God Speed

I'm curious if he knows this is never happening and is just in on the grift or...

SpaceX may have failed to get Starship V3 off the ground on Thursday, but the company revealed some interesting information in the lead-up to its launch attempt. With less than 15 minutes left in the countdown, commentators introduced the man who plans to lead SpaceX’s first crewed mission to Mars.

During the live webcast, SpaceX played a video of cryptocurrency billionaire and civilian astronaut Chun Wang speaking from Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Wang, who has gone to space one time before, explained that he will embark on a Starship flyby of the Moon and Mars. SpaceX has not shared a target launch date for the mission, but it could be the world’s first interplanetary human spaceflight.

We Won't Have Tulsi Gabbard To Kick Around Anymore

Says she's resigning because her husband was diagnosed with cancer.

...or:

A source familiar with the matter said that ​Gabbard had been forced out by the White House.

Good Luck With That

Can't begin to comprehend what they are imagining they can accomplish.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul tells reporters that Germany is preparing to participate in securing the Strait of Hormuz under a UK-led mission, though he added that he did not see it as a NATO mission.

I don't claim to be an Advanced Military Understander but I do not think either country has much to offer here. 

America's Worst Department Of Justice

The Department of Justice.

Sure Why Not

Trump was always like this, but he is... more like this... now.

President Trump announced on Thursday that the United States would deploy 5,000 troops to Poland, despite the Pentagon’s decision a week ago to cancel the deployment of thousands of U.S. troops there.

In a social media post that caught Pentagon officials by surprise, Mr. Trump suggested that he was making the move “based on the successful election” of Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s conservative nationalist president whom Mr. Trump endorsed in his election — nearly a year ago.

Don't know what happened exactly, but "did what the last person he talked to wanted" is a common thing with him (depending on what it is and how much they flatter/bribe him, of course). 

Yes, yes, those of us who would much rather be writing literary nonfiction for the New Yorker at 1978 per word rates do love a good kicker paragraph, but I do not think it serves most daily journalism well to put sly commentary like this at the very end!

In the statement on Tuesday, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said that the decisions over the past three weeks that have bewildered allies, angered lawmakers and sent U.S. military commanders scrambling to come up with palatable options were “the result of a comprehensive, multilayered process.”

Happy Hour

Get happy

Daddy's Mad

The Senate doesn't fund the ballroom which was totally going to be paid for without taxpayer money ANYWAY and they're skipping town because of the crime reward fund. 

GOP calls off votes after contentious meeting on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spent more than an hour sparring with Republican senators behind closed doors.

Senate GOP leaders have canceled plans to vote this week on a party-line immigration enforcement bill, a major setback as lawmakers contend with President Donald Trump’s personal political agenda.

Several Republican senators said action on the legislation would wait until after a weeklong Memorial Day recess — guaranteeing that Congress would blow a Trump-set June 1 deadline for the immigration funding.

Not Gonna Fall For That One

Evil Iran does not have much confidence that our big, beautiful, sweaty president is acting in good faith.

The two senior Iranian sources said there ​was deep suspicion in Iran that the pause in hostilities was a tactical deception by Washington to create a sense of security before it renews airstrikes.

Iran's top peace negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on ​Wednesday that "obvious and hidden moves by the enemy" showed the Americans were preparing new attacks.

Kennedy Minus Kennedy

Also from that poll, it seems being a Kennedy without the Kennedy name isn't enough. 

Especially when you have all the glorious habits of a failson.

Aides teed up calls with frenzied media outlets, Democratic luminaries and a roster of wealthy donors. The goal was to show that Mr. Schlossberg, a 33-year-old heir known for his good looks and madcap social media musings, was a serious candidate ready for what promised to be a grueling race.

But just hours into his Day 1 launch, the candidate abruptly announced a change of plans, according to three people familiar with the events. Forget dialing for dollars — Mr. Schlossberg said he needed a nap. He then effectively disappeared for the day, leaving his team reeling.

I'm also glad that George Conway's "as a former Republican and MSNOW favorite guest, I get to be in charge of the Democrats now" campaign is sinking. 

 

Bradmentum

Good to see.

Former Comptroller Brad Lander has a strong early lead over incumbent Dan Goldman. Lander is polling with 57% of the vote, and Goldman at 23%

Goldman is one of the worst people in Congress. I didn't say "one of the worst Democrats."

Badges of Honor

I actually think the explanation for Polis here is simple: he spends all day cooking his brain on X, the everything app. Many such examples.

NEW: The Colorado Democratic Party has formally condemned and censured Governor Jared Polis for granting clemency to Tina Peters. Polis is hereby banned from speaking or being honored at party events. 90% of CDP central committee members voted to reprimand Polis.

— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) May 21, 2026 at 3:29 AM

ANALYSIS: Goes without saying that Polis will wear this censure from his party as a badge of honor as he seeks to burnish his "not your normal Democrat" credentials. But it appeared there was some pent-up frustration with Polis among Colorado Dems that boiled over tonight.

— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) May 21, 2026 at 3:38 AM

50,000 Nazis bots can't be wrong! Will of the people!

Morning

Thanos Thursday

Wednesday Night

Rock on.

Happy Hour

Get happy

Nothing Magic Happens When His Poll Numbers Drop

Quite often people despair that Trump isn't more unpopular. But, really, he is very unpopular! 34%  approval is very low!

I think they imagine that if gets unpopular enough then something... happens.  But it doesn't! At most a few Republicans pretend to distance themselves from him in time for the election. That's all that will happen!

And as for journalism/commentariat... well... Trump is still loved by the people who love him, and they long ago established that was what mattered. 

Stop Embarassing Us

Ben-Gvir you aren't supposd to do that to people who might matter.

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has sparked a diplomatic crisis by publishing footage of Israeli security forces abusing international activists who were detained as they tried to sail to Gaza with aid.

There was a rapid and furious response from countries whose citizens were onboard the boats, including the UK, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, in many cases delivered in person from the top of government.

The responses were... mostly not that rapid.

America's Worst DA

Jeff Rosen.

The Great Satan, Ahmadinejad

Oldheads remember how the same crew currently egging Trump on in Iran built him up as the Great Satan 20+ years ago.

It turns out that the United States and Israel went into the conflict with a particular and very surprising someone in mind: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his hard-line, anti-Israel and anti-American views.

But the audacious plan, developed by the Israelis and which Mr. Ahmadinejad had been consulted about, quickly went awry, according to the U.S. officials who were briefed on it.

Mr. Ahmadinejad was injured on the war’s first day by an Israeli strike at his home in Tehran that had been designed to free him from house arrest, the American officials and an associate of Mr. Ahmadinejad said. He survived the strike, they said, but after the near miss he became disillusioned with the regime change plan.

In 2007 or so there was a big push to make this guy the Great Satan  that we had to deal with.  There was  the usual chatter about nuclear Iran, human rights menace, tyranny.  It was something that had to be dealt with immediately.

The centrist dipshits all played their usual part.  

I can't even remember how we started to forget to worry about all that. It seemed very urgent at the time. It always does. Then for some reason it doesn't. A new sparkly thing appears.

It is, I have to admit, very very funny that the guys who said we had to invade Iran because of that guy were trying to put him in charge.

Outcomes: 3 Different Ones

I'm reasonably sure Trump is taking advice from the various psychopaths that surround him in the White House, alternated with some "suggestions" from certain rich "allies" in the Middle East.

There are 3 options: Trump tries to blow up the world, the status quo continues "forever," and Trump gets a humiliating defeat which he calls The Most Perfect Beautiful Deal Ever Made and much of our press, especially his Foxy Friends, play along.

Congratulations Chris Rabb

I don't really know him, but we did meet once (I think just once) over 20 years ago.  He ran in the progressive (lefty, whatever we call it these days) lane, so hopefully he stays there!

State Rep. Chris Rabb will more than likely replace U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans in January. The self-styled progressive benefitted from political endorsements from the left and a grassroots ground game by local progressive groups such as the Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party.