of the federal government.
It's more like Bananas: "All citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check."
I am sure that Trump is not afraid to put “boots on the ground” in Venezuela..does MAGA understand whose boots will actually be on the ground? It won’t be trump’s polished brogues and swollen cankles, and it won’t be the boots of Barron or any other spawn of the proudly non-military Trump famiglia..(cuz they’re not suckers and losers,)..it will be American kids, children of MAGA along with everyone else’s kids..dying for Trump’s greed-fueled petroleum venture.
Has anyone ever seen a bigger bunch of lapdogs than Senate Republicans? They should all be wearing collars, with a tag engraved with Trump’s name and phone number. It is scandalous that they just acquiesce without even being asked. It is disgraceful.
There is so much about this that screams scam. Trump is seeing the dollar signs the oil will provide and is willing to risk the inconvenience of a few broken laws to make it happen. It's all about enriching his pocketbook. The money he has made off this presidency in just one year is astounding. Apparently Congress doesn't give a hoot.
It doesn't really matter if it was a military or law enforcement action: it was illegal in either case. The only body that can sanction that type of action is the UN Security Council. Ironically enough, it was of course the US that authored this key aspect of the international security structure after WW2.
If Trump stood up to the podium tomorrow, declared a national emergency, sent Congress home and assumed dictatorial powers "until further notice," would a single Republican in Congress or anywhere raise an objection? Seriously. Rand Paul maybe. But that's it. Susan Collins would be "concerned." Possible VERY concerned. The rest? At best they would say "We'll have to trust the President and see what happens."
This is where we are at folks. And its why winning the midterms, if we even end up having an election, is not going to end this nightmare.
They would likely continue to receive the salary and benefits and build time into their pension and that is their sole reason for enduring the inconvenience of leaving home.
Mary - many of the lifers are quite glad to be in their homes away from home in the DC region. So much more congenial a place than the home districts they've left behind & ignore, constituent-wise
So, I’ve heard, J AZ. I also remember reading Cokie Roberts’ (NPR reporter and analyst) comments on life in Washington DC when her father was a Senator. She believed the atmosphere was more civil then because, in part at least, most elected officials had their families with them. The kids went to dance class or played sports together. The human side of each elected official got to be known by the others. This was primarily in the 1950s and 1960s.
Yes, Al Gore, Jr was one of those kids, his father being Al Gore the Senator from Tennessee. One of the attempted attacks on him when he first ran for federal office in his home state was that he really wasn't from Tennessee. He was really from Washington DC. He responded by saying he spent every summer on the family farm in Tennessee.
Yes, we've come a long way... not sure we've reached a better place tho.
Even in the '80s, there were after work friendships among the old boys club (cuz male they were almost exclusively, not that that's any prerequisite for civility) - "politics ends at six." Polarization, the end of earmarks, less I'll-scratch-yours. Progress?
One conundrum for these elected Congress members is their home areas often accused them of spending too much time away. This reportedly happened a lot when their families were there with them. Yet, when their families remained in the home area, the Congressman did not get to know each other as well. They were in a damned if they do and damned if they don’t situation.
My bend is that is another reason for term limits.
Grassley (R) has been in Congress for over forty years. Pelosi (D) has been in Congress for almost forty years. I can’t embrace the thought of ‘let the people decide’ and continue with no limits. The animosity and maneuvering is too harmful.
I think House terms should be extended to 4 years. The government is complex and 2 years is barely enough time to learn how it all works. Also then perhaps legislators would bring their families to DC knowing their kids would be in the same schools for 4 years instead of just 2, creating a more normal life for the legislators themselves. And maybe it would reduce the amount of fundraising they have to do to remain in office and isolate them a bit from the demands of the donor class.
Democrats will increase their numbers by 2 after the election of Sylvester Turner’s successor on 1/31 & Mikee Sherrill’s on 4/16, if Mike Johnson swears them in.
"“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” the president added." As long as Cadet Bone Spur is nowhere close to that ground. What a hero, not being afraid to put OTHERS in harm's way. Back in my college days (a long, long while ago) we would have said, Gag me with a spoon.
Clearly the authority of the Legislative Branch has been illegally usurped, but our remedial mechanisms of prosecution are in the Executive Branch. While the Executive Branch is breaking the law, the Legislative Branch is controlled by the same party as the Executive Branch; hence, the Legislature is complicit in the crime and has not complained sufficiently. Perhaps our checks and balances are unchecked and
unbalanced. Those need revisiting and reset. Would you not say that at the very least?
Great reporting and insight; you are a valuable, trusted, news source. Thanks
Look at the misguided but heavy weight team W. Bush had when he went to Iraq. At least Cheney and Rumsfeld and those guys had a clue and knew how the wider world works. This Administration is a collection of light weights hanging on by their finger nails and trying to please an unstable Trump from minute to minute, day to day
That also literally describes the entire Republican side of Congress in the years 2025-2026. Over 270 federally paid politicians. Tremendous waste of yet more of our tax dollars.
Not quite. There are moments of lucidity on the R side in the House. Two of them "dared" to vote against Trump's Big Bad Bill last summer: Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY).
And even though she has retired from her seat, Marjorie Taylor Greene stood up, very publicly against Trump several times. She should get a nod for that.
rlitt - my Like is a grudging one, but you called it. I'll spare a nod for her
I think she is a total ass, but she was the only Republican that stood up to Trump and said his stubborness was out of control and her constituents were suffering due to his withholding snap benefits and medicaid. Also, she demanded the Epstein files be released.
Agreed.
Latest news is still that Delcy Rodriguez is not cooperating. Don’t expect oil companies to return under these conditions.
Correction. Cheney and Rumsfeld THOUGHT they had a clue. It turned out that they didn't. And the same goes for Trump. He thinks he has this all worked out. He's a dangerous idiot.
They had a clue, they were just wrong. The current team of part time drunk talk show hosts and Senate backbenchers doesn't even have that.
He farts an idea out of that deteriorating mind of his, then promptly forgets it and moves on to the next stupid idea. His cabinet (of fools) are supposed to run with it. How are you supposed to implement anything when he's barking out the next batshit thing he wants? He's not mercurial, he's on the road to dementia.
I saw Woody Allen's 1973 comedy Sleeper some years ago, and somehow the accelerating rot and absurdity of the Trump era has brought it back to mind. The future it describes (high tech, totalitarian, weirdly silly and distinguished by mediocrity) is governed by a dictator known only as The Leader: or rather, by all that remains of him after a rebel bombing, which turns out to be the dictator's carefully preserved nose, which his inner circle hopes to use to clone a new Leader.
High art is represented by the poetry of Rod McKuen: haute cuisine by a McDonalds whose sign boasts that 795 followed by 50 zeroes hamburgers have been sold--this would be 795 octodecillion, or so Google informs me. The great technological achievements of the era include the orgasmatron: use your imagination.
The authoritarian state has embarked on something called the Aries Project, a plan to control human minds and bodies through high-tech re-engineering.
It might have seemed outlandish to all but the most dedicated pessimists back when it was made, but it looks almost tame in the time of Trump, when a collection of the puniest minds, sleaziest grifters, and creepiest fifth-raters and hacks in US history have more or less taken over all three branches of the federal government.
It's more like Bananas: "All citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check."
Hello. I'm Rags. Woof woof. Woof.
A+ ...the Tesla Optimus of canines 🤣
I am sure that Trump is not afraid to put “boots on the ground” in Venezuela..does MAGA understand whose boots will actually be on the ground? It won’t be trump’s polished brogues and swollen cankles, and it won’t be the boots of Barron or any other spawn of the proudly non-military Trump famiglia..(cuz they’re not suckers and losers,)..it will be American kids, children of MAGA along with everyone else’s kids..dying for Trump’s greed-fueled petroleum venture.
Has anyone ever seen a bigger bunch of lapdogs than Senate Republicans? They should all be wearing collars, with a tag engraved with Trump’s name and phone number. It is scandalous that they just acquiesce without even being asked. It is disgraceful.
Once in a while, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) will get in Trump's face. She is the one R senator that Trump is afraid of.
How could the Senate investigate something that happened in a foreign country? Gee, I dunno. Maybe
ask Jim Jordan how he managed to hammer Hillary on Benghazi?
There is so much about this that screams scam. Trump is seeing the dollar signs the oil will provide and is willing to risk the inconvenience of a few broken laws to make it happen. It's all about enriching his pocketbook. The money he has made off this presidency in just one year is astounding. Apparently Congress doesn't give a hoot.
It doesn't really matter if it was a military or law enforcement action: it was illegal in either case. The only body that can sanction that type of action is the UN Security Council. Ironically enough, it was of course the US that authored this key aspect of the international security structure after WW2.
If Trump stood up to the podium tomorrow, declared a national emergency, sent Congress home and assumed dictatorial powers "until further notice," would a single Republican in Congress or anywhere raise an objection? Seriously. Rand Paul maybe. But that's it. Susan Collins would be "concerned." Possible VERY concerned. The rest? At best they would say "We'll have to trust the President and see what happens."
This is where we are at folks. And its why winning the midterms, if we even end up having an election, is not going to end this nightmare.
They would likely continue to receive the salary and benefits and build time into their pension and that is their sole reason for enduring the inconvenience of leaving home.
Mary - many of the lifers are quite glad to be in their homes away from home in the DC region. So much more congenial a place than the home districts they've left behind & ignore, constituent-wise
So, I’ve heard, J AZ. I also remember reading Cokie Roberts’ (NPR reporter and analyst) comments on life in Washington DC when her father was a Senator. She believed the atmosphere was more civil then because, in part at least, most elected officials had their families with them. The kids went to dance class or played sports together. The human side of each elected official got to be known by the others. This was primarily in the 1950s and 1960s.
Yes, Al Gore, Jr was one of those kids, his father being Al Gore the Senator from Tennessee. One of the attempted attacks on him when he first ran for federal office in his home state was that he really wasn't from Tennessee. He was really from Washington DC. He responded by saying he spent every summer on the family farm in Tennessee.
Thank you, M S, I had forgotten about that.
Yes, we've come a long way... not sure we've reached a better place tho.
Even in the '80s, there were after work friendships among the old boys club (cuz male they were almost exclusively, not that that's any prerequisite for civility) - "politics ends at six." Polarization, the end of earmarks, less I'll-scratch-yours. Progress?
One conundrum for these elected Congress members is their home areas often accused them of spending too much time away. This reportedly happened a lot when their families were there with them. Yet, when their families remained in the home area, the Congressman did not get to know each other as well. They were in a damned if they do and damned if they don’t situation.
My bend is that is another reason for term limits.
Grassley (R) has been in Congress for over forty years. Pelosi (D) has been in Congress for almost forty years. I can’t embrace the thought of ‘let the people decide’ and continue with no limits. The animosity and maneuvering is too harmful.
I think House terms should be extended to 4 years. The government is complex and 2 years is barely enough time to learn how it all works. Also then perhaps legislators would bring their families to DC knowing their kids would be in the same schools for 4 years instead of just 2, creating a more normal life for the legislators themselves. And maybe it would reduce the amount of fundraising they have to do to remain in office and isolate them a bit from the demands of the donor class.
Trumpy Republicans are like fundamentalist Christian apologists trying to convince us the Bible is inerrant.
I have seen so much online content about Maduro's fits. Almost like the capitalists want us talking about it.
that ought to distract them from their unsubsidized health insurance rates
Especially as the VA fired many employees and cut services. Where the wounded will go is not their problem.
...ya don't need insurance anyway, once they close your rural clinic
Democrats will increase their numbers by 2 after the election of Sylvester Turner’s successor on 1/31 & Mikee Sherrill’s on 4/16, if Mike Johnson swears them in.
I think Newsom should say he will call the special election in California once those two are sworn in.
Excellent post. Thanks.
Great reporting
"“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” the president added." As long as Cadet Bone Spur is nowhere close to that ground. What a hero, not being afraid to put OTHERS in harm's way. Back in my college days (a long, long while ago) we would have said, Gag me with a spoon.
Clearly the authority of the Legislative Branch has been illegally usurped, but our remedial mechanisms of prosecution are in the Executive Branch. While the Executive Branch is breaking the law, the Legislative Branch is controlled by the same party as the Executive Branch; hence, the Legislature is complicit in the crime and has not complained sufficiently. Perhaps our checks and balances are unchecked and
unbalanced. Those need revisiting and reset. Would you not say that at the very least?
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/declare-war-clause?r=3m1bs