We're only halfway through January, and we've already seen six months' worth of ridiculousness in the news cycle. This week, President Trump again hinted that he wants to cancel the midterms, Stephen Miller encouraged ICE's lawlessness, the Clintons failed to comply with a Congressional subpoena, and Pete Hegseth wants the woke out of military newspapers.
He’s serious about canceling the mid-term elections
I recently noted that when President Trump “joked” about canceling the mid-term elections during a recent speech, it would prove true to a pattern in which he has consistently floated his most controversial plans as jokes, only to begin repeating them more seriously. Well, here we go.
In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters News Service, Trump openly worried that his party could lose control of the House or even the Senate in this year’s midterms, citing the historical trend among sitting presidents.
“It's some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don't win the midterms,” Trump said, bragging that he had accomplished so much that “when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election.”
Absolute Immunity?
Prime Minister Stephen Miller, as the non-cabinet top advisor to the president is sometimes half-jokingly referred to, recently asserted that ICE agents have “absolute immunity,” suggesting that they will not be held accountable by state and local law enforcement even if they commit felonies (like murder) while acting as a modern Gestapo force.
They do not. While they can be given certain levels of federal immunity, and Trump’s transactional use of the Presidential pardon has created an enormous opportunity for lawlessness, ICE and DHS agents are otherwise subject to the rule of law, and no matter how much Pee Wee German encourages them to act like Nazi stormtroopers, the statute of limitations on murder is life.
Calling Bill and Hilary ...
The Clintons failed to comply with a Congressional subpoena to testify before the House Oversight Committee in its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Bill missed his session on January 13, and Hillary is expected to follow suit.
In a joint letter and statements from their legal team, the Clintons declared the subpoenas "invalid and legally unenforceable," arguing they were politically motivated and represent an overreach of congressional power. Chair James Comer of selectively targeting them while allowing other witnesses to provide written testimony.
The House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer responded by announcing the committee will move forward with contempt of Congress proceedings against both Clintons. Comer stated the goal is to obtain answers about Bill Clinton’s past relationship with Epstein, noting Epstein visited the White House 17 times during Clinton’s presidency and that Clinton flew on Epstein's plane over 25 times afterward.
More Manly Newspapers, Damnit!
Pete Hegseth thinks Stars and Stripes, the venerable U.S. military newspaper that has long existed as an independent publication, is too woke! The self-named Secretary of War is ensuring that job applicants are asked about their commitment to President Trump’s policies. Hegseth has vowed to rid Stars and Stripes of “woke distractions” while refocusing its coverage on “warfighting.”
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conrope
Hi Mitch,
A few comments.
-Headline Trump is serious about cancelling midterms. The you say-Trump "joked" about cancelling midterms. Then you say he is serious. What do you base that determination on?
-Please show me where in millers statement he said absolute. He was clearly referring to the Supremecy Clause which says they have immunity
-dept of war is a legal secondary title from an executive order by trump the head of that dept then could be called... Why do you feel that a military paper should have woke articles ?
-If you were running a business would you require your employees to be committed to your goals or ok for them to work contrary to those goals.
There are plenty of things to criticize trump for without misleading.
Friday, January 16 Report this
san.gander
Trump is an odious person whose very public vulgarity should have caused decent people to reject him at the voting booth. How did this Congress allow him to create and continue to maintain a private Federal paramilitary army that he sends only to states that are led by the opposition party, to abuse American citizens that oppose his policies through legal protest. It is called free speech!
Being "woke" is being American - being Hegseth is being a "little Hitler or Stalin".
Saturday, January 17 Report this
jghaft
I just compared Stephen Miller's picture to that of Josef Goebbels. The resemblance is striking!
Saturday, January 17 Report this
rjckeuka4
conrope, The best predictor of behavior is past behavior. Take a look at his joke threats in the past...tariffs, dictator on day one, Venezuela, etc., etc., etc. and anything he jokes about is not out of the realm of attempting! Whether or not he'll be successful is quite another thing.
Saturday, January 17 Report this
Islandman
Love the way Trump plays y’all who have TDS!
The way DEMS are throwing around “F-BOMBS” I do not think y’all should question Trumps Vulgarity.
Saturday, January 17 Report this
donald.r.hamilton
Conrope is wrong.
The basis for taking Trump seriously is based on his tendency to push things beyond reasonable-- annex Greenland? Depose the dictator of Venezuela be leave the oppressive apparatus in place? Sink small craft at sea based on intelligence. Intelligence can be wrong. The U.S. has shot down civilian airliners (USS Vincennes & Iran Air) by mistake, shot down a Cessna full of American missionaries (Peru)?
How does Conroe know that Miller was "clearly referring to the Supremacy Clause"? It is not clear that ICE agents are immune from state prosecution for unlawful acts.
"Secretary of War" is based on nothing more than Hegseth's fantasies about the military.
The Stars and Stripes has long enjoyed editorial freedom. George Patton hated Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe cartoons; Patton believed Willie and Joe subverted good order and discipline. If you do not know about Bill Mauldin you should look him up. Beyond that, I have NO confidence that the "Secretary of War" is a sound judge of wokeness. Any damage that woke articles might do are less damaging than destroying Stars and Stripes editorial independence.
If you, conrope, insisted that your employees were "committed to your goals" you would have an organization of yes men. "Working contrary to goals" (aside from expressing internal dissent) is another matter. Thwarting organizational goals an always been a firing offence in business and government. Firing 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial appointments is not about getting rid of people working against the president, it is about removing individuals who have, much like admirals and generals, advanced through a competitive promotion system statutorily based on the system used by the U.S. Navy. If the president fired 30 admirals, he would be impeached if he tried to appoint political supporters to replace them. How would you feel about a generous donor and vocal supporter of the president replacing the combatant commander in the Pacific? We have had bad admirals and generals who were propped up by their staffs. Same thing happens with a bad ambassador. Ambassadors have massively complicated jobs. U.S. embassies have more duties than most imagine-- in addition to relations with the host government, they also have intelligence roles (military and civilian), promotion of U.S. commerial interests, support for taxpayers living abroad, working to make sure that imported foodstuffs are sanitary and not bringing pests. Trump is trying to shore up support by giving jobs to friends; career ambassadors are not working against the president. They have and carry out a sworn duty to support the president's policies.
Yes, there are plenty of things to criticize the President for. The complaints in the article are legitimate for those of us not auditioning for a place in the administration. Maybe conrope should send his comments to the President-- perhaps he will pickup an ambassadorship.
Wednesday, January 21 Report this