And How Will They Do That Then

I don't know what Trump believes ICE will be doing at airports, but I think reporters should not headline this obviously unrealistic purpose.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were deployed to airports on Monday to help ease security lines.

The Play Inside The Play

We all (often deservedly) mock "security theater" and some of the more ridiculous rituals of the airport experience, but I don't doubt that there is some purpose to airport security.  The prevention of hijackings and plane bombings seems to be an important goal, whether or not the way we go about it is precisely the right approach.

Throwing a bunch of untrained dickheads whose core function is harassment and violent kidnapping does not seem likely to improve the speed and efficiency of that!

Gravitas

Repeating myself, but for all that was wrong with the journalism/commentary leading up to and during the Iraq war, there was some sense, or at least pretense, that war was a big deal, that civilian deaths were a big deal.

Now we just see whether the line is going up or down in response to various things.

Peace Through Strength

The problem is that Iran started a war with us 47 years ago because Sleepy Joe Biden gave all the weapons to Ukraine. Now that Donald Trump made the military strong again, we no longer have a war with Iran.

Apparently peace talks (denied by Iran) have happened and the stock market is soaring, baby!

And they say:

Iranian state TV claims "Trump withdrew his 48-hour ultimatum out of fear of Iran's response"

 

Iran's official state television network IRIB said on its official Telegram social media channel Monday that President Trump had postponed his deadline for the Islamic Republic to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international maritime traffic "out of fear of Iran's response."

Morning

Monstrous Monday.

Sunday Evening

I think the war is over, again.

Mr. Trump, Sir,

It was that nasty Netanyahu, little Marco, Pete Hegseth and... umm... Samuel Alito who got you into this mess.

What Could Go Wrong?

Many things, actually.

Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” he was currently working on a plan for the deployment with the leaders of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration. He said he believed it would begin at large airports that have seen longest wait times and that agents would cover security points but wouldn’t provide help with baggage screening

Afternoon

Enjoy

4 Times The Size Of California

I am sure strikes on power plants can do a lot of damage, and I am not going to pretend to be an instant expert on Iran's power grid, but even immense damage does not lead to inevitable "surrender."

 

President Donald Trump threatened Saturday to “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

I am also not going to pretend to be a war expert, but we do have a recent, and ongoing, example of the futility of certain approaches in Eastern Europe.

Morning

Sunday funday

Saturday Night

Rock on.

Saturday Afternoon

Busy weekending.

Will Someone Please Come Unshit The Bed For Me

Most of Trump's life, somebody did.

Free Was Nice

A common reaction to this is, "What, they didn't charge before?"

Iran is planning to enshrine a “new status” for the Strait of Hormuz to require every passing ship to pay fees to Tehran for the privilege, Expediency Council member Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to the supreme leader on economic affairs, told the country’s Mehr news agency. “Iran will turn its position from a sanctioned country to an enhanced power in the region and the world,” he said. “We will sanction those domination-seeking arrogant powers.”

Musk Lies

Wow who knew?

Elon Musk was misleading in his public statements during a crucial period of his 2022 Twitter takeover, a jury has found.

After two days of deliberations, a jury in San Francisco federal court decided in a unanimous verdict against the tech titan, who was sued by a group of Twitter investors arguing they had relied on his statements.

I don't get everything right, but I was very early with "Musk is a lying piece of shit."

Morning

Slacker Saturday

Happy Hour

Get happy.

The Lies We Tell

I don't think any of the Trumpers - Pete included - are people you would expect to have much concern for the truth, but having to (you can always resign, of course) go out there every day and lie for the boss will quickly erode any resistance they might have had.  And, like Trump, they soon feel no need to distinguish between lies and truth.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met privately Wednesday with the families of six service members who died in the Iran war and, in a press briefing the next morning, said the message he got was consistent and supportive.

“What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done,’” Hegseth said.

One of the people he met at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was Charles Simmons. His 28-year-old son, Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, was among the six crew members killed when their refueling plane crashed in Iraq last week.

Simmons recalled his exchange differently.

“I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” he told NBC News in an interview Thursday.

Sure Why Not

I would expect nothing less.

Resurfaced comments made by Gregg Phillips, the head of FEMA's Office of Response and Recovery, have sparked concern about the new leader's competency and mental state.

Phillips, a conservative activist who spread voter fraud conspiracies, was appointed to lead the federal government's storm disaster response under the Department of Homeland Security in December. Previously, he oddly claimed that he involuntarily teleported to a Waffle House in Georgia that was 50 miles away.

“Teleporting is no fun,” Phillips said on one podcast last year. “It was real.”

My addition to "everybody is 12" theory is "everybody is 12 and blasted out of their minds on various things."