Saturday, October 24, 2026
That'll Fix Things
Never bet against Susan Collins, sadly, as ridiculous as this seems at this late moment.
The Trump administration is lifting some of its 50% tariffs on Canadian goods two weeks before the midterm elections, after a Republican candidate in a key US Senate race said she had lobbied for the change.Maine voters are suckers for Susan Collins (Republican) pretending to save their state from the policies of Republicans. It's too late for any real impact, but not too late for the Maine media to fluff her.
From 30 October, tariffs will be eased on products including "plywood sheets, some paper products, certain machinery and refrigeration equipment", the White House said on Friday.
Republican Senator Susan Collins, who is in a tight race to keep her seat in Maine, first announced the exemptions, saying they would help her state's agriculture industry.
BiBi The Dove
I miss the old peace-loving BiBi, the one who always showed such restraint. NYT:
Was that his reputation? Amazing.
Was that his reputation? Amazing.
He long had a reputation for being risk averse and avoiding military confrontations, even as he cultivated an image as Israel’s Mr. Security. But that image, as well as Israel’s confidence in its own defense, was badly damaged that day.
Are They Planning To Hit Or Hit Back
There is a difference between "they are planning out to retaliate against the next US strike" and "they are gonna do this soon no matter what."
I know the Hegesth warfighting manual says it is unfair if other countries hit us back, but striking back and striking are different things!
The U.S. government has put employees on heightened alert across the Middle East and moved to reduce personnel levels at embassies and consulates because of intelligence showing Iran is in the advanced stages of planning attacks against Americans, U.S. officials said on Friday.Intelligence officials raised alarms to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a memo on Friday that warned about the dangers to State Department employees in the Middle East and other regions, the officials said.The memo, from Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, said that agencies had “received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel. The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.”
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Friday, October 23, 2026
Is The Mad King About To Blow Some More Things Up
I don't think The Markets have perfect foresight, but oil prices going up do suggest some people are getting a bit more nervous about whatever Trump's next steps are. Or Netanyahu's.
Sure Why Not
Absurd by even current standards.
The Trump administration has preemptively filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate election if the Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses in the critical contest which could decide the balance of power in the Senate.The lawsuit represents the latest attempt of the Trump Justice Department to insert itself in the administration of elections, running up against the minimal role the Constitution gives the Executive Branch. It alleges that a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could confuse voters and wants a court to potentially delay the certification of the election if Sen. Sullivan is defeated next month.
Basically it's: if Republican Dan Sullivan loses, declare he wins if you can find a couple of voters who claim they voted the wrong way due to confusion.
The administration is asking the court to declare unlawful the certification of a result that was “impacted by voter confusion” and to block election officials from certifying that result until there was an “investigation” into whether voters meaning to vote for the incumbent had cast ballots for other Sullivan.
Small Pleasures
I hope Vivek is enjoying himself.
The sentiment proved to be a bellwether for the audience Q&A. An answer Ramaswamy gave condemning sanctuary cities wasn’t enough for a hoarse-voiced attendee who repeatedly interrupted: “Damned immigrants are hurtin’ everybody! We gotta get all of ’em out of here!”Ramaswamy stumbled for a moment, responding that legal immigrants were still cool, which failed to satisfy the heckler. “All of ’em!” the attendee yelled. “Send in the military!”
I don't want any Republicans to win, of course, but he has made himself especially deserving of losing.
The Faces Of The Democrats
Centrist Dems worry, or pretend to worry, about twitch streamers and the impact of The Groups on what voters think about them, but having Rahm Emanuel out there every day isn't exactly inspiring to a lot of voters, either.
There's a general attitude that The Left isn't allowed to care about anything, and if they do they're just idiots for not voting for Democrats, who will at least be marginally better than Republicans. And, well, maybe not voting for Democrats does make them idiots. But lots of voters are idiots!This is the ninth (9th) major profile of Emanuel since December 2024 that failed to mention Laquan McDonald.
— Heather Cherone (@heathercherone.bsky.social) October 22, 2026 at 9:11 PM
[image or embed]
Unless you believe the idiot members of The Left are less reachable than idiot supposed "swing voters" (which some people pretend to believe, but I don't think they really do), this isn't actually a smart way to approach politics.
Some prominent centrists could establish their cred by denouncing Rahm and his murder coverup now before he does more damage!
Some prominent centrists could establish their cred by denouncing Rahm and his murder coverup now before he does more damage!
When the Rahm 2028 campaign heats up, pay attention who joins Team Rahm, on the payroll or otherwise. Flushing out shitty people has some value.
Buck Passing
I bet what's happening here is that Donald listened to the last person he talked to (often, not always). He told Musk it was a great idea then someone else told him various reasons it wasn't.
In part because if Elon gets mad enough he'll do another stupid thing.
President Trump called Elon Musk last week and asked him to restore Ukraine’s full access to the Starshield satellite communications network, according to a senior administration official and a person briefed on the exchange.I'm quite happy to pin it on Elon, and Dem politicians should take the opportunity to do so, too.
Mr. Trump’s call to Mr. Musk, who owns the Starshield network, came after Ukrainian officials reported that they were encountering new limits on their ability to operate the military drones that have become essential to their war against Russia. The development raised alarms in Ukraine that Mr. Trump, who has demanded that Ukraine stop its drone attacks on Russian diesel refineries, might have instructed Mr. Musk to impose the limits.
Asked on Thursday whether he had made such a call to Mr. Musk, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Trump declined to say. “I don’t want to comment on it, you know, whether I called or whether somebody else called — doesn’t make any difference, I guess. The bottom line — he put it back,” the president told reporters.
When asked for comment, the White House pointed to Mr. Trump’s remarks.
It remained unclear on Thursday whether access to the Starshield network had been fully restored. Some Ukrainian officials said that was not yet the case.
In part because if Elon gets mad enough he'll do another stupid thing.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
The Big Money
I used to correctly say that the Dem-associated fundraising world wasn't a big scam (or nearly as big, at least) like the conservative fundraising world was. It is now.
If your $100 was in response to a fundraising text or email, the single most expensive way to raise money in American politics, $65 is instantly consumed by the cost of asking you for it. Asking this often, and this aggressively, is expensive. It means paying the data brokers who traffic in your personal information, the digital copywriters who draft the inexplicably bizarre messaging, the email and SMS providers who specialize in slipping past spam filters, the compliance lawyers, and, of course, the fundraising consultants. Another $2 goes to strategic consultants for advice on how to spend what’s left, and $14 to administration, travel, and staff. Of the $19 that finally goes toward advertising for the actual candidate, $6 is skimmed off the top as a placement commission before a single ad airs. In the end, barely $13 of your $100 buys real airtime or digital ads.
Don't Think That Will Happen
Supremos will say 6-3 Trump can sue anyone he wants but also doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to do.
Last week, the BBC asked the judge to order Mr Trump to appear after he cancelled an agreed date of 16 October, citing "matters of national importance".
The corporation argues the president is attempting to delay his appearance until January next year.
Judge Lett said Mr Trump must sit for a deposition by 11 December, or face sanctions up to dismissal of his lawsuit - unless the discovery period was extended past 18 December.
That might be a joke, but one way or another I doubt this deposition happens.
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