Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Giving up is unforgivable.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

The words do not have to be perfect.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

So many bastards, so little time.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

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Squid Game (Open Thread)

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These are some deeply twisted, horrible people.

DHS Is Considering Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for Citizenship
‘This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,’ says the producer behind the pitch

WSJ (gift link) — The Department of Homeland Security is considering being part of a television show in which immigrants would compete for potential U.S. citizenship, an idea the producer pitched as far back as the Obama administration.

Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said she had spoken to the producer of the proposed television reality show and that consideration of the idea was ongoing.

It is “in the very beginning stages of that vetting process,” she said, adding, “Each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval.”

Pro-tip for show pitchers: if you’re obligated to put a “it’s not The Hunger Games” disclaimer on your pitch, throw the pitch in the bin, and then go back and rethink every life choice that led you to this moment.

The pitch for the proposed citizenship-competition show comes from Rob Worsoff, a producer and writer whose credits include the “Duck Dynasty” reality show. Worsoff, who emigrated from Canada, told The Wall Street Journal that the show is meant to be hopeful and a celebration of what it means to be an American citizen.

Oh, the guy who thrust the mumbling right-wing “Duck Dynasty” dipshits into public consciousness. Worsoff says he pitched the show to DHS under Obama and Biden but “the project didn’t come together.” Probably because it’s a profoundly grotesque idea.

The reality TV genre has a lot to answer for, including the shitty current president.

***

In other news from the WSJ, Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” failed to make it out of committee in the GOP-controlled House:

WASHINGTON—House Republican spending hawks blocked the party’s giant tax-and-spending bill on Friday, delivering President Trump a setback over disagreements on Medicaid, clean-energy tax breaks and budget deficits.

They’ll take another swing at it next week. I figure something small and ugly will eventually emerge. Trump is having a hissy fit on his janky knock-off Twitter clone, shrieking GRANDSTANDERS at the so-called fiscal hawks, who will almost certainly cave eventually. There’s not enough vertebrae among the 220 members of that caucus to form a single spine.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

209Comments

  3. 3.

    MattF

    Not to mention the WWE vibe. When do they start throwing folding chairs at the audience?

    ETA: I really do miss old Haystacks Calhoun.

  5. 5.

    The Other Bob

    Do the losers of the show get deported, sent to El Salvador or imprisoned in Louisiana?

  6. 6.

    Omnes Omnibus

    This pitch is, of course, part of the reason I resist the suggestion that we don’t call some of the people evil.  Noem, Miller, and Holman need to be some of the first defendants in our Nuremberg trials.  Mistaken, ignorant, or financially insecure just won’t cut it for these pieces of shit.

  7. 7.

    JoyceH

    The possibilities for competition shows don’t stop there! Here’s a notion for a family event. Four families of a patient awaiting heart transplant, one heart! The shortened viability window (even with the new tech to keep the heart alive longer) would really add to the drama. Time is ticking!

  8. 8.

    Steve LaBonne

    How about a show where a group of immigrants hunt Noem, and whichever one bags her is granted citizenship. Somewhere her late dog would be smiling.

  11. 11.

    Parfigliano

    Did they reject the Big Beautiful Bill because there wasn’t enough pain inflicted on the poor?

  16. 16.

    JoyceH

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: What’s interesting is that the very grotesqueness of the project doesn’t seem to occur to them so long as they’re talking amongst themselves. It’s only when the story comes out and the world recoils in horror that they start to backtrack. Nobody on the inside seems to see it.

    These people are ghouls. Every last one of them.

  17. 17.

    gene108

    If Worsoff proposed this reality TV show idea to the Obama administration, he probably proposed it to Trump 1.0, and enough non-evil sycophants were around back then to keep this from being considered.

    Some perspective on the depravity of Noem.

  18. 18.

    Eural Joiner

    I cannot recommend “Cue the Sun” by Emily Nussbaum enough on the topic of the creation of “reality” media (it goes way back to the 1930s and 40s). It’s a great read and will absolutely stun you with how dark the human psyche can get…and not just recently, sadly. Really good stuff.

  20. 20.

    BlueGuitarist

    Bolts – an excellent resource for keeping track of all the oddly timed elections downballot – has this article up now about Pittsburgh area judicial primary in a few days – Tuesday, May 20:
    I think it is called Bolts because in focusing on the nuts-&-bolts of politics they don’t pay as much attention to the nuts.


    https://boltsmag.org/allegheny-county-judge-elections-2025/

  21. 21.

    Jay

    The story is doing everything the story was meant to do.

    Distract from the evil going on.

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/kristi-noem-and-donald-trump-would

    Noem is surely glad to have this craven show idea be the topic of discussion, instead of how the administration has deported more than a dozen American citizens so far (that we know of), including a child with cancer; how nine immigrants have died in custody; how her department is ignoring Supreme Court orders and impoundment and asylum laws, has blown through its budget and will be broke in two months; how we’ve defunded cybersecurity and left the country pants-down for Russian, Iranian and Chinese hackers; how FEMA is in a — you’ll pardon the expression — state of emergency, with hurricane season fast approaching; and how Noem herself is doing everything in her power to make the country more broke and less safe.

    Or how she lied in Congress that DHS has been complying with the law all along, because the law doesn’t entitle people to due process.

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jay: Some of us can walk and chew gum at the same time.  Also, I am not going to throw shade at whatever attracts public opprobrium to any member of this administration.

  25. 25.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jay: I love Wonkette, but I’m so sick and goddamn tired of the “distraction” discourse. Multiple appalling things are happening at once, and there’s no strategy behind it except the psychos running the government are doing lots of evil shit every fucking day.

  29. 29.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    They can have the competitors dress in just their under-ware for extra humiliation, and then Trump appear at the end of the death match dressed as a Roman God, riding in a bigly heavenly chariot drawn by Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg to bless the winner with a gold scepter, making him an official citizen.

  30. 30.

    Lobo

    In the Correr Para Viver show, the following events will be highlighted:

    • Swimming across a fast flowing river.
    • Find the water in the desert.
    • Avoid the coyotes
    • etc

    (Sarcasm, any case anyone would take this seriously)

  31. 31.

    UncleEbeneezer

    The really sad thing is that there has always been a decent sized market for this shit.

  33. 33.

    Jay

    @Betty Cracker:

    and there’s no strategy behind it except the psychos running the government are doing lots of evil shit every fucking day.

    There is a strategy, it’s “flooding the zone”.

    The seriousness of what is happening, right in front of their eyes, is not “getting through” to the “normies”, because there is always new “click bait”.

    Outside of some Independent Media, nobody in the F’N MSM is doing a “deep dive”, and how many Normies read ProPublica, or KThug, or Emptywheel.

  34. 34.

    zhena gogolia

    I heard at lunch that Chris Murphy is throwing Biden under the bus.

    Great, he’s going to be our “fighter,” and he’s aiming his weapon in opposite direction.

  37. 37.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I believe the Bunim/Murray the producers of Real World, Mark Burnett and Andy Cohen all deserve a special place in hell for popularizing this reality show garbage.  I’ve always considered  WWE as kiddy tv. I honestly don’t get why adults are into it. It’s fake.

  39. 39.

    Geo Wilcox

    Well since we have already turned one human female into an Axlotl tank in Georgia, why not set up a place to hunt immigrants like the Harkonnens hunted humans on Geidi Prime?

    With all this Ai shit set to reduce humans to excess biomass, the Butlerian Jihad cannot come fast enough.

  41. 41.

    Mai Naem mobile

    So do white South African Afrikaaners get to compete..I mean they should be the winners since they have the superior genes and all. Right?

  42. 42.

    geg6

    @Eural Joiner:

    I read that book.  It’s a real eye opener.  And I say that as someone who will watch Survivor and The Traitors until they’re cancelled.  Very interesting history and the premise of when and how reality shows began was not something I’d ever considered.  I also listened to a podcast interview she did for the book with Rob Cesternino, a former two-time Survivor contestant.  Really good stuff.

  43. 43.

    Dave

    @gene108: Or evil but not completely disconnected from reality or still operated under the theory that it’s possible to be TOO ghoulish fools that they were.

  44. 44.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jay: I’m not convinced “flood the zone” is a deliberate and pre-fabbed strategy so much as a post-hoc silk purse made from the sow’s ear fact that Trump sprays verbal diarrhea nonstop and has said and done crazy shit all his fucking life, and well before he entered politics. And his cult, which has real power, does it too.

    But even if it were true, what are we supposed to do about it, other than “flood the zone” in response? Should everyone who opposes Trump subscribe to a central clearinghouse that decides which outrage of the minute deserves scrutiny and which should be ignored lest we distract from more important issues? Who gets to decide?

    Rhetorical questions, so feel free to ignore. I’m just so over the entire argument.

  45. 45.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Jay:  Noem  was on the radio Monday, like every ten minutes with a some paid advertisement were she was scolding everyone for daring to having sympathy for immigrants.

    I think the show is grand idea because she is a truly an unpleasant person,  and anything that increased her public exposer gives her a chance to offend more people.

  46. 46.

    zhena gogolia

    Why aren’t the media investigating the cognitive abilities of THE SITTING PRESIDENT?

  47. 47.

    Ben Cisco

    @Betty Cracker:

    But even if it were true, what are we supposed to do about it, other than “flood the zone” in response? Should everyone who opposes Trump subscribe to a central clearinghouse that decides which outrage of the minute deserves scrutiny and which should be ignored lest we distract from more important issues? Who gets to decide?

    THIS PART RIGHT HERE!!!

  48. 48.

    Jay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Given that it’s happening all across the Admin, and it worked before, I’d say it’s a strategy.

    Because of the F/N MSM, there is little we can do about it, but elected Dems can do some stuff at the State and Federal level to try to change the narrative,

    But given the F/N MSM, the fact that Biden died in the spring of 2024 and the Dem’s are Weekend at Bernie-ing his ambulatory corpse around, will get more in depth coverage for months than say, the illegal and corrupt arrest  and political prosecution of Mayor Ras Barkara.

  49. 49.

    George

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     I agree. Noem, Miller, Holman, Vought, et al. are as evil as they are allowed to get away with under the current circumstances. As their current levels of evilness become accepted as the norm, they will continue to push the envelope outward.

  50. 50.

    Glidwrith

    @Omnes Omnibus: A citizen I might refrain from calling evil, but anyone in a position of power gets no grace. It’s their JOB to know what their power can do and choosing to use that power to hurt and strip rights away-EVIL.

  51. 51.

    Jay

    You can’t find migrants by looking for criminals.

    And so you have to move FBI agents from looking for criminals and make them search for migrants another way, for migrants as migrants, rather than for criminals.

    By demanding that the FBI take agents who are currently looking for criminals and instead assign them to look for migrants, Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are confessing that migrants aren’t the criminals that Trump’s entire political career has been built on claiming they are.

    https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/05/16/trump-confesses-migrants-arent-the-criminals-he-claimed-they-are/

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Glidwrith: If a citizen is cheering this on, I am sort of out of benefit of the doubt.  If they don’t know, I will perhaps have more sympathy.  Perhaps.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    My recommendation is to endlessly debate among ourselves what the true act is and what the distraction is. :⁠-⁠)

    That said, we could do better job focusing on things that are more likely to happen as opposed to things that are more speculative. My 2¢.

  55. 55.

    trollhattan

    Cricket’s mom is really thriving out of South Dakota. Camera time, bitches!

    Meanwhile, the thing you saw coming the Rs are trying to make happen.

    Washington Post: “Republicans see an opening and are openly courting Fetterman to join their 53-seat majority, even though the senator from Pennsylvania has said repeatedly he would never join the GOP.”

    “Fetterman spent time Monday evening in the Republican cloakroom off the Senate floor, bonding with some of his friends on the other side of the aisle.”

    Said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY): “We’re always looking to increase the number of our caucus and I’ve enjoyed working with him. And we talk regularly. We talked last evening. We most certainly welcome him.”

  56. 56.

    Jackie

    @Betty Cracker: Lots of outrage being posted about FFOTUS’s implied threat to The Boss upon his reentering the States. But some amusing comments as well. My favorite (thus far):

    “Springsteen should hold a massive free concert in the Washington, DC, area on the day of Trump’s stupid birthday parade and we’ll see who draws more people.” USA Today columnist Rex Huppke.

  58. 58.

    Princess

    If you have to come out and say something is not Hunger Games for migrants, you’ve already lost that argument.

    I maintain though that Noem is going to be the easiest to prosecute if/when this is all over.

  59. 59.

    Princess

    @zhena gogolia: I’ve always been a big Murphy fan but I’ve been so disappointed with him lately. Wherever you stand on Biden, no Democrat should be giving this nonsense airtime. I agree with Betty about people who cry distraction! all the time but THIS is a distraction.

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    @Jackie: ​
    Oh hell that would be an epic burn. Because it would work.

    Would need to be outside DC because the Trump NPS would never issue a permit.

  62. 62.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    Crap! A tornado just hit in North St. Louis City!!!

  65. 65.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Princess:

    That’ll never happen as everybody from Our Failed Press Corpse will say it’s all in the past and we just need to move forward.

    Anything else would be seen as “too partisan”, particularly if it’s Dems trying to do the prosecuting.

  66. 66.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Jay: ​
     

    The story is doing everything the story was meant to do.

    Distract from the evil going on.

    Every evil in this Administration is inherently a distraction from every other evil in this Administration.

    Reminds me of the Doonesbury strip in the fall of 1971 when Doonesbury explains to Mark Slackmeyer that if he were to work himself into a rage over Kent State, his indignation over Attica would be compromised.

  67. 67.

    Suzanne

    I love Derek Guy (this is a tweet, which I can’t embed, but you can go give him a follow):

    In our current debates about the US economy, critics of free trade often invoke haunting images of shuttered steel mills and abandoned clothing factories. And it’s true: trade agreements such as NAFTA helped erode union power and shutter thousands of garment factories across the country.

    Those who support Trump’s approach (e.g. tariffs), argue that bold action is needed to bring back the manufacturing base of the 1960s . But this vision misses two fundamental points.

    First, the Trump administration has paired its tariff agenda with calls to slash government spending. That’s a contradiction. The robust garment sector of the mid-20th century didn’t arise from market forces alone. For garment manufacturing, it was propped up by a lattice of public programs. Home economics classes, the USDA’s Bureau of Home Economics, and 4-H clubs all helped cultivate a sewing-literate, largely female workforce. Any serious plan to bring back clothing manufacturing would require similar investments in training. The government would also need to subsidize the erection of garment factories, which require manufacturing technology made abroad. All this requires gov spending.

    Second, some reshoring advocates, such as @ac132 (CEO of Sticker Mule), openly admit they don’t intend to rehire US workers. They’re waiting for robot technology to lower production costs. Certainly, even an automated system still requires some level of human labor: engineers to fix machines, technicians to monitor quality, and people to manage logistics. Those aren’t factory jobs of the past; they’re highly specialized roles, often requiring advanced degrees.

    Which brings us back to the real issue. America doesn’t have an unemployment crisis—we have a wage stagnation crisis. Over the last half-century, wage growth has clustered in knowledge-intensive sectors such as law, engineering, and medicine, while blue-collar work has stagnated or disappeared. If manufacturing returns only when blue-collar workers are no longer needed, what kind of economy are we rebuilding?

    Free trade hasn’t just destroyed jobs; it has also created them. Anthony and his team profit handsomely by selling $19 t-shirts printed on imported Nicaraguan blanks (which stretch out at the collar, fade in the wash, and pill after minimal wear). Tariffs might kill some of those jobs by raising costs on imported inputs. Maybe they’ll create a few robot maintenance gigs in Texas. But is that what rebuilding American industry looks like? Warehouses of R2-D2s supervised by a few graduate-degree holders in mechatronics?

    In the US, real humans already make t-shirts. Why not support those companies now? In the last few months, I’ve been pointing out that the loudest advocates of reshoring US manufacturing often sell merch printed on blanks made abroad. Why don’t their customers demand they put their money where their mouth is?

    I support US garment manufacturing, although I don’t think the goal should be to reshore the production of cheap $19 t-shirts and $40 jeans. I think we should use industrial policy to move the US towards upscale items, such as complicated outerwear, tailored clothing, and Goodyear welted shoes. We should have the “made in USA” label feel luxurious, like “made in Italy” or “made in Japan.” This means crafted clothing made by real humans who are better protected from automation, and thus will see higher wage growth.

    We also need to solve the housing crisis, so that people who haven’t seen high wage growth are not burdened by astronomical rents. And ideally, affordable homes in walkable neighborhoods so that you don’t have to buy a $47,000 machine to buy groceries and get to work.

  68. 68.

    RevRick

    @Parfigliano: That’s the objection of the “Freedom” caucus. The cuts to Medicaid don’t kick in until 2029 and the gutting of the clean energy tax credits are phased out over several years. Meanwhile, the SALT caucus is pressing for a higher cap on state and local tax deductions. And other Representatives are complaining that the cuts to the energy tax credits are too harsh, notably Jen Kiggans. The fact that it couldn’t make it out of the Budget Committee is good news, because it means there are real rifts in the GOP House.

  70. 70.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: ​
     

    Noem was on the radio Monday, like every ten minutes with a some paid advertisement were she was scolding everyone for daring to having sympathy for immigrants.

    I’d love to ask her if she believes in the Bible, and follow up her ‘yes’ by quoting all the Scriptures that say we’re supposed to love the alien in our land and treat them same as we treat those who’ve lived here all along, and ask her why she is so flagrantly disobeying God.

  74. 74.

    zhena gogolia

    I just unsubscribed from “Friends of Chris Murphy” and let him know why.

  75. 75.

    mrmoshpotato

    Worsoff says he pitched the show to DHS under Obama and Biden but “the project didn’t come together.”

    I’d love to see how Obama’s and Biden’s administrations diplomatically told this deplorable piece of shit to go fuck himself.

  76. 76.

    JiveTurkin

    How about the people who pitched this show participate in a reality show where they are placed in one of these Salvadoran jails they are so fond of.  The one who lasts the longest can get a $1 million dollar prize.

  77. 77.

    Eunicecycle

    The Supreme Court, 7-2, says Trump cannot deport people without due process! Guess who dissented.

  80. 80.

    Captain C

    @mrmoshpotato: “Dear Mr. Worsoff:  If you want to abuse people for money, there are clubs for that in various cities.  You should find one.”

  84. 84.

    JiveTurkin

    @Suzanne: I’d rather see a pig eat Stephen Miller’s rectum.  But I suspect even a pig has limits as to what they will consume.

  86. 86.

    Jay

    Arguing against birthright citizenship in front of the Supreme Court while at the same time pitching a Netflix show where immigrants compete for citizenship is such a perfect microcosm of America right now that it feels fake, or The Onion.

  87. 87.

    Old School

    The proposed series is called The American, named after the train that contestants would ride around the country, competing in regionally specific ‘cultural’ contests such as rolling logs in Wisconsin.

    Good balance is an important part of citizenship.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Eunicecycle: Someone on Bluesky pointed out that those two are like the German judges who convicted whoever Hitler wanted.  The only thing I would add is that some did it because they subscribed to his views (Alito) and others because they were corrupt (Thomas).

  92. 92.

    NutmegAgain

    @Jay: I guess deportation is marginally better than having Noem haul those folks to the local gravel pit, like her dog Cricket.

  93. 93.

    Jackie

    FFOTUS isn’t having a good day…

    Another strike for Donald Trump Friday as a federal judge blocked the administration from cutting nearly $11 billion in grants “for a wide range of public health programs,” related to infectious diseases, mental health, substance abuse, and other concerns, according to The Boston Globe.

    Last month, attorneys general in 24 states and the District of Columbia accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr of moving to eliminate the funds ”without valid and legal explanation.”

    U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy granted a preliminary injunction on Friday to block the cuts.

    Judge McElroy wrote in a memorandum that cuts “would constrain the States’ infectious disease research, thwart treatment efforts to those struggling with mental health and addiction, and impact the availability of vaccines to children, the elderly, and those living in rural communities,” among other initiatives.

    “There is ample evidence to support the States’ position that the Public Health Funding Decision is causing immediate damage to their healthcare programs and the safety of their residents,” McElroy wrote. “While the Court acknowledges HHS’ position that it may be unable to recover the grant funds if it later prevails, Congress’s direction that the funds remain intact and the States’ reliance on the continuation of the funding overshadows that argument.”

  96. 96.

    Jay

    Guy in Altadena won the $2 billion dollar lottery jackpot. Got $424 million after taxes.

    Imagine how you would feel if you won the lottery, but are the only Billionaire being properly taxed.

  97. 97.

    New Deal democrat

    A little off topic for this comment thread, but Moodys has downgraded the credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA1.

    This is the second time GOP budget games have caused a downgrade in US debt.

    While AA1 is still “high grade,” this will have long term consequences for things like mortgage rates, and the interest rate that the US must pay on its debt.

  99. 99.

    New Deal democrat

    And in News to makes your Stomach Churn, NBC reports: “The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, five people with knowledge of the effort told NBC News.”

    And there is your ethnic cleansing. Israel gets to take over the entire Gaza Strip. As awful as it is, it might be better than mass starvation, which otherwise seems like where they are heading.

  101. 101.

    rikyrah

    @New Deal democrat:

    But but but ….

    Some folks were saying earlier this week that the Orange Menace had turned his back on Israel 🙄🙄😒😒

     

    You do understand that sending them to LIBYA is certain DEATH.

  102. 102.

    Steve in the ATL

    @New Deal democrat: and the US has what standing to do anything to or with people in Gaza?  Good effing G-d.

     

    @Suzanne: for the record, I am in favor of wage growth in knowledge-intensive sectors such as law.

  104. 104.

    Old School

    @Jay:

    Guy in Altadena won the $2 billion dollar lottery jackpot. Got $424 million after taxes.

    I was curious about that tax rate.

    Won $2.04 billion Powerball.  Opted for lump sum, which gave him a check for $997.6 million.  After taxes, likely $628.5 million.

  105. 105.

    RandomMonster

    Did I just see that the Supreme Court ruled against these illegal deportations? Or is it a headline giving me false hopes on a Friday night?

  106. 106.

    New Deal democrat

    @Eunicecycle:

    The Supreme Court, 7-2, says Trump cannot deport people without due process! Guess who dissented.

    As awful as this Supreme Court is, they really do not seem to want to green-light autocracy.

    It is noteworthy that they no longer seem to be willing to presume good faith, and also that they are currently sitting on *6* “shadow docket” emergency applications from the T—-p Administration.

  110. 110.

    Jay

    @New Deal democrat:

    Technically, its a concept of a plan.

    In theory, the US will lift sanctions and release seized assets,

    but, one part of Libya, (Tripoli) is under the control of the Recognized Government, the GNU, the other part is under control of the ruZZian backed Warlord, Haftar.

    So, who’s this alleged “deal” with?

    Haftar, the GNU, Kushner, Rwanda?

  111. 111.

    Princess

    @New Deal democrat: I don’t think Israel is going to be offered Gaza. I think the Qataris are going to get it and that’s why the Israelis are apoplectic right now.

  113. 113.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Jay: this president’s favorability numbers are in free fall.  Something is getting through to extremely busy Americans even if that something is simply the ever increasing cost of  ground beef and eggs.

  115. 115.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @rikyrah: Cozying up with Qatar is pretty bad for Israelis.  Qatar funds, supports and provides refuge to Hamas terrorists.  Qatar also  funds Al-Jazeera, the biggest source of anti-Israel (and often antisemitic) propaganda on the planet.  Trump hates Muslims but he really has no love for Jews/Israel either.  He’s a dual bigot who only dips into this stuff opportunistically when it serves his interests/ego/needs.

  117. 117.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @zhena gogolia:  most excellent question.  This president has difficulty staying awake in public and rarely completes a coherent question.  President Biden rescued our economy from this man and made it the envy of the world.  A few months into this guy’s second term and our economy is running into the sewage system once more.

  120. 120.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Timill: yes, it was a terrible deal to get hundreds of millions of dollars from a $2 investment in a lottery ticket!

  121. 121.

    Jay

    @Eunicecycle:

    There are still about 2 million surviving Palestinians in Gaza, although Israel is doing it’s best to reduce that number.

    DJTdiot’s wrecking crew also said a while ago, that they were going to take over “feeding” Gaza, that never got beyond a concept of a plan and Gaza is starving.

    Israel also droned a  Civilian relief ship in International waters, off Cyprus, making it’s way to break the blockade of Gaza a couple weeks ago.

  122. 122.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think an examination of the case reveals that both are corrupted by the company they keep and the large “tips” their excessively wealthy “friends” give them.

  124. 124.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Jackie: is there any proof of life that other funding streams Courts have ordered turned back on have, in fact, been restored?

  125. 125.

    lowtechcyclist

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​
     

    Qatar also funds Al-Jazeera, the biggest source of anti-Israel (and often antisemitic) propaganda on the planet.

    I hate to disagree with you, but the world’s biggest source of anti-Israel propaganda is Israel itself.

  126. 126.

    rikyrah

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    The only folks who were genuine about their support for Israel

    ARE THE DEMOCRATS.

     

    The right wing sees Israel as an important part of their plan to bring on THE RAPTURE.

    Outside of that, they have no use for Israel.😒😒😤😡

  127. 127.

    Jay

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Yabbut, if he had become a Billionaire the old fashioned way by just stealing the money, he would have had to pay a tiny amount of taxes. Less than a cashier at a Waffle House.

  129. 129.

    Spanky

    @Suzanne:

    Maybe it can be like Fear Factor and we can make Stephen Miller eat a pig’s rectum.

    I would only watch if it was a live pig

    ETA, live and free to defend itself.

  131. 131.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

     

    @Jay:  that was what I found too

    So, this president is ignoring multiple court orders right now.

  132. 132.

    Jay

    ‪davidrlurie‬
    ‪@davidrlurie.bsky.social‬
    · 57m
    The best way to understand the bizarre journalistic campaign to pressure Democrats to “confess” to a non-existent conspiracy to hide Biden’s unproven dementia is as an effort to divert attention from the serial failures of prominent journalists to satisfy their responsibilities to the nation.

  133. 133.

    Gretchen

    @Jay: Maddening how Noem  answered the question about the kid with cancer getting deported, saying it was the mother’s choice. So you gave mom the choice of being separated from her sick kid or not being separated from her sick kid, being deported either way. That’s not a choice. The choice would be staying with the sick kid where treatment was in process, and they didn’t give her that choice, the only humane choice.

  135. 135.

    Jay

    @Gretchen:

    What is maddening is nobody pushed the Serial Dog and Goat killer on it. At best, the F/N MSM is a bunch of stenographers, at worst, sanewashers.

  139. 139.

    Another Scott

    @Suzanne: Speaking of robots …

    Virginia Mercury:

    Amazon is building a new state-of-the-art robotics fulfillment center in Goochland County, the company’s fourth in Virginia, creating more than 1,000 jobs and further deepening its footprint in the commonwealth.

    The 3.1 million-square-foot facility, known as RIC6, will occupy a 107-acre parcel in the Rockville Opportunity Corridor. It joins a growing network of Amazon investments in Virginia that include fulfillment and delivery centers, dozens of data centers, Whole Foods Markets, Amazon Fresh stores, and the company’s second headquarters in Arlington.

    There’s a lot to criticize Amazon for, but they are not waiting around for a return to the 1950s (or 1850s). They invest in new technology and in education (e.g. VT’s new campus in Alexandria.)

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  141. 141.

    Spanky

    @HopefullyNotcassandra:

     The Supreme Court has by 7-2 opinion upheld our Constitutional requirement that nobody can be denied “life, liberty or property without due process of law.”

    “They’ve made their decision. Now let them enforce it.”

    Or …

    “How many divisions does the Supreme Court have?”

     

    Too negative?

  142. 142.

    Geminid

    @New Deal democrat:  The US was also working on a plan to settle Gazans in Somaliland. I’m not sure if these plans are serious, or just for show with the host country acquiescing to a transfer they know will never take place. Marco Rubio said two days ago that there would be no involuntary transfers out of Gaza, and the Saudis flatly reject such transfers. So I will believe this Libya plan if and when they actually start to carry it out.

    But whether or not these plans are real, the situation Gaza is going from bad to worse right now. Israel has ramped up its bombardment severely in the last few days. While they had been killing 25 to 75 people a day since they renewed fighting in March, I believe the death toll has been well over 200 each of the last two days.

    Israel’s cabinet is scheduled to meet Sunday to approve the expanded ground operation they announced ten days ago. There is a slim possibility that negotiators in Doha will reach a ceasefire agreement before then. The government says it intends to occupy the entire Gaza Strip and maintain control of it indefinitely..

    Questions of morality aside, this does not seem like a realistic plan. The IDF has operated in the Gaza since November of 2023, at various force levels, and I don’t think they’ve controlled more than 20% of the Gaza Strip’s 150 square miles at any one time They’ve basically mounted big raids and then withdrawn. Yet the IDF has lost 420 soldiers killed in action, and many more wounded. That is one reason why only 25% of Israelis say they want operation “Gideon’s Chariots ” to proceed, and 69% say they don’t.

    So while that Libya plan is plenty alarming, I am keeping my eyes on what happens in Gaza this weekend.

  144. 144.

    Bill Arnold

    @George:

    Noem, Miller, Holman, Vought, et al. are as evil as they are allowed to get away with under the current circumstances.

    Yeah, agreed that Vought should be added to OO’s list.
    Many many people would knock on doors for candidates who ran on a complete purge of MAGA from the federal government.

  145. 145.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Steve in the ATL: ​
     

    How about wage growth period? And not just wage growth for the usual white professional class that the Dem Party has so largely hitched its wagon to? So much of the problems we bring up go back to income inequality but golly gee, instead we have the extreme centrists of the party promoting other “fixes” that typically have the exact opposite outcome of what they’re trying to fix and that’s deliberate.

    The guy referenced is simply another glibertarian-in-a-trench coat asshole who fits right in with the Ezra Broder Klein/MattY/New Liberalism/MGP clowns espousing what’s good for cosmopolitan business urbanism and is part and parcel of the Dem’s “Gentrification Problem”, which again simply marginalizes the minority working poor, organized labor and others plus keeps us open to populist attacks from the right.

  146. 146.

    artem1s

    failed to make it out of committee in the GOP-controlled House:

    What a lovely sentence. May it be so for the next umpteenth tries as well. Let the self inflicted wounds continue. This year’s Zombie Eyed Granny Starving Award is still up for grabs guys!

  147. 147.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Spanky: I think that this ruling will stand.  Nonetheless, this regime will, no doubt, seek some similarly legally abhorrent way to  achieve its extraordinary rendition nightmare.   Apparently, the sadism inherent in magas needs human sacrifice in foreign torture prisons.

  152. 152.

    frosty

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​Of course he could. Bruce filled Camden Yards last September. I was there. First line he sang: “Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack.”​

  154. 154.

    different-church-lady

    In 2005 if you told me Alito would be the “hold my beer” guy to Scalia, I’m not sure I would have believed it.

  155. 155.

    trollhattan

    A Friday pickmeup: where Melania at?

    Melania Trump statue goes missing in Slovenia

    “Melania” appeared on the banks of the River Sava in July 2020, four months before her human inspiration left the White House.

    Now, four months after the erstwhile Melanija Knavs resumed residence at Washington’s most famous address, her larger-than-life-size avatar has apparently made an undignified exit from her Slovenian hometown, Sevnica.

    All that remains of the massive bronze statue are the feet – and the two-metre-tall tree stump they were standing on.

    The symmetry would probably appeal to the whimsical US director Wes Anderson – who often features bizarre heists in his films. But even in his back catalogue, there has never been anything quite like the case of the cursed First Lady statue.

    Because this is not the first time a Melania Trump tribute has met a sticky end in Sevnica.

    The first iteration was unveiled in July 2019. Carved from a single piece of wood by a chainsaw-wielding local artisan called Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, it lasted a year before an unidentified perpetrator decided to turn it into a Fourth of July bonfire.

    Luckily, US artist Brad Downey – who commissioned Maxi to create the wooden original – had already made a cast of the statue. It duly made a comeback in bronze, at the same site.

    At its unveiling, Mr Downey said the new version had been designed to be “as solid as possible, out of a durable material which cannot be wantonly destroyed”.

    But, as it turns out, it can be chopped off at the ankles and taken away.

    Local police say they are treating “Melania’s” disappearance as “theft” and have launched an investigation.

    “We’ve got our best men on it.”

  158. 158.

    Geminid

    @rikyrah: Trump has been disregarding the Israeli government’s positions in areas like sales of advanced arms to Arab nations, cooperating with Saudi Arabia on building nuclear power reactors, the Iran nuclear talks, lifting Syria sanctions and backing Syrian President Al-Sharaa– if that is what you mean by people here saying he has turned his back on Israel. It might not seem like much here, but this is like a tectonic shift for Israelis and others in the region.

    So far, Gaza is the one exception to this pattern. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told Arab negotiators and hostage families that the US won’t force Israel into a ceasefire agreement. I think we’ll see in the next 48 hours of this is so.

  160. 160.

    Jay

    @trollhattan:

    Scrap bronze can go for as much as $10.30 a kilo, so roughly 9.03 Euro’s, so the statue is worth about 6 months average wages in Slovenia.

    Plus, it was ugly.

  162. 162.

    Eyeroller

    @zhena gogolia: The only explanation for this that comes to my mind is that it has something to do with the recent report that Ezra Klein and David Shor were invited to provide advice to Senate Democrats.  For some reason, they think that this will help with the electorate.  I do not understand it. Instead of defending our President, who accomplished a lot regardless of whether he was in “cognitive decline” (which I don’t believe to be the case), what do we gain? Reagan was in very obvious cognitive decline in his second term, much worse than Biden ever seemed to be, but the Rs still worship him.  Why do we always have to attack our own?  No wonder the electorate sees us as weak.  Even if Biden may have been in decline, he had competent people who ran the government very effectively.  How is this worse than Trump, who may or may not be in cognitive decline but is surrounded by incompetents?

  165. 165.

    Jay

    @Eyeroller:

    ‪capitolhunters‬
    ‪@capitolhunters.bsky.social‬
    · 22h
    Screenshots here of an amazing exchange on X. Axios reporter Alex Thompson’s new book on Biden claims (with no sources) that Biden shook DNC chair Jaime Harrison’s hand without recognizing him. Harrison posts “it never happened”. Then Axios editor Jake Wilkins – wow – tells Harrison he’s wrong! 1/

    https://bsky.app/profile/capitolhunters.bsky.social/post/3lparftdghc2k

    MAKING SHIT UP TO COVER UP THE STINK OF THEIR OWN SHITTING ON THE FLOOR.

  168. 168.

    Jay

    @Steve in the ATL:

    No naming any airport after President Joe Biden until planes stop falling out of the sky.

    Not Newark, not Denver,……………………………

  169. 169.

    lowtechcyclist

    Hey Spanky, how were things over your way this evening? We got a shitload of wind along with the rain, and four large tree branches missed the house by maybe 10-15 feet. Good thing too, because these were definitely big and heavy enough to knock a hole in the roof. Hopefully that’s all the local excitement for this evening.

  171. 171.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Steve in the ATL: ​
     

    we should rename Washington National Airport after Biden

    Or just officially change the name back to Washington National Airport.

    I’ve never stopped calling it just ‘National.’ Fuck this Reagan bullshit.

  172. 172.

    Suzanne

    @Steve in the ATL: I, for one, support only enriching attorneys. I welcome our new overlords, but I suppose they get to bill us all by the hour for the privilege.

    Hey, they can’t be worse than these techbro douchebags. I wonder what Derek Guy would think of their tailoring.

  173. 173.

    frosty

    @lowtechcyclist: I’ve never stopped calling it just ‘National.’ Fuck this Reagan bullshit.

    I’m with you. Although I’ll never fly out of there again because a) BWI is closer (hell, Harrisburg is closer) and b) the flight that ended up in the Potomac decades ago would have come down on the runway at Dulles.​​

  175. 175.

    Eyeroller

    @Baud: But why?  Why do we do this?  Do elected Ds not understand basic psychology?  Why do they/we succumb to pressure from the political press when the R’s just kick them in the nuts over and over and they ask for more?  It’s possible to be “nice” without being pushovers.

    I understand that, as Josh Marshall said years ago, the DC political press is “wired for Republicans,” but we should be able to push back against that rather than just folding like the proverbial cheap tents.

  176. 176.

    Steve in the ATL

    @lowtechcyclist: I have used that name to gate agents and flight attendants after someone said R***** and gotten knowing winks and smiles.

    So how about some relevant music?

  183. 183.

    Baud

    So far my reddit bubble is ignoring Bidengate. That’s a +1 for now.

    I’m sure the trolls and bots will start to do their their soon.

  184. 184.

    Eyeroller

    @Baud: I don’t really buy that we are inherently weak.  It may be related to some studies I’ve seen that suggest that liberals think their positions are much less popular than they actually are — whereas the right thinks their policies are more popular than they are.  So liberals perhaps may feel they/we can’t advocate openly for our policies so we sneak around furtively and throw ourselves under the bus at the first opportunity. In any case, Ezra Klein and his ilk are not the right people to tell us what to do about this.

    Regardless, we need the equivalent of Reagan’s Law “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican” (substitute Democrat in our case).  Attacking other Democrats does absolutely no good — especially if they are out of office and have a record that is positive — and just increases public skepticism toward us.

  185. 185.

    lowtechcyclist

    @frosty: ​
     

    I’m with you. Although I’ll never fly out of there again because a) BWI is closer (hell, Harrisburg is closer) and b) the flight that ended up in the Potomac decades ago would have come down on the runway at Dulles.​​

    BWI is closer for me too, and it’s been well over a decade since the last time I flew out of National.

    Still, National is easily the closest and most convenient airport for much of northern Virginia, which was where I was living when Air Florida 90 took its express flight to the 14th Street Bridge.

    An idea I’ve had for years is that they should swap National and Andrews. Let what is now National become the home of Air Force 1 and exist primarily for that purpose, and let what is now Andrews become the major airport that National doesn’t really have the space to be.

    There’s probably some serious reasons why that wouldn’t work, but I’d love to know what they are.

  186. 186.

    YY_Sima Qian

    MAGAs are such f*cking ghouls.

    How long before they start hosting real gladiatorial games, a la the Purge?

  187. 187.

    Baud

    @Eyeroller:

    “We” are the sum of our parts. If a significant part of us can’t stand up to the media or the pundits or whoever else, the rest of us being strong and confident can’t overcome that.

  190. 190.

    Another Scott

    @lowtechcyclist: There are much, much longer runways at Joint Base Andrews.  Wouldn’t want AF-1 to end up in the Potomac.

    It’s probably nearly impossible to secure DCA compared to Andrews, as well.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  193. 193.

    Jackie

    Kinda amusing (and surprising) that all three of FFOTUS’s Supreme Court appointees – Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – went against his demands to allow him to deport/disappear migrants without due process. Interestingly, MAGA seems only incensed about Amy Coney Barrett.

  194. 194.

    Eyeroller

    @Baud: That would be our electeds, so I guess I have to concede that too many of them are weak, or, what may be indistinguishable from weakness, think that if they placate the press and get good coverage, it will help them.  I don’t really know. It just seems that no amount of self-flagellation helps with either the press or the public, but they, and the apparently entrenched consultants who seem to play an outsized role in our party, ever seem to learn this.

  195. 195.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    @lowtechcyclist: I live in Alexandria.  I saw a tree split in half, presumably because of the storm.  Looked like there were hurricane strength winds blowing the rain sideways.  Power’s out by me.  I know someone else was asked, but figured I’d share

  196. 196.

    sab

    @sab:That’s only 10 minutes, not so much different from our 15 minutes.

    My 11 year old grand-daughter has met fractions for the first time this year. I thought I would explain it through cooking, 1/2 cups and all that.

    Maybe billable hours would work better. $ does focus rhe mind.

  197. 197.

    prostratedragon

    Solidarity:

    The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada just put out a statement of solidarity with two of their more famous union members, Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, in response to Trump’s attacks.

    Swift is a member of their Nashville chapter and Bruce Asbury Park, NJ (ofc)/

  199. 199.

    Suzanne

    @Jackie:

    Interestingly, MAGA seems only incensed about Amy Coney Barrett.

    Gee, I wonder why. I’m shocked to hear this news.

    It’s always a tell when people complain viciously about women and not men. It reads very “Actually, I’m very concerned about ethics in gaming journalism”.

  200. 200.

    sab

    At some point Roberts will realize that his own kids, born in Brazil by an Irish surrogate, are not as thoroughly and safely American as he had hoped because off his own Court’s emerging rules. I hope they are learning Portuguese.

  202. 202.

    Steve in the ATL

    For many of us who do business in the District, Biden National is vastly more convenient than Dulles or, god forbid, BWI [shudders]. YMMV.

  203. 203.

    Suzanne

    @Steve in the ATL: I was reminiscing on an earlier thread about my time working at McDonald’s. I was absolutely awesome at making the soft serve cones. No scooping, just the right touch to make it swirl perfectly. Definitely a career highlight, I should bill by the hour for that shit.

  205. 205.

    Gretchen

    @New Deal democrat: I wonder what ExPat Dem thinks of this news. He was lecturing us yesterday about how Harris couldn’t wait to bomb Gaza, and it was immoral to support her.

  207. 207.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @New Deal democrat: That is the purpose of Israel starving the Gazan population, rendering it uninhabitable, and random wanton mass killing. So that “evacuation” becomes seemingly the “only” “solution”.

    Who is going to take a million Gazans? Not any country in the region.

  208. 208.

    I'm not Rappaport

    I figure something small and ugly will eventually emerge. Trump is having a hissy fit on his janky knock-off Twitter clone, shrieking GRANDSTANDERS at the so-called fiscal hawks, who will almost certainly cave eventually. There’s not enough vertebrae among the 220 members of that caucus to form a single spine.

     

    So very sad, Betty.  And so very true.

  209. 209.

    Chris T.

    @Another Scott:

    There are much, much longer runways at Joint Base Andrews.

    Correct: the runways at Andrews (the longer ones anyway) are over 11,000 ft while the runways at DCA max out at 7169 ft. That’s too short for a 747. It’s why if you fly DCA to SFO, you must stop somewhere in between (e.g., ORD).

    Fun fact: the runways at SJC (San Jose Calif) were too short for flights from SJC to Japan, so that planes had to take off under-fueled from SJC and land in OAK or SFO to fill up before continuing to NRT or wherever. (I think they’re longer now, not sure about this.)

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