Happy Hour

Get happy.

The Two Hitlers

On X, the everything app, its owner, famous for doing a Hitler salute (good), has been, again, calling Hitler a socialist (very bad).

As I have said before, to conservatives there are two Hitlers. There is the liberal Hitler, who was history's worst monster. Liberals love that guy and aspire to be like him. Then there is the conservative Hitler, who was very good and we love to salute him yes we do.

There's No Money For Journalism

Reminder that NBC paid Megyn Kelly $70 million or so, about half of which was for not working.

I'm sure various things went into their decision to hire her, but one was that Trump was becoming president so they needed to cater to Trump Conservatives.

Sorta like how when Biden became president, they made Sam Seder their morning show host.

Newspaper Fantasies

I know you can just argue this is a "clever" rhetorical ploy, but, no, NYT and Mike DeWine, the president is not going to do any of this.

It’s time for Mr. Trump’s Nixon-goes-to-China moment. Having established himself as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, he should begin a thoughtful, forward-thinking discussion with members of Congress in both parties about enacting a legal immigration policy that strengthens national security, bolsters our economy and keeps decent, hard-working people here.

Among the reforms he should consider supporting: Establishing new pathways to extend the legal status of foreign students who graduate with advanced STEM degrees, essentially stapling a green card to their diplomas; reworking the H-1B visa program to better prioritize workers whose skills and experience are essential to American businesses; and equipping employers with modern, reliable tools to verify work eligibility.

Yeah, man, whatever. 

Give Us All The Money

How long will Trump draw this out before he caves?

State of talks: President Donald Trump signaled a US emphasis on increasing economic pressure on Iran, saying that Washington is “low-keying” negotiations with the country. Tehran said it was not engaging in talks with the US.

Bag Holders

I'm sure they will be the pension funds.

The growing backlog is a challenge for private equity’s core business model. Typically, such firms aim to buy a company, often add large amounts of debt to its balance sheet, improve its financial performance and then sell it for a profit, usually within five to seven years.

The state of limbo has been difficult for large investors like pension funds and endowments that have spent decades paying steep fees to private equity firms promising market-beating returns. Some investors and industry professionals are worried that the firms won’t be able to sell companies without taking big losses.

“Private equity is stuck because those companies have failed to fulfill their value promise,” said Andrew Milgram, a managing partner and chief investment officer at Marblegate Asset Management, an investment firm.

Pretty sure the model is more: load up debt to buy companies, loot those companies to pay executives lots of money, and then let those companies go bankrupt, but I guess some people gotta believe.

Morning

 Mackerel Monday.

Taboos

One reason you don't loudly, proudly, and regularly announce your plans to destroy civilian infrastructure (along with doing it) is that it give license to others to do likewise.

Yemen’s Houthis said they attacked an oil facility Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the latest attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on the kingdom. Meanwhile, Iran has made new demands about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry to accelerate production of weapons.

And in the age of cheap drones, you can't really defend against it.  As we are seeing, it doesn't take long to deplete any missile defenses you have and no one has missile defenses covering everything anyway.

Maybe most of these attacks won't amount to much, but sometimes...

We are ruled by people who have spent their lives saying, "Mommy, he hit me back!" yet are still surprised when it happens.

At Least The War Is Over

I am dumb about some things, but the more I think about it, the more it's clear that Iran should just hold out for Florida, or whatever. I mean, from their perspective, what exactly do they have to gain from "peace"?

WASHINGTON—For weeks, President Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory in the Iran war should Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even floating the idea privately to senior aides that he’s willing to walk away without a nuclear deal, U.S. officials said.

But that scaled-back objective became more difficult when Iran insisted Saturday on its highest price yet for permitting the free flow of traffic in the waterway, seeking billions of dollars in U.S. payments, the removal of American troops from the region and an end of the U.S. naval blockade, among other things.

This rapid chain of events suggests Trump’s options for walking away from the conflict have again narrowed. Trump has repeatedly threatened—and then backed away from—a massive escalation of its bombing campaign. But the recent chaos in negotiations signaled Tehran is prepared for a long and grinding conflict.

It is very funny:

One major complication for the Trump administration is money. Iran is seeking billions of dollars in war reparations in addition to an agreement to unfreeze the country’s assets around the world. Trump has said the White House wouldn’t allow any taxpayer money to go to Iran, although a deal appears unlikely without the U.S. unfreezing some assets, possibly with conditions attached.

"Business Decisions"

I will admit, in part because I am a optimist at heart, that Trump's overall "deport everybody" plans have been more aggressive in practice, if not in desire, than I expected, but it is probably the one general policy that was going to happen as promised.

If your business employed immigrants with less than stable status, and you truly though it would not affect you, then you need to recognize that you are a stupid, foolish person.

And I Had Such Hopes

Mr. Trump, sir, that Mr. Netanyahu is very unappreciative of all you have done for him.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point plan for Gaza, stating that no military pull-out will happen until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed.

Hamas will not be disarmed until they no longer want arms, you see. 

Sunday Funday

Each more fun than the last.

Last Sunday I did a 10 mile race (I did not win) which wiped me out for 2 days. Half marathon soon...

Saturday Evening

Enjoy

This Is A Great Victory, Sir, The Greatest

A most excellent outcome.

“However, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on other conditions, including the United States compensating for its violations of the Islamabad Memorandum,” Mr. Araghchi was quoted as saying, referring to the cease-fire agreement that Iran and the United States signed in June.

The June agreement — a “memorandum of understanding” brokered by Pakistani mediators in Islamabad — called for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the temporary lifting of oil sanctions on Iran. Yet the deal’s language was vague, and the United States and Iran had differing interpretations of what it meant.

The "differing interpretations" were just that Trump had no idea what he had agreed to, and then decided he didn't like it.

The first draft of history sucks ass.

One For Troop Respecter Tapper

I suppose I should go check to see if he is ON IT.

Morale is plummeting on an American aircraft carrier that's running short of food and other supplies as its exhausted crew wages President Donald Trump's war against Iran, worried family members say.

Sailors and Marines serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln have told relatives about being served a half-cup of rice and two tortillas for a meal, and said the ship's store often lacks soap, deodorant and toothpaste, MS NOW reported Wednesday.

Scurvy AND protein deficiency.

I forget what they changed, but it used to be very easy to search CNN transcripts and now it's less easy, at least as far as I can figure out. 

I didn't go through them all, but none of the segment titles of Tapper's show Wed-Fri refer to it.

Tapper made Troop Respecter his brand but he is pretty inconsistent!

"Privately"

That source's name? Can Daine. 

Over the last few weeks, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine has privately made clear to other top Trump advisers that the US needs to find an off-ramp from the war with Iran — because the military options on the table to escalate the conflict could backfire and airpower alone is unlikely to achieve President Donald Trump’s stated objectives, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

“Caine is looking for an off ramp,” one of the sources said bluntly.

Morning

Slacker Saturday.

Friday Evening

Enjoy

The Fourth Way

One failing I will admit to is being a bit too ready to take the bait of newspaper articles touting Third Way as representing a force within the Democratic tent. I don't think you can dismiss them entirely, and they do speak for forces greater than their dumb organization, but the main power of that organization is finding journalists in our premier publications who are willing to type up anything they say.

That's an indictment of political journalism, and worth observing, but it isn't, mostly, an indictment of The Democrats.

Fear of Consequences

Institutions and individuals are not as fearful as I would like them to be that there will be consequences for their complicity when President Democrat, or even just Senate Majority Leader Democrat, is in charge.

We can debate why, precisely, that is.