With my company here, I have been away from the news for 2 or 3 days.
They just left, always sad, and I’m about to run out the door to a meeting.
What did I miss? Catch me up?
Totally open thread.
Late Night Open Thread: Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, Aspirational Nazi
This is a real thing that a judge had to say to the Chief of US Customs and Border Protection.
— Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 11:20 AM
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I assumed this had to be AI.
It is not AI.
It's like concept design for Neil Patrick Harris at the end of Starship Troopers that Verhoeven rejected for being too on-the-nose.
"Dress for the job you want, not the job you have"
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Here's the CNN interview he showed up dressed like that for. Photo Credit: Mustafa Hussain (Pulitzer-pending I hope) www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/p…
… Nearly three decades into his career with the US Border Patrol, Gregory Bovino has become the on-the-ground face of Trump’s effort to surge federal law enforcement into blue states and cities regardless of whether local officials want them there — first in Los Angeles, now in Chicago, with other possible cities on deck.
But if he and his officers are an unwelcome presence or face interference from protesters, Bovino said he is not dissuaded.
“We’re going to carry out that mission,” Bovino said in an interview with CNN in Chicago on Tuesday. “And that’s paramount, or else we shouldn’t be here. We’re going to carry that mission out.”
He added that if “someone steps in the way, then … that may not work out well for them, and if we need to effect an arrest of a US citizen or anyone else, then we’ll do that.”
Local officials have described Bovino as leading a branch of law enforcement which deploys tactics that are frighteningly authoritarian and which has been styled into Trump’s own personal police force, used by the president as a cudgel against Democrat-led localities and the people — citizens and noncitizens alike — who live in them…
Bovino, 55, holds the title of chief patrol agent of the El Centro sector and has been the lead on the administration’s crackdown in cities — now, 2,000 miles away from the California sector he helms. His newfound resurgence in the agency under Trump finds him in a position of power unique among his peers in Border Patrol.
His heavy-handed tactics, including immigration sweeps in parking lots and smashing car windows, have fueled consternation among some in the Trump administration while also garnering praise from senior Homeland Security officials…
Greetings from the Dirksen federal courthouse, where Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino is set to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis.
What you need to know, for @wttw.bsky.social:— Heather Cherone (@heathercherone.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 9:48 AM
From Ms. Cherone’s (long, worth reading!) thread:
… We are underway.
Ellis calls Bovino to the stand. He is wearing his uniform.
He is sworn in.
He has no visible head injury, even though federal officials said he was struck Friday in the head by protestors before he deployed tear gas in Little Village.Ellis is reminding Bovino of the oath he took when he became a Border Patrol officer — the same oath she took when she became a federal judge.
“We both agreed to support and defend the Constitution,” Ellis said.
Bovino is listening impassively.Ellis says her job is to ensure that Bovino and the federal agents under his command are acting in accordance with the law and court orders.
Ellis “It may be that what I am seeing is the result if one of three things:”
1. Perhaps the order is unclear
2. No one read the order
3. “Folks actively chose to ignore it”Ellis said it could not be No. 3, because that would violate Bovino’s oath…
Late Night Open Thread: Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, Aspirational NaziPost + Comments (114)
War for Ukraine Day 1,342: The Cost
I yam actually exhaustipated, but close enough for non-government work. One more long day tomorrow, then things go back to what passes for normal on Thursday. I’m just going to run through the basics again tonight so I can get cleaned up and rack out.
The cost:
Sound on📢
While the world takes for granted the peace of a quiet morning coffee, this child — like thousands of Ukrainian children — has known only the sound of explosions since birth.
Just look into the eyes of this little boy in Kharkiv.
— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 3:22 AM
During World War I this was called shell shock. Now we call it post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or post-traumatic stress (PTS). This is a toddler with shell shock from drone, bomb, and missile attacks.
This is still the best description of how we got from shell shock to PTS:
Right now, at 3:15 AM local time in Ukraine/9:15 PM EDT, almost all of northeastern, eastern, and southern Ukraine – Chernihiv Oblast around to Odesa Oblast – is under air raid alert. The alert maps aren’t showing anything specific, so the Ukrainians will have another long sleepless late night/early morning.
Also, lots of facilities appear to be on fire in Russia.
Monitoring channels report that Ukrainian drones, including jet-powered ones, are currently flying to attack Russia.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
What did Carlo Graziani know and when did he know it?
Zelensky made a statement about the creation of a special tribunal for Russia.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 1:10 PM
President Zelenskyy’s met with David van Weel, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs earlier today. Video below, English write up after the jump.
Tuesday Afternoon Open Thread
Busy couple of days with family, but it looks like we can use an open thread.
Who else stayed up late to watch the World Series? 18 innings, yikes, that’s two whole games!
Anyway off to a late lunch / early dinner. Company leaves in the morning – I will be sad to see them go!
What are you guys up to?
Open thread.
Repubs in Disarray! Open Thread
i am but a simple country farmer, but i do not think the speaker of the house should imply that his party’s president can turn the dial on a big wheel labeled PAIN and constantly look back at the audience for screams like a contestant on the price is right: hell edition
— GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) October 28, 2025 at 11:12 AM
It bears repeating: USDA has a $5 billion contingency reserve that it refuses to utilize to continue SNAP benefits. This was the USDA's *own plan* at the start of the shutdown—now quietly deleted from its website.
This is as blatant an example of "hunger is a policy choice" as you will ever see.— Brian Goldstone (@brian-goldstone.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Yes, the goal of the administration is to kill people and decimate rural areas, both of which are important if you're the psycopaths in charge who think that it's the only way to keep the government from "going broke"
— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
oh so they're getting kinda freaked out
— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 10:32 AM
This sort of rhetoric about people not getting government benefits from the anti-government party is notable.
— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 10:33 AM
The reason why the GOP even in the immediate post Tea Party period wouldn't let this happen is because they understand that both groups of benefits are more used by their own voters than democrats.
The current crop has internalized their own propaganda.— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 28, 2025 at 10:40 AM
<em>Repubs in Disarray!</em> Open ThreadPost + Comments (137)
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Pathetic Fallacies*
What we're witnessing with #Melissa is ultra rare in the history of known hurricanes in the Atlantic. This level of sustained intensity and feasting on every joule of ocean heat content without any real disruption is incredible.
Not hyperbole: Jamaica is facing a generational catastrophic event.— Steve Bowen (@stevebowen.bsky.social) October 27, 2025 at 10:23 PM
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As the government shutdown drags on, Democrats push to renew Obamacare subsidies while Republicans debate changes to the law.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) October 28, 2025 at 12:30 AM
… Fifteen years after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, the party remains united in criticizing the law but divided on how to move forward. That tension has come into sharp focus during the government shutdown as Democrats seize on rising premiums to pressure Republicans into extending expiring subsidies for the law, often referred to as Obamacare.
President Donald Trump and GOP leaders say they’ll consider extending the enhanced tax credits that otherwise expire at year’s end — but only after Democrats vote to reopen the government. In the meantime, people enrolled in the plans are already being notified of hefty premium increases for 2026.
As town halls fill with frustrated voters and no clear Republican plan emerges, the issue appears to be gaining political strength heading into next year’s midterm elections…
‘Concepts of a plan’
… Republicans say they want a broader overhaul of the health care system, though such a plan would be difficult to advance before next year. Party leaders have not outlined how they’ll handle the expiring tax credits, insisting they won’t negotiate on the issue until Democrats agree to end the shutdown.House Speaker Mike Johnson told a press conference Monday that the tax credits are “subsidizing bad policy.” Republicans “have a long list of ideas” to address health care costs, he said, and are “grabbing the best ideas that we’ve had for years to put it on paper and make it work.”…
A looming internal GOP fight
Even as GOP leaders pledge to discuss ending the subsidies when the government opens, it’s clear that many Republican lawmakers are adamantly opposed to an extension.“At least among Republicans, there’s a growing sense that just maintaining the status quo is very destructive,” said Brian Blase, the president of Paragon Health Institute and a former health policy adviser to Trump during his first term…
Also pathetic, and fallacious:
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that he's not "100% sure" if active duty service members will be paid at the end of the week, as the government shutdown continues.
— PBS News (@pbsnews.org) October 27, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Pathetic Fallacies*Post + Comments (322)
War for Ukraine Day 1,341: A Very Brief Monday Night Update
It was a VERY long day and I’m just now at 11:20 PM EDT gotten a few minutes to do a very brief Monday night update. Then I’m going to get the grime off and rack out. So everyone is preemptively welcome.
Ukrainian drones heading for Moscow (and elsewhere) for second night in a row. Map by @DrnBmbr
— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) October 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
War for Ukraine Day 1,341: A Very Brief Monday Night UpdatePost + Comments (7)