Happy Hour

All my apes gone.

And We Will Forget This Tomorrow

At least the politcs beat people will.

Mr. Buria chastised the Army secretary for selecting Maj. Gen. Antoinette R. Gant, a combat engineer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, to take command of the Military District of Washington, said three current and former defense and administration officials familiar with the exchange. The command provides security and performs ceremonial duties in the nation’s capital, and its commander often appears alongside the president at Arlington National Cemetery. ... Mr. Buria told Mr. Driscoll that President Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events, the officials said.

I knew without checking (and then checked) that the politics desk reporters didn't do this piece - the defense/natsec people did - and the politics people will go on as if Trump's motives for various other things are mysterious and unknowable.

Volatility

I do think it is underrated how much the Wall Street boys fucking love volatility. Stocks going slowly up=boring. Everything bouncing around all the time = exciting opportunities to make big money by betting (relatively) small money.

Welp

Maybe the poor senators worked late for nothing.

Shutdown likely to continue: House GOP leaders are expected to soon announce they are rejecting the Senate-passed bill that would have funded large swaths of the Department of Homeland Security, including the TSA, in favor of their own version. That means the DHS shutdown could be extended by least several days.

I'd Be Surprised If Any Of Them Haven't Been Hacked

Funny.

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - Iran-linked hackers have publicly claimed ‌the breach of FBI Director Kash Patel's personal inbox, publishing photographs of ​the director and his purported ​resume to the internet.

On their website, ⁠the hacker group Handala Hack ​Team said Patel "will now find his ​name among the list of successfully hacked victims."

Reuters was not able to immediately ​authenticate the emails published by ​Hanadala, but a sample of the material uploaded ‌by ⁠the hackers and reviewed by Reuters appears to show a mix of personal and work correspondence ​dating between ​2010 ⁠and 2019.

The Pardon Umbrella

I suspect Corey, at least, is not under it.

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general has launched a sprawling investigation into how contracts have been solicited and handled, including the involvement of former Secretary Kristi Noem and her de facto chief of staff Corey Lewandowski, according to two sources familiar with the probe.

I have no idea if the IGs have any real ability to operate under Trump.

What Do We Really Think Is Happening Here

What does Iran think is happening here.

The Pentagon is looking at sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give President Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, Defense Department officials with knowledge of the planning said.

Trump earlier said he was pausing strikes on Iran’s energy sector for 10 more days, to April 6, so negotiations can take place beyond his previous Friday deadline. Peace talk mediators said Iran didn’t ask for the additional time. Trump said the extension was at Iran’s request.

Morning

At least the senators get to go on vacation.

Thursday Evening

enjoy

Seems Bad

They did try to hide this.

Many of the 13 military bases in the region used by American troops are all but uninhabitable, with the ones in Kuwait, which is next door to Iran, suffering perhaps the most damage. Six U.S. service members were killed in a strike on Port Shuaiba that destroyed an Army tactical operations center. Iranian drones and missiles also targeted Ali Al Salem Air Base, damaging aircraft structures and injuring personnel, and Camp Buehring, damaging maintenance and fuel facilities.

and other things, presumably.

Dumb Mac

Funny but also not funny.

Donald Trump’s so-called “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth has earned himself a new nickname, current and former US officials tell us. Among various staffers and officials working within the august confines of the Pentagon and Department of Defense, the former ‘Fox & Friends’ co-host and “death and destruction”-obsessed Trump acolyte is known as “Dumb McNamara.”

Lunch

Shop while you eat! (Ad, I get a commission).

Why Aren't They Unshitting My Bed

 

Normalization

I admit I remain perplexed at the complete normalization of targeted assassinations as a legitimate tactic. I know it is "ok for us to do and not them," but one would still think a mild sense of self-preservation by some world leaders, if not the solipsistic Trumpers, would kick in.

Sure Palestinians and Iranians aren't human, but neither are the French or Germans to most of these people.

We Begin Bombing In Five Minutes

Put me down for the "shit hits the fan in Iran over the weekend" bet. I suppose in these glorious times I could actually place that bet! Probably people with inside information will!

Morning

Thankless Thursday.

Happy Hour

Get happy.

Victory Is Ours

I don't know what's happening with Iran, but quite obviously Trump has never known either.

Lol:

The “present” that US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Iran gave Washington was allowing the safe passage of a number of fuel tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, a senior Arab diplomat and a US official tell The Times of Israel.

I'm so old I remember when they had free safe passage all the time (a month ago).

What If We Made The New York Times, But Without Jamelle Bouie

There's been some more sinister tinkering of content at CBS, but fundamentally that is the level of the vision of Bari Weiss.

When Bari Weiss took the reins of CBS News in October, her message was clear: that the public had lost trust in the network and that major change was needed to win viewers back and return it to its glory days. But through a series of actions over her turbulent six-month tenure as editor in chief, it appears the proud anti-woke warrior has instead helped destroy that trust—something that is now laid bare in the network’s rapidly shrinking ratings. Indeed, new ratings data obtained by Status isn’t just bad for Weiss. It is catastrophic.

That vision isn't precisely identical to Kinsely-era Slate "contrarianism," but it is fundamentally equivalent. It is the same repackaging of elite conventional wisdom, maybe with the dial turned one notch to the right, as the bold truth-telling contrarianism that has been the staple of media outlets my entire life.

A Lot Going On Here

Are these just piece of shit ships with no quality control processes?

Delivered years late in May 2017, the Ford is the most expensive American warship ever built, at $13.2 billion.

And it’s been sent to sea for an extended deployment that included the conflicts with Venezuela and Iran — despite open questions about how well it would perform in a war.

The concerns around the Ford range from the potentially grave to the mundane, according to a new assessment from the Pentagon testing office, with many issues surfacing after it started combat testing in October 2022.

Among the lingering concerns: there isn’t enough current test data to assess the carrier’s “operational suitability,” or the reliability of several key systems, including its jet launch and recovery system, its radar, its ability to keep operating if hit by enemy fire and its elevators for moving weapons and munitions for warplanes from the hold to the flight deck.