It is likely that many -- probably a full quarter of the population -- will never figure it out. Their minds are made up, they have drunk the Kool-Aid. How many still hang on the Confederacy, more than 150 years after they surrendered?

This whole debacle, this case and the cited prior cases leads one to wonder whether the administration has retained any competent attorneys after the DOGE chainsaw attacks. Or is it just that the new management are issuing incompetent instructions.

From the quality of reporting we have seen, this looks justified. One has to wonder, considering the timing, how much is related to the consolidation of news media into the control of a very few, very rich owners, all of whom seem to be in collusion with the regime. news.gallup.com/poll/695762/...

For the neurodiverse among us, someone has had the nerve to state the obvious. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

For those of us who were underwhelmed by the show at the Pentagon, this is a nice concise wrapup. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

From USA Patriot Act: (5) the term ‘domestic terrorism’ means activities that— (B) appear to be intended— (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population Does that or does that not sound like the activities of ICE?

I have been noting recently that a lot of agencies seem to be intent on living down to their worst stereotypes. This is a literate discussion of one that is very prominent in the current environment. www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-capita...

SecWar doesn't want to see "fat generals and admirals" running the show. Funny how he had nothing to say about a fat Commander-in-Chief.

Headline in The Local (French paper) today: "OPINION: Sarkozy case poses a question - why are French conservatives so crooked?" If experience in Anglophone countries is any indicator, it seems to be "because they are conservatives." Or at least claim to be.

It seems to be, now.

This pulls back the curtain a bit on how the Supreme Court is currently operating. Though with a solid 6-vote pro-Trump voting bloc, one has to wonder why they even bother with the pretense of nonpartisan judicial functioning. reason.com/volokh/2025/...

ICE in Portland: Portland Police Bureau Assistant Chief Craig Dobson testified, “It makes it extremely difficult for us to deal with, as the folks that are on the other side of this fence have been, night after night, actually instigating and causing some of the ruckus that’s occurring down there.”

The December, 2014, Playboy Forum had an article on "Clarence Thomas's Theocracy." From that article: "No Supreme Court justice in recent memory has been as dedicated to dismantling the wall of separation between church and state.

'Gustavo Petro responded by writing the U.S. government “no longer honors international law.”' Unfortunately, he's absolutely right. They no longer honor it even in the breach. And they are convinced that it doesn't apply to them. But they will use it against others.

No. Is supposed to be, yes. Is, not so much.

Hmm. It seems as though the SIM farm was a bit overhyped, and I, for one, fell for it. Together with the "sabotage" at the UN building, we seem to be in a phase of painting Dear Leader as a victim of mysterious malign forces. www.404media.co/the-sim-farm...

Not everyone. Right-wing pages have it as the greatest speech by an American president, schooling the world. That Kool-Aid must be pretty strong stuff. Of course, it is the communion drink for his cult. billmckibben.substack.com/p/the-stupid...

For those who have been having fun about The Rapture, I can recommend Robert Heinlein's Job, A Comedy of Justice. I always considered it a reductio ad absurdum of the whole concept.

It seems that a whole lot of what the Trump administration has been doing constitutes what would be impeachable offenses, if we had a Congress that wasn't in thrall to their Dear Leader. Carr's bullying is only the latest, and not the worst.

Be fair. They still care for the Second Amendment. And a lot of them rely on the Fifth.

Its a bit more complicated than that. Some of them care about power, too.

From a different post: 'Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...." This administration seems to feel that any consistency that does not advance their agendas is foolish. This may be related to their little, among other things, minds.' Seems to fit here, too.

Cool. Now we don't have to sit through all the posturing and theatrics of the Congressional hearings on Epstein. We have the final outcome shown quite clearly and simply.

Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...." This administration seems to feel that any consistency that does not advance their agendas is foolish. This may be related to their little, among other things, minds.

And 'way too many of them are in positions of power in government -- all three branches, apparently.

It does change one's perspective to be on the receiving end rather than the dishing-it-out side.

Witless White House threatens witch trials over witticisms.

Or "collaboration." Or, perhaps, "collusion."

Question: Is there any definition, legal or reasonable, by which ICE does not fit the definition of a terrorist organization? I have not been able to come up with one.

From the Concurrence: "Not for more than two hundred years has any President sought to destroy the First Amendment as our current national leader has. After a four-year absence, a President of the United States, who disagrees with Dr. Richard Wilkinson 1\ www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf...

Note to Secretary Bondi:"The state has no right to protect the public against false doctrine. Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516, 545-46, 65 S. Ct. 315, 89 L. Ed. 430 (1945) (Jackson, J, concurring). "from Wilkinson v. Wash. Med. Comm’n, COURT OF APPEALS, STATE OF WASHINGTON, DIV III, No. 40061-1-III

60 violations in 50 days seems pretty compliant for this administration. They've had spells where they were violating the Constitution more often than that. "Holding center!" Call it what it is -- a concentration camp. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

And noone will get fired for quoting him.

I learned a long time ago that, "All the sincerity in the world won't make you right." Learned it, IIRC, from a science-fiction story, but no idea which one after this many years.

In watching him over the years I never had the impression that he thought it unethical to have political views, only to let them dominate and censor his reporting. Unlike a lot of other talking heads we could name.

Someone else found the paper on the Wayback Machine: www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ni... I've saved a copy. Interesting reading, if a bit dry.

And they are using emails as evidence. Do they have any idea how easy it is to spoof an email address? It may be that the investigation is being done competently and that the crap that is being leaked comes from the top. But it sure seems like a lot of crap is being leaked from the highest levels.

I think that depends in some degree on which Academy. The one where I worked pretty much was. Of course, that was 50 years ago, and times change.

SCotUS, with their "shadow docket," have been overruling lower-court decisions until they can reach the Supreme Court in the normal course of appeals. Someone should remind them that justice delayed is justice denied. That principle applies to many of their "emergency" decisions.

Mark Twain said, "There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress." He obviously had not encountered ICE.

And why do you think that's not the plan? Kirk wanted the Epstein files released. He was a rising star and sometimes stole some of the limelight from Dear Leader Donny. And he was more popular with the kids.

A lot of public employees have lost their jobs over remarks about the Kirk assassination. Eugene Volokh, not noted for liberal views, lays out the case as to why this is both illegal and unconstitutional. With citations. reason.com/volokh/2025/...

My conclusions are different. I came up during the 200-odd years when the Second Amendment worked. Everyone we knew had guns in the home, many had them in their businesses. Mass shootings were limited to criminal-gang shootouts. But we were a people 1/ hartmannreport.com/p/killer-dem...

So we're back to when the Thiokol engineers put on their management hats to okay the launch of Challenger.

Did I get the numbers right? Trump has deported some 200,000 and the workforce is down by 1.2 million. Is that because some have self-deported so as not to have a deportation on their record when we return to a rational administration, while the rest are holing up hoping it will blow over?

Every accusation a cofession. But she's right, you know; GOP has been lying to us about crime in the cities at least since Reagan. And I'm sure she doesn't consider any Democrat to be a leader, so.... redstate.com/rusty-weiss/...

Irony is not dead. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

I'll admit that I haven't read either of Mein Kampf or Project 2025, but I have paid attention to their consequences. So, is Project 2025 just Mein Kampf, rewritten for a committee?

Trump has issued an Executive Order that bans the burning of the US national flag. I guess that's because he wraps himself in it so often. Interesting, though. He manages to violate the First Amendment and the Second Commandment with one stroke of the Sharpie.