Radical narco Islamic-feminist communism
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Pete Hegseth, if he does not resign, should at least get out of the way and let better men than him talk to the nation and to the press.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/…— Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social) March 4, 2026 at 6:26 PM
… Perhaps the Pentagon chief’s reluctance to speak to the press is just as well, because many Americans would be alarmed to realize that their sons and daughters in combat are being overseen by a person as callous as Pete Hegseth.
This morning, the defense secretary gave a briefing on the war that quickly degenerated into Trumplike bombast. (Wisely, the Pentagon scheduled this at 8 a.m. eastern time, when most of the country is either sleeping or busy starting their day.) Hegseth apparently prefers to sound more like a Call of Duty player leading a raid than a sober and judicious secretary of defense: “Death and destruction from the sky all day,” he said, along with other empty phrases such as “We’re playing for keeps.” (As opposed to what, exactly?)
Most reporters are now accustomed to Hegseth’s drama-laden antics. But even by the low standards he has set, he managed to shock many of them when he cynically used the deaths of U.S. military personnel to air his own grievances with the press…
On Sunday morning (local time), an Iranian drone hit a makeshift operations center in Kuwait. The Pentagon says that six Americans are dead. Not only is this event a tragedy, but it also requires an explanation: The drone reportedly snuck through U.S. defenses without setting off any alerts, and struck a target that now seems to have been unduly vulnerable to aerial attack.
The defense secretary, the man who is supposed to carry this news to the American public and mourn with them, instead whined about the unfairness of it all. “When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front-page news. I get it,” Hegseth told the reporters, military personnel, and civilians gathered this morning in the Pentagon. “The press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step. As I said Monday, the mission is laser-focused.”
“Tragic things happen”? Hegseth said this as though it is unreasonable to look any closer at such events. He seems unable to grasp that the deaths of Americans are not merely a public-relations problem: When a drone slips through U.S. defenses and kills six members of America’s armed forces, the deaths of those servicepeople are the story. The people of the United States deserve to know what happened and why. Hegseth complaining that he’s not getting credit for all of the drones that didn’t get through is like an airline executive responding to an air disaster by growling about all of the planes his company made that didn’t crash…
In the midst of all this, Hegseth provided at least one moment of clarity: He showed, yet again, why he is an execrable choice to lead the Pentagon. Like his boss, he does not talk to the American people so much as put on performances for them, and this morning, he played the role of the Fox News pundit castigating other journalists. But the people in the briefing room were doing their job trying to get the facts. Unlike Hegseth, they are taking their responsibilities seriously: This is not a game, it’s not a TV show, and it’s not some adolescent test of wills…
The ironic thing is that having suicide drones that otherwise would have hit Ukraine dropped on our own dumbfuck foreheads is still the closest thing to being an effective defender of the free world Hegseth has ever pulled off.
— Starfire’s Deranged Neocon Foreign Policy Podcast (@irhottakes.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 7:49 AM
Good morning team.
They are burning money.— Cheryl Rofer (@cherylrofer.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 9:43 AM
FT comments section this morning – saying what everyone else is thinking, right?
— Neil Lewis (@neil-lewis.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 2:15 AM
I have an idea. Here’s my idea: We should have had this meeting last week before we started bombing Iran. www.politico.com/news/2026/03…
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 9:45 AM
Sort of fascinating to watch the growing MAGA panic on X
— Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Realizing that the United States is hip-deep in a "neocon" war
— Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 11:15 AM
piratedan
cue the Deep Throat/All The President’s Men meme…. These aren’t very bright guys and things got out of hand……
Gin & Tonic
Meanwhile, stocks go “Wheeee!”
Mr. Bemused Senior
This entire administration, from Trump on down, believe that government is a television show. This explains everything they do.
Raoul Paste
That Financial Times paragraph is amazingly concise.
Chetan Murthy
A neocon War? Huh, I wonder what Bloody Bill Kristol Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin, and some of the other neocons who are now never trumpers are writing about this war. I think I’ll have to go look.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
Time for some Insider Trading for Peace!
Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride
Secretary Headdesk uses the word “reality” just like the anonymous Bushie who said “We create our own reality.” How’d that work out the last time around?
Anonymous At Work
Starfire’s comment is both the hottest burn and coldest take so far. Add in Russian parts used in the construction of the Shaheeds as well.
Old School
No Nym
So I guess “playing for keeps” is an admission that we are there for the long haul?
Sorry, mostly a lurker here since 2004 but every now and then I feel so outraged I have to scream out a comment.
Lochnessmom
Noem out, Markwayne Mullin In at DHS. Unclear if Mullin will be forced to fuck Corey Lewandowski on the regular.
Chetan Murthy
@Old School: this just in: Tweedledum replaced by Tweedledum error.
Old School
Noem still in Trump Administration. Hopefully she gets to keep her plane.
Baud
@Old School:
I thought SHIELD was a Marvel invention.
billcoop4
Noem fired. Markwayne Mullin to replace her.
BC in the ‘dacks
Chief Oshkosh
“…bring ideas to the Oval Office to bring gasoline prices down…”
For the bazillionth time, can you imagine if the press got a whiff of a nanoparticle for a nanosecond of this being “the plan” that a Biden or Obama administration had been “developing?”
Ready! Fire! Aim!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Old School: @Lochnessmom: Dear god. We are cursed to be ruled by idiots.
Will Wayne move into the house that’s supposed to belong to the leader of the Coast Guard?
Given the amount of self promotion Noem did, it was obvious she has political ambitions. VP maybe. I hope this sends her back to ND
jonas
@Baud: There have got to be traders and speculators already training their analytics and bots on these accounts that obviously have insider information and attempting to get the jump on them.
prostratedragon
To me, the best part of what Spain’s prime minister said:
jonas
*headdesk
Chief Oshkosh
@Old School: Here’s hoping Senator Tuberhead is named as new head of DOJ. The brainpower of those two in the same room. It’d be the blackhole of IQ-dom! And they’re both just dub enough to accept!
ETA: dub – dumb. Duh.
Chief Oshkosh
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I hope she has a connection in Hell, with the connecting flight getting cancelled due to “unease” in the ME.
ArchTeryx
@Chief Oshkosh: Who bothers with the Aim step at all! It’s just Ready! FIre! with these people since 2016. They don’t even care if the gun is pointed at their own side, so long as they get to fire it without thinking.
Citizen_X
ANOTHER war???
Another Scott
@Old School: Last I heard, cabinet secretaries had to be approved by the Senate. (Noem was confirmed 59:34 in January 2025.) I wonder how anxious the Senate will be to quickly put MarkWayne in the position (effectively sweeping all of Noem’s monstrous actions under the rug).
I guess we’ll see.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Chetan Murthy
@Chetan Murthy: *Tweedledumberer. Sheesh. Autocorrect.
Leto
@Lochnessmom: if they’re flying on that new special plane, survey says: YES! Perks of the position.
WereBear
@Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride: It sucked. But people have the attention span of goldfish.
Gin & Tonic
@billcoop4: Dumb and Dumber, the sequel.
JCJ
I disagree with Tom Nichols. If this maladministration wants to communicate with their voters an idiot like Hegseth is on the same intellectual level as they are. He is perfect for them
Gin & Tonic
“The drones … are posing a bigger problem than anticipated.”
Call Zelensky.
Chetan Murthy
@ArchTeryx: not even “Ready” these days. No real preparation.
Captain C
@Lochnessmom:
Or vice versa.
Captain C
@Another Scott: It depends on how badly they want to get rid of MarkWayne. Personally, I wonder if Lil Marco’s 99-0 confirmation vote was actually because everyone else in the Senate was sick of him and wanted him to just go away, anywhere else.
Anonymous At Work
@Chief Oshkosh: It’s “Fire! Aim! Ready!” They can’t get a one-car funeral procession right even if you spot them the Hearse.
trollhattan
@Chief Oshkosh:
Certainly helped by his efforts to murder EVs before they get going.
Chetan Murthy
@Chetan Murthy: oh my God, it’s too delicious! I googled for Kristol, Boot, Rubin, and they’re all pretty much against this war! Imagine a war in the middle east so stupid Bloody Bill wouldn’t sign on!
Old School
@Another Scott:
Made me curious.
Democrats who voted for Noem:
Fetterman (PA)
Hassan (NH)
Kaine (VA)
Kim (NJ)
Peters (MI)
Shaheen (NH)
Slotkin (MI)
Captain C
@Gin & Tonic: In addition to all their other problems, this administration is the Half-Assed Administration. Everything they do is at best half-assed, poorly planned, and ill- or not at all thought out. At best. They are lazy to go with their greed, sadism, and incompetence.
Anonymous At Work
@Captain C: Senators typically are deferential to the point of absurdity to other Senators who get nominated. If “Head of Lettuce (R-OK),” as in a literal head of lettuce, were elected Senator, he’d get 25% of the opposing party to approve his confirmation just on principle.
West of the Rockies
Noem out per WP!
trollhattan
A Republican too awful for Republicans. One of a surprisingly lengthy series.
Captain C
@Anonymous At Work: And he’d last longer and do a better job than Liz Truss, I bet.
Jackie
@Old School: And Kristi gets a new gig:
WTH is The Shield of the Americas???
bbleh
@Old School: ! ! ! well that underbussing didn’t take long
omg, “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida.” I mean, does it come with a red-white-and-blue Lycra costume and, I dunno, a super-atomic assault rifle or something?
Suzanne
Going back to my musings on the previous thread…. “no dumb wars” is a good red line!
Captain C
@Jackie: A sinecure to keep her paid and from talking too much to the press.
SiubhanDuinne
Kristi’s out at DHS!!! 😁😄😂🤣
Markwayne to replace her 😠😡
JoyceH
@Gin & Tonic: Call Zelenskyy – And remember to say Thank You!
Suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne: I think of him as Markwayne Gary Wayne.
That Kimmy Schmidt show was funny.
cain
@Citizen_X: Hey nobody knows how to make war on dark skinned people like Noem!
100 billion on Iran war, and if we have any ammo left over we’ll do some shit in the Latin American countries. Ted Cruz wants another tax cut for wealthy people!
Spend spend spend! But you know if we want to forgive student loans, the press will ask “how will we pay for it” while 100 billion would repay everyone’s loans.
Suzanne
@Jackie:
The big, beautiful wall!
cain
@Chetan Murthy: Bill Kristol has joined our side. lol. He’s moved in that direction since orange disaster’s first term.
Betty Cracker
@Suzanne: Haha, that’s perfect!
Remember when the mole women thought their recently kidnapped bunker mate’s name was “Ayuda May”?
geg6
@Old School:
LOL, highly respected. Replacing an idiot with an even bigger idiot.
Gin & Tonic
@Jackie:
New Yorkers will call it 6th Shield.
Jackie
@Another Scott:
Maybe FFOTUS intends to name Markwayne Acting Secretary? That removes the Senate from the equation, no?
Suzanne
@Betty Cracker: Oh my God, LMAO.
cain
@Jackie:
More war.
Chetan Murthy
@cain: yyyep I’ve noticed that he’s a better ally of trans folks than my governor Gav. But even a few years ago, e.g. Rubin was still kinda neocon in the way she wrote about the middle east. So they’re changing. Obviously I’m glad of it!
Socolofi
The Shield of the Americas.
It’s like the Board of Peace. But just for North and South America. Except Canada. $1B admission fee, payable in cash to our Special Envoy.
different-church-lady
@ArchTeryx: Pretty sure they left out the ready part too.
dmsilev
@Old School:
Sounds like just a matter of time before she’s dragged out to the gravel pit and …taken care of.
Parfigliano
@Dorothy A. Winsor: As a former South Dakotan I too hope Noem goes to North Dakota.
Jackie
So who will OK gov Kevin Stitt temporarily put in Markwayne’s senate seat?
Jeffro
I’m excited for when trumpov begins yelling/tweeting at Big Oil, telling them to quit being unpatriotic and keep prices low.
I’m serious – it’ll be a hoot!
cain
@Old School:
and her heroin.
Scout211
They only have the cool sounding name. Isn’t that enough?
cain
@Jeffro: The gas prices going up is definitely going to make republicans less patriotic.
He’s gonna yell at the oil industry and then get Venezuela to give us their oil directly and then dunno.. start talking about “panicans” not supporting him.
Ramalama
@Jackie: Shield of the Americas – Bad Bunny influences have trickled or leaked in?
cain
@Chetan Murthy: I think it’s because they see their ideas playing out and seeing them as disasters that they are. Probably thanking god that they are no longer associated with that.
dmsilev
@Jackie: Whoever it is will somehow manage to be even dumber than Markwayne. How that will be possible, I have no idea, but I have faith.
danielx
@Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride:
That was Karl Rove his very own self.
zeecube
@Gin & Tonic: per Adam’s post last night, Zelenski has offered Ukraine’s assistance to the Gulf States on this issue.
whca
Then again, Saturday is two whole days away. Plenty of time for Trump to forget all about this and be chasing after a new shiny object.
prostratedragon
@Gin & Tonic: Heh! And so should we all.
Citizen Dave
My most hated business/BS buzzword is “laser-focused”. Lasers don’t focus shit. Whenever I hear anyone use it (Hegseth) I immediately think idiot/non-science non-serious person.
But, it is what it is. Let’s circle back and touch base on this at the end of the day.
dmsilev
An important question has been answered: It is in fact hypothetically possible to be such a piece of shit as a Republican House Representative that even Mike Johnson won’t defend you.
All you have to do is have an affair with one of your staffers, have her literally commit suicide by lighting herself on fire when it’s found out, and then run for reelection while claiming that God has forgiven you.
West of the Rockies
@Jackie:
A steaming fecal pile? Could we tell the difference?
prostratedragon
@Parfigliano: There’s no Dakota like NoDakota.
West of the Rockies
@dmsilev:
Well, the guy’s name is Gonzalez, so that makes it much easier for Republicans to underbus him. Now if it were, I don’t know, Fairchild or Whitely, it would be different.
Gretchen
Turns out the girl’s school was on a site that was military 10 years ago, so someone was using 10 year old data to decide what to bomb. Some reporting says if they’re hitting 1000 sites in short order they must be using AI to choose target. Someone has to pay for using old data to kill little girls.
prostratedragon
@Jeffro: Illustration
Scout211
No, he still needs to be confirmed but can serve immediately as the acting Secretary.
Jackie
@Scout211:
NO! I want to see if her next costume involves a WW outfit with a YUUUGE golden shield clutched in her hand!
MisterForkbeard
@Lochnessmom: I have to say, I saw this coming as soon as Trump said she lied to congress about his approval for her propaganda ads. Which he definitely did approve, but who is she going to complain to?
Also, Markwayne Mullin is both incredibly stupid and has a slavish and humiliating devotion to Trump, so that tracks.
Caroline
@Gin & Tonic: “New Yorkers will call it 6th Shield” – hahahaha
MisterForkbeard
@Scout211: The question for me is – does Mullin need to resign in the Senate?
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Gin & Tonic:
I’d swear that joke’s coming from a native of The City. (No shade; I was born practically on top of Coogan’s Bluff myself.)
different-church-lady
@MisterForkbeard:
Everyone else, probably.
prostratedragon
@Gretchen: Inexcusable.
Baud
@Scout211:
That’s incorrect.
J.
Does she have to give back her plane?
Van Buren
@Baud: Shield of the Americas sounds like a condom ad slogan.
Perfect for Noem, I guess.
different-church-lady
@Gretchen:
dmsilev
@J.: What about her security blanket? Or bag full of sex toys, allegedly?
Captain C
@dmsilev:
One wonders if having a Mexican-sounding last name is a factor.
Elizabelle
Isn’t Markwayne Mullins deeply stupid? Ridiculous choice.
Cannot say, though, if he is as evil as Noem. Kristi Noem is evil personified
Alas, one among many in Trump’s Cabinet of Deplorables.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@MisterForkbeard: Haven’t read up on the law, but I’m fairly confident you can’t be a member of both the legislature and the executive branch at the same time. Not that it helps given the governor who appoints his replacement is a reactionary 21st-century Republican.
Jackie
@MisterForkbeard:
Yes. The gov will name a temporary person to Mullin’s seat, then a special election will be held – presumably during OK’s Primary election. That person will hold the seat until Mullin’s term is up.
Listening live to MSNOW’s explanation.
tam1MI
Yet another Republican who got something that Al Franken never did – an investigation and due process.
different-church-lady
Looks like it’s “Accountability for everyone except Trump” day:
Scout211
@Baud: Thank you. But who is going to stop him from taking over immediately? And (as has been asked above) will he stay in the Senate until he is confirmed? From what I am reading, it is required if confirmed.
With this Senate, it seems unlikely that it will be difficult for him to be confirmed, IMHO.
Captain C
@different-church-lady: Those internal polls must be apocalyptic.
Miss Bianca
@Gin & Tonic:
Oh, does this mean that at some point we are going to hear some variation on, “The war has not necessarily worked out to America’s advantage”?
cmorenc
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Um…Noem was gov of South Dakota, Doug Bergum was gov of N Dakota (now Sec of Interior). Which begs the question why there were two Dakotas created in the first place whereas other vast, sparsely populated western states at the time of their creation such as Montana and Nevada weren’t split into eg E Montana and W Montana, but Zi digress.
cain
@Gretchen: It gets better. They’ve been fooling AI by drawing targets on the ground so that AI thinks they are real. So it starts wasting missiles on it.
different-church-lady
@Elizabelle: Ditching Noem makes him and his cabinet look weak, so it’s a win no matter who replaces her.
PAM Dirac
@Baud: Noem is staying a DHS until March 31, so there is time to get Mullins confirmed before he takes over.
Shalimar
Tomorrow’s White House announcement: Meet John Cornyn, our new Secretary of War.
Chief Oshkosh
@Jackie: ChatGPT tells me:
“The Shield of the Americas” is an honorary title/award associated with the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), a U.S. Army–run military education center located at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning).
WHINSEC is the successor institution to the controversial School of the Americas (SOA), which trained Latin American military and security personnel from 1946 until it was reorganized in 2001.
What the “Shield of the Americas” refers to
The Shield of the Americas is generally:
Context and controversy
Because WHINSEC replaced the School of the Americas, the phrase sometimes appears in political or activist discussions about the institution.
The School of the Americas drew criticism because some of its graduates later participated in human rights abuses or military dictatorships in Latin America during the Cold War. Critics often refer to it as the “School of the Assassins.”
When the school was restructured as WHINSEC in 2001, the curriculum was changed to include:
The Shield of the Americas concept is part of the post-2001 effort to emphasize cooperative security and democratic values among Western Hemisphere militaries.
In short
Kayla Rudbek
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I want her to be impeached and imprisoned. I seriously wonder just how many counties, cities and towns in the state of Minnesota could charge her with crimes…
different-church-lady
@Chief Oshkosh: What did ChatGPT tell you about where the Iranian military installations are?
Eunicecycle
@Citizen Dave: and reach out to the stakeholders.
Chief Oshkosh
@Gretchen: Wow – that is awful, even for this crew. Where was this reported? I hope it gets traction. And I hope it was Melonhead’s AI that they were using (not that it matters to the girls and their survivors).
WereBear
@danielx: Didn’t go so well for him. Not compared to his dreams of Empire.
Chief Oshkosh
@different-church-lady: Some of them are north of there. And some a little bit to the west. And further on, some are to the south. But a lot of them are just to the east.
Trivia Man
@Chief Oshkosh: Yes! Then rin johnson reclaims his title as Dumbest Senator. nobody can compete with Coach,
WereBear
@dmsilev: Dear god. When wondering how low, I wasn’t asking for a demonstration.
Anonymous At Work
@Captain C: That’s like telling someone to jump over a bar, and then burying the thing 20 feet underground.
Eunicecycle
@Elizabelle: I notice Mullin’s been on TV a lot lately. I wonder if Trump was trying him out, since TV appearance is the most important thing.
BlueGuitarist
@SiubhanDuinne:
@Another Scott:
They’re so weird.
You may recall MarkWayne wanting to fight the teamsters president at a hearing; apparently that incident shook loose a weird story from former Michigan Republican congressman Trott and wife described in this headline (original story in Politico):
mediaite.com/politics/markwayne-mullin-reportedly-fingered-nostrils-of-colleagues-and-their-spouses-…
WereBear
Sounds like a second tier Batman villain.
Gin & Tonic
@prostratedragon: Was wondering how many would get that.
Eunicecycle
@different-church-lady: isnt that every day?
different-church-lady
@Chief Oshkosh: “Aim in the middle, we’re bound to hit one of them!”
different-church-lady
@Eunicecycle: Most days are accountability for nobody day.
Jackie
A pardoned J6er sentenced to life in prison for child molestation. GRRRR!
Elizabelle
@Eunicecycle: Maybe so. Yuck.
Another Scott
@Baud: Yeah, all those pesky details that 47 has no time for… (Acting Secretaries do not have all the powers of a Senate confirmed Secretary – so, yeah, they can sit in the chair but that doesn’t mean that they can run roughshod over the place the way Noem did as an Acting person.)
It would be fun if Markwayne resigns and can’t get confirmed for months and various Acting heads of DHS can’t do things that a true Senate-approved secretary can do so DHS grinds to a halt, and Thune can’t get anything done in the Senate either because the margin has shrunk too much…
OK law says the appointed Senate replacement must be of the same party, and the appointee only serves until the next election (Nov 2026).
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Eunicecycle
@different-church-lady: that’s true. Any accountability would be nice.
Redshift
@cmorenc:
Dakota territory was split into two states to be admitted to the union to give Republicans more Senate seats. Montana was a Dem state admitted while Republicans were in charge, so it didn’t get split. (Keeping in mind that this in the post-Civil War era, when the parties were very different than they are now.)
Heather Cox Richardson wrote about it recently; it actually didn’t work out well for Republicans.
Gretchen
@Chief Oshkosh: theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/03/iran-war-heralds-era-of-ai-powered-bombing-quicker-than-speed…
This doesn’t mention the old maps, but it does say that the school was hit by precision missiles, that the US is using AI to speed up deployment of missiles, and that Anthropic pulled out because they didn’t want their AI used for bombing without humans over-seeing the choices of targets.
different-church-lady
Look, you gotta feel bad for Noem: she was tasked by Trump to be the most horrible person she could possibly be and do horrible things to innocent people in the most public way possible, she delivered on it, and now she’s getting shitcanned.
OK, I was kidding about that first thing…
Baud
The big question to me is, how does MarkWayne interact with Stephen Miller?
Will MarkWayne be docile, or will there be dick swinging conflicts, leading to MarkWayne punching Stephen Miller’s lights out?
If MarkWayne does do that, should we nominate him for president?
Gretchen
@Eunicecycle: Mullins has been on TV a lot, and he’s been terrible. He sounds stupid, uninformed, and gets confused when challenged. But he probably sounds fine to this lot.
different-church-lady
@Baud: Death to both combatants.
Paul in KY
@Mr. Bemused Senior: TACO likens it to pro wrestling drama.
Paul in KY
@Lochnessmom: ‘Why that’s your day in the Barrel, Sen. Mullins!”
trollhattan
SWAG a special protective undergarment, continent-sized.
Paul in KY
@Another Scott: That’s probably why a senator is replacing her. All that deference and stuff.
Belafon
As with Trump’s attempt at being Lord Farquaad, troops are just abstract ideas to this administration, to be discards when they break.
West of the Rockies
@J.:
Will Lewandumki join her as assistant to the regional manager of Shield?
trollhattan
Feeling more secure by the second.
He’s GOT THIS folks.
Redshift
@MisterForkbeard:
Yeah, Mullin is deeply stupid. I hope that will be a bit of a handicap; Noem was evil and corrupt but not stupid.
After Mullin took point on the media for the administration’s dumb this-is-not-a-war talking point, someone pointed out that Republican electeds clearly know something is indefensible when Markwayne is the face of it. He’ll defend anything, though not we well, because stupid.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kayla Rudbek: She likes to dress up. I think an orange jumpsuit would suit her.
Trivia Man
@cain: last time diesel was this high was Nov 2023
Soapdish
Is it just me or does “looking under every rock for ideas on improving energy prices” have strong “GWB looking for WMDs joke at that Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association Dinner” vibes?
Paul in KY
@Jackie: A POS of some kind…
Scout211
@different-church-lady: But come on! Give her credit. She looked her best every day and only had to pay $200,000 to promote her image to the public.
Those photos of her in front of those prisoners was golden! That PR team was worth it.
Best (looking) DHS Secretary EVAH!
///
Trivia Man
@Citizen Dave: the juice isn’t worth the squeeze
Belafon
@Gin & Tonic: They did.
prostratedragon
Cricket’s revenge.
Suzanne
@trollhattan:
This is absolutely bonkers.
Paul in KY
@dmsilev: What if it is still on there (ready for next flight) and now she has no authority to get on the plane/get it retrieved! That would be a hoot!
trollhattan
@Suzanne:
None of these people could be night manager at a 7/11. Not one.
Paul in KY
@WereBear: Or one of Biff Tannen’s drones.
Scout211
Yeah, and I don’t believe it for one moment. That’s all he can admit to but I bet this has been the plan in the works for at least 24 hours and likely longer.
Trivia Man
@BlueGuitarist: I was always told you can pick your friends or your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose
Suzanne
@trollhattan: I was trying to think of a business that was managed more poorly than this government, and I really can’t think of one. Convenience stores, fast food restaurants, retail establishments…. models of effective management in comparison.
FelonyGovt
@Scout211: My TV is happy I won’t be tempted to throw things at it as I was when those evil “this runway is your future” ads with her came on.
hitchhiker
Markwayne holds an associate’s degree in construction. That’s it. That’s his entire post-high school education. He’s never been in the military. He’s about to become head of an organization with 260,000 employees and a budget of more than $100 Billion that has the mission of protecting all of us.
It was an insult to see Noem get this job, but this is … another level. Just think of all those career people, highly skilled and deeply knowledgeable about what sorts of threats the USA faces. Their boss is now an ignorant asshole, somehow even worse than the fake beauty queen who thought having puffy lips was a top line resume item.
Belafon
@FelonyGovt: I would tell people “You know who the audience is, right? I mean, they’re in English.”
dmsilev
@Suzanne: That’s because normal businesses that are managed this badly ….cease to become businesses.
Paul in KY
@Belafon: Back in college he had to send 125 risk counters against Kamchatka to bust up Trent’s Asia. He didn’t like using that many, but hard decisions had to be made…
Belafon
@hitchhiker: He’s being hired because he sucks up to Trump and to not make him look bad. The fact that those two things are contradictory is something Trump will never understand.
Just look at that parking lot
Shit…..I’d bet a $100 that Hegseth would be the first cabinet member to get fired. Had it down at 7 1/2 to 1. Oh well…Easy come, Easy go as Elvis once sang.
Enhanced Voting Techninques
So his real job is suck up to all the contractors and what like who employee illegals reassure them that ICE deportations are back to labor discipline in the hopes they will vote Republican next November.
Martin
@Paul in KY: Yes, but they were all singles because he couldn’t figure out what the V and X meant.
prostratedragon
@Chief Oshkosh:
Yipes😵💫😵💫!
Here’s what I found w/o ChatGPT:
Paul in KY
@Martin: Ha! I bet he was a real creep in college.
Captain C
@cmorenc:
To have two extra Republican Senators. As far as I know, I’m not kidding.
(Yes, they’ve had Democrats since then, but IIRC back in the 1880s or so they would have been firmly in the Republican camp.)
Captain C
@different-church-lady:
Probably smack in the middle of Columbia University.
Chief Oshkosh
@Jackie: Very rough guesstimate, but it appears that the rate of recidivism for the pardoned J6ers is about 1.7x greater than that of the general population of people have had at least one federal conviction of any sort of crime.
Only the best.
Baud
The Great Khan speaks for me.
Chief Oshkosh
@prostratedragon: I got dibs on her bag, though!
Baud
Top commenter on reddit post sums it up nicely.
Captain C
@Baud:
No, but we could send him a nice hummus platter.
Aziz, light!
A perfect fit for Oklahoma then, but soon to be a gasping fish.
Wasn’t Louie Gohmert available?
Martin
Real shot across the bow for Bondi. Noem wasn’t fired because she was bad at her job, she was fired for embarrassing him in front of Congress. Bondi is up next.
Darkrose
@Chetan Murthy: Last I heard from Bloody Bill Kristol was a few months ago when he was saying Abolish ICE.
Eunicecycle
@Chief Oshkosh: I was wondering about that. It seems like a lot of them have been re-arrested but I didn’t know what the stats are for the general population. Huh. It’s really not surprising that a group that would attack the Capitol might not be all that law-abiding.
different-church-lady
@Martin: Indeed, she was great at her job; her job was to be a sociopath and she crushed it.
Geminid
@Martin: Bondi is a real problem for the White House; if they ditch her she might go rogue and get a lot of people in trouble including her boss.
I think they’ll try to hang on to Bondi until the midterms if they can, to keep her close.. I expect they’re planning to ditch Kash Patel then also.
zhena gogolia
@Geminid: I know somebody who’s going to have to rename their dogs soon.
Jackie
@Belafon:
And a former MMA fighter! FFOTUS has to luv that! That means Markwayne is a tough guy! (FFOTUS’s viewpoint, not mine)
Baud
Maybe MarkWayne and Hegseth will have an MMA bout for the 250th celebration.
frosty
@Gin & Tonic: I didn’t get the NYC / 6th Shield reference and the internet was no help. Should I have used AI?
Eyeroller
@Suzanne: I just yesterday (?) heard of an American attack on “cartels” in Ecuador so I’m guessing that’s what the “shield” will entail.
Jackie
@Baud: Crap!
I’d be forced to cheer on Markwayne…
Josie
@Lochnessmom:
My favorite comment. I actually laughed out loud.
Baud
Feckful!
Timill
@frosty: Probably.
[IIRC, 6th Avenue is the Avenue of the Americas]
Poe Larity
How can we have a DHS Secretary that was building barricades in the House on Jan 6th?
Maybe he thought they were Mexicans?
no body no name
@hitchhiker:
They don’t want the various parts of DHS doing what their actual job is. HSI goes after cyber crime, financial fraud, human trafficking, weapons/narcotics trafficking, and other things that need doing. That’s a threat to these assholes.
Suzanne
@Baud: So much fucking feck!
Suzanne
@Poe Larity: If Markwayne Gary Wayne really has a degree in construction, he would likely concede that Mexicans can build a wall faster than Americans can.
Elizabelle
I love the photo today in sidebar.
bbleh
@hitchhiker: ok, so the ICEholes will be thrilled, and as for “career people, highly skilled and deeply knowledgeable,” I’d guess it’s as Russell Vought says, “we want them deeply traumatized.”
This is a wrecking-crew, nothing more. A basic construction “background” is just fine.
cain
@Dorothy A. Winsor: funny story, she was giving a speech or something and apparently didn’t know she was fired. It’s what you expect from this administration.
dc
@Old School: What??? From stupid cruel corrupt idiot to stupid cruel corrupt idiot.
ArchTeryx
@bbleh: Vought doesn’t want anarchy – just a government in total control of the theocrats. He wants Iran under the mullahs. He’s a True Believer, and that makes him the most dangerous out of this crew of misfits.
Vought is the one that needs to be neutered. But he’s also the hardest to get to. That’s also no accident.
gene108
@Chetan Murthy:
Kristol and Rubin are aware of the antisemitism Trump’s racism has allowed to expand.
ETA: It’s a big reason they’ve changed their public views on politics.
cain
@Geminid:
This is like game of thrones but way stupider and a lot more dangerous.
Baud
@cain:
And probably with more incest.
Baud
@gene108:
Rubin has essentially done a John Cole, although I think she’s not attending DSA meetings yet.
bbleh
@ArchTeryx: yeah I don’t think Vought is behind this particular sideshow — I think it’s the Orange Guy, cuz he got mad at how she was looking on TV, and he’s going with
WaynemarkMarkwayne cuz that’s a cheap and easy fix.And as to Vought, yeah he’s a theocrat, but it’s more than that. He wants a lot LESS government, in particular anything that constrains the behavior of rich White Christianist nationalists and their businesses, and in that respect he’s thoroughly aligned with mainstream old-school Republicans.
And you’re right, he can’t be touched, any more than Reichsführer Miller can. Alas.
Jeffro
@prostratedragon: that rocks – thanks!
different-church-lady
@no body no name:
jimmiraybob
According to Wikipedia, Markwayne is a member of the Cherokee Nation. My question is, why would a member of the Cherokee Nation be such a suck up member of the Andrew Jackson Trail of Tears Party?
planetjanet
@jonas:
One less Senate seat.
Kayla Rudbek
@Dorothy A. Winsor: orange jumpsuit and shackles, she can go from being ICE Barbie to Felon Barbie
Kayla Rudbek
@Suzanne: universities/colleges, car dealerships, Baptist churches, law firms, Hollywood, anywhere where nepotism and sycophancy reign…
Ken B
@Baud: Wasn’t SHIELD taken over by Nazis?
Chief Oshkosh
@Suzanne: Do you think he understands that he can decline the offer? Or does he think that Trump actually is a king?
Who am I kidding. He does not know and he does not think.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Ken B: Yes – at least once in the MCU, and who knows how many times in the print comics.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Very first reply actually begins, “Yeah, but . . .”
bjacques
@Trivia Man: You can pick your friends and you can pick their brains, but you can’t brain your friends with a pick!
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
At least it wasn’t an “Yeah but…” that went on to criticize Jeffries.
Baud
@jimmiraybob:
Stephen Miller is Jewish.
different-church-lady
Wait… did someone say hummus?
prostratedragon
@Timill: Correct. Newcomers don’t even have to be told that no one calss it A. of the A.
Ridnik Chrome
Stephen Miller is the most evil member of the Trump II administration, but Pete Hegseth is by far and away the stupidest.
Baud
Via blue sky.
Matt McIrvin
@FelonyGovt: The ads were lies, anyway. They weren’t sending you home. They grabbed people who were GOING home and sent them to CECOT.
Baud
4 Dems crossed over.
Golden, Cuellar, Vargas, and Landsman.
Ruckus
@Captain C:
I’m not seeing any half ass from this maladministration.
It’s all ASS, 24—365
And they keep an ASS inventory in hiding – just in case…..
different-church-lady
@Ridnik Chrome: Hegseth is clearly the most psychopathic.
dmsilev
@Baud: Makes sense. New Secretary, new sidepiece.
JML
@Suzanne: Enron? that was one heck of an epic fail.
prostratedragon
@Ridnik Chrome: Till now.
Baud
In case you were wondering
Baud
Scout211
GOOD. Expected, but still good.
different-church-lady
PEOPLE: “Why is Trump launching a war?”
TRUMPERS: “He’s not launching a war.”
TRUMP: “You’re goddamned right I launched a war.”
Exact same pattern as EVERY FUCKIN’ TIME WITH THIS GUY.
different-church-lady
@Baud: “BUT WHY IS SCHUMER SO FECKLESS!”
Jeffro
technically true on multiple levels
PatD
Jeffries doing good work in the House. Landsman should be primaried.
Baud
Baud
Elizabelle
I am happy that Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski are having a bad day.
May their days get even worse.
kalakal
@bjacques: Leon Trotsky would disagree
lowtechcyclist
@Old School:
The dumb being replaced by the dumber.
Who gets custody of the luxury jet with the bidets
ETA: Oh never mind, I see a bullshit position has been created for Gnoem, so presumably she gets to keep using the jet.
Carlo Graziani
@Baud: I was wondering what the point would be of attempting to get a DHS Secretary confirmed at a time that the department is defunded due to the stank infused by the previous secretary.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
We’re living in the comic book that’s in their heads.
bjacques
@kalakal: Whatever happened to, Leon Trotsky?
lowtechcyclist
The alleged objective of the ICE expansion was to deport “the worst of the worst.”
They’re running our government, so they shouldn’t be hard to track down.
Carlo Graziani
@lowtechcyclist:
Honestly, compared to this explanation, every other political analysis of the Trump Clown Show is tantamount to sanewashing.
lowtechcyclist
@Chetan Murthy:
All too true.
Tony Jay
It says everything about this Administration that Noem could probably have saved her job if she’d responded to the question about her and Lewandowski with a smirk and an offhand “I fuck who I like, when I like, where I like. And when I fuck them, they stay fucked. Next question.”
Once he’d changed his man-pad Trump would probably have started looking into getting someone to craft an EO making her VP.
Gin & Tonic
@frosty: A major thoroughfare in Manhattan is technically named “Avenue of the Americas.” Since it lies between 5th Avenue and 7th Avenue, nobody in New York calls it Avenue of the Americas – it is 6th Avenue.
bbleh
@Baud: word has it he’s just not Markwayne’s type. Too butch.
lowtechcyclist
@Gin & Tonic:
I hope he can work out a trade with the U.S.: Ukraine shares its (all too hard-won) expertise in return for armaments and/or billions in Euros.
Gin & Tonic
@bjacques: Deleted. Should have read the whole thread.
Barney
As I’ve seen said elsewhere, the fuck-up that led to the 6 deaths in Kuwait ought logically lead to Hegseth being stuck in “Benghazi” hearings and investigations forever, but worse, because his reaction was not “I am deeply saddened by the deaths and will investigate”, but “why are you picking on me????? You’re all a bunch of losers for talking about those guys as if they mattered!!!”
But only a Democratic majority can start anything approaching that.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
I hope he insists on upfront payments.
Tony Jay
@Carlo Graziani:
Yeah, except the confusion stems from the entire Trump administration being staffed by people who tick every box for ‘X-Men Villain’ except “Can build 50-ft tall genocidal robots”.
lowtechcyclist
@Captain C:
People with actual competence might eventually disagree with Dear Leader, as they frequently did in his first administration. Hence the cast of dumbshits who work for him now.
Jackie
So much news! Did this tidbit get noticed here?
Good for N. Carolinian democrats!
Baud
@Jackie:
Good. There’s a limit to leeway for Dems in hard districts.
lowtechcyclist
@cain:
‘Panicans’ makes me think of Romper Room – remember “Do be a Do Bee, don’t be a Don’t Bee”?
Mr. Bemused Senior
Nah, just a criminal enterprise.
Miss Bianca
@Baud: So…these “AI smart glasses” are the *real* “X-ray specs” that we used to see advertised in the back of the comic books? Oy…
Miss Bianca
@Tony Jay:
Don’t worry, Elon Musk is gonna get RIGHT ON THAT just as soon as he’s done building his base on the Moon!
Melancholy Jaques
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
You are correct, sir!
And most of the voters, as well.
Eyeroller
@jimmiraybob: The Cherokee Nation lets almost anybody who might have some ancestry join. They want to get their numbers up. They are fairly notorious for that.
lowtechcyclist
@BlueGuitarist:
There’s the old saw that goes, “you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.”
Maybe he was trying to disprove it. 🤢
Suzanne
From peak Xhitter account LizaMinnelliOutlives:
frosty
@Gin & Tonic: So Shield of the Americas becomes Shield of 6th Avenue becomes 6th Shield. Yep, too obscure for me.
lowtechcyclist
@MisterForkbeard:
Also, for all practical purposes he’s got the classic middle name.
Jackie
@frosty: The shield will be Noem’s new gig’s photo prop.
Tony Jay
@Miss Bianca:
If Musk was in charge of building the Government’s anti-mutant killer robots Homo Superior wouldn’t have needed Magneto or the X-Men to protect them. Toad on his own could have got the job done.
lowtechcyclist
@Soapdish:
It’s not just you.
Speaking of the nonexistent WMDs, I recognized this reference:
@Chief Oshkosh:
lowtechcyclist
@different-church-lady:
No lie told.
Baud
I can’t believe he didn’t say “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” IT WAS RIGHT THERE!
lowtechcyclist
@cain:
I have this vision of people here and there in the audience playing with their phones and finding that out while she’s speaking. Showing their phone to the people on either side of them, and a titter gradually emerging from the audience that wouldn’t stop.
Ksmiami05
@lowtechcyclist: I lived down the street from Trott and his wife in Michigan. Nice guy, more old school.
cain
@lowtechcyclist: That’s probably where he got it. Fat Orange Guy is reverting to romper room shit
dmsilev
@Baud: His brain set into stone sometime around 1988 or so. Shrek is much too modern a reference. The first film is only a mere 25 years old.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Good Lord. You mean we’d have had the votes if they hadn’t crossed over?
They deserve to be primaried just for that, if they’re in states where the primaries haven’t already happened. (At least one of them is in Texas – too late.)
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Moskowitz wins the Internet for the day.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Golden is retiring.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
He probably wouldn’t get the reference! Shrek was made in 2001, not in the 1970s or 1980s.
ETA: Damn you, @dmsilev! :D
Baud
“People will die, prices will rise. I’ll be ok.”
Carlo Graziani
For those of you who, like me, enjoy a petty taunt at a deserving loser, which tune suits the moment better?
(1) “Na-na-na-na, Na-na-na -na-na, Hey-hey-hey, Gooood-bye!”
or
(2) “Ding-dong, the witch is dead. Which old witch? The Wicked Witch!”
I’m partial to (2), if only because I like to visualise a pair of Prada-wearing feet sticking out from under a crash-landed farmhouse. I should ask a chatbot to create that visual for me.
kalakal
@Carlo Graziani:
2) was sung the length and breadth of the UK when Thatcher popped her clogs
Aziz, light!
@Baud: Tide goes in, tide goes out.
lowtechcyclist
@Carlo Graziani:
I’d personally go with (2) but either one works
ETA: Also for your listening pleasure:
I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal (You) – Performed by Dr. John
Gin & Tonic
Fetterman goes on Twitter to say he’ll vote to approve Mullin.
Jackie
Looks like the U.S. bombed the school.
Those girls deaths are on FFOTUS.
zhena gogolia
@Carlo Graziani:
Here’s a really good version.
Matt McIrvin
@Barney: The subtext of the Benghazi hearings was that Hillary Clinton was in league with terrorists and had somehow conspired to have the US casualties killed. They know they didn’t do that, so no worries.
Martin
NYT reporting that the attack on the Iranian girls school was by the US. Not that it would have much mattered if it was Israel using US weapons, but it’s a different set of questions Congress gets to ask.
Martin
@Jackie: They’ll blame Anthropic AI for helping pick the targets.
stinger
@Carlo Graziani: I almost feel sorry for her. She ruined a perfectly okay face for nothing.
prostratedragon
@lowtechcyclist:
Very widely covered, though Dr. John will always do.
frosty
@Carlo Graziani: I’m going with #1, it’s more contemporary and it works for the ones that are still living, too. Plus it’s got a lot of sneer in it.
Chetan Murthy
I’m so old, I remember that during Trump I, there was an instance of a high appointed official who also lost their job while giving a speech. I also remember that it was pretty well-deserved, and I had a -delicious- bowl of schadenfreude that day. Was that Comey?
zhena gogolia
@Chetan Murthy: I think so.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@zhena gogolia:
From the Wikipedia
Atticus Dogsbody
One thing I know for certain is that if a different Republican than Trump (Marco, for example) was president, Tom Nichols would be a full on cheerleader for this war.
lowtechcyclist
@Gin & Tonic:
Because of course he will.
I keep on having to remind myself he’s still better than a Rethuglican.
lowtechcyclist
@Jackie:
This fucking crew of mass murderers and war criminals.
Chetan Murthy
@Atticus Dogsbody: No lie told. I -do- wonder how far Bloody Bill Kristol has traveled, but I’m not sure about him either. I -think- it’s possible Jennifer Rubin might not support such a war. But not even sure about her.
It’s interesting that Kristol seems to have traveled further and faster than Nichols, from what ostensibly was a more extreme-right-wing position.
YY_Sima Qian
While the new SecDHS is no improvement over the old one, this is still worth celebrating. Keep collecting political scalps from the Trump 47 Administration, defenestrate it in public opinion.
TheScarletPimpernel
@No Nym: Fire when ready, Gridley.
TheScarletPimpernel
@Baud: I hope Marvel sues him.
Butter Emails!!!
@Gretchen:
I saw that, but it was also noted that a clinic that was carved out of the same military base more recently than the school was not targeted. It could have just been that data on the school was old, but it’s also possible that the current information was present and the AI still incorrectly identified it as the target. The school gave preference to the children of service members so there’s going to be images and data that associate current base personnel with the school and which could have caused the AI to “think” the school was a military as opposed to a civilian target.
TheScarletPimpernel
@Citizen Dave: Lasers are a sychronized light beam, to be useful, they have to be focused.
lauryn11
It’s a shame S.H.I.E.L.D. is the Marvel Universe instead of D.C. Otherwise Kristi could requisition Wonder Woman’s invisible plane.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@lauryn11: ooh, reminds me of the Mad Magazine piece, the Woman Wonder. Regarding the plane, “you shouldn’t slam the door!”
MinuteMan
Wonder if Polymarket has a line on the odds of Petey getting fragged in the next few weeks?
Paul in KY
@different-church-lady: She had/has a real talent at being evil.
Paul in KY
@jimmiraybob: Because that’s the kind of Cherokee he is. The kind that would give out the blankets to the unsuspecting indians.
Paul in KY
@kalakal: After he was wanged in the head (receiving a fatal injury) he managed to disarm the assassin.
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: He would have had a woody if she’d said that.