The electricians were here all day today, and we had the 1957 original electric panel replaced with a brand spanking new one, as well as had all of the outlets grounded, so I have been basically offline and don’t have much time to say anything because I have a ton of stuff to do that I couldn’t do, but I did want to celebrate this:
President Donald Trump on Thursday fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after mounting criticism over her leadership of the department, including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.
Trump, who said he would nominate Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin in her place, made the announcement on social media after Noem faced a two-day grilling on Capitol Hill this week from GOP members as well as Democrats.
Markwayne Mullin may actually be dumber and more violent than Noem, but we need to celebrate every victory. She and that venereal disease on legs, Corey Lewandowski, are both out. And that’s a good.
Take care.
wombat probability cloud
Wonderfully apt description of Lewandowski. Wonder how he will remora himself back into the ecosystem.
Old School
Pitchbot:
mrmoshpotato
I read that as “venereal disease in her legs.”
mrmoshpotato
@Old School: LOL!
Suzanne
He doesn’t have as much lip filler, either. Nor the beauty-pageant hair.
Chetan R Murthy
@Suzanne: I completely believe that ol’ Two-Names Mullin is dumber than Cricket-Killer.
Parfigliano
@Suzanne: Give him time.
NotMax
Less intellectually endowed, no question about it.
Chetan R Murthy
@Parfigliano: Heh, you reminded me of when ol’ Two-Names challenged
Teamsters PresidentFace-Eating Leopard Party voter Sean O’Brien to a fistfight. Gosh, has ol’ Two-Names been partaking of the juice?ETA: Ahem, I mean, of the gender-affirming pharmaceuticals ?
John Revolta
Was the panel one of these?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325736748913
We had one of those in our 1957 house and while they were all Space-Age and Modern they also turned out to be massively unsafe. You’re well rid of it
wjca
I’m confused. Today I’m reading that Mullin is the dumbest guy in the Senate. I thought Tuberville had that position totally locked up. What have I missed?
Baud
The good news is he’ll want to beat up immigrants and protesters personally, so that should reduce how many people are terrorized.
Suzanne
@Chetan R Murthy: Markwayne Gary Wayne reminds me of probably a quarter of the contractors I’ve ever worked with. Dumber than a bag full of hammers, and yet they make a lot more than I do. I guess I’m the dumbass.
Chetan R Murthy
There’s a thing that I’ve failed to understand: maybe one of you politics-knowers can help me to get it?
Being a G(r)OPer Senator from a place like Oklahoma has to be one of the most secure jobs in the country. A cushy job for -life-! He’s also one of the 100+ most powerful -people- in the country. Why would he give that up for what is certainly a short-term appointment ? I mean, I don’t get it. It’s not going to be a stepping-stone to bigger things — surely he knows that? So why?
ETA: and it’s not even going to be a -powerful- job! He’s gotta eat whatever Stephen Miller orders him to, every day. Every. Day. So he doesn’t actually get to make policy!
Rob J.
Remember how it turned out when everyone celebrated Gaetz’s nomination being pulled in favor of Bondi? How’d that turn out? Hell, how’d it turn out regarding the prosecution of grown men like Gaetz who rape teenagers?
Chetan R Murthy
@Rob J.: I don’t think anybody here (or any right-thinking decent folk) thought Bondi was better than Gaetz. Just that Gaetz at least didn’t get rewarded for being an unutterable shit and rapist.
Bulgakov
You will enjoy the electrical upgrade. It’s not immediate gratification but you do notice small improvements from the first days until about a year. Then ya kinda know the new panel and its quirks.
Scout211
@Chetan R Murthy: Former cabinet members can make big bucks after leaving office.
Wiki via google AI:
Jackie
@Suzanne:
There’s a photo circulating around of Markwayne crouched down in terror during the J6 insurrection when the Capitol Bldg was stormed. I recognized the photo from the J6 Committee hearings.
He’ll be perfect for the job!
Odie Hugh Manatee
The picture of Krusty Gnome’s husband sitting behind her in the Senate hearing while she was being questioned about sexy time with The Lewd One is priceless.
Pure cuck material…lol! He was furious at his humiliation and yet he was the one who kept taking her abuse, probably because of her position (missionary?) and power. Both of those are gone so I expect a divorce soon.
Christian nationalists are some fucking weird people.
Chetan R Murthy
@Scout211: Surely retired Senators get much the same? And while they’re in office, then get all those sweet tips on investments …..
Another Scott
@Chetan R Murthy: He can get to claim that he ran an agency with 260,000 people and an annual budget of $115+B.
A tiny upgrade from being a MMA fighter and a housing contractor. And a nice thing to put on one’s resume when it comes time to hit the GQP Lobbyist and Corporate Board circuit, etc., etc.
Just a guess. FWIW.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Chetan R Murthy
@Another Scott: OK, fair cop.
NotoriousJRT
@Chetan R Murthy: Right there with you. I don’t know if he matches her venal ambition though. Still, I’m not ready to rule that out.
kindness
I’m wondering if Noem gets to keep using the luxury Gulfstream she & Corey have been flying around in,
Scout211
@Chetan R Murthy:
I don’t know if I’m right-thinking or decent, but at the time I thought, at least Bondi would know the law. I saw Gaetz as a narcissistic gadfly that would f*ck everything up at the DOJ and act in accordance with whatever Trump wanted.
So Bondi may still know the law but she has f*cked everthing up at the DOJ and has acted in accordance with whatever Trump wanted.
But let’s face it, if either one had not done that, they would have been shown the door.
Chetan R Murthy
I concluded when she took that $25k
bribedonation in exchange for torpedoing the Trump University case, that she was corrupt.coin operated
@Chetan R Murthy:
Yup. And I’m very curious about that photo circulating that shows Trump and incredibly young Bondi partying around with the Epstein crowd.
different-church-lady
In a hypothetical where the Hegseth and Bondi dominoes fall, the line we then need to push is, “How did Trump pick so many incompetent screw-ups for his cabinet?”
JGreen
@wjca: Tuberville is not running for re-election, I believe, so maybe he’s not considered in the running for stupidest senator anymore. On the other hand, it was always a close call between Tuberville, Mullin and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and I don’t think it was ever settled. They all did so much to claim the title.
Chetan R Murthy
Link
ETA: googling, I find an AFP fact-check ( factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.88VB9T6 ) saying that at least -a- photo of Trump w/Bondi is altered from one that shows Trump with a different blonde, a model.
Scout211
DHS actually purchased two jets for Noem to use. Technically, she still has her job until March 31 so she might still have access but my guess is she will be busy wrapping things up and moving out of her Coast Guard house. The jets belong to DHS.
Scout211
Wasn’t that debunked as fake?
Fact Check: Don’t fall for image allegedly showing 14-year-old Pam Bondi with Trump
Mr. Bemused Senior
@JGreen: I wondered when someone would bring up Ron Johnson. It’s a tough competition.
NotMax
Presumably she gets to keep the blanket, but not the commandeered house.
cain
“See you at Nuremberg 2.0” – Senator Wyden to Noem.
That’s my guy!
frosty
Grounded outlets are good. I’ve just done the same thing, along with a bunch of other neglected electrical work, plaster, and paint. Funny how your house looks great when you’re selling it but not when you live in it for years.
YY_Sima Qian
Long & somewhat meandering essay from Kaiser Kuo well worth reading:
& how India under Modi relates to the discourse:
NotoriousJRT
@JGreen: Did Markwayne just assume the mantle of Jim Inhofe?
Captain C
I would not be surprised if, given their apparent opposition to modern medicine and science, a nontrivial percentage of this administration and its sycophants wind up with tertiary syphilis down the road.
YY_Sima Qian
@NotMax: In case you missed it, I replied to your question on the PRC’s island reclamation in the South China Sea in yesterday’s evening open thread, at #117.
Captain C
@Scout211: I would imagine she’ll make as many trips
on the fuckplanein service of moving out/wrapping up as possible before she’s officially out.RevRick
@mrmoshpotato: @Captain C: For a moment I thought I had stumbled upon an early discussion of Tom Levenson’s book So Very Small about the discovery of the connection between microbes and diseases.
Captain C
@NotMax: No one’s going to want that ‘blanket’ after who probably used it.
NotMax
@YY_Sima Qian
I saw it at the time and appreciate your taking the time to respond so fully.
NotMax
@Captain C
Smithsonian?
//
Kayla Rudbek
@Captain C: I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump currently has tertiary syphilis
NotMax
@Captain C
Those trunks waiting to be stuffed with cosplay outfits don’t pack themselves, don’tcha know.
//
different-church-lady
@Kayla Rudbek: I had that very same thought.
rikyrah
Ragnarok Lobster
@eclecticbrotha1.bsky.social
Follow
Tim Miller is a Never Trumper who wants to teach Democrats how to look the other way and ignore antisemitism, anti-blackness and all other forms of bigotry while we woo white male voters.
You know, the things he used to do as a registered Republican before Trump became the party’s standard bearer.
11:36 PM · Mar 4, 2026
bsky.app/profile/eclecticbrotha1.bsky.social/post/3mgc3by2zck2i
Megabeth18
@megabeth18.bsky.social
Follow
Never trumpers are the same as David Hogg tea party the Dems fake leftist code pink Uncommited horseshoe hysterics..
It’s a PodCash grab for the bros..
They want the mailing list list Bernie was always trying to steal..
They give zero F’s about American humans who aren’t ⚪️
3:37 AM · Mar 5, 2026
bsky.app/profile/megabeth18.bsky.social/post/3mgciqu3mx22s
Jackie
@different-church-lady:
Kissing his ass and swearing loyalty to him. Versus loyalty to the Constitution.
YY_Sima Qian
Uhhh, okay…:
So, Bibi is already preparing the discursive ground for the next war, through the usual proxies.
different-church-lady
@Jackie: It’s a rhetorical question that leads to “Because Trump is an incompetent screw-up.”
Chetan R Murthy
This is chilling: youtube.com/shorts/7ytM-3Jrvrk?si=u9LNejpcJ4TK8Fcd
I’ve read that one thing you should avoid, is putting your adversary on “death ground”, for if you do, he will fight back with everything he has, instead of holding something back, and eventually maybe suing for peace. This commentator argues that we’ve put Iran’s leaders on death ground.
Chetan R Murthy
it’s not even clear to me that Miller -really- understands the racist regime under which Black Americans have survived since the Civil War. I remember watching him and JV Last talking about the murder of Renee Good, as if it were something exceptional, something unheard-of, something un-American. I wanted to shout thru the screen at them the list of names I remember of Black people murdered extrajudicially just in recent times. Just the names I remember, and it’s a partial list! Jesus! I mean, not ONCE did they even -deign- to mention even the slightest hint that maybe Black American -citizens- have lived this way for well over a century.
So yeah, I don’t trust him either.
Chetan R Murthy
@YY_Sima Qian: Paging Emeritus Professor of Military History and Grand Strategy Sarah C.M. Paine, to the white courtesy phone …..
Chetan R Murthy
@Chetan R Murthy: I should have added that anyone who doesn’t understand this history is unqualified to opine on political matters in the USA. Utterly unqualified.
ETA: and of course my assessment above is the -charitable- one. The uncharitable one is that he doesn’t give a damn about Black lives. Which, yeah, fills me with siuch a sense of security, really it does.
cmorenc
Perhaps someone in Trump’s inner circle finally persuaded Trump that Noem’s personna as Wicked Witch of the West commanding an army of masked flying monkeys is more of a bug rather than a feature for his administration at HS.
different-church-lady
@Chetan R Murthy:
But it was something exceptional: she was white.
Chetan R Murthy
@different-church-lady: A-yup. That is why I’m with rikyrah and don’t trust these Bulwarkers as far as I can throw ’em.
wombat probability cloud
@wombat probability cloud: DougJ provides the answer: “Corey Lewandowski to begin affair with Markwayne Mullin.”
YY_Sima Qian
Unintended consequences, as GCC states could pull back investments to the US (gift link to FT article below):
& if you squint really hard:
Plus the Iran lets PRC flagged/owned/operated tankers & cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Still, unless the Strait of Hormuz is further opened, & Saudi/Qatari/Emiriti oil/gas production resume, the world is careening toward economic crisis. The GCC states & the major hydrocarbon/fertilizer importers lose the most in particular, & especially the latter that cannot access Russian production (from the Urals & onward east).
Timill
@YY_Sima Qian: Grump. s/careening/careering/
Unless you mean to turn the world on its side and scrub its bottom…
Chetan R Murthy
@Timill: Mmm … those two words appear to be synonyms (though the first does also have that other meaning you describe)
Old School
Proof of voter fraud!
Take over the elections!
Jay
So, Whiskey Pete’s Department of War’s Warfighters, have ruled that Anthromorphic’s AI “Claude” is both a supply chain threat, and at the same time critical asset to the US Program of Warfighting everywhere, all the time.
Schrodinger’s AI.
Whiskey Pete’s Department of War’s Warfighters are still using “Claude”, to select targets for missile and drone attacks, despite allegedly switching over to Open AI.
They are using “Claude” with out human review for the targets “Claude” selects. Over 1000 attacks over the past few days.
So, the US “double tapped” a Girl’s Elementary School in Minab, Iran, in which 186* young girls, 8 Teachers, 4 Parents and 2 First Responders were murdered, based on “Claude’s” “targeting data”, killing them during the first strike, and then, when sheltering in place, responding to the attack or worried about their children’s school being bombed, bombed them again, after waiting for people and rescuer’s to gather.
While the US is BS’ing about a Military Base, a Navy Base, and the School was “collateral damage”, etc, turns out that the school was an IRGC Base,
over 10 years ago.
And was converted to a Girl’s Elementary School over a decade ago
*so far, more people will die of their injuries and many will be traumatized or crippled for life.
Captain C
@NotMax: Do they have an After Dark Wing?
rikyrah
@Chetan R Murthy:
This has been such a mistake of epic proportions. The absolutely worst people are in charge.
Msb
I thought Mullin was a drunk? Or does he just act like one?
Jay
nitter.poast.org/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/2029669747063669134#m
It would appear that after the 9th betrayal, “The Kurds” have learned their lesson.
Fair Economist
@YY_Sima Qian:
Saudi Arabia has provided a significant part of the money holding up the AI bubble.
Jay
@Msb:
He accused other Senator’s regularly showing up drunk for votes.
NotMax
@Captain C
First thing I fund if I win Powerball.
:)
Jay
@NotMax:
Here I thought your list if you won Powerball, was:
#1. Personal Trebuchet,
#2. Artisan built community guillotines,
#3. Converting a Ford F-450 factory in Tennessee into a full Union Shop making Tumbrels.
#4 subsidizing the Les Tricoteuses Club of the USA.
Jay
nitter.poast.org/BoveFromAbove/status/2029559362256335176#m
NotMax
@Jay
Cultural supersedes vultural.
;)
Jay
@NotMax:
Knitter’s aren’t cultural?
; )
NotMax
@Jay
Those needles can be repurposed in the wrong hands.
;)
Martin
@Fair Economist: They’re also putting the funds up in the Paramount/Warner merger.
YY_Sima Qian
MAGA sure knows how to make friends (link to article in the Print below):
Indian commentators are predictably shocked & insulted.
Betty
@Scout211: I have read that he has made big money as a Senator based on insider trading knowledge he has picked up.
Paul in KY
@Chetan R Murthy: That’s why he’s Markwayne Mullins ™!!
Paul in KY
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Maybe she’s his beard?
Paul in KY
@kindness: Markwayne better get that thing fumigated before he flies in it. Aide hits the plane with 2 cans of lysol too.
Paul in KY
@JGreen: I think Johnson gets the POS Award.
Paul in KY
@different-church-lady: Sadly true.