Becca Balint (D-VT) tells Noem accountability is coming.
Balint to Noem: "You're the secretary of DHS — for now. And you think you're immune from accountability. But I promise you this: one day he is not gonna be president anymore. And when that day comes, we will still be here. And in hearings like this, we are going to continue to prove your guilt."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 4, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Noem and all the other sociopaths who are terrorizing people at home and abroad need to hear that message. (Please, Congress, do Hegseth next.)
They all need to hear that. WE all need to hear that.
Thank you, Representative Balint.
Open thread!
ExPatExDem
At this point, I’m just hoping he doesn’t start WW3 on his way out the door.
lowtechcyclist
Never heard of Rep. Balint before, but I’m a fan of hers now. 🙂
Betty Cracker
@ExPatExDem: You and me both.
Belafon
Hopefully supplying it to a DOJ that will go after all of them.
eclare
Wow.
Professor Bigfoot
Joe Neguse laid down much the same for Ms. Noem.
suzanne
Balint has been an absolute rockstar this year. Incredibly feckful.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: Rep. Balint won Vermont’s House seat in 2022, when Rep. Peter Welch moved up to the Senate.
lowtechcyclist
@suzanne:
Whatever ‘feck’ is, she’s got it, in spades.
West of the Rockies
I hope this filled Noem with a metric shit-ton of anxiety, fear, and anger. Ugly Orange Daddy won’t protect her forever.
A Ghost to Most
Popping the zit doesn’t cure the acne.
trnc
Accountability for anyone involved in domestic crimes is going to be tough if Trump issues a blanket pardon for his appointees. OTOH, the next president could easily turn Hegseth over to Iran.
trnc
@suzanne: No fecks left to give?
trnc
@A Ghost to Most: Just ask Bluto.
Raven
@trnc: Firesign Theater:”Anybody got any lynch?”
suzanne
@lowtechcyclist: Balint threw a whole bunch of feck at Pam Bondi’s fugly face a couple of weeks back. I deeply enjoyed it.
Montanareddog
@A Ghost to Most:
But it does provide some temporary relief in an ongoing war.
prostratedragon
@ExPatExDem: Who among us has not backed away from that thought?
Belafon
@West of the Rockies: I think they’re planning for this in the same way that the attack on Iran was planned. They think he or they will be in power for a long time, and if they do leave, he’ll pardon them all and they can go on their way.
rikyrah
There is so much to unwrap in that Texas mess.
I can find out ALL of this on a WEBSITE.
There is absolutely no reason why these redistricted people shouldn’t have been clearly notified about their local polling place, and be able to find that information on a website.
CLEAR VOTER SUPPRESSION.
suzanne
@lowtechcyclist: Here is Merriam-Webster on feck:
Betty Cracker
Ooo, Representative Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) went there! Hahaha!
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
That’s not a no!
Chief Oshkosh
Speaking of accountability once Trump is out of office, how is that torpedoing and sinking of the Iranian frigate by the US submarine not a war crime? We have not officially declared war with Iran, have we? That ship is not a “fair game” combatant vessel, plus it was on a training exercise far, far away from Iran. How is it not a war crime to torpedo it without warning?
suzanne
@Betty Cracker: SHE DIDN’T DENY IT!!!
Baud
TaMara
@Professor Bigfoot: He is my rockstar rep and I really wish he would run for Senate, but I don’t know if it would be successful. On the other hand, we elected both Hickenlooper and Polis (however flawed they both might be right now) so anything is possible.
Warblewarble
A shitton of U,S officers need go the way of Keitel and Jodl.
TaMara
@Betty Cracker: More of this please!
ExPatExDem
@Baud: That’s what I was thinking.
In all of that filibustering, I didn’t hear an actual denial that she’s getting railed by Lewandowski.
Baud
@ExPatExDem:
WHAT WAS IN THE BAG, KRISTI???!!!
MisterForkbeard
@Betty Cracker: There’s a whole lot of “I’m not answering that question” in that response too
different-church-lady
@ExPatExDem:
Too late: at this point we just have to hope WW3 is short.
Betty Cracker
Y’all, Noem’s husband was at the hearing!
LAC
@rikyrah: Good points!
different-church-lady
@A Ghost to Most: Yeah, but you get to pop the zit. And I’m pretty sure that’s the intellectual level our “Secretary of War” is operating on at the moment.
And I’m sure we can all think of a much more vulgar analogy.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
OMG! I just assumed she was single and having an affair with a DHS employee.
Someone should ask him if he’s having sexual relations with Lewandowski.
Timill
@different-church-lady:
Belafon
@rikyrah: Pretty sure the reason the parties run the primaries is you don’t want Texas running the Democratic primary.
AMagicianNamedGob
@Betty Cracker: Still, it was a yes or no question. A simple no would have sufficed…that is if by answering in the negative, she didn’t perjure herself.
prostratedragon
“Historic action”
Anyone know whether US citizens being evacuated from Afghanistan by the Biden administration had first to go to a web site and fill out a form?
m.youtube.com/watch?v=DwTl4fzM-II&pp=ygULbXV6YWsgc2hvcnQ%3D
Bill Arnold
@Warblewarble:
And their chain of command. All of it.
Barbara
A commonality among those working for Trump this time around is the sheer obviousness of their shallow, preening vanity. I don’t like picking on women for their hair or make up or in Noem’s case, their obvious use of plastic surgery, but those things just really highlight how vacuous she is, how she was chosen mostly because of her looks. Pam Bondi is much the same, but even she comes across as having more depth than Noem. Noem might as well be a bot programmed to give answers to questions.
different-church-lady
@Barbara: Maybe she’s an A-I fake.
kindness
@West of the Rockies: Fills Noem with fear? More likely Noem orders ICE & Border Control to invade Vermont. The whitest state in the Union.
prostratedragon
@Barbara:
Kristi Noem Congressional portrait, 2011
Just look at that parking lot
Hope she changes the bed sheets on that 737 Max before she’s fired. At least that would show some good manners.
trollhattan
Can I sue South Carolina? I am not a kook.
Last week, adjacent Sutter County reported measles cases with kids who had just visited…South Carolina.
Old School
I am shocked that the Democrats would threaten to politicize the Department of Justice!
Speaker Johnson must investigate Rep. Balint!
Betty Cracker
@Barbara: Yes, and the same is basically true of Hegseth, though I suppose his gender affirming self-care would fall under the “looksmaxxing” heading.
Doug R
@trnc: A REAL Supreme Court would declare preemptive, blanket and for a corrupt purpose pardons NUL AND VOID.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
Had to, lest she “take him out to the old gravel pit where they used to spoon, back in the day.”
suzanne
@Betty Cracker: What about RFK-the-Lesser’s steroids and lifting-while-wearing-jeans?!
What the hell is he affirming?!
These people are all such fucken freaks.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@suzanne: applause!
Feckful is just the word for this age.
lowtechcyclist
@trnc:
I bet they broke a bunch of state laws in an assortment of states, and there ain’t no blanket pardon for that.
syphonblue
I like the moxie, but I have just one change to her message: Instead of proving their guilt “in hearings” how about “in court”?
HopefullyNotCassandra
@rikyrah: once upon a time there was this thing called the Texas Two Step . . .
Betty Cracker
The look on his face, lol!
suzanne
@HopefullyNotCassandra: I’m bringing it back! Feckful is back, baby!
I’m also a big fan of splendid.
One project I was on, I managed to use a word in our weekly meetings every week that someone didn’t know and it became a thing for Suzanne’s Word of the Week. They included sycophant, gaslighting, and capricious.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
You expect Brendan Carr to actually know shit about communications law and regulation?
Hell, I probably know more than he does from my time as a paralegal working on FCC stuff nearly a half-century ago.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
I don’t know what it is, but I bet it’s really great shit, Mrs. Presky!
lowtechcyclist
@Timill:
We will all go together when we go,
every Hottentot and every Eskimo…
HopefullyNotCassandra
@prostratedragon: No. Our government reached out to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan who had not contacted it.
and
So, non-U.S. citizens were subjected to security checks
cbsnews.com/news/biden-afgahnistan-evacuations-deadline-extension-possible/
The evacuation was competently managed imho. I remember people hanging from the helicopters fleeing Vietnam.
Gin & Tonic
@Timill: Hence the sign in Katz’s Deli: “Send a salami / to your boy in the Army.”
HopefullyNotCassandra
@Bill Arnold: there might be decent people in there, who did not resign in the hope they could mitigate the damage or prevent military use against us.
Let’s make sure due process becomes a real thing again in the United States.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@HopefullyNotCassandra: made me look
Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy
Used to avoid asbestos liability, one such case involved Koch Industries.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@suzanne: splendid is a splendid word!
“Gaslight”, on the other hand, is slightly triggering since it sends me back to watching Ingrid’s torture by the murdering husband of hers. She survives, but the whole movie is like… being alive while DJT is presidenting.
prostratedragon
In which the credibility of the US approaches warp speed deterioration:
“Knife Fight”
Chetan Murthy
@Mr. Bemused Senior: It -ought- to shock the conscience that shit like this is allowed, but …. “It’s business, not personal”
Chetan Murthy
@prostratedragon: Can “Freedom Tapas”[1] be far behind ?
[1] Rocky Mountain oysters, Buffalo wings, and what else ?
Eduardo
@trnc: that would be feckless?
HopefullyNotCassandra
@Mr. Bemused Senior: You know I just learned about that corrupt Koch’ian Texas Two Step.
That fits with this current corruption more precisely.
I meant the old primary/caucus system Texas democrats had. It was supposed to build the party. It ended in 2015.
oertx.highered.texas.gov/courseware/lesson/1120/student/?section=4
Jeffro
it’s so easy to get and stay outraged at trump that we sometimes forget: pounding on Congress, pounding on trump’s Cabinet secretaries is both satisfying AND…AND…just might get them to think about what they’re enabling
prostratedragon
@Chetan Murthy: Pig in a blanket? Potato chips?
Chetan Murthy
@prostratedragon: burnt steak, pre-cut-up. Heh, make that burnt hamburger “steak”, pre-cut-up.
ETA: ketchup on the side, individual serving jar.
Geminid
@Warblewarble: No need for euphemism. If you want to see a “shit-ton” of U.S. military officers hanged, you can just say it.
Betty Cracker
The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner interviewed Greg Landsman (D-OH) about why he supports Trump’s not-war with Iran. It did not go well…
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
I bet not! The subhead was “Representative Greg Landsman explains his hope that the conflict remains limited but also creates an entirely new Middle East.”
Yeah, I’m old enough to remember when the Bushies thought our ‘victory’ in Iraq was going to do that.
Just look at that parking lot
@prostratedragon:
Thinking more like a tag team wrestling match is in order.
Hegseth/ Rubio vs Don Quixote/Sancho Panza.
cmorenc
To go after Noem we are unfortunately going to need to tear the malignantly corrupted Justice Department and Homeland Security down to their very foundations and fundamentally rebuild them. Same is true for Patel and the FBI and RFK Jr and HHS/CDC and Lee Zedlin at EPA. Not only would those be formidable tasks in themselves, but we’re going to need to accomplish them against the formidable impediments the corrupted SCOTUS-6 will no doubt throw in our way, especially if Thomas and Alito resign in timely fashion to permit Trump to appoint their respective successors who will likely be even more fiercely determined to roll back the state of Constitutional law to as it was in the 1920s or even earlier.
Bill Arnold
@HopefullyNotCassandra:
Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl had fair trials. [1]
The Hague doesn’t do capital punishment.
[1] Related, Mr. Woods has some admirers. The consensus among eyewitnesses was that [Julius] Streicher did not receive a quick death from spinal severing. As with at least several others, the bungled hanging was caused by the hangman, Master Sergeant John C. Woods.
zhena gogolia
@Professor Bigfoot: That’s amazing.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Betty Cracker:
A “very limited operation”. Like Putin’s war with Ukraine was a “special operation”?
Why do people keep agreeing to be interviewed by Chotiner? Doesn’t he destroy everyone he interviews lol?
Baud
To repeat what I said in the pandemic thread this morning, the culling continues.
Chetan Murthy
@Betty Cracker: Goddamn, that was -amazing-. I don’t think Landsman even realizes how much up Trump’s bunghole he is.
Thank you for this, BC!
ETA: And not to give anything away, but …. the last bit of the interview is …. -amazing-. I mean, just -amazing-.
gene108
@Baud:
Both Kristi and Cory are married to other people.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@Bill Arnold: you are right about that. I jumped too fast even though we recently rewatched Judgment at Nuremberg.
Will Ellison Jr. destroy film stock like that?
HopefullyNotCassandra
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): it does seem so. I had the same question. Perhaps people believe they will be the one who charms Mr. Chotiner in the right way.
Msb
@prostratedragon: poor thing. The face she was born with looks like it can form natural expressions.
Belafon
@cmorenc: To do that will take years. Knowing voters, we’ll probably have two years to accomplish all of that, add to the Supreme Court, make DC a state, restore voting rights, and a bunch of other stuff.
Msb
@suzanne: we should probably thank the Rs for bringing back “ilk”, as well, as in “Hegseth/Bondi/Noem/miller/Bannon and their ilk”. (Good people never have an ilk – maybe because they’re so rare and valuable?)
Wilson Heath
I often have an instant thought of “Oh, don’t ruin the surprise.” And don’t give the cue to spoliate as loud and clear as the Red Army advancing on Berlin did.
cain
@suzanne: That is so wizard! (sorry, you have to watch robot chicken star wars to get the reference, although I understand it was popular in the 50s)
Aziz, light!
Speaking of U.S. Navy torpedoes, are there any illegal orders our military is not perfectly willing to follow? Or do the sailors carrying out a command to take innocent lives all say in unison “Fuckin’ A, man, this is what we trained for.”
Baud
@gene108:
If people want open marriages, it’s none of my business. My big issue is that they are both high level DHS officials.
lowtechcyclist
@Chetan Murthy:
I can’t get that far before the paywall comes up.
prostratedragon
@Bill Arnold:
There’s always a technique to master (pdf). See also “Official Table of Drops” from the UK, who really know about such things.
Chetan Murthy
@lowtechcyclist: I read it at archive.org.
Scout211
@lowtechcyclist: Here you go: archive.ph version
Why a Democratic Congressman Is Supporting Trump’s War with Iran
MisterForkbeard
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): What’s crazy to me is: Was Iran using those missiles and bombs to cause ongoing mayhem? If not, then why would blowing them up do anything?
prostratedragon
@Msb: Horrifying. I’ve seen something almost as extreme from Melania Trump, but at least she didn’t go full babydoll.
Omnes Omnibus
@syphonblue: Balint doesn’t have the power to prosecute.
prostratedragon
@Baud: Is Lewandowski even an official?
Just checked: according to wpedia he is a “senior advisor” to the DHS secretary. I presume that means he has no executive authority.
lowtechcyclist
@prostratedragon:
I wonder how much time Noem spends on her hair each week. I bet she’s got her own private hairstylist.
prostratedragon
@lowtechcyclist: Using curling irons powered by the whirling coming from Botticcelli’s grave.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@Chetan Murthy: the ending was gobsmacking.
What happens should we discover the “out-lawed” Claude ( which we know is in use in this war ) was used to make targeting decisions?
Scout211
I would assume her hair and makeup is done daily. And I have often assumed she has a stylist onsite wherever she is and that taxpayers are paying for it.
Gin & Tonic
@Aziz, light!: No, the sailors say “The XO says do this, so we do it.”
Gin & Tonic
@lowtechcyclist: Funny story. My daughter was working a video shoot with the US (track) sprinter Sha’carri Richardson. Richardson brought her own hairstylist – $5k/day. Of course, that’s not taxpayer dollars, but big hair costs big money.
Captain C
@Betty Cracker:
That’s not a “no”.
Captain C
@Baud: Sex toys and blow.
Baud
@prostratedragon:
An advisor isn’t technically a federal officer, but an advisor to a cabinet secretary is a pretty powerful position.
Baud
Scout211
It’s really just weird to me that the talking point today (see Hegseth, Leavitt) is that if you are talking about or asking about 6 dead troops, you are “just trying to make the president look bad.” Huh?
They aren’t even trying to sound credible anymore. It’s childish and disrespectful and horrible. But Trump’s fee fees are in need of protection, apparently.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: That makes me happy.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: oh my god, the tweet just below that one.
Sandia Blanca
@rikyrah: You have outlined the dream website of every Texas voter. I love the vision!
Warblewarble
@Geminid: Loud and clear,those who have earned it, should face consequences.
Jackie
@Baud:
Another Bondi hearing that we get to hear the stock market report and insults to committee members? Yay.
Baud
Geminid
@Warblewarble: Sheesh. “…face consequences”! Now it’s circumlocution.
If you want to see large numbers of U.S. military officers hanged, have the courage of your convictions and say it.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: Bondi has the most punchable face I think I have seen on a female.
Baud
Archon
I’m sure Trump has promised blanket immunity for everyone in his cabinet. Is there a way around that?
different-church-lady
@Baud:
My desk beckons my forehead.
Old School
Martin
@rikyrah: I’m kind of surprised that Crockett didn’t keep her foot in that more. Regardless of whether those votes would have mattered in the final analysis, she’s the only one with cause and who can sue and try and get some broader relief here. It’s not a criticism, rather I think it would have been an important project for Democrats overall.
In California everything on your list is mailed to every registered voter. No need to even consult a website.
Martin
@WaterGirl: She has real Dedra Meero energy. But less competent.
Martin
@Archon: State prosecution.
Baud
Baud
NYT
Geminid
From Ankara-based Clash Report:
A video shows Burgum standing next to Rodriguez as she delivers remarks to a couple dozen Venezuelan officials, from stairs leading up to a fancy entrance The two are standing on a red carpet.
Old School
@Baud: They should have spoke to Jake Tapper.
Warblewarble
@Geminid: War is essentially an evil thing.It’s consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but effects the whole world. To initiate a war of agressession therefore is not only an international crime.It is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. Nurenberg tribunal. The same rules and punishment shoul apply.
bbleh
@trnc: @Belafon: true wrt criminal liability, but if Congressional Dems were so minded, they could still haul them, and a bunch of other knowledgeable people, in front of VERY public hearings, and convict them politically (and of course a pardon for crimes committed in the past wouldn’t cover contempt of Congress).
Whether enough Dems will, in fact, ever be so minded is another question
@Betty Cracker: one trusts he is having whatever fun he wants on the side.
Baud
@Old School:
So utterly ridiculous, which the NYT should know. Even if Biden lacked mental capacity, his signing pardons wouldn’t break any law. And if her were mentally incapacitated, he couldn’t be convicted for his actions even if there were a law.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: That’s basically correct. Someone the depths of a sub, etc., is not in a position to know if what they are being other to do is illegal.
Baud
TerryC
@suzanne: Splendid is my Umich uniquename. It was originally terrible.
Baud
bbleh
@Baud: it seems the fever swamps are still bubbling over about Epstein.
And I particularly appreciate that the Congressional wingnut fringe is willing to challenge the Orange Leader over it.
I wouldn’t say the wheels are coming off the cart, but there certainly are some serious rattles and shakes goin’ on.
@Baud: I am particularly pleased that the TX Republicans have gone to a runoff. Primary elections skew extreme, and runoff ones probably even more so. I am sacrificing some VERY good cheese to the FSM, that Paxton may triumph.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: My SIL was a junior officer on a US submarine. In the mathematical sense, you have limited degrees of freedom.
Funny story, a long time ago, when he and my daughter were dating, the sub was due for some port time in Sicily, so my daughter flew to Rome, planning to head down and meet up with him, when she got a message that the Navy had other plans. I guess it wasn’t a funny story from her perspective.
schrodingers_cat
US has sunk an Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean. The frigate was there on the invitation of the Indian Navy for a joint exercise.
How many countries are we trying to piss off simultaneously.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: T2.0 wants to kill as many people as possible while isolating us globally.
Martin
@schrodingers_cat: America First means ‘all of them’.
WTFGhost
@MisterForkbeard: They would eventually be a threat America couldn’t counter, so, we had to attack them, because, c’mon, it’s *IRAN*, they’re not allowed to have military capabilities!
I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m defending Iran’s actions or the regime, it’s merely that I do understand the concept of sovereignty, and, so sad, too bad, but any country with a bit of engineering can make drones and missiles and IEDs that will eventually be able to pose a threat.
So, all in all, it’s a very Hitleresque invasion, removing threats before they surface, and, of course, stealing the oil.
@Aziz, light!: One problem is, the JAG corps is being told a deliberately engineered OLC opinion has the force of law, and dictates that all of the orders are legal.
So we’re asking sailors to interrupt a military operation, and go to jail, to boot,
@lowtechcyclist: Yes, if my worst suspicions are ever confirmed, they might be part of conspiracy to (successfully) commit two murders, and accessory before and after the fact, as well as obstruction of justice.
(That is, I suspect Noem and Trump wanted CBP/ICE to murder a couple people, claiming they were hit by cars (“make sure the car makes some contact with you!”), or that a gun owner was “brandishing” it. I can’t accuse them; I have no evidence. But if the shooters face charges, wow, I sure would sing like a canary to name my co-conspirators! So, when – not if – the shooters face charges, we’ll have a chance to find the truth.)
@Doug R: The thing is, as soon as the courts have the right to review a pardon, you know that it will be abused, it’s all a matter of when, why, and by whom. It’s the final check on a potential abuse of power, e.g., Congress passes a Holocaust bill, the courts condemn people to death for being liberal, the President can still pardon liberals, and neither the courts, nor Congress, can do anything about it.
Now, if a person can be proven to have conspired to pay a bribe to get a pardon, I could see the courts saying that crime would still be prosecutable, even against a blanket pardon. I don’t know the law, but, I can see the argument: misdeeds (e.g., a bribe) to obtain a pardon can’t attach, until the pardon is granted. Therefore, once the pardon is granted, once the clean slate is obtained, *bam*, now the crime of “crapping on the Constitution” attaches.
Or, allow the state in which the bribe was committed (if multiple states can claim credit, let them argue it out, or split costs) to bring state charges of pardon abuse.
I don’t know. But I’m betting that allowing pardons themselves to become invalid won’t be part of the right answer.
@different-church-lady: 2124 history report: “No one can explain exactly how or why the mass insanity took over the USA in 2024, but somehow, every example of Trump’s evil perfidy was used to claim Democrats were picking on him unfairly! What was worse was the clear vacuity of Republican claims to care about foreign relations. Remember, when Donald Trump leaked like a sieve, Republicans insisted it was okay, because he had the authority to declassify information with his mind. Now, however, they were saying it was okay for this clearly feeble-brained, if not dementia-ridden, man to the White House, where he would make decisions affecting national security…”
@Chief Oshkosh: Trump is planning to run any war crimes trials and courts martial himself. I’m interested in the question – if it’s an armed vessel, is it fair game or not?
I don’t know how this stuff works. But I do know that, if you pretend to be peaceful/friendly to approach a vessel, and then sink it, it’s called “perfidy” and is death penalty eligible. Now, I know that covers pretending to be a peaceful fishing boat, and then firing 5″ guns at a vessel, but I don’t know how it affects submarine warfare, and whether any warship has an expectation of safety, once hostilities are commenced.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: Responsibility lies with those in a position to know. An infantryman told to shoot children is in a position to know. A cannon crew member in an artillery unit is not.
Matt McIrvin
@Martin: That would put her in the position of trying to delegitimize the Democratic nominee for a contested Senate position. The point of Republican voter suppression in the other party’s primary was likely to cast those kinds of clouds and shadows, regardless of who won.
bbleh
@WTFGhost: Farley at LGM has a post up about this fyi.
Betty
@TaMara: Yes, I love hearing Neguese question witnesses. So smart and well-prepared. The kind of star the Dems badly need.
Eyeroller
@prostratedragon: She is a sociopath and a terrible person, but in that portrait she looks human and even attractive. And now she looks like a sex doll yet she’s 54. Mar-A-Lago face is creepy.
Eyeroller
@prostratedragon: He can’t stop trade with Spain (or Ireland, he’s threatened them too) because they trade through the EU. He is just incapable of understanding this, apparently.
bbleh
@Eyeroller: there ARE tools, other than trade-related ones that would involve the EU, that could be used to hurt Spain, eg financial ones.
But I gotta say, you really think you’re gonna get the people of Spain to persuade a popular PM to knuckle on a publicly stated position of principle? You really think you’re gonna stare him down? Good luck to you!
Tony Jay
Christ. Imagine being the kind of person who doesn’t actively seek out opportunities to tell anyone who will listen that you’re not making wet sucking noises with Corey Lewandowski.
Weird.
Baud
@Tony Jay:
I’ve put that on my resume, just to avoid all doubt.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Eyeroller: Sure, but even then, she had crazy eyes.
WTFGhost
@schrodingers_cat: Um. Holy shit. Wouldn’t that be, like, an act of war on India? I mean, even if not, it’s like “WE SWEAR TO GOD, THE AMERICANS EFFED US UP THE EXPLETIVE DELETED WITH A (you really don’t want to know, you wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight) AND WITHOUT LUBE!” (as if lube would help!)
How stupid can these guys be? This stinks of a Putin push, because it would do a lot to convince India to buy Russian oil.
@Archon: If the pardons aren’t committed to paper, and he dies suddenly, it doesn’t matter that he intended to do so. of course, Vance would probably issue the pardons if that happens.
@Geminid: Okay. I want to see every USA Naval Officer guilty of a capital crime to face appropriate execution, and if that’s death by hanging, I’m okay with that, it’s what they signed up for.
I don’t care if it’s “large numbers” or “small numbers,” what matter is the “capital crime” bit.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
U.S. contemplates pulling some THAAD and Patriot defense systems from South Korea for use in the war with Iran:
U.S. may pull missle defense systems from South Korea
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
“I’m shocked, SHOCKED to find
humpinggambling is going on in here!”“Here are your ‘marital aids’ from Mr. Lewandowski,
Capt. RenaultSecretary Noem.”“Oh, thank you”
Tony Jay
@Baud:
Smart thinking.
BTW, I’m not making wet sucking noises with Corey Lewandowski
Never let an opportunity go to waste.
Bill Arnold
@Old School:
J. Biden did a couple of unscripted interviews in spring of 2025, where he spoke using complete, coherent sentences and even coherent paragraphs, about complex subjects.
Mr. Trump, on the other hand… If there were a drinking game where, during non-teleprompted speech by Trump, one had to down a shot every time he did not complete a sentence or the sentence was incoherent, it would be alcohol poisoning time within 10 or 20 minutes.
Old School
From Bluesky:
WTFGhost
Yeah, someone should mock the NYT with fake story pitches, because their real stories suck so badly :-)
Baud
cmorenc
@prostratedragon: Cory may not have any official status at HS beyond “Advisor”, but with everyone at HS knowing his um, intimate connection to Noem, anyone wanting to stay employed there knows they better not cross or object to him. Such as regards his fulfilled wish to have an official badge and firearm.
prostratedragon
@cmorenc: Probably the reason for the Congresswoman’s question. In that case, the questiin is not impertinent.
TS
@WTFGhost:
I agree with your understanding – I have no idea why too many politicians (outside of the US) are saying they had no idea that Iran would fight back in this fashion – What is any country supposed to do when they are attacked as were Iran? My brain cannot comprehend the idea that they should just sit down & surrender when their Leader is assassinated & their children bombed.
In this – it is pleasing to see Spain
Pedro Sánchez has delivered a strong rebuttal to US President Donald Trump’s threat to end trade with Spain by restating his opposition to war and what he called the “breakdown of international law”.
In a 10-minute televised address, the Spanish prime minister reflected on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as the Iraq War more than 20 years ago, and said the Spanish government’s position could be summed up as “no to war”.
bbc.com/news/articles/c93wwq1n542o
Paul in KY
@suzanne: The feckiest!
Suzanne
@Paul in KY: A feckapalooza!
Baud
@Paul in KY:
@Suzanne:
A feckton of feck.
Baud
PSA
Eyeroller
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: They don’t look that crazy to me. Look at a picture of Michelle Bachmann for “crazy eyes” as a comparison.
lowtechcyclist
@bbleh:
I really can’t say. After all, I’ve never been to Spain.
But I kinda like the music.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: what could possibly go wrong?
Another Scott
@Baud: I’m reminded of the adventures of some “genius” in Indiana trying to have the legislature accept his “proof” that pi = 3.2. (The bill failed.)
47 wants to bend people to his will. “You just tell them and they believe, they just do.” Truth doesn’t matter, norms don’t matter, the law doesn’t matter. What matters is rewarding people who praise him and punishing people who don’t.
As we know.
He won at the SCOTUS on tariffs. Spain said Sir Yes Sir. He’s the most popular he’s ever been. The economy is the best it’s ever been. Biden was a vegetable. Democrats are insane. He’s been totally exonerated.
Easy peasy.
Grr…
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
billcoop4
@Martin: you assume people read their mail. This is a naive stance. Contacts for this need to be made multiple ways via multiple channels. Basic marketing.
BC in the ‘Dacks
Kayla Rudbek
@HopefullyNotCassandra: fine the AI companies for everything they’ve got. If the only language these techbros understand is money, then we have to hit them in the pocketbook and the payroll.
Castor Canadensis
@Msb: Scots have ilks: “Lamont of that ilk” would be the head of the clan and it’s allies.
Melancholy Jaques
Nida Allam will not demand a recount! Thank you Nida Allam, team player!
Baud
@Melancholy Jaques:
Good for her. The gap I saw seemed too big to overcome in a recount
ETA: Not crazy about her concession speech.
Kayla Rudbek
@WTFGhost: apparently when the 19th century Navy used “flogging around the fleet” as a punishment, the flogged men often didn’t survive it
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@HopefullyNotCassandra: yeah…as retired military I try not to watch too much news at once because then I go sit on the balcony and eat junk food and swear. And I’m running out of junk food. I would drink but I don’t like my heart rate doing the Macarena. So…
I’ve seen this movie before, and it gets progressively more stupid each time.
WTFGhost
@bbleh: I think I saw it – was the point “if you fight honorably in an unlawful war, you haven’t committed a crime; plenty of Nazis committed war crimes, but plenty others didn’t”?
And it does sound both like the captain should have been aware of the threat, and, if competent, should have been aware the US would do something sneaky like this.
I don’t know what I read, but I liked the idea of “Trump is guilty of every death on that Iranian vessel, because his illegal order started this war, but, the men on the sub were just sailors doing their job.”
Starting the unjust war is the ultimate crime, and encompasses all the crimes within it. You know, I bet you could do a biblical exegesis paper on why that’s the Christian view, why St. Pete would be quizzing Trump about every single person who died as a result of his war. (No, not really, he wouldn’t waste the time on Trump. But Trump would probably receive the first curse of Hell described in Dante’s “Inferno,” the rah-rah-rah, we made it, we’re going to The Good Place!!! and you’d carry that great joy, that sense of relief, that arrogant sense that you knew you were right, all along, with you as you were tormented for all eternity.
(One reason I find troubles with Christianity is, I know that if you engage in pain play (remember, BDSMer), two minutes – 120 seconds – is an eternity. So how can 24 hours of straight torment be appropriate for anything, much less 24 days, etc.? And how does it balance the scales of justice? It doesn’t give back, it just burns away! )
@Tony Jay: What’s worse is living the life where one must deflect under oath!
PatD
@Betty: I had hopes that Neguse would challenge Hickenlooper and not wait for his turn. But he’s great where he is.
Martin
@Matt McIrvin: That’s fine and all, but it leaves Democrats with these problems happening all over again in November, because they were too afraid to fight it in court when they had the chance. I don’t think it would have been too hard for Democrats to cast it as they were suing to enfranchise voters, not reverse the election. Crockett can stick by her concession.
Emily B.
Noem has White House ambitions. I fear that “one day, he is not going to be president anymore” will just encourage her.
Martin
@billcoop4: Has anyone ever seen a CA sample ballot? It’s a magazine and it includes your mail-in ballot if you wish to use it. If you are ignoring that, you’re not voting in the first place.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Includes an image of the Sun taken *through the Earth*, which is as transparent as glass to these particles. I think I’d seen it before but it’s a nice thing to have explained.
HopefullyNotCassandra
absolutely!
But not if it was Claude. Not for the horror of dead little girls, anyway.
Our secretary of blowing up the Geneva Conventions, because he has arrested development?, booted Anthropic (Claude is Anthropic’s LLM) because Anthropic said don’t use Claude without human oversight militarily or to spy on us.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: I wonder how pursed his lips were.
Paul in KY
@AMagicianNamedGob: I would think her husband would have been looking for a shocked ‘No!’.
Somehow, though, I bet he wasn’t surprised.
Paul in KY
@Bill Arnold: Good ole MSGT Woods!
Paul in KY
@Baud: Probably getting paid for fucking too!
Paul in KY
@prostratedragon: I think it maybe was not done accidently by MSGT Woods…
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: Imagine being that person’s husband.
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: Just for the record, neither am I.
Paul in KY
@WTFGhost: It actually would not surprise me if our sub surfaced and machine gunned the survivors. Probably on direct order from Kegsbreath.
frosty
@Paul in KY: I read MSGT Woods’ Wikipedia page after this. Sadist. He got into executions by saying he was an expert having never done one, then hanged over 100 people during his ifetime, including 44 US soldiers in WWII. “Bungling” the hangings seemed to be a specialty of his.
Paul in KY
@frosty: Seems like not a hard job to do, if you have the accurate weight of the to-be-hanged. Had the tables and all that. If he did that to any US servicemen he hanged, then he should have been hanged himself, IMO.
Still OK with ‘botching’ the Nazi ones, though.