Friday, April 18, 2025
Man of Action
Good for Van Hollen showing the way.
Polls always show that when you give people the specifics they don't really like it. They just need it to be explained to them.
And sometimes you do the right thing even if the polls aren't obviously on your side because it's the right fucking thing to do.
Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Thursday night that he had met in San Salvador with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose wrongful deportation to El Salvador last month has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate and fueled a standoff between the Trump administration and the courts.Dems decided immigration was their "loser" issue but there is a big difference between "Do you approve of Donald Trump deporting people with criminal records?" and "Do you approve of Donald Trump kidnapping people and sending them to a concentration camp for no reason?" Americans have shitty opinions about "immigration" in part because no one explains how cruel the system is.
Mr. Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, shared a photo of the two men speaking on Thursday evening, hours after the senator had been denied entry to the prison where Mr. Abrego Garcia was being held.
Polls always show that when you give people the specifics they don't really like it. They just need it to be explained to them.
And sometimes you do the right thing even if the polls aren't obviously on your side because it's the right fucking thing to do.
I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@vanhollen.senate.gov) April 18, 2025 at 2:02 AM
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David Brooks, Welcome To The Resistance
The man's wearing a balaclava and creating a stash of Molotov cocktails.
It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement. Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power.There's a bunch of nonsense in there, too, of the "look what you made them do" variety. He hasn't yet gone the full Kristol.
Thursday, April 17, 2025
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
We've seen that most people don't think that's necessary, AKSHUALLY.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a room full of Alaska nonprofit leaders that the tumult of tariffs, executive orders, court battles, and cuts to federal services under the Trump administration are exceptionally concerning.
“We are all afraid,” Murkowski said, taking a long pause. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
Miserable Failure
I've been wrong about things, of course, but the things I have been correct about that make me mad because no one listened are:
1) Somehow people forgot just how bad the Bush administration was. Not just Bush himself or Cheney, and not just how "evil" they were, but how completely ridiculous they were in addition to that.
2) This guy, Elon Musk? Maybe you've heard of him now.
Contribute to more beautiful failure!
I tried!
1) Somehow people forgot just how bad the Bush administration was. Not just Bush himself or Cheney, and not just how "evil" they were, but how completely ridiculous they were in addition to that.
2) This guy, Elon Musk? Maybe you've heard of him now.
Contribute to more beautiful failure!
I tried!
Well Yes You See The Problem Then
Clown show.
“The tough balance is the fact that we get money because of tariffs, but we want to pick and choose which countries to have free trade with. We want to appear to be going towards free trade but we also love the revenue from tariffs,” said a second White House official.
Too Late
I'll never shop there again if I can avoid it (never say never, once I had to get some emergency clothes there when my luggage was delayed, for example, but generally):
Target CEO Brian Cornell will meet with the Rev. Al Sharpton this week in New York as the retailer faces calls for a boycott and a slowdown in foot traffic that began after it walked back key diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the civil rights leader told CNBC Wednesday.
The meeting, which Target asked for, comes after some civil rights groups urged consumers not to shop at Target in response to the retailer’s decision to cut back on DEI. While Sharpton has not yet called for a boycott of Target, he has supported efforts from others to stop shopping at the retailer’s stores.
“You can’t have an election come and all of a sudden, change your old positions,” said Sharpton. “If an election determines your commitment to fairness then fine, you have a right to withdraw from us, but then we have a right to withdraw from you.”
HAPPY 23RD BLOGIVERSARY TO ME
I remember how, after the 2004 election, I was regularly asked things like, "What are you going to do now?" — as if the blog would be OVER.
Oh well.We've had some victories and, uh, some losses, but maybe the point has been the friends we made along the way.
It's time for the SPRING FUNDRAISING WEEK because my mighty blogs are powered by your generous gifts.
Ups And Downs
This blog, as wonderful as it is, can't include everything, especially as so much is happening. To be honest, I can't handle riding every emotional roller coaster - a judge does good! then an appeals courts overrules her - as it is all a bit too nerve-wracking.
I suppose my general preference at the moment is to focus on areas where they are unambiguously eating shit. That is entertaining at least.
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Marco Says Stay Away
Everybody should listen:
Driving the news: Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an extremely harsh message on Saturday to anybody thinking of visiting the country.
"Visiting America is not an entitlement," he wrote in a Fox News opinion piece. "It is a privilege extended to those who respect our laws and values."
"We expect — and the law requires — all visa holders to demonstrate their eligibility every day their visa is valid."
Has China Seen Donald Trump
I imagine China gets why this is hilarious, even if the people writing it up don't.
China wants to see a number of steps from President Donald Trump’s administration before it will agree to trade talks, including showing more respect by reining in disparaging remarks by members of his cabinet, according to a person familiar with the Chinese government’s thinking.
Other conditions include a more consistent US position and a willingness to address China’s concerns around American sanctions and Taiwan, said the person, who asked not to be identified to discuss internal thinking.
Have They Seen A Map
Just completely dumbasses.
The Trump administration plans to use ongoing tariff negotiations to pressure U.S. trading partners to limit their dealings with China, according to people with knowledge of the conversations.
The idea is to extract commitments from U.S. trading partners to isolate China’s economy in exchange for reductions in trade and tariff barriers imposed by the White House. U.S. officials plan to use negotiations with more than 70 nations to ask them to disallow China to ship goods through their countries, prevent Chinese firms from locating in their territories to avoid U.S. tariffs, and not absorb China’s cheap industrial goods into their economies.
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