Of course Donald is bored with the Iran War. He is unable to conceptualize that there are other people in the world besides himself. Like any child, eventually he will tire of playing with his toys, and will want new ones. Iran, and our military are not people to him, just playthings.
“MOOOOMMMM, can we get “Invasion of Cuba”? CMONNNNNN…”
There is no one there to tell Trump to pick up his toys and clean his room before he can go and play somewhere else. i don't think anyone has told him that in his life. This war is costing us over $1 billion a day. The deficit is exploding and Trump wants more money to build more sitting duck boats and planes. He wants to takeover the Fed so he can increase inflation and ruin the standing of the dollar. He is also actively ruining colleges, taking money from Catholic Charities because has been embarrassed by the Pope, and spending most of his time looking at plans for the ballroom.. And his best friend, Jeffrey Epstein can't come over and play anymore. Yes, we all have to keep telling our friends and every elected representivie that he needs to be relieved of his duties.
Someone's did keep him out of the situation room during the planning of the rescue of the two downed airmen. That's at least a start. Maybe all the 'executive time' is another strategy to keep his ignorant meddling to a minimum. Susy Wiles now has all morning to do damage control before the next round of incoming.
He doesn't sleep at night - just posts extreme, insane things on Truth Social. His "executive" time is probably all spent in bed sleeping while the rest of the world goes about their day in a more normal fashion. Then there is the extra "executive time" he needs to do his hair and makeup.
Nobody has ever told him "no", at least on a level that he can't just ignore and go on to the next shiny object. Iran has rebuffed him, and he has no earthly clue how to deal with it. He just wants somebody else to deal with his latest diaper-throwing tantrum, be it NATO, Kegsbreath, the one nanny who hasn't quit, or mommy and daddy.
But even little Donnie has to know that Mommy and Daddy aren't there to help anymore, .... or does he? Is he that far gone? He probably has put out an APB for Roy Cohn, too.
Well, that plus at long last he cannot blame Biden or Obama for this war. He is in a mess of his own making, and is desperate to change the subject. But he can’t. This is new for him, too. And he doesn’t know what to do, so he is flailing.
R - exactly. He's said things like "you've never had a president that would do what I do." Basically, all others were too weak & incompetent but he's the strong man so he always wins. Bizarre
For shame, good sir. Everyone overlooks the one other positive thing to come from the Trump administration - getting rid of the penny. (That was honestly something I've been clamoring for for years). But to be fair, it has been overshadowed by the general enshitification of America.
Andrew: "And the simple fact causing it all—the same as it’s been all along—is that Trump, having chosen to kick the Iranian hornet’s nest, remains at a loss for what to do next. We’ve known he had no plan for months. But what’s becoming shockingly apparent now is how little he’s even paying attention to the problem."
Andrew is correct. It's also true, however, that the people the administration has chosen to fill vital national security positions have no business having those jobs. These people were chosen based exclusively on their fealty to Trump, not because they're competent. When the top guy is (at best) mercurial and the people around him don't know what they're doing, it's a recipe for disaster. Which is, of course, what has happened.
Re: Ka$h, this is a case where the GOP senators who voted to confirm him should feel shame for the rest of their lives. Of course, them being them, they won't. It's also a dangerous sign that the executive branch is choosing to leave a man who by any standard definition is an insider threat in a crucial national security position. This means, in practice, I never want to hear a fuckin' word out of any GOP aligned figure about being strong on national security ever again.
Which in a saner time would be disqualifying for Lee. That tells us that Lee doesn't take his responsibilities to the national security or the Constitution seriously.
*And their voters*. Someone who stands behind a risibly unqualified man like Patel with those sort of vulnerabilities is neither a serious person or a responsible citizen in a democracy.
With the most incompetent administration on the planet, I am surprised that nobody has yet launched a terrorist attack against the United States, because we have never been weaker or more vulnerable.
I am certain that one is coming (because this is goo good an opportunity for bad actors to pass up - and I bet that any such attack will have Iran at the heart of it).
I'm a practicing Mormon and I have a lot of non-LDS friends who when we were younger would get blitzed. I would go to the bars with them where I would have my diet coke, shoot pool, throw darts, shuffleboard, and be the designated driver.
The issue for him as a Mormon wouldn't necessarily be the drinking and drunkenness on a standard level, it should be drunkenness on a key leadership position level - let alone the lying, the shadiness, the anti anyone who is not MAGA, etc. Mormons should be expecting a high standard (well everyone should really) of leadership in Church, business, and government - it's in our DNA AND part of a "checkpoint" every 2 years.
No, I think the issue I have with Lee as a Mormon is he seems to be party over Church - but that is a judgement line I'm not really in a position to argue.
Lee stands for himself. He wasn't able to become a legal heavyweight like his father was. He's unlikely to be nominated for SCOTUS. What's left is being an unprincipled, right wing chud. It's his true calling.
Tim - Damn right! True re: Patel & R Senators that confirmed him. However, I'm willing to do my small part to remind my R Senators, a small sacrifice of effort to nudge their memories 😇.
I especially focus on Todd Young, who was one of the last 'normie styled' Sens to announce he'd support the Hegseth nom. Every failure, every incompetence, every abuse of our volunteer service members, every drop of blood shed by innocents - Todd Young might want to ignore or forget but not THIS j-come-lately Hoosier 😠
I gotta say: I'm not crying any big salty tears for the UAE and their gaudy fake city of influencers built with slave labor. In fact, I'm having a goodly bit of Schadenfreude over the Gulf States giving so much money to Kushner et al and yet having to shut down the Burj al Arab for repairs because Trumpie's "excursion" in Iran damaged it. Yeah, not crying big, salty tears. More like sipping the tea.
I admit to having a good belly laugh over the idea of some a-hole influencer picking glass out of their hair extensions. The existence of Dubai infuriates me. If this stupid war does nothing else, I hope it breaks their economic model and it falls into the sea.
I agree. Vance is bad but presumably he isn't "Threaten genocide bad" or "Aids keep him out of the briefings," bad. Vance also has no riz. I don't think we're going to get a bunch of people in Vance baseball caps storming the capitol on Jan 6, 2029.
I agree. No one likes Vance. He's had 6 name changes, shopped for his "religion" and landed on Catholic, probably because it was convenient in Ohio at the time.
Vance doesn't have the "threat" of Trump and would be summarily ignored.
The person we need to get rid of quickly is Miller. I don't know how, but he's got to go.
Reality check, folks. JD Vance converted to Catholicism, and a very Opus Dei variety of Catholicism at that, because he is Peter Thiel's man. Peter Thiel is pushing Palantir surveillance software into every branch of the government and JD will immediately put that on the top of his list to finish off so Thiel and his buddies can seal the exits and place the US into permanent 1984 style dictatorship.
Plus JD Vance's lack of riz is a big problem, not least because he has succeeded in pissing off the Pope, EU, and shown himself to be a completely incompetent negotiator during this Iran crisis. If you want to place us in the billionaire oligarch hands, doubling down on careless and massive incompetence, with our former allies hating us even more than they do now, with no way out, go for JD.
So, yeah, there is something worse than a dirty old demented man in control of the nuclear codes. Palantir's boy. If you think the corruption that is plundering American wealth right now is bad, just wait until that group gets their hands on us.
Thiel is an end of times guy, a whole lot crazier than Trump. You'll be wishing you had Trump back in power, because at least his weakness for money gives us a way out--just pay off the greedy little man to go away.
Reading this I suddenly had a mental image of JD Vance as the lame coked-up coworker in Die Hard who tries to make a deal with Hans “Bubby” Gruber and gets himself shot
I think people are counting on Vance being so unlikeable he will be less effective.
But like Trump's cruelty, misogyny and racism Vance's clumsiness is a feature not a bug from the POV of the oligarchs. They picked Trump because they thought they could control him. Same for Vance. But I believe Vance is far easier to control. Trump doesn't like to think he isn't in charge. Vance doesn't care, he is the ultimate tool.
Remember, the oligarchs are so rich they don't give a damn about whether people like them or not. They'll go all the way and establish a brutal dictatorship because they have convinced themselves they are the ruling class and can and should do anything to get and stay in power.
They detest Democracy. And they hate us, the little people.
Yes, but JD will try to place the rich oligarchs' agenda in play against Republicans in Congress who really want to keep their jobs - which are dependent on voters. They are afraid to go against Trump, because he controls the MAGA voters. Because of Vance's negative likeability, he will not have the same control and influence. So his plan with the oligarchs might come up against a Congressional brick wall that was not there with Trump. Maybe that is just wishful thinking, but I still think Vance is not as dangerous as Trump because he has more mental capabilities to think things through rather than constantly acting like an impulsive teenager. And if he doesn't? Congress would probably be more willing to impeach Vance for flubbing up than they are Trump. Once Trump is out of the way, Vance better be on his best behavior.
"They detest Democracy. And they hate us, the little people"
No truer words. And I don't understand it. Democracy helped them acquire their filthy wealth along with capitalism. And we, the little people keep them filthy rich. What good is this going to do for them?
In the smaller city, back then around 1965-1975 when population was around twelve thousand or so, in MN. There is a county where a sheriff knew nothing about anything going on. So, a puppet with a sort of good personality. Two attorneys, friends of the County Atty, One or more judges and two commissioners were actually all the ' sheriff ' . Later, it was pretty obvious, they must have had another law enforcement officer on the team. Was a real shitshow, hardly anyone got all the way into court. And so much media, when the law was not working. I was too young, but I still talk about it, it can happen.
It seems likely that Vance will commit impeachable offenses rather quickly. If the Dems control the House (and hopefully Senate), and he was impeached and removed, would that leave us with a president Jeffries? If so, we could survive that.
I agree. Vance is the greater danger to the future of this country. He has already stated that he thinks we are in the late stages of our republic similar to Rome. We all know where that lead.
Agreed. Damn. Isn't it terrible to realize that there IS something worse than a dirty old demented man in control of the nuclear codes? And you're so right---Palantir's boy is absolutely worse. So. I'm in the ridiculous position of praying that nothing happens to Trump. Hoping that we find a way to avoid World War III. And not seeing a way out of this.
I agree that Thiel is thoroughly evil, but by backing Vance he has bet on a dead horse. How will zero-charisma Vance be able to convince Congress to go along with everything he says? Threaten to sic his non-existent personality cult on them?
I sort of think P Thiel is already the President, along with Vought/A Harris/
and maybe Muck ( I misspelled it and decided it is fitting ) is in on the whole shitshow. don is so washed up, he was actually every day since Helsinki June or July in 2017. This whole thing
Agree. Vance would at least be cognizant of how his decisions would go down with the public and avoid making the same types of mistakes Trump is making because Trump believes he can do no wrong and that everybody loves him - regardless of what the majority of polls are saying. The people around Trump mollycoddle him, I don't think they would feel the need to do the same with Vance.
I think there will be at least 6 Republicans in each branch of the legislature who do not fear Vance the way they do Trump. They will vote with the Democrats to try to get America back under control. They will end the foreign wars, get rid of Hegseth, Patel, RFK Jr., and a few others. If we keep the pressure on, there are ways to do this sooner than later.
It isn't Vance you need to be afraid of, it is the people behind Vance. Theil is another nutjob and he owns Vance to the point that he might as well have his hand jammed up his ass to move his lips. Plus the people in his "special blend" of Catholicism.
Despite the fact that, as people have said, Vance has no riz, he would have the power of the Presidency behind him.
The people behind Vance have no political power. They can make him bray anything they want, but Vance himself cannot get Congress to do anything he wants. What is he going to do, threaten to sic his non-existent personality cult on them if they don't comply? Trump's personality cult is the ONLY reason he has power over his own party.
If he didn’t have political power he wouldn’t be VP—or more correctly, if the people backing him didn’t have power, he wouldn’t be there… and if he gets into the Presidency he will have real power on top of that other power.
Yes, he would theoretically be easier to resist—the question is, why bother? especially if there is a downside to it and the upside of now supporting a “sane” President… and it doesn’t have to be a large downside. The reality is that JD is a safer bet for a lot of these people than anyone else who would replace Trump.
Trump’s power is cult-based and out in the open, JD’s is not so open or brutal. Could he get into the Presidency on his own? Probably not—as JVL points out Don Jr is probably better positioned to win a GoP primary.
It might be that his buddy and former boss Peter Thiel could sic his Palantir company's access to federal databases to damage a Congress member's family member. Allegations don't have to be true to make someone back down.
At risk of sounding like a broken record as I’ve said this a few time previously: Trotsky, and the other leaders of Bolshevik factions who were trying to avoid a big succession fight they feared would split the Party following Lenin’s death, thought much the same about Stalin. They all thought that with his lack of revolutionary legitimacy he’d be reliant on, and therefore could be controlled by, them. Obviously they were very wrong. Stalin had spent years leveraging his role as general secretary putting his people into place throughout the bureaucracy below the Politburo level in much the same way that many second and third tier officials in the second Trump administration, i.e. those in the jobs Trump doesn’t care about because he doesn’t understand what they do and they don’t end up on TV, come from lists compiled by Vance in consultation with Thiel sponsored think tanks.
I did, for a while, prefer to use Maduro succeeding Chavez as an example of how a cult of personality leader can be replaced by a sucking charisma void and still retain control through state repression apparatus alone as it was more recent and less obvious. However, that’s now obsolete, though the coup against him required US assistance.
Also said this before, but for completeness, Vance succeeding Trump will be replacing a corrupt fascist with an ideologically committed fascist (theocratic Yarvinite variant) with an agenda that goes beyond ‘all money belongs to me’. I think that could go very badly for the US and the world. The only upside, at least for those of us outside the US, might be that my intuition is Vance would be less likely to start chucking nukes around if he gets frustrated or just wants to see some pretty explosions.
Vance is such an opportunistic phony that I genuinely have no idea how he might govern. Putting him in the Oval Office would be a pure crap shoot, but right now when we’re being shot with pure crap that seems reasonable to try.
The question I ask myself is, "Which one of these fuckers (Trump or Vance), would more likely leave the office of the presidency on January 20, 2029 should a Democrat win?" IMHO, Trump is more likely to leave than Vance.
Vance does not have the zeal of the MAGA voters behind him, or of the ICE army to accomplish that, IMHO. Nor the insanity that he actually believes he could get away with it, or that he would believe the election was stolen.
Aside from the fact that it will not happen you have to wonder whether our Trump loving people would find Vance an improvement over Biden. I do not see him getting a lot of support or even respect.
I think JD Vance would be worse than Trump if he had the support that Trump garners "from the base". That is a question. I think one "Vance as POTUS" timeline would show withering support, with midterm transitions to left leaning candidates, perhaps even shedding support of certain members of the GOP given more liberty to speak and vote their minds. Maybe true releases of the Epstein files, investigations into open corruption, discussions of Constitutional guardrails on POTUS pardons, and Jack Smith's Part 2 report on Trump's Aileen Cannon squashed document case would provide additional public outcry. Again, questions.
And, if Trump is gone, and Vance runs in 2028, I believe a ton of Trump voters will just stay home. Their loyalty is not to American, or the Republican party, it is only to Trump.
I think we are seeing the build up to that point so the country is ready by February 2027.
-The public displays of dementia
-Trump giving Vance difficult international assignments that are difficult to achieve results but do provide intl experience. ( This reminds me of Biden/Harris).
-A catastrophic decision that has impact for the average American. I'm afraid we will need another to turn the tide.
-An expected win in the House that allows for Impeachment
This is positive for P2025 because Trump is making Vance palatable. By January 21, 2027 there MIGHT be enough momentum for deal making between the Cabinet or between the Exec branch and next Congress to mysteriously allow the transition to happen.
Right, but Murdoch runs the Fox News Cinematic Universe. He has played with turning on Trump with running news items about the Epstein files in the Wall St Journal, but Trump falls back in line whenever he does.
When Murdoch wants Trump gone, the stories will change. For now, they're still all-in on Trump because nobody does distraction like the absolute worst person on Earth. But if Trump ever actually does go senile and starts blabbing about his private conversations, things might change. Not much, though, as Trump has been such an excellent distraction from our pockets being picked.
I think if the "machinery" wants this done, it can devote resources to changing the perception of Trump and of Vance to make a change palatable. Fox is a tool, an idle tool. It's too early for an all out campaign. Trump himself will provide more fodder this year.
Funny, a few Boston Globe comments said the same thing; that Felon Trump now is no different from what he has always been. The problem with this is why did these people vote for the man in 2020 and 2024? By saying this absurd statement people are admitting to all the bad things the man has caused to happen in his second administration as DonOld being himself! Why would you put a career arsonist back in the job as Fire Marshall after firing the person for committing arson?
I’m saying those who voted for Biden said they fired DonOld. Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough. Although I did get a letter from a supporter assuring me that the 2020 election was “stolen fair and square.” Still can’t figure that one out.
I have a sister who still says ' there was something OFF about that election ' and she did not vote for trumpy ( that time, she's fibbing about other times, ahem ) Why are some so convinced about the victim-hood ? goofy as hell
They need to explain why no one has been arrested, tried, convicted and incarcerated for "the crime of the century."
They stole it fair and square means all these bad actors used the laws to legally do whatever it is they think they did. (Lots of hand waving here.) They haven't been arrested because they didn't do anything illegal ... just stole the election.
It doesn't make any sense and they never provide any evidence and the fact that the people who peddled this nonsense -- Rudy, The Krazy Kraken Lady, John Eastman, Fox News, etc. -- suffered some real consequences because of their lies.
I think most of the Fox hosts know Trump is declining, but it would not help the popularity of their shows to let on, so they just ignore the plain facts out of selfishness for their own success.
I suspect you're right. He says things on Fox that are completely nuts. He did an interview with Laura Ingraham where he was spouting complete insanity and you could see she was taken aback by it. Next question: "So, are you having fun in the job?"
That's how they do it. They just move along. It's like when Uncle Todd is going on and on at Thanksgiving about how The Deep State is poisoning our Precious Bodily Fluids. "So... How about them Packers?"
"And to paraphrase Don Rumsfeld, you have to go to impeachment with the vice president you have, not the vice president you might wish to have."
Please, Bill, I'm begging you to never use this phrasing again. I was just beginning to forgive your incredibly short-sighted June 2025 article "You Go to War with the President You Have" in which you praised Trump's bombing of Iran. This morning, you reminded me of that article, which, let's be frank, has not aged well in the last 10 months.
"We’ve known he had no plan for months. But what’s becoming shockingly apparent now is how little he’s even paying attention to the problem."
On the contrary, he is building his response daily in his fight with the Pope. The next brain fart to exit his food hole will be along the lines of "If you have such a good connection to my Father, then have him fix it for me, His Chosen Son, er, One".
Whether or not it will be successful, we should at least try to impeach a President who is incompetent and has no idea what he’s doing, because history will show we were not all insane. And amoral though he may be, Vance is not insane either. It’s a good thing Trump is stuck dithering over Iran, because the sooner he gets that over with, the sooner he turns his attention on to those poor bastards in Cuba, who are stuck living in squalor made ever more miserable by the helpful hand of our President.
I had no idea Hannity was Catholic, but he’s welcome to leave, the Barque of Peter is not a prison ship. You gotta follow your lord.
If Johnny has 5 apples and Suzie takes 3, what does Debbie feel about the war in Viet Nam? Update that old New Math joke to say Iran, and it's still applicable!
Obama had the problem of nuclear enrichment in Iran solved with the JCPOA a decade ago. The moron in chief needs to be removed before more of our soldiers die in this chaotic, embarrassing war.
The nukes were solved, but as with many good deals, the perfect deal nosed in: nukes plus Iran ceasing to support Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. That's what has animated Bibi all this time.
Andrew, a comment re a few of your sentences: "More and more, he barely seems to understand what’s going on in the conflict at even a basic layman’s level;" "None of these statements had the slightest bearing on reality;" and "But what’s becoming shockingly apparent now is how little he’s even paying attention to the problem."
None of these are anything new, and certainly not shocking to many of us. It's not so much that he doesn't understand as that he's always been able to bend his world / bubble to whatever reality he desires. He states the situation however he wishes, and all his little sheep line up to give it to him and/or praise him for it. Reality is irrelevant - or annoying at best - for him. And as is well known, he has the attention span of a gnat and the impatience of a two-year-old.
As just one example, the lies he continues to spew about the 2020 election now shape a huge portion of our entire federal government, and are imperiling future elections more every day.
Well, at least Patel is now going to start investigating, so that's great...
That's going to be a complete clown show, but clown shows are distracting. Maybe it will distract people from the war, which was started to distract people from the Epstein Files.
I think Melania’s little trip to the podium regarding Epstein may have been a distraction from the war that is a distraction from Epstein… Its all rather confusing!
I think ol' Mel is looking for an exit. She never once said anything about her visibly rotting husband's 'innocence' or 'his good name'.
She made a little chump change with her movie that came and went like a fart in the wind. She has a pre-nup. She may have to budget but she'll be a'ight.
That trip is a puzzle still. I was waiting for something to break in the news but nothing has. Maybe she just wanted "to set the record straight" to shut Ivanka up. That's why she wore that jacket that said "I don't care, do u?" It was about something that was between her and Ivanka. We were mystified about that one for a while.
It's not a puzzle. Trump's clown car of associates has been using ICE as their personal army to get rid of inconvenient people. Melania's former agent had ICE arrest the mother of his child to win a custody battle. The woman arrested promised to tell more about Epstein online, so Melania put on a show and she backed off.
He perseveres because he ran on the promise to persevere. This is why the Supreme Court supports him - because he's an election denier. This is his value to the elites.
"As it happens, Trump has also committed acts of corruption and abuse of power even more deserving of impeachment and removal than Nixon’s. In other words, Trump’s removal from office would be in the national interest and would serve the cause of justice.
I’ll be the first to acknowledge that we would be much better off if someone like Gerald Ford were vice president."
This requires a historical correction. Gerald Ford was NOT the VP when Nixon's misconduct occurred: Spirow Agnew was the VP.
This posed a significant problem for the FBI because Spirow Agnew himself was in the midst of a massive corruption investigation because he was taking bribes while he was literally in the White House (and before).
As a result, Spirow Agnew was forced to FIRST resign from his VP position before he was allowed to plead out and receive sentence which did not involve jail time. The investigators were very cognizant of the fact that he would have otherwise been elevated to the presidency had Nixon resigned or been removed as a result of the impeachment proceedings.
It is only after Spiro Agnew's resignation that Ford became VP.
Really appreciated the update on Ukraine. April has proven to be an unbelievable month for their drone tactics on the front lines. They completely destroyed a 22 vehicle armored convoy using both arial and ground drones and no human combat troops. Their small AI drones are capable of identifying a specific soldier and following them everywhere, including through open windows, accounting for a 90% kill rate. It is not at all fun for Russians on the front.
The Washington Free Beacon is calling for investigation of Brad Lander, not Trump. And also Mayor Mamdani's wife. I would LOVE to know how close the Bulwark is related to the Washington Free Beacon, which seems to negate everything that is said here.
I have reached the point of being offended by people who want to investigate Dem reps for speeding tickets and their spouses' opinions while the US builds unaccountable detention camps. I just don't see how that meets the moral moment.
I am going to use pronouns. I do not understand why that makes me the enemy of democracy.
I am going to complain about social justice. I do not understand why that makes me the enemy of both Democrats and Republicans.
I have never understood this point, not since I was a teenager.
Murder is worse than a speeding ticket, even if the murderer is White and male and the speeder is not.
I just don't know who to trust anymore. The news keeps talking about a feud between the Pope and Trump when it's just Trump ranting because it generates content. It ALL seems and feels like content now. This feud is so fake, it makes everything printed next to it look fake to me.
yes, it is fake, media is not being smart. but it is prep for him to come out and give some spiel on May 17th regarding religious tax deductions, so he's enjoying it. I did inform one trumpy supporting brother that over 70,00 are now ' locked up ' in prison for profit detainment centers/ illegally held. he had no clue.
Nobody knows! It's never on the news! The Wall St Journal is printing op-eds from Alan Dershowitz today as if he isn't a big star of the Epstein files and Virginia Giuffre didn't accuse him of raping her multiple times. How am I supposed to know what's real or not? I understand why people stop following and drop out because all I am getting right now is lies and propaganda.
You might as well resign yourself to the fact that, barring an actual medical emergency that renders him comatose or that absolutely cannot be hidden from the public, Donald Trump will ne President until he dies or until someone is elected in his place in 2028.
The incentives are such that no one with the ability to remove him (meaning JD and the cabinet) is remotely interested in removing him. Impreachment isn't going to fly.
So you should all be praying for the success of Operation Big Mac. JD is no treat but at least he isn't a dementia-suffering malignant narcissist in narcissistic collapse that might blow us all up because of that narcissistic collapse.
Who will rid us of this troublesome President? No one. My apologies to Henry II.
The people who spent billions of dollars to put Trump in office will spend another billion or two to keep him there. Not that they need to. Trump's fan club is smaller than it used to be, but getting that militia funded by us taxpayers really gives them an edge.
Spot on. And if his parents (particularly his father) are any indication, he will probably make it until at least 90. He will be deep(er) into dementia but alive.
More behind the scenes, with more competence. Less openly controversial--because they would actually have longer term goals and be focused on achieving them.
One of the reasons why the Cabinet will never go 25th Amendment unless Trump is truly out of it is because most of them know that they would be out on their asses, it would all be people from the techbro/Opus Dei/finance side. Hegseth might survive, but given how F'd up Iran has been, maybe not.
It is much scarier from the perspective of establishing a permanent authoritarian government.
Trump is not actually interested in creating a permanent authoritarian government. That was never hsi goal. His interest is in being a dictator. he does not have the knowledge, skills or mental make-up to institutionalize an authoritarian government.
He does not give a shit about what happens after he is gone. He only cares about himself. He has no larger goals than self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment. Apres moi, le deluge (TY Louis XV). He MIGHT care some modicum about his kids, but I would not lay money on that.
JD is actually ideological, part of something larger, something focused on more than the personal. He also is not an idiot, nor suffering from megalomania or narcissism He has access to like-minded people, some of whom are very very wealthy.
The reality is if you wanted to turn the US into an autocracy, what Trump has done is not really the way to do it. The open corruption is definately a no-no. The massive egotism is definately a no-no. Having incompetents run things also a no-no.
You also need to actually (initially) legislate all of this stuff. Need to be seen to following the rules. You need to maintain your popularity and keep the unengaged people unengaged.
If you would have run the whole ICE thing in a moderate manner, as non-confrontational as possible and w/o any deaths or open cruelty, people would have been happy. You could have built your armed militia with minimal problems.
Anti-corruption is always a good move, because most of these people are corrupt. You can almost always find something and do it legally... and if you were not a card-carrying member of the Epstein crowd (which I doubt JD is), you could have actually turned that thing in your favor. Another win... carefully controlled investigations, trials, convictions... and silence/assistance from those that do not want to be tried and convicted.
Also do not start any stupid wars. especially ones that drive the price of gas up.
You needed someone like Trump to initially break things open, but the moment things got broken open he became a liability. he needed to be disposed of appropriately-a martyr to the cause. Which tells me that these people lack spines, overall.
The President knows more than 'his generals." The only reason we haven't completely won is that the ballroom is so crucial to national security. Give the guy a break, one person can only do so much!
Of course Donald is bored with the Iran War. He is unable to conceptualize that there are other people in the world besides himself. Like any child, eventually he will tire of playing with his toys, and will want new ones. Iran, and our military are not people to him, just playthings.
“MOOOOMMMM, can we get “Invasion of Cuba”? CMONNNNNN…”
There is no one there to tell Trump to pick up his toys and clean his room before he can go and play somewhere else. i don't think anyone has told him that in his life. This war is costing us over $1 billion a day. The deficit is exploding and Trump wants more money to build more sitting duck boats and planes. He wants to takeover the Fed so he can increase inflation and ruin the standing of the dollar. He is also actively ruining colleges, taking money from Catholic Charities because has been embarrassed by the Pope, and spending most of his time looking at plans for the ballroom.. And his best friend, Jeffrey Epstein can't come over and play anymore. Yes, we all have to keep telling our friends and every elected representivie that he needs to be relieved of his duties.
Someone's did keep him out of the situation room during the planning of the rescue of the two downed airmen. That's at least a start. Maybe all the 'executive time' is another strategy to keep his ignorant meddling to a minimum. Susy Wiles now has all morning to do damage control before the next round of incoming.
He doesn't sleep at night - just posts extreme, insane things on Truth Social. His "executive" time is probably all spent in bed sleeping while the rest of the world goes about their day in a more normal fashion. Then there is the extra "executive time" he needs to do his hair and makeup.
Time and tides, they wait for no one. Nothing he or his makeup people can do anything to improve his failing asppearance.
Would that you were right. Agree or disagree with her politics, she is an adult.
Maybe she can occupy him with curtain samples for whatever he's building this week.
Oh hell, just give him a coloring book and crayolas.
And promise him the Nobel Peace Prize if he stays within the lines. That'll keep him busy for a while.
He will just choose a sharpie.
That will only guarantee he can't stay within the lines.
"My First Big Book of Golden Baubles"
If she was an adult, she wouldn’t have worked so hard to get him elected.
Like she is qualified.
Nobody has ever told him "no", at least on a level that he can't just ignore and go on to the next shiny object. Iran has rebuffed him, and he has no earthly clue how to deal with it. He just wants somebody else to deal with his latest diaper-throwing tantrum, be it NATO, Kegsbreath, the one nanny who hasn't quit, or mommy and daddy.
But even little Donnie has to know that Mommy and Daddy aren't there to help anymore, .... or does he? Is he that far gone? He probably has put out an APB for Roy Cohn, too.
Just think of all the people volunteering to be Mommy and Daddy for Trump and make his troubles go away.
Not necessarily them specifically, but SOMEbody usually bails him out. He might not even know who, nor does he care.
Waiting for RFK Jr to hook him up with a medium to conduct a seance with Roy Cohen.
There’s always Greenland…
And now the Vatican we could invade there too.
Well, that plus at long last he cannot blame Biden or Obama for this war. He is in a mess of his own making, and is desperate to change the subject. But he can’t. This is new for him, too. And he doesn’t know what to do, so he is flailing.
Nah, he will blame them for not doing something and forcing him to do something. I think he has already basically done that.
R - exactly. He's said things like "you've never had a president that would do what I do." Basically, all others were too weak & incompetent but he's the strong man so he always wins. Bizarre
Oh he'll find a way. He's unable, psychologically, to take any responsibility for f*cking things up.
No kidding. Imagine a sane person bragging about ending a 10th war - one which he began on his own for no apparent reason.
Your last word would also be accurate without the first "l".
For a solipsistic narcissist like Trump, Iran is a drive-by shooting range.
Greenland was so yesterday.
For those looking for a thin reed of hope: At least someone leaked that Trump is being excluded from critical meetings.
Trump's administrations have always leaked everything like a sieve. Leaking has been a part of his management style for decades.
Agreed completely - it keeps the chaos at a maximum which is part of the point.
Good point.🥂
I had the same thought when I watched Sam and Sarah talking about it last night.
For shame, good sir. Everyone overlooks the one other positive thing to come from the Trump administration - getting rid of the penny. (That was honestly something I've been clamoring for for years). But to be fair, it has been overshadowed by the general enshitification of America.
You’re right about the penny. Canada ditched in 2013.
But other than that… looking bad!
Quick, lock crazy grandpa in the basement!
The interesting factoids would be, "Does he know it?" and, if so, "Does he even care?",
Andrew: "And the simple fact causing it all—the same as it’s been all along—is that Trump, having chosen to kick the Iranian hornet’s nest, remains at a loss for what to do next. We’ve known he had no plan for months. But what’s becoming shockingly apparent now is how little he’s even paying attention to the problem."
Andrew is correct. It's also true, however, that the people the administration has chosen to fill vital national security positions have no business having those jobs. These people were chosen based exclusively on their fealty to Trump, not because they're competent. When the top guy is (at best) mercurial and the people around him don't know what they're doing, it's a recipe for disaster. Which is, of course, what has happened.
Re: Ka$h, this is a case where the GOP senators who voted to confirm him should feel shame for the rest of their lives. Of course, them being them, they won't. It's also a dangerous sign that the executive branch is choosing to leave a man who by any standard definition is an insider threat in a crucial national security position. This means, in practice, I never want to hear a fuckin' word out of any GOP aligned figure about being strong on national security ever again.
Case in point: Mike Lee is fully in support of Kash
Which in a saner time would be disqualifying for Lee. That tells us that Lee doesn't take his responsibilities to the national security or the Constitution seriously.
I'm pretty sure that can be said about all Republicans in Congress and in Republican controlled states.
*And their voters*. Someone who stands behind a risibly unqualified man like Patel with those sort of vulnerabilities is neither a serious person or a responsible citizen in a democracy.
With the most incompetent administration on the planet, I am surprised that nobody has yet launched a terrorist attack against the United States, because we have never been weaker or more vulnerable.
This maxim has many variations, but "never interrupt an enemy in the process of destroying themselves" applies to the USA at this point.
Maybe our enemies are biding their time?
I am certain that one is coming (because this is goo good an opportunity for bad actors to pass up - and I bet that any such attack will have Iran at the heart of it).
Or both, they are certainly not mutually exclusive.
And a good half of Democrats and all Independents besides. I've never been so discouraged.
Suitable for framing campaigning in 26 and 28.
Which is why they want to kick him up to the Supremes where he can't do any harm? Never thought I'd root for Thomas and Alito to remain on the Court.
...SO MUCH that's disqualifying about Lee tho 🤪
Wouldn't you think that as a practicing Mormon, Lee would be opposed to Patel's drunkenness? These people stand for nothing.
I'm a practicing Mormon and I have a lot of non-LDS friends who when we were younger would get blitzed. I would go to the bars with them where I would have my diet coke, shoot pool, throw darts, shuffleboard, and be the designated driver.
The issue for him as a Mormon wouldn't necessarily be the drinking and drunkenness on a standard level, it should be drunkenness on a key leadership position level - let alone the lying, the shadiness, the anti anyone who is not MAGA, etc. Mormons should be expecting a high standard (well everyone should really) of leadership in Church, business, and government - it's in our DNA AND part of a "checkpoint" every 2 years.
No, I think the issue I have with Lee as a Mormon is he seems to be party over Church - but that is a judgement line I'm not really in a position to argue.
Lee stands for himself. He wasn't able to become a legal heavyweight like his father was. He's unlikely to be nominated for SCOTUS. What's left is being an unprincipled, right wing chud. It's his true calling.
Tim - Damn right! True re: Patel & R Senators that confirmed him. However, I'm willing to do my small part to remind my R Senators, a small sacrifice of effort to nudge their memories 😇.
I especially focus on Todd Young, who was one of the last 'normie styled' Sens to announce he'd support the Hegseth nom. Every failure, every incompetence, every abuse of our volunteer service members, every drop of blood shed by innocents - Todd Young might want to ignore or forget but not THIS j-come-lately Hoosier 😠
I gotta say: I'm not crying any big salty tears for the UAE and their gaudy fake city of influencers built with slave labor. In fact, I'm having a goodly bit of Schadenfreude over the Gulf States giving so much money to Kushner et al and yet having to shut down the Burj al Arab for repairs because Trumpie's "excursion" in Iran damaged it. Yeah, not crying big, salty tears. More like sipping the tea.
I have in the past called UAE the United Oil Emirates.
I admit to having a good belly laugh over the idea of some a-hole influencer picking glass out of their hair extensions. The existence of Dubai infuriates me. If this stupid war does nothing else, I hope it breaks their economic model and it falls into the sea.
I hear all the time “but JD Vance will be worse”, and I just think but shouldn’t we at least try it?! Shouldn’t we just see if he’s worse?
This is unsustainable. So I’m willing to do anything to remove this obvious madman from power, even if it means JD gets a chance.
I agree. Vance is bad but presumably he isn't "Threaten genocide bad" or "Aids keep him out of the briefings," bad. Vance also has no riz. I don't think we're going to get a bunch of people in Vance baseball caps storming the capitol on Jan 6, 2029.
I agree. No one likes Vance. He's had 6 name changes, shopped for his "religion" and landed on Catholic, probably because it was convenient in Ohio at the time.
Vance doesn't have the "threat" of Trump and would be summarily ignored.
The person we need to get rid of quickly is Miller. I don't know how, but he's got to go.
Reality check, folks. JD Vance converted to Catholicism, and a very Opus Dei variety of Catholicism at that, because he is Peter Thiel's man. Peter Thiel is pushing Palantir surveillance software into every branch of the government and JD will immediately put that on the top of his list to finish off so Thiel and his buddies can seal the exits and place the US into permanent 1984 style dictatorship.
Plus JD Vance's lack of riz is a big problem, not least because he has succeeded in pissing off the Pope, EU, and shown himself to be a completely incompetent negotiator during this Iran crisis. If you want to place us in the billionaire oligarch hands, doubling down on careless and massive incompetence, with our former allies hating us even more than they do now, with no way out, go for JD.
So, yeah, there is something worse than a dirty old demented man in control of the nuclear codes. Palantir's boy. If you think the corruption that is plundering American wealth right now is bad, just wait until that group gets their hands on us.
Thiel is an end of times guy, a whole lot crazier than Trump. You'll be wishing you had Trump back in power, because at least his weakness for money gives us a way out--just pay off the greedy little man to go away.
Reading this I suddenly had a mental image of JD Vance as the lame coked-up coworker in Die Hard who tries to make a deal with Hans “Bubby” Gruber and gets himself shot
ouch. :) :0 :(
I think people are counting on Vance being so unlikeable he will be less effective.
But like Trump's cruelty, misogyny and racism Vance's clumsiness is a feature not a bug from the POV of the oligarchs. They picked Trump because they thought they could control him. Same for Vance. But I believe Vance is far easier to control. Trump doesn't like to think he isn't in charge. Vance doesn't care, he is the ultimate tool.
Remember, the oligarchs are so rich they don't give a damn about whether people like them or not. They'll go all the way and establish a brutal dictatorship because they have convinced themselves they are the ruling class and can and should do anything to get and stay in power.
They detest Democracy. And they hate us, the little people.
Yes, but JD will try to place the rich oligarchs' agenda in play against Republicans in Congress who really want to keep their jobs - which are dependent on voters. They are afraid to go against Trump, because he controls the MAGA voters. Because of Vance's negative likeability, he will not have the same control and influence. So his plan with the oligarchs might come up against a Congressional brick wall that was not there with Trump. Maybe that is just wishful thinking, but I still think Vance is not as dangerous as Trump because he has more mental capabilities to think things through rather than constantly acting like an impulsive teenager. And if he doesn't? Congress would probably be more willing to impeach Vance for flubbing up than they are Trump. Once Trump is out of the way, Vance better be on his best behavior.
"They detest Democracy. And they hate us, the little people"
No truer words. And I don't understand it. Democracy helped them acquire their filthy wealth along with capitalism. And we, the little people keep them filthy rich. What good is this going to do for them?
In the smaller city, back then around 1965-1975 when population was around twelve thousand or so, in MN. There is a county where a sheriff knew nothing about anything going on. So, a puppet with a sort of good personality. Two attorneys, friends of the County Atty, One or more judges and two commissioners were actually all the ' sheriff ' . Later, it was pretty obvious, they must have had another law enforcement officer on the team. Was a real shitshow, hardly anyone got all the way into court. And so much media, when the law was not working. I was too young, but I still talk about it, it can happen.
It seems likely that Vance will commit impeachable offenses rather quickly. If the Dems control the House (and hopefully Senate), and he was impeached and removed, would that leave us with a president Jeffries? If so, we could survive that.
I agree. Vance is the greater danger to the future of this country. He has already stated that he thinks we are in the late stages of our republic similar to Rome. We all know where that lead.
Agreed. Damn. Isn't it terrible to realize that there IS something worse than a dirty old demented man in control of the nuclear codes? And you're so right---Palantir's boy is absolutely worse. So. I'm in the ridiculous position of praying that nothing happens to Trump. Hoping that we find a way to avoid World War III. And not seeing a way out of this.
I agree that Thiel is thoroughly evil, but by backing Vance he has bet on a dead horse. How will zero-charisma Vance be able to convince Congress to go along with everything he says? Threaten to sic his non-existent personality cult on them?
I do wonder if the manosphere would go for him. He sure does cultivate them earnestly.
I sort of think P Thiel is already the President, along with Vought/A Harris/
and maybe Muck ( I misspelled it and decided it is fitting ) is in on the whole shitshow. don is so washed up, he was actually every day since Helsinki June or July in 2017. This whole thing
is so puppeteered it is ridiculous.
That will never happen. Miller is DJT's ID.
I think you mean he's Trump's other id.
Certainly not a super ego.
Agree. Vance would at least be cognizant of how his decisions would go down with the public and avoid making the same types of mistakes Trump is making because Trump believes he can do no wrong and that everybody loves him - regardless of what the majority of polls are saying. The people around Trump mollycoddle him, I don't think they would feel the need to do the same with Vance.
I think there will be at least 6 Republicans in each branch of the legislature who do not fear Vance the way they do Trump. They will vote with the Democrats to try to get America back under control. They will end the foreign wars, get rid of Hegseth, Patel, RFK Jr., and a few others. If we keep the pressure on, there are ways to do this sooner than later.
It isn't Vance you need to be afraid of, it is the people behind Vance. Theil is another nutjob and he owns Vance to the point that he might as well have his hand jammed up his ass to move his lips. Plus the people in his "special blend" of Catholicism.
Despite the fact that, as people have said, Vance has no riz, he would have the power of the Presidency behind him.
What do you mean "he might as well have his hand jammed up his ass"? It is there and waving out of his mouth.
The people behind Vance have no political power. They can make him bray anything they want, but Vance himself cannot get Congress to do anything he wants. What is he going to do, threaten to sic his non-existent personality cult on them if they don't comply? Trump's personality cult is the ONLY reason he has power over his own party.
If he didn’t have political power he wouldn’t be VP—or more correctly, if the people backing him didn’t have power, he wouldn’t be there… and if he gets into the Presidency he will have real power on top of that other power.
Yes, he would theoretically be easier to resist—the question is, why bother? especially if there is a downside to it and the upside of now supporting a “sane” President… and it doesn’t have to be a large downside. The reality is that JD is a safer bet for a lot of these people than anyone else who would replace Trump.
Trump’s power is cult-based and out in the open, JD’s is not so open or brutal. Could he get into the Presidency on his own? Probably not—as JVL points out Don Jr is probably better positioned to win a GoP primary.
Could you imagine ANYONE being afraid of JD Vance? I can't. "Oh, no! If I don't go along with Vance, he'll endorse my primary opponent!"
That will never be said by anyone, ever.
It might be that his buddy and former boss Peter Thiel could sic his Palantir company's access to federal databases to damage a Congress member's family member. Allegations don't have to be true to make someone back down.
No one's afraid of J.D. Vance, but a lot of people are justifiably afraid of Vance's actual boss, Peter Thiel.
At risk of sounding like a broken record as I’ve said this a few time previously: Trotsky, and the other leaders of Bolshevik factions who were trying to avoid a big succession fight they feared would split the Party following Lenin’s death, thought much the same about Stalin. They all thought that with his lack of revolutionary legitimacy he’d be reliant on, and therefore could be controlled by, them. Obviously they were very wrong. Stalin had spent years leveraging his role as general secretary putting his people into place throughout the bureaucracy below the Politburo level in much the same way that many second and third tier officials in the second Trump administration, i.e. those in the jobs Trump doesn’t care about because he doesn’t understand what they do and they don’t end up on TV, come from lists compiled by Vance in consultation with Thiel sponsored think tanks.
I did, for a while, prefer to use Maduro succeeding Chavez as an example of how a cult of personality leader can be replaced by a sucking charisma void and still retain control through state repression apparatus alone as it was more recent and less obvious. However, that’s now obsolete, though the coup against him required US assistance.
Also said this before, but for completeness, Vance succeeding Trump will be replacing a corrupt fascist with an ideologically committed fascist (theocratic Yarvinite variant) with an agenda that goes beyond ‘all money belongs to me’. I think that could go very badly for the US and the world. The only upside, at least for those of us outside the US, might be that my intuition is Vance would be less likely to start chucking nukes around if he gets frustrated or just wants to see some pretty explosions.
more citizens or residents or hopeful voters should read up on Curtis Yarvin.
Your words in those 12 people's ears.
As Aragorn said, "there is always hope." Thanks for reminding us.
Vance is such an opportunistic phony that I genuinely have no idea how he might govern. Putting him in the Oval Office would be a pure crap shoot, but right now when we’re being shot with pure crap that seems reasonable to try.
He doesn't have the juice Trump does.
He starts every comment with, "And again, as I've said many times, and [insert name here] as we all know..."
He's tiring. He's boring. He's grating. He's such an obvious phony. He just can't pull any of this off the way Trump does.
And those are just his positive points.
I don't see how we expect to get two-thirds of the Senate to vote for this.
I don't think we need 2/3 for impeachment. I think it's just a majority.
Majority of house to impeach (indict, essentially), but 2/3 of Senate to convict and remove.
Thank you.
2/3 in the senate is to convict. House impeachment is majority vote. However impeachments of Presidents are dead as a doornail now.
The question I ask myself is, "Which one of these fuckers (Trump or Vance), would more likely leave the office of the presidency on January 20, 2029 should a Democrat win?" IMHO, Trump is more likely to leave than Vance.
Yep, I agree with this. In the meantime, exhausted as we are, we have to run block and tackles to stop the worst of his policies.
The Felon will not last physically until January 2028, let alone 2029.
So we will be stuck with Vance anyway, I see no down side to trying to do it sooner rather than later with impeachment.
Vance does not have the zeal of the MAGA voters behind him, or of the ICE army to accomplish that, IMHO. Nor the insanity that he actually believes he could get away with it, or that he would believe the election was stolen.
Aside from the fact that it will not happen you have to wonder whether our Trump loving people would find Vance an improvement over Biden. I do not see him getting a lot of support or even respect.
I think JD Vance would be worse than Trump if he had the support that Trump garners "from the base". That is a question. I think one "Vance as POTUS" timeline would show withering support, with midterm transitions to left leaning candidates, perhaps even shedding support of certain members of the GOP given more liberty to speak and vote their minds. Maybe true releases of the Epstein files, investigations into open corruption, discussions of Constitutional guardrails on POTUS pardons, and Jack Smith's Part 2 report on Trump's Aileen Cannon squashed document case would provide additional public outcry. Again, questions.
And, if Trump is gone, and Vance runs in 2028, I believe a ton of Trump voters will just stay home. Their loyalty is not to American, or the Republican party, it is only to Trump.
I think we are seeing the build up to that point so the country is ready by February 2027.
-The public displays of dementia
-Trump giving Vance difficult international assignments that are difficult to achieve results but do provide intl experience. ( This reminds me of Biden/Harris).
-A catastrophic decision that has impact for the average American. I'm afraid we will need another to turn the tide.
-An expected win in the House that allows for Impeachment
This is positive for P2025 because Trump is making Vance palatable. By January 21, 2027 there MIGHT be enough momentum for deal making between the Cabinet or between the Exec branch and next Congress to mysteriously allow the transition to happen.
I don't think anyone in the Fox News Cinematic Universe will accept that Trump is experiencing any mental decline at all.
They think he's a super-genius and that all criticism is just a bunch of left-wing TDS-fueled hackery.
Right, but Murdoch runs the Fox News Cinematic Universe. He has played with turning on Trump with running news items about the Epstein files in the Wall St Journal, but Trump falls back in line whenever he does.
When Murdoch wants Trump gone, the stories will change. For now, they're still all-in on Trump because nobody does distraction like the absolute worst person on Earth. But if Trump ever actually does go senile and starts blabbing about his private conversations, things might change. Not much, though, as Trump has been such an excellent distraction from our pockets being picked.
I think if the "machinery" wants this done, it can devote resources to changing the perception of Trump and of Vance to make a change palatable. Fox is a tool, an idle tool. It's too early for an all out campaign. Trump himself will provide more fodder this year.
Funny, a few Boston Globe comments said the same thing; that Felon Trump now is no different from what he has always been. The problem with this is why did these people vote for the man in 2020 and 2024? By saying this absurd statement people are admitting to all the bad things the man has caused to happen in his second administration as DonOld being himself! Why would you put a career arsonist back in the job as Fire Marshall after firing the person for committing arson?
They didn't fire him. They don't think anyone else fired him, either. They believe the 2020 election was stolen.
I’m saying those who voted for Biden said they fired DonOld. Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough. Although I did get a letter from a supporter assuring me that the 2020 election was “stolen fair and square.” Still can’t figure that one out.
I have a sister who still says ' there was something OFF about that election ' and she did not vote for trumpy ( that time, she's fibbing about other times, ahem ) Why are some so convinced about the victim-hood ? goofy as hell
They need to explain why no one has been arrested, tried, convicted and incarcerated for "the crime of the century."
They stole it fair and square means all these bad actors used the laws to legally do whatever it is they think they did. (Lots of hand waving here.) They haven't been arrested because they didn't do anything illegal ... just stole the election.
It doesn't make any sense and they never provide any evidence and the fact that the people who peddled this nonsense -- Rudy, The Krazy Kraken Lady, John Eastman, Fox News, etc. -- suffered some real consequences because of their lies.
I think most of the Fox hosts know Trump is declining, but it would not help the popularity of their shows to let on, so they just ignore the plain facts out of selfishness for their own success.
I suspect you're right. He says things on Fox that are completely nuts. He did an interview with Laura Ingraham where he was spouting complete insanity and you could see she was taken aback by it. Next question: "So, are you having fun in the job?"
That's how they do it. They just move along. It's like when Uncle Todd is going on and on at Thanksgiving about how The Deep State is poisoning our Precious Bodily Fluids. "So... How about them Packers?"
he's slow, and washed up. and that is nothing about his physical slow movements, super cautious, very self-conscious.
The cult is still with him.
And they always will be.
Yep.
"And to paraphrase Don Rumsfeld, you have to go to impeachment with the vice president you have, not the vice president you might wish to have."
Please, Bill, I'm begging you to never use this phrasing again. I was just beginning to forgive your incredibly short-sighted June 2025 article "You Go to War with the President You Have" in which you praised Trump's bombing of Iran. This morning, you reminded me of that article, which, let's be frank, has not aged well in the last 10 months.
And yet I’m gratified that Bill is calling for impeachment. What a journey!
Woke Bill Kristol, as Tim is wont to call him
"We’ve known he had no plan for months. But what’s becoming shockingly apparent now is how little he’s even paying attention to the problem."
On the contrary, he is building his response daily in his fight with the Pope. The next brain fart to exit his food hole will be along the lines of "If you have such a good connection to my Father, then have him fix it for me, His Chosen Son, er, One".
Whether or not it will be successful, we should at least try to impeach a President who is incompetent and has no idea what he’s doing, because history will show we were not all insane. And amoral though he may be, Vance is not insane either. It’s a good thing Trump is stuck dithering over Iran, because the sooner he gets that over with, the sooner he turns his attention on to those poor bastards in Cuba, who are stuck living in squalor made ever more miserable by the helpful hand of our President.
I had no idea Hannity was Catholic, but he’s welcome to leave, the Barque of Peter is not a prison ship. You gotta follow your lord.
No idea? I've held that Hannity looks like a de-frocked priest.
Old box face
It's amazing, the longer the war goes on, the higher gas prices were during the Biden administration. 😀
It must be that "New Math" they were complaining about.
If Johnny has 5 apples and Suzie takes 3, what does Debbie feel about the war in Viet Nam? Update that old New Math joke to say Iran, and it's still applicable!
😏🥂🍾
Obama had the problem of nuclear enrichment in Iran solved with the JCPOA a decade ago. The moron in chief needs to be removed before more of our soldiers die in this chaotic, embarrassing war.
Too few people realize that Obama/Kerry had it solved with JCPOA. Then Trump and Republicans said it wasn't enough so here we are now.
The nukes were solved, but as with many good deals, the perfect deal nosed in: nukes plus Iran ceasing to support Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. That's what has animated Bibi all this time.
Banger of a MS everyone!
Andrew, a comment re a few of your sentences: "More and more, he barely seems to understand what’s going on in the conflict at even a basic layman’s level;" "None of these statements had the slightest bearing on reality;" and "But what’s becoming shockingly apparent now is how little he’s even paying attention to the problem."
None of these are anything new, and certainly not shocking to many of us. It's not so much that he doesn't understand as that he's always been able to bend his world / bubble to whatever reality he desires. He states the situation however he wishes, and all his little sheep line up to give it to him and/or praise him for it. Reality is irrelevant - or annoying at best - for him. And as is well known, he has the attention span of a gnat and the impatience of a two-year-old.
As just one example, the lies he continues to spew about the 2020 election now shape a huge portion of our entire federal government, and are imperiling future elections more every day.
And yet, and yet there are millions of people who somehow think this is all 4D chess. That koolaid must be some bangin’ shit…
I'll take your word for it....not getting near these lips.
Lol! I am mystified by this on the daily.
Well, at least Patel is now going to start investigating, so that's great...
That's going to be a complete clown show, but clown shows are distracting. Maybe it will distract people from the war, which was started to distract people from the Epstein Files.
I think Melania’s little trip to the podium regarding Epstein may have been a distraction from the war that is a distraction from Epstein… Its all rather confusing!
I think ol' Mel is looking for an exit. She never once said anything about her visibly rotting husband's 'innocence' or 'his good name'.
She made a little chump change with her movie that came and went like a fart in the wind. She has a pre-nup. She may have to budget but she'll be a'ight.
That trip is a puzzle still. I was waiting for something to break in the news but nothing has. Maybe she just wanted "to set the record straight" to shut Ivanka up. That's why she wore that jacket that said "I don't care, do u?" It was about something that was between her and Ivanka. We were mystified about that one for a while.
It's not a puzzle. Trump's clown car of associates has been using ICE as their personal army to get rid of inconvenient people. Melania's former agent had ICE arrest the mother of his child to win a custody battle. The woman arrested promised to tell more about Epstein online, so Melania put on a show and she backed off.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/us/paolo-zampolli-ice-melania-trump-epstein.html
These people are the worst people in the world.
Isn't Ivanka dead from being pushed down the stairs?
Ivanna is dead. She was the president's first wife. Ivanka is his daughter.
I think the 2024 election was rigged. In 2020 every challenge was thrown out by the courts.
And why does he perseverate on this?
He can't accept the fact that almost 8 million people didn't vote for him
He can't say "he lost".
He's such a toddler. In fact, I've seen more mature toddlers.
He perseveres because he ran on the promise to persevere. This is why the Supreme Court supports him - because he's an election denier. This is his value to the elites.
Yup, he keeps on hammering that nail.
"As it happens, Trump has also committed acts of corruption and abuse of power even more deserving of impeachment and removal than Nixon’s. In other words, Trump’s removal from office would be in the national interest and would serve the cause of justice.
I’ll be the first to acknowledge that we would be much better off if someone like Gerald Ford were vice president."
This requires a historical correction. Gerald Ford was NOT the VP when Nixon's misconduct occurred: Spirow Agnew was the VP.
This posed a significant problem for the FBI because Spirow Agnew himself was in the midst of a massive corruption investigation because he was taking bribes while he was literally in the White House (and before).
As a result, Spirow Agnew was forced to FIRST resign from his VP position before he was allowed to plead out and receive sentence which did not involve jail time. The investigators were very cognizant of the fact that he would have otherwise been elevated to the presidency had Nixon resigned or been removed as a result of the impeachment proceedings.
It is only after Spiro Agnew's resignation that Ford became VP.
I had forgotten that timing.
that man deserved a jail sentence, blatant right in the white house, envelopes of cash.
Really appreciated the update on Ukraine. April has proven to be an unbelievable month for their drone tactics on the front lines. They completely destroyed a 22 vehicle armored convoy using both arial and ground drones and no human combat troops. Their small AI drones are capable of identifying a specific soldier and following them everywhere, including through open windows, accounting for a 90% kill rate. It is not at all fun for Russians on the front.
The Washington Free Beacon is calling for investigation of Brad Lander, not Trump. And also Mayor Mamdani's wife. I would LOVE to know how close the Bulwark is related to the Washington Free Beacon, which seems to negate everything that is said here.
I have reached the point of being offended by people who want to investigate Dem reps for speeding tickets and their spouses' opinions while the US builds unaccountable detention camps. I just don't see how that meets the moral moment.
I am going to use pronouns. I do not understand why that makes me the enemy of democracy.
I am going to complain about social justice. I do not understand why that makes me the enemy of both Democrats and Republicans.
I have never understood this point, not since I was a teenager.
Murder is worse than a speeding ticket, even if the murderer is White and male and the speeder is not.
I just don't know who to trust anymore. The news keeps talking about a feud between the Pope and Trump when it's just Trump ranting because it generates content. It ALL seems and feels like content now. This feud is so fake, it makes everything printed next to it look fake to me.
yes, it is fake, media is not being smart. but it is prep for him to come out and give some spiel on May 17th regarding religious tax deductions, so he's enjoying it. I did inform one trumpy supporting brother that over 70,00 are now ' locked up ' in prison for profit detainment centers/ illegally held. he had no clue.
Nobody knows! It's never on the news! The Wall St Journal is printing op-eds from Alan Dershowitz today as if he isn't a big star of the Epstein files and Virginia Giuffre didn't accuse him of raping her multiple times. How am I supposed to know what's real or not? I understand why people stop following and drop out because all I am getting right now is lies and propaganda.
You might as well resign yourself to the fact that, barring an actual medical emergency that renders him comatose or that absolutely cannot be hidden from the public, Donald Trump will ne President until he dies or until someone is elected in his place in 2028.
The incentives are such that no one with the ability to remove him (meaning JD and the cabinet) is remotely interested in removing him. Impreachment isn't going to fly.
So you should all be praying for the success of Operation Big Mac. JD is no treat but at least he isn't a dementia-suffering malignant narcissist in narcissistic collapse that might blow us all up because of that narcissistic collapse.
Who will rid us of this troublesome President? No one. My apologies to Henry II.
The people who spent billions of dollars to put Trump in office will spend another billion or two to keep him there. Not that they need to. Trump's fan club is smaller than it used to be, but getting that militia funded by us taxpayers really gives them an edge.
Spot on. And if his parents (particularly his father) are any indication, he will probably make it until at least 90. He will be deep(er) into dementia but alive.
Agree completely. Curious though, what would a JD Presidency look like? More competent, more Christian Nationalist?
More behind the scenes, with more competence. Less openly controversial--because they would actually have longer term goals and be focused on achieving them.
One of the reasons why the Cabinet will never go 25th Amendment unless Trump is truly out of it is because most of them know that they would be out on their asses, it would all be people from the techbro/Opus Dei/finance side. Hegseth might survive, but given how F'd up Iran has been, maybe not.
Agree. In some ways scarier.
It is much scarier from the perspective of establishing a permanent authoritarian government.
Trump is not actually interested in creating a permanent authoritarian government. That was never hsi goal. His interest is in being a dictator. he does not have the knowledge, skills or mental make-up to institutionalize an authoritarian government.
He does not give a shit about what happens after he is gone. He only cares about himself. He has no larger goals than self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment. Apres moi, le deluge (TY Louis XV). He MIGHT care some modicum about his kids, but I would not lay money on that.
JD is actually ideological, part of something larger, something focused on more than the personal. He also is not an idiot, nor suffering from megalomania or narcissism He has access to like-minded people, some of whom are very very wealthy.
The reality is if you wanted to turn the US into an autocracy, what Trump has done is not really the way to do it. The open corruption is definately a no-no. The massive egotism is definately a no-no. Having incompetents run things also a no-no.
You also need to actually (initially) legislate all of this stuff. Need to be seen to following the rules. You need to maintain your popularity and keep the unengaged people unengaged.
If you would have run the whole ICE thing in a moderate manner, as non-confrontational as possible and w/o any deaths or open cruelty, people would have been happy. You could have built your armed militia with minimal problems.
Anti-corruption is always a good move, because most of these people are corrupt. You can almost always find something and do it legally... and if you were not a card-carrying member of the Epstein crowd (which I doubt JD is), you could have actually turned that thing in your favor. Another win... carefully controlled investigations, trials, convictions... and silence/assistance from those that do not want to be tried and convicted.
Also do not start any stupid wars. especially ones that drive the price of gas up.
You needed someone like Trump to initially break things open, but the moment things got broken open he became a liability. he needed to be disposed of appropriately-a martyr to the cause. Which tells me that these people lack spines, overall.
oh my gosh, you mean he is lazy and self-centered. and not very thorough, but Vought is doing a lot of work right now. there is that.
and even more tech bro oligarchic.
I wonder if there's a betting line on the SBMOD?
Somewhere, probably.
The President knows more than 'his generals." The only reason we haven't completely won is that the ballroom is so crucial to national security. Give the guy a break, one person can only do so much!
/s
What with running the DOJ and all...