Am I the only one to think that tRump has his nominees and his replacements for each of them already lined up? Bait-and-switch can be very effective. The actual candidate could be clearly unacceptable but hidden behind an absolutely joke of a candidate. tRump would then get his way while his opposition is busy patting themselves on the back for successfully ‘interfering’. Don’t put it past him! He’s conniving and evil and perfectly capable of playing his adversaries for fools. Not that hard to do when they ARE fools.
How can we NOT expect this resulting theatre of the absurd cabinet appointment clusterf%%k when any truly qualified, decent, experienced, and pedigreed person will not even and will not ever go near Trump and this 2nd circus act? I believe Vice Admiral Robert Harward turned down the NSA head position during Trump regime#1 calling it a "shit sandwich", which is exactly what it was. The bar was lowered then, now it is totally gone. It is preferable to duck, move on, go the other way and try to stay safe....Trump truly will have something disrespectful, disgusting or non-existent cabinet wise , becoming just like the 2nd rate New York "magnate" that he really was. It is sad that this is up to the Senate to advise and consent, but I would like to think (in fact I pray) that duty calls a little higher and bolder going forward so that with this I would like to think in the end that Trump really will get very little accomplished in his desire for scorched earth.... hopefully just a lot of hot air no matter how frightening. I may be disappointed in the lack great things our country can do....and I am stricken about the Harris loss.....but in the end, outrage, anger and hot air do give way to mediocrity....if we are lucky and steadfast.
Is it surprising that dems are mum on trans rights? They continue to back down to the bullies and wonder why they keep getting beat up. As the continue to bring a dish to pass to a knife fight, they will be stunned when they yell into the darkness for support and no one yells back.
"Let us pause on that simple statement: Republican senators discovered they have agency! They can stand up to Trump! They can resist! They can prevail!"
If this is true, this would be some of the best news I've heard in a long time. However, for me to accept this, I would need some explanation for this significant change in approach to Trump. Because the inertia for capitulation has been going on so long, I believe something dramatic would have to happen to stop it. Additionally, if Trump exerted pressure on the R senators, I would expect something even more dramatic or significant.
What are some plausible scenarios for this change?
Off the top of my head, here's one: The most responsible GOP senators know that if they allow Gaetz (and possibly other unfit nominees), Trump really won't have any guardrails, which could cause tremendous harm to institutions and American citizens, if not the world. These senators would feel primarily responsible for allowing this to happen--and that's a bridge too far. In this scenario, they allowed themselves to capitulate to Trump believing that there were enough guardrails in place to prevent Trump from wrecking havoc. (Counter to this theory: Trump's handling of COVID) Additionally, Ds could hammer these senators politically.
I'm not sure if I buy this, but this is best explanation I've got right now.
I wonder if the problem is purely the sexual stuff and that a Gaetz-alike in every other way would sail through easily. I'm no Bondi expert but she seems like she might fit that bill somewhat.
This would kinda suggest Hegseth would get the glare next, but that doesn't seem to be happening. I dunno...
For me, a more compelling explanation than the sexual stuff would be Kevin McCarthy, working behind the scenes to sabotage Gaetz. My understanding is that McCarthy is strong in political fundraising. If true, imagine this scenario: McCarthy pledges to work to fund campaign of any R senators that vote no on Gaetz. This would maybe mitigate Trump's threat to primary them (with Musk's financial backing). And it's possible that McCarthy would do this, even though it's Trump's guy. McCarthy: "This guy screwed me, and I'm going to screw him back." Trump not only would understand this, but he might even respect McCarthy more for doing this.
Gabbard's FBI file won't help much on her trip to Syria. That would be someone else's role. Remember that Gabbard (LTC-USA) almost certainly has a Top Secret clearance since she recently deployed with a SOTF. Would her trips to Syria have raised some flags? Although she's in the National Guard, she would be up for periodic re-investigations every 7 years.
The better question is this: How on earth did she keep her commission, considering all of her comments? Why didn't Army Counterintelligence investigate her? That's the real question.
In short, the FBI would focus on her CI threat at home, so maybe there's something there. While they routinely have agents in Embassies, they don't tend to work on CI. Instead, it's other various criminal activities (guns, drugs, etc)
I guess we claim victory wherever we can find it, but Gaetz was a comically bad nominee. That he was defeated is a pretty low bar. Contrary to Bill's take, I think it makes the next nominee, or other controversial nominees, MORE likely to be confirmed rather than less. Instead of emboldening the small handful of GOP Senators that stood up to Trump, I think they have shown their independence for PR and history's sake. Maybe they buck Trump another time or two, but how long do you really think they'll hold out? History would suggest not long. lol...and these are just Cabinet nominees...we haven't even gotten to crazy legislation. Sadly, I'm much less confident that the Senate will really check Trump in any meaningful way.
Truly the clouds broke for the sun, but there are lots of clouds still out there. Maybe the Republican line of forced bootlickers have hopefully reasoned that Trump is too old to be around for much longer. His moments of dementia and repetitive ennuii count in that. Carefully they begin to exit from the caves of their cowardice.
Trump making these incredible appointments grows curiouser and couriouser. Was it just his ego needing a boost, shoving the impossible to then show all that none dare resist? And how about Vance, baby-sitting Trump's appointments all the way to their microphones to defend their raucous sexual flings? Real shame seems no longer even relevant. The sexual bombs have become so prevalent that it is harder to find innocence in the wanton wallowings of our political elite. The new moral screed now is grab 'em by the pussy.
In case you haven't heard - there are stories around that Gaetz will NOT take the seat he had won for the next Congress. If true, that puts Johnson in a vise. Will he end up as on Fox, the reincarnation of Rush or ???
Damn, the Gaetz withdrawal was shocking, in a good way. I expected R’s to roll over in unison for Trump, and do whatever he asked—starting with recess appointments of all nominees. Maybe there’s hope for democracy after all(?)
How nice to see a few of the 'johnny-come-lately' members of the former party of Lincoln give Trump 2 his first defeat. How sad they did not have the courage years ago to vote against Trump after he was impeached twice. It would have saved us all from four more authoritarian
'Fascism/authoritarianism feed on the illusion of unlimited strength and power' --Paul Campos
THIS CAN'T BE REPEATED ENOUGH
Since fascism is a movement against reality (and modernity), the only thing that keeps it going is if it can be shown that the will of the leader can 'bend reality.' Once that is shown to not be true, the spell is broken.
From the Gaetz piece: "]Trump's] big goals of radically reducing illegal immigration and implementing new tariffs to reorient the nation’s taxation, trade, and manufacturing structure." People still do not know how to write about him. That sort of framing might have been fine in 2017 when people were talking about giving him a chance. He has blown any hope of chance to pieces. Trump intends to be much more nefarious than the relatively bland "radically reduce" and "reorient" phrasing implies.
When voters say they are worse off than they were four years ago, that's not quite what they mean. Net worth is up. What they mean is when they go to the grocery store, their wage increases were offset by the higher prices, leaving them standing still. They (we) haven't lost ground,but we haven't gained ground either. That is what they are calling being worse off.
I know what they mean, but it's a fiction. Real wage growth (the difference between wage increases and inflation) was 1.0% in calendar year 2023. For the rolling 12 months ended October 2024 it was 1.5%. Increases in food prices (which, incidentally, were annualizing in October at 2.3%, or 0.1% LESS than the rate of the full market basket) are being offset elsewhere. The last year of real wage decline was 2022.
What if they were never serious about Matt Gaetz and are using him as a sacrificial lamb so that senators use up their political capital to oppose him, making it more difficult possibly to oppose others? Am I crazy to feel like this whole thing is about getting Tulsi in, because they are compromised?
Gaetz distraction from Tulsi. Tulsi is the real threat.
I agree , I've just read an article about his books...Religious extremism, combined with all kinds of conspiracy myths and other inhumane views..... he should not be somewhere in the line of the nuclear codes!!
Trump is not a strategic thinker. Elon Musk et al. were celebrating Gaetz as having the right qualities to "clean up a corrupt system" at DOJ.
That would be the "corrupt system" that continued the prosecution of the sitting president's son, prosecuted two prominent politicians from the sitting president's party, dragged its feet in investigating the effort to stay in power unlawfully made by the former president of the other party, and hesitated to get involved when that former president refused to hand back the sensitive documents he illegally retained while NARA persisted in trying to persuade him to do so.
Am I the only one to think that tRump has his nominees and his replacements for each of them already lined up? Bait-and-switch can be very effective. The actual candidate could be clearly unacceptable but hidden behind an absolutely joke of a candidate. tRump would then get his way while his opposition is busy patting themselves on the back for successfully ‘interfering’. Don’t put it past him! He’s conniving and evil and perfectly capable of playing his adversaries for fools. Not that hard to do when they ARE fools.
Whats the difference between Blue Sky and Threads?
How can we NOT expect this resulting theatre of the absurd cabinet appointment clusterf%%k when any truly qualified, decent, experienced, and pedigreed person will not even and will not ever go near Trump and this 2nd circus act? I believe Vice Admiral Robert Harward turned down the NSA head position during Trump regime#1 calling it a "shit sandwich", which is exactly what it was. The bar was lowered then, now it is totally gone. It is preferable to duck, move on, go the other way and try to stay safe....Trump truly will have something disrespectful, disgusting or non-existent cabinet wise , becoming just like the 2nd rate New York "magnate" that he really was. It is sad that this is up to the Senate to advise and consent, but I would like to think (in fact I pray) that duty calls a little higher and bolder going forward so that with this I would like to think in the end that Trump really will get very little accomplished in his desire for scorched earth.... hopefully just a lot of hot air no matter how frightening. I may be disappointed in the lack great things our country can do....and I am stricken about the Harris loss.....but in the end, outrage, anger and hot air do give way to mediocrity....if we are lucky and steadfast.
Is it surprising that dems are mum on trans rights? They continue to back down to the bullies and wonder why they keep getting beat up. As the continue to bring a dish to pass to a knife fight, they will be stunned when they yell into the darkness for support and no one yells back.
"Let us pause on that simple statement: Republican senators discovered they have agency! They can stand up to Trump! They can resist! They can prevail!"
If this is true, this would be some of the best news I've heard in a long time. However, for me to accept this, I would need some explanation for this significant change in approach to Trump. Because the inertia for capitulation has been going on so long, I believe something dramatic would have to happen to stop it. Additionally, if Trump exerted pressure on the R senators, I would expect something even more dramatic or significant.
What are some plausible scenarios for this change?
Off the top of my head, here's one: The most responsible GOP senators know that if they allow Gaetz (and possibly other unfit nominees), Trump really won't have any guardrails, which could cause tremendous harm to institutions and American citizens, if not the world. These senators would feel primarily responsible for allowing this to happen--and that's a bridge too far. In this scenario, they allowed themselves to capitulate to Trump believing that there were enough guardrails in place to prevent Trump from wrecking havoc. (Counter to this theory: Trump's handling of COVID) Additionally, Ds could hammer these senators politically.
I'm not sure if I buy this, but this is best explanation I've got right now.
I wonder if the problem is purely the sexual stuff and that a Gaetz-alike in every other way would sail through easily. I'm no Bondi expert but she seems like she might fit that bill somewhat.
This would kinda suggest Hegseth would get the glare next, but that doesn't seem to be happening. I dunno...
For me, a more compelling explanation than the sexual stuff would be Kevin McCarthy, working behind the scenes to sabotage Gaetz. My understanding is that McCarthy is strong in political fundraising. If true, imagine this scenario: McCarthy pledges to work to fund campaign of any R senators that vote no on Gaetz. This would maybe mitigate Trump's threat to primary them (with Musk's financial backing). And it's possible that McCarthy would do this, even though it's Trump's guy. McCarthy: "This guy screwed me, and I'm going to screw him back." Trump not only would understand this, but he might even respect McCarthy more for doing this.
Gabbard's FBI file won't help much on her trip to Syria. That would be someone else's role. Remember that Gabbard (LTC-USA) almost certainly has a Top Secret clearance since she recently deployed with a SOTF. Would her trips to Syria have raised some flags? Although she's in the National Guard, she would be up for periodic re-investigations every 7 years.
The better question is this: How on earth did she keep her commission, considering all of her comments? Why didn't Army Counterintelligence investigate her? That's the real question.
In short, the FBI would focus on her CI threat at home, so maybe there's something there. While they routinely have agents in Embassies, they don't tend to work on CI. Instead, it's other various criminal activities (guns, drugs, etc)
Did they vet these guys at all before they put their names out?
"Why didn't Army Counterintelligence investigate her?"
Is it possible that they did? Maybe it's ongoing?
"Let us pause on that simple statement: Republican senators discovered they have agency! They can stand up to Trump! They can resist"
IT WAS FOUR SENATORS!
Maybe more WILL join. But I'll believe it when I see it.
If these four senators did stand up because it was the right thing to do, I will take that. It's a big deal.
Exactly. One time. Already they are expressing support for Pete Hegseth. I am betting he gets in. Hope I am wrong.
Thanks for the tip on ringwiss. He's also on bluesky.
I guess we claim victory wherever we can find it, but Gaetz was a comically bad nominee. That he was defeated is a pretty low bar. Contrary to Bill's take, I think it makes the next nominee, or other controversial nominees, MORE likely to be confirmed rather than less. Instead of emboldening the small handful of GOP Senators that stood up to Trump, I think they have shown their independence for PR and history's sake. Maybe they buck Trump another time or two, but how long do you really think they'll hold out? History would suggest not long. lol...and these are just Cabinet nominees...we haven't even gotten to crazy legislation. Sadly, I'm much less confident that the Senate will really check Trump in any meaningful way.
I think the Gaetz prelude might make Pam Bondi's blatant corruption on behalf of Trump appear relatively innocuous.
Truly the clouds broke for the sun, but there are lots of clouds still out there. Maybe the Republican line of forced bootlickers have hopefully reasoned that Trump is too old to be around for much longer. His moments of dementia and repetitive ennuii count in that. Carefully they begin to exit from the caves of their cowardice.
Trump making these incredible appointments grows curiouser and couriouser. Was it just his ego needing a boost, shoving the impossible to then show all that none dare resist? And how about Vance, baby-sitting Trump's appointments all the way to their microphones to defend their raucous sexual flings? Real shame seems no longer even relevant. The sexual bombs have become so prevalent that it is harder to find innocence in the wanton wallowings of our political elite. The new moral screed now is grab 'em by the pussy.
Yep, here goes the Grand Old Character Matters Party.....RIP
"His moments of dementia and repetitive ennuii count in that. Carefully they begin to exit from the caves of their cowardice."
I would expect this line of thinking (Trump won't be here much longer) to have the opposite effect.
In case you haven't heard - there are stories around that Gaetz will NOT take the seat he had won for the next Congress. If true, that puts Johnson in a vise. Will he end up as on Fox, the reincarnation of Rush or ???
Damn, the Gaetz withdrawal was shocking, in a good way. I expected R’s to roll over in unison for Trump, and do whatever he asked—starting with recess appointments of all nominees. Maybe there’s hope for democracy after all(?)
How nice to see a few of the 'johnny-come-lately' members of the former party of Lincoln give Trump 2 his first defeat. How sad they did not have the courage years ago to vote against Trump after he was impeached twice. It would have saved us all from four more authoritarian
years of DJT.
'Fascism/authoritarianism feed on the illusion of unlimited strength and power' --Paul Campos
THIS CAN'T BE REPEATED ENOUGH
Since fascism is a movement against reality (and modernity), the only thing that keeps it going is if it can be shown that the will of the leader can 'bend reality.' Once that is shown to not be true, the spell is broken.
From the Gaetz piece: "]Trump's] big goals of radically reducing illegal immigration and implementing new tariffs to reorient the nation’s taxation, trade, and manufacturing structure." People still do not know how to write about him. That sort of framing might have been fine in 2017 when people were talking about giving him a chance. He has blown any hope of chance to pieces. Trump intends to be much more nefarious than the relatively bland "radically reduce" and "reorient" phrasing implies.
When voters say they are worse off than they were four years ago, that's not quite what they mean. Net worth is up. What they mean is when they go to the grocery store, their wage increases were offset by the higher prices, leaving them standing still. They (we) haven't lost ground,but we haven't gained ground either. That is what they are calling being worse off.
I know what they mean, but it's a fiction. Real wage growth (the difference between wage increases and inflation) was 1.0% in calendar year 2023. For the rolling 12 months ended October 2024 it was 1.5%. Increases in food prices (which, incidentally, were annualizing in October at 2.3%, or 0.1% LESS than the rate of the full market basket) are being offset elsewhere. The last year of real wage decline was 2022.
People wandering around a grocery store are not going to perceive a difference of 0.1%.
Unfortunately too many people don't realize they're experiencing first world problems
What if they were never serious about Matt Gaetz and are using him as a sacrificial lamb so that senators use up their political capital to oppose him, making it more difficult possibly to oppose others? Am I crazy to feel like this whole thing is about getting Tulsi in, because they are compromised?
Gaetz distraction from Tulsi. Tulsi is the real threat.
I don't dispute the concern, but I do dispute the object: Penis Pete Hegseth is the REAL threat.
I agree , I've just read an article about his books...Religious extremism, combined with all kinds of conspiracy myths and other inhumane views..... he should not be somewhere in the line of the nuclear codes!!
Tulsi is the gift to Putin. I would be surprised if she isn't confirmed. We'll see if the 4-5 who were no on Gaetz feel the same about her.
Gaetz was just a loyal follower who he could throw away and then within hours get Bondi
Trump is not a strategic thinker. Elon Musk et al. were celebrating Gaetz as having the right qualities to "clean up a corrupt system" at DOJ.
That would be the "corrupt system" that continued the prosecution of the sitting president's son, prosecuted two prominent politicians from the sitting president's party, dragged its feet in investigating the effort to stay in power unlawfully made by the former president of the other party, and hesitated to get involved when that former president refused to hand back the sensitive documents he illegally retained while NARA persisted in trying to persuade him to do so.