Happy Hour

It is time.

Are We There Yet, James

Carville a month ago:

"I believe that this administration, in less than 30 days is in the midst of a massive collapse, in particularly a collapse in public opinion," Carville said.

Carville pointed to the drop in approval ratings Trump has seen in the four weeks since he returned to office.

"This is the lowest approval, not even close, that any president has ever had at a comparable time," he said. "That's a provable fact."

Carville said he does not believe Republicans will be able to lift the debt limit or pass a reconciliation package, and that GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson will be forced to reach across the aisle for help from Democrats. "That is going to be the equivalent of stacking arms. It's over," he said.

Trump's not popular, but he isn't unpopular either. The debt limit and reconciliation haven't happened, but Republicans seem to love the "We can just zero out spending we don't like" plan so I supect they will!

Carville's similar NYT piece gave himself a massive out:

At this rate, the Trump honeymoon will be over, best case, by Memorial Day but more likely in the next 30 days

30 days, 90ish days, whatever. What Carville was selling was the leadership (both of them!)-going-on-book-tours plan of doing nothing and letting America react all by itself with no prompting from Dem politicians.

I don't know how they expect people to find out what is happening unless they tell them loudly and repeatedly.

James, himself, realized that he has no idea how people get their information! FUCKING ASK PEOPLE WHO DO and they will tell that unless you make noisy news, and repeat it, no one will hear about it, and mainstream news sources are deferential to 1) power 2) Republicans.

(reader t reminded me)

Sounds Bad

They're trying to break it, but I'n entirely sure what their plan is for when it is broken.

The Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days this month, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts because the servers were overloaded. In the field, office managers have resorted to answering phones at the front desk as receptionists because so many employees have been pushed out. But the agency no longer has a system to monitor customers’ experience with these services, because that office was eliminated as part of the cost-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk.

And the phones keep ringing. And ringing.

Lunch

Taco Tuesday

Rules Are For Soyboys

I suspect most of this Spy vs. Spy stuff is between pointless and destructive, but we do generally take it seriously!

Those Excuses

Will include things like this, but that fucking paper is what it is.

You can't spend billions on campaign ads and also take the position that the people should figure things out all by themselves the rest of the time.

Also, other outlets are taking it more seriously.  You can come up with your own reasons for why the NYT is like this.

One Day Stories

We're about to get a good illustration of how Republicans keep BENGHAZI rolling for YEARS and Democrats just... can't.

There's the "national security" angle and also a good opportunity to explain that the DOJ and FBI won't investigate Republican crimes anymore.

I know all the excuses but they don't even try.

Happy to be wrong! 

Morning

Anothet beautiful one.

Happy Hour

get happy

Easy One

Dems can't swing at every pitch (as they keeps saying), but they can swing at this one!

Sure Why Not

Firing and arrests in any other administration...

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

By Jeffrey Goldberg

Lunch

eat

We Don't Really Need You Anymore

I don't think people understand that, whatever people think of the US generally, it just isn't the Main Character nearly as much as it used to be.  It just isn't as important. A belligerent US still has a lot of levers to pull, but maybe China doesn't really need to sell us their shit

Walmart thought it could use its immense power as America’s biggest retailer to make Chinese suppliers eat the cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But Walmart got a response it’s not accustomed to hearing: No.

Some Good News

I admit I've never quite understood the quest to get rid of Sullivan, though I guess "beware of the consequences" doesn't really apply to people who never face any.

JUST IN: Supreme Court has turned down a request to take up Trump ally Steve Wynn's bid to upend the landmark NYT v. Sullivan press freedom precedent.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 1:37 PM

These Are Your Voters

It's quite clear the Dem all got together, after the election, and decided they need to be as quiet about Trump's immigration actions as possible.  But I don't think they get that these are you voters!  Not people with green cards, who don't vote, but their spouses and their kids.  

The internet tells there are 13 million green card holders.  Those families add up!  I'm not saying it's fine to abuse people who only have normal visas - or anybody! - but people who imagined they were permanently settled now can't safely travel outside of the country without fear of being ripped from lives they thought were firmly established.

I know many people think, "oh they should just know to vote against the bad orange man party, no matter what secret signals the Dems are trying to send to Joe and Eileen Bailey," but why would they if Dems are up there barely distancing themselves from this stuff?

Morning

 in America.

Afternoon

Enjoy

Was That Smart

I regularly think about how Dem senators and other outriders would boast about Biden's deportation record and then get mad that people weren't clapping. 

People who are mad about immigration want performative cruelty, not a spreadsheet.  And the rest of us aren't going to clap.

Appropriate Level Of Concern

More like this.

“If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this: It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic,” Pritzker said.

The speech stood in stark contrast to many of Pritzker’s fellow Democratic governors — who, at the same time, were on their way to Washington for face-to-face meetings with the newly sworn-in president. Pritzker skipped the gathering of the National Governors Association.

Morning

Sunday funday