Another government website is trashed

 I don't know how much of it was reliable - after all, it was kept up by the CIA - but it did have basic data that could be useful.

Trump doesn't listen to the CIA

 

Clear act of war

 

More soldiers

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Trump administration would send hundreds of additional National Guard soldiers to the nation’s capital after two soldiers were shot in the city Wednesday.

The announced escalation to Trump’s military occupation in Washington, D.C., comes less than a week after a federal court found that the president’s decision to deploy over 2,000 Guard members there was likely unlawful.

“President Trump has asked me, and I will ask the secretary of the Army to the National Guard, to add 500 additional troops, National Guardsman, to Washington, D.C.,” Hegseth said after the shooting Wednesday.

“We will never back down. We will secure our capital. We will secure our cities,” he added. “If criminals want to conduct things like this — violence against America’s best — we will never back down.”

  Democracy Docket

Because if 2,000 weren't enough to keep 2 from being shot, perhaps 2,500 will work. We all know it's not about ANYONE's safety.

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey (R) said the two Guard members were part of the West Virginia National Guard. He initially said the troops had died but later walked back that statement, saying his office received “conflicting reports” about their condition.

Maybe find out before going public. They are now described as in critical condition.

The shooting occurred just blocks away from the White House. In addition to the Guard soldiers, a suspect, who is now in custody, was also injured.

The Department of Homeland Security has identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who came to the United States in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome. CNN previously reported the suspect applied for asylum in 2024, which was granted by the Trump administration in April 2025.

  CNN

Oh. But this is somehow Biden's fault. I'm sure they'll tell us how.

Shortly after Trump’s remarks, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it has stopped processing all immigration cases related to Afghan immigrants “indefinitely pending further review.”

Why?

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has asked for 500 more National Guard troops to be deployed to DC. It also asked a federal appeals court for an emergency stay of an order from a federal judge to remove the National Guard from Washington, DC. Last week, the judge ruled the deployment was unlawful.

Oh, here it is... 

Lakanwal is believed to be from Afghanistan and came to the United States in 2021 under the Biden administration.

[...]

"He previously worked with the USG, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar that ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan," CIA director John Ratcliffe said on Thursday.

[...]

On Tuesday, during the traditional turkey pardoning at the White House, Trump touted his administration's takeover of D.C. streets. He said it was "one of our most unsafe places anywhere in the United States. It is now considered a totally safe city."

  ABC

Ooops. Spoke too soon.

The president is sharp as a tack, why do you ask?

 

Dismantling the CIA

 In previous years, I would say that might be a good idea.

“But in a Trump government that demands allegiance to a person rather than the Constitution, even quiet resistance is a signal. And signals matter—now more than ever. [...] The next intelligence failure will not be an accident. It will be a choice.” 

    -- former CIA senior exec Brian O'Neill - What LinkedIn Told Me This Weekend About U.S. National Security

America for sale

 

Of course.  The capitalist who owns it can charge a fortune to taxpayers for the water.

Wait until he gets to national parks.

UPDATE 04:14 pm:

UPDATE 03/05/2025:

UPDATE 03/05/2025 09:51 am:

Did anything sell?

UPDATE 03/10/2025:  Fiasco, per usual.  And, maybe this had something to do with calling off the insanity?

The Resistance - There will be tough choices

First, Democrats have the most powerful congressional opposition to a governing party in modern history. Speaker Mike Johnson can’t spare a single Republican vote in the House right now. So when critical votes must be taken to fund the government and lift the debt ceiling, he will need Democratic votes.

Second, the federal judiciary that laughed Trump’s 2020 election challenges out of court remains in place, only with the addition of 234 judges that President Joe Biden appointed. Clearly unlawful actions will be overturned—not “should be,” but will be—as we’ve already started seeing.

Third, the people around Trump are not exactly the GOP “A team” that helped him in his first term. They have a plan for their first few weeks, but as they confront challenges, they will make mistakes, go too far, and eat their own.

The key now for Democrats is to fight back not with complaints (which project weakness) but with actions that reclaim the initiative, inspire confidence, and force Trump to play defense. Here are some suggestions, in no particular order:

  The Bulwark

Continue reading.

And, We the People have a job to do as well...

Jesus, Joseph, & Mary!

I spent one day off the doom machine, and, as for each day since Trump went to the White House, that day was worse than all the ones before it.  

Trump is talking about ethnic cleansing of Gaza - but more than that - about going in to "take ownership" of the Strip!  What in blue blazes!  The man is a certified madman.  Is he perhaps syphilitic?  Just asking questions.

Let's see.  What else did I learn last night?  He's also cleaning out the CIA.  He's shutting down the Department of Education and NOAA, the weather service!

Trump insanely said the US is going to occupy Gaza at a joint press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu tonight: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip - and we will do a good job with it too. We’ll own it. We’ll level the site.” He then said we are going to go in there and develop it with new properties - it is oceanfront property after all.

When asked by a reporter if he was talking about a permanent occupation of Gaza by the US: “I do see a long-term ownership position” for the US. He then said he would use military force if necessary.

Trump in the Oval Office earlier today: “The Gaza has not worked. It has never worked. I think they should get a good fresh piece of land. I don’t know how they could want to stay. It’s a demolition site. If we could find the right piece of land or numerous pieces of land and build them some nice places - could be Jordan, could be in Egypt.”

  Meidas Touch

Hmmmm...kind of like moving the decimated Jewish populatios to a piece of land and calling it Israel? ("The Gaza.")

Earlier today, demented Trump said if Iran assassinates him he “left instructions” to “obliterate” their country. He said this from the Oval Office while announcing new sanctions against Iran and warning them not to try and retaliate that way: "If they did that, they would be obliterated. I left instructions.”

An honest to goodness madman. Joined in federal office by other madmen...

But Trump’s new right-wing white nationalist conspiracy theorist State Department Spokesman Darren Beattie said last September that he really thinks our own intelligence agencies have been trying to have Trump killed, not Iran: “It's more likely that the intelligence officials telling Trump that Iran is behind assassination attempts are actually the ones behind the assassination attempts, than it is for Iran being behind the assassination attempts.”

[...]

Axios reported that about 20,000 federal employees have accepted the buyout offered to them last week by Musk, which is only about 1% of the federal government workforce. That number is way lower than he expected, as Musk reportedly predicted that 5-10% would accept the offer. However, the offer is open until this Thursday so we will see if more people fall for this.

Total insanity. And if those people think they're going to get paid without going to court, god bless 'em.

Trump nominated right-wing podcaster Sean Parnell to be Pete Hegseth’s Chief Pentagon Spokesperson and Asst. Sec Def. Trump endorsed Parnell for Senate in PA in 2022, but he dropped out of the race when he lost custody of his children after his wife testified in court that Parnell abused her and their children by choking her and pinning her down, and also struck one of their children in a fit of rage.

Trump's type.

Hegseth announced that the first flights of migrants to Guantanamo Bay started today. Trump’s executive order allows for up to 30,000 to be housed there while their deportation cases are litigated.

[...]

Trump said that he wants other countries to start housing our prison inmates, and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he is willing to accept the offer: "We have offered the US the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system. We are willing to take in convicted criminals (including convicted US citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee. The fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable."

What a fantastic idea! Holy Mary, Mother of God.

Immigration Law expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “Okay, but that's not a thing. I don't care what Bukele says, the US cannot legally banish Americans - such authorities died centuries ago and are the relic of a time of terra nullius. It just is not legal under any modern international laws either.”

You people need to find some other cry. Illegal! is't working. He just keeps doing illegal - and unconstitutional - shit.

Canadian MP Charlie Angus told Meidas Touch that Trump lost the tariff battle: “He blinked. He choked. Two days ago, he was telling us that if we didn’t give up our nationhood, the tariffs would stay on. Then we hit him with $125 billion in tariffs. We pulled KY booze off our shelves. Then we said, ‘You’re getting another $25 billion right after that.’ The market started to tank, and suddenly, he said, ‘Oh, didn’t you guys already have a plan to deal with the border back in December? I love that—I’ll take that.’ This is Mr. Art of the Deal.”

[...]

WaPo columnist Catherine Rampell on CNN: “Trump is trying to repackage the status quo as a victory. That's what the leaders of these foreign countries are learning. You don't actually have to give Trump anything. You just have to let him announce victory on TV.”

[...]

NYT reports that a DC judge just awarded the Proud Boys’ trademarks to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. Proud Boys can’t legally use the name and the church can seize the proceeds of any merchandise sold with that name or logo. The church sued the Proud Boys after they destroyed Black Lives Matter signs outside their building. They got a $1 million judgment which PBs refused to pay, so the judge ordered this as an alternative.

Well, thank whatever gods there be for one small bit of good news. Oh, and this...

Italian Green Party politician Andrea Zanoni filed a complaint with a court in Italy accusing Donald Trump Jr. of illegally killing an endangered Ruddy Shelduck bird near Venice, Italy during a recent hunting trip. Local environmentalists and Italian MPs have joined the formal complaint and called for an investigation.

Lock him up and keep him. You'll be protecting the world.

Do we get to know which ones those are?

Are we sure Elon is not simply implementing Project 2025 for Russ Vought and Stephen Miller?  

At any rate, it does seem like the country is being hijacked by a vengeful madman and a Bond villain.  

YOU own this, Rand Paul.  You and your greedy, soulless colleagues in the GOP Congress.

ASSHAT.

Do Democrats STILL not get it?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 05:58 pm:

Surprise, surprise

WASHINGTON—The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel with the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership.

If Donald Trump approves the order, it could fast-track the removal of generals and admirals found to be “lacking in requisite leadership qualities,” according to a draft of the order reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect’s past vow to fire “woke generals,” referring to officers seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.

  MSN

"Retired" personnel like General Mike QAnon Nut Flynn?

Also...

Also...

Yes, the Constitutional Rights of all Americans is Trump's top priority.

Also...

Also...

What does he know about national defense?

Also...

What does she know about national security???  

If we're attacked by dogs or goats, we're golden.

UPDATE 11/13/2024:

Only the best people.  Actually, I don't really care about his personal family life.  But his qualifications and his MAGA attitudes are appalling.

I have no doubt.  Makes you wonder if the Trump administration is bent on destroying the US military, and now that I say that, it seems a very likely goal.

I doubt it.  Word is that the Pentagon is currently considering ways to avoid Trump's worst and illegal ideas.  But when he appoints General Mike Flynn as the top guy, and finds other MAGA generals to replace the ones he's currently working to purge, it will come down to the soldiers themselves whether they'll follow such orders.  I don't have a lot of confidence in them.

Probably joking.  But who knows?  OK, definitely joking - 10 years???  Right?  Maybe he should have been appointed to the Department of Health - or whatever they're going to have for- if anything - and now that I say that, I'm not sure they won't abolish all health agencies.  Or give them over to RFK, Jr, which would be essentially the same thing.

Yikes!

Department of Government Efficiency - DOGE - as in Dogecoin.  Musk and Trump are going to attempt to turn US currency (and world currency) to dodgy cryptocurrency, which is where they've been moving their fortunes.

Well, they owned the libs, and that's what's important.

UPDATE 01:49 pm:  And why nothing for Bobby yet?

“The stuff that he eats is really, like, bad,” Kennedy said during an interview on “The Joe Polish Show,” drawing laughter from the audience.

“Campaign food is always bad, but the food that goes onto that airplane is, like, just poison,” Kennedy added, saying that “you’re either given KFC or Big Macs.”

Kennedy went as far to say that he considers some of the options “inedible.”

  The Hill

You're given that because that's what Trump wants.

Kennedy, who dropped his own presidential bid and threw his support behind Trump in the final leg of the 2024 election, now appears poised to take on a role in the president-elect’s second administration.

The idea of him taking on an advisory role with a “direct line to POTUS” has been floated, according to a source privy to discussions about Kennedy this cycle, though the source said nothing is as of yet “solid or set in stone.”

[...]

The president-elect said he would let Kennedy “go wild” on the government’s health care systems, a line that his son Donald Trump Jr. also enthusiastically repeated to conservative media after his father’s victory.

Gotta give him a job first.

UPDATE 11/14/2024:  And there it is...

Also...

Sexual assault seems to be almost a prerequisite for getting on the Trump administration list.

UPDATE 11/17/2024: