An Obituary for the FBI – America’s dream of a politically independent bureau is officially dead (Garrett M. Graff/Doomsday Scenario)  The FBI was never intended to be an ‘independent’ agency. It works for the President, by law and in fact, and it’s about time they were brought up short.

A new document undercuts Trump admin’s denials about $400 million Tesla deal (Bobby Allyn/NPR)

Tesla Is More Vulnerable Than You Think – How to cost Elon Musk $100 billion. (Hamilton Nolan/How Things Work)

New Chinese Bat Coronavirus Raises Pandemic Fears  Among the Usual Suspects.

Federal workers sue over Elon Musk’s threat to fire them if they don’t explain their accomplishments (Associated Press)

Trump Stripped All $103 Million of Legal Assistance from Storm and Disaster Victims (Drop Site News)

No, University Endowments Can’t Replace Federal Science Funding (Elizabeth Popp Berman/Can We Still …)

One Word Describes Trump (Jonathan Rauch/The Atlantic)  Yup: Winning.

Judge Blocks Education Department, OPM From Sharing Data With DOGE  A Biden appointee who grew up in a D.C. suburb and has been living inside the Beltway ever since. Oh, and she is Palestinian on her mother’s side.

Democrats Are MIA–Just When the Country Needs Them to Counter the Trump-Musk Blitzkrieg (David Corn/Mother Jones)

Fake Trump, Musk Foot-Sucking Video Appears on HUD Monitors

The Trump Administration Cannot Use Award Terms and Conditions to Impound Funds (Daniel Jacobson/Just Security)

Preparing Trump’s Military Purge: What MAGA Did Not Want the U.S. Naval Academy to Hear (Ruth Ben-Ghiat/Lucid)

Farmers Sue Over Deletion of Climate Data From Government Websites (Karen Zraick/New York Times)

DOGE Is Inside the National Institutes of Health’s Finance System (Matt Reynolds/Wired)

Sunny Hostin: Opposing Wokeness ‘Is Ungodly’ and ‘Not Christian!’  Sunny Hostin wouldn’t know Christian if it bit her on the foot.

Oversight agency finds Trump’s federal worker firings unlawful, asks for some employees to be reinstated (Eric Katz/GovExec.com)  Guess who’s getting fired next.

Start the 2026 Campaigns *Right Now* (Jill Lawrence/The Bulwark)

7 Former IRS Heads Say Trump Mass Firings a Mistake  But of course they would say that, wouldn’t they?

Dem Who Suggested Using “Actual Weapons” On Elon Says He’s The One Being Threatened

Winner Take All (Jonathan Last/The Bulwark)

AI video of Trump kissing Musk’s feet plays on TVs in HUD building (Brett Samuels/The Hill)

Disarray and Defiance – From Ukraine to Maine, leaders are standing up to authoritarians and the people stand with them. (Jay Kuo/The Status Kuo)

Warner, Who Said CIA Stole Election, Now Leads DOJ Civil Rights (Ben Penn/Bloomberg Law)

LGBTQ Federal Workers Brace for a McCarthyist Purge (Madison Pauly/Mother Jones)

Federal workers and agencies push back against Elon Musk’s email ultimatum (NBC News)

House Dem in Charge of Caucus-Wide Messaging Praises Activist Who Pledged To ‘Take’ Jews ‘Back to Poland’

Nearly 200K sign petition to revoke Musk’s Canadian citizenship (Ailia Zehra/The Hill)

NOBODY LIKES YOU: NYT Finds 7 Grouchy Former IRS Chiefs to Kvetch Over DOGE Cuts

More than 100 House Democrats Push Federal Agencies to Regain Order, Renounce Musk Chaos (The Committee on Oversight …)

Politico, a Voice of the Crust.

You mess with the bull, you get the horns every time.

The D.C. establishment has gotten away with shit for decades because those who actually hold power in Washington haven’t been willing to exercise it. Well, that stops now — for which, if nothing else, Trump deserves kudos.

The Real Goal of the Trump Economy (Jonathan Chait/The Atlantic)

Fire the Muskrat. Now. (Robert Reich)

What Elon Musk’s war on federal workers owes to Gamergate (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)

February 23, 2025 – Something is shifting,” scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder posted on Bluesky yesterday. ” (Heather Cox Richardson/Letters …)

Elon Musk’s worldview is eerily similar to his authoritarian grandad’s (Eric Levitz/Vox)

Neo-Nazi group plots rebuild as Trump’s FBI chief takes helm, audio reveals (Ben Makuch/The Guardian)

The Coup Has Failed – Trump’s falling approval ratings reveal an out-of-touch presidency … (David Dayen/American Prospect)

Hack at Department of Housing and Urban Development Trolls Donald Trump and Elon Musk | Report (Aaron Parnas/MeidasTouch News)

America Has a Rogue President (Frank Kendall/New York Times)

Bright Line Watch Accelerated transgressions in the second Trump presidency (Bright Line Watch)

Trump Wants to Be President for Life–and He’s Already Preparing for It (Michael Tomasky/New Republic)

How Trump’s government-cutting moves risk exposing the CIA’s secrets (CNN)

House Democrats are ramping up their attacks on the GOP agenda (Nicholas Wu/Politico)

The New York Times, a Voice of the Crust.

Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said.

The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, “The ReidOut,” is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years.

MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host “The Weekend,” which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.

I guess anti-white race hatred is no longer in tune with the zeitgeist.

UPDATE: MSNBC Cancels Far-Left-Crazed Host Joy Reid As Woke Implosion Accelerates 

The New York Times, a Voice of the Crust.

President Trump’s return to Washington has tested the bounds of presidential power and set off alarms among Democrats, historians and legal scholars who are warning that the country’s democratic order is under threat.

But a close review of the 2024 election shows just how undemocratic the country’s legislative bodies already are.

After decades of gerrymandering and political polarization, a vast majority of members of Congress and state legislatures did not face competitive general elections last year.

Instead, they were effectively elected through low-turnout or otherwise meaningless primary contests. Vanishingly few voters cast a ballot in those races, according to a New York Times analysis of more than 9,000 congressional and state legislative primary elections held last year. On average, just 57,000 people voted for politicians in U.S. House primaries who went on to win the general election — a small fraction of the more than 700,000 Americans each of those winners now represents.

Increasingly, members of Congress are not even facing primary challenges. About a third of the current members of the House ran unopposed in their primary. All but 12 of those districts were “safe” seats, meaning 124 House members essentially faced no challenge to their election.

This is the sort of total horseshit that is constantly peddled by the Narrative Media these days.

Why is ‘competitive general elections’ the touchstone for ‘democracy’? DEMOCRACY, if you look in a decent dictionary or a decent encyclopedia, consists of people having representatives in the legislature who look out for their interests and pursue the sort of government activity that their constituents would pursue if they weren’t busy making a living. That’s why we have ‘representatives’, because everybody can’t spend their days arguing about politics and voting on every question. There is nothing in this understanding of ‘democracy’ that necessarily includes ‘competitive general elections’.

In fact, reality is quite the opposite. A ‘competitive general election’ means that either candidate can win. If either candidate can win, the one who wins DOES NOT REPRESENT THE INTERESTS of a SIGNIFICANT PART of the electorate. This is particularly true in modern politics, in which polarization has gone to the extreme that women are putting in their dating app profiles ‘no MAGA’ or ‘Woke only’. So this scurrilous rag wants us to believe that an election in which a great chunk of the voters ‘lose to Hitler’ is preferable to an election in which that losing demographic is minimized. Which of these sounds more ‘democratic’ to you?

The quiet part that never gets said out loud is that CLICKBAIT MEDIA NEED A HORSE RACE ELECTION to support their business model. If Joe (or Jane) Blow is sure to get elected, then they have nothing to write about and nobody pays any attention to them, just as nobody would bet on a game that pitted the Kansas City Chiefs against Franklin Roosevelt High School.

GERRYMANDERING IS NOT A BUG. GERRYMANDERING IS A FEATURE. The more like-minded voters you cram into a single district (providing that it doesn’t have an unbalanced number of voters compared to other districts), the more sure you are that those voters will get the representative that they prefer. That is not a distortion of ‘democracy’, but more closely approximates its perfection.

Newspapers and TV news shows and political journalists of every stripe want a tense, nail-biting contest that goes down to the wire, and preferably includes a hard-fought recount that winds up in the courts. This is how they make their money; this is how they aggregate the great glowing gobs of attention that is the lifeblood of every TV talking head and scribbler with a byline: ‘Look at me! Look at me! I’m important! I Am Making A Difference!'[tm].

Think it through, and pay no attention to the NPCs in front of the curtain.

Read it.

Next week, an ever-smaller audience will tune into the Oscars to watch the Hollywood elite congratulate themselves on their bravery for sharing the opinion that Donald Trump is a bad man. Hollywood’s ironclad embrace of the Democratic Party line is nothing new—it is evident in Best Picture nominee A Complete Unknown. The film pretends that Bob Dylan was ostracized from the folk music scene because he went electric when in reality it was because he did not share their radical left-wing politics. This rewriting of history through the movies is sadly the rule, not the exception, when it comes to Hollywood biopics.

Read it.

Legacy media TV anchor Gayle King of CBS appeared shocked to learn that President Trump’s layoffs of FAA employees do not impact air travel safety in the US. Meanwhile, Democrats have been drumming up misinformation and disinformation campaigns with their legacy corporate media partners to push a narrative that layoffs are endangering air safety.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian sets the record straight for far-left propagandist TV news anchor Gayle King:

The cuts do not affect us. I’ve been in close communication with the Secretary of Transportation. I understand that the, the cuts at this time are something that are raising questions, but the reality is there’s over 50,000 people that work at the FAA. And the cuts, I understand, were 300 people, and they were in non-critical safety functions.

The Trump administration has committed to investing deeply in terms of improving the overall technologies that are used in the air traffic control systems and modernizing the skies. They’ve committed to hiring additional controllers and investigators, and safety and investigators. So no, I’m not concerned with that at all.

Read it.

Days before Donald Trump was sworn in as president last month, the Washington Post ostensibly abandoned its catchy #Resistance-era slogan—”Democracy Dies in Darkness”—in favor of something less combative: “Riveting Storytelling for All of America.” Alas, the paper’s recently unveiled “Next 50” list of individuals “shaping our society in 2025” suggests the Post’s journalists are still struggling to dislodge themselves from the woke liberal bubble that has long impeded their ability to make content suitable for normal Americans.

The list is real, but it could easily be mistaken for a caricature of the niche worldview of Acela-corridor journalists and other DEI-obsessed liberal activists. There are a few token Republicans, such as White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, the first woman in history to hold that position. But they weren’t featured in the promotional video the Post produced. It would appear that the paper, which serves a digital audience composed primarily of 55-64-year-olds, is not quite ready to abandon its woke tendencies in order to thrive in the post-#Resistance age. Here are some of the most noteworthy examples of the “fascinating” individuals who made the cut:

Chase Strangio: High-voiced trans activist and deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU. Made history as the first “openly transgender” lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court.

NPR, a Voice of the Crust.

Protests are set to take place in several major cities across the U.S. on Monday, the Presidents Day holiday, according to activists.

These demonstrations are being organized by the 50501 Movement, which stands for “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement.” The protests are a response to what organizers describe as “the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.” This marks the second nationwide protest by the group, following an event held on Feb. 5.

The protests follow a series of executive orders signed by President Trump, including actions led by billionaire Elon Musk, which have been criticized for their aims to diminish the role of the federal government.

So these are essentially statists who don’t like the fact that government might be shrinking.

Simce neither Trump nor Musk give a shit about demonstrations and protests, except as signals that they are on the right course, the true answer to ‘why?’ is a combination of virtue signaling and the warm fuzzies the Left get from making a lot of noise rather than actually, you know, doing’ something that might require work (other than marching around and making a lot of noise).

The Guardian.

The fact that they were in the U.S. illegally is ‘proof of crime’, although the Narrative Media refuse to admit it.

Newsbusters.

Democrats and their corporate media allies like to quietly redefine political terms to suit their needs. Threats to “democracy” are really threats to unaccountable, left-of-center government bureaucracy; “misinformation,” along with its “dis-” and “mal-” cousins, is any fact or narrative that is inconvenient for the political left; and basically anyone or anything who runs afoul of the Democratic party’s agenda can instantly become a “racist.”

One such term that had lain dormant for much of the Biden presidency has re-emerged this week: “constitutional crisis,” — defined as anything that the Trump-run Executive Branch does which Democrats disapprove of but are powerless to stop.

On January 20, President Trump renamed the the Obama-era United States Digital Service to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As the media’s recounting of events goes, Trump then handed the reins over to Elon Musk, and within moments, a torrent of constitutional crises erupted all over the country.

Read it.

Greensplaining why more ice means the world is getting warmer.

Lifehacker, a well-disguised Voice of the Crust.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is a critical federal agency that protects workers’ rights, ensures workplace safety, and promotes employment opportunities across the United States. Around since 1913, the DOL is the latest government entity currently facing scrutiny from the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

On Friday, a federal judge declined to limit DOGE—which is not an official government department, but a task force led by Elon Musk—from accessing the DOL’s systems and sensitive information. Not everyone is happy about that, because they are worried Musk might gut the agency in similar fashion to what is being done with USAID.

But what does the DOL do? It’s worth knowing, because the labor department impacts everyone who has an employer of some kind.

No, that’s what its supposed to do. What it actually does is spend taxpayer money on things that are not the proper business of the Federal government. This includes propping up labor unions (a basic part of the Democrat coalition of the fringes) and promoting regime ideology like DIE.

Lifehacker offers occasionally useful advice in areas that don’t deal with politics, but when touching on politics they purvey the proglodyte Narrative, of which this article is a good example.

An example of them doing something useful is here: I Made the Perfect Boiled Egg, According to Science

Capehart Gets Triggered At Suggestion Biden Abused Executive Power

Newsom Approves $50 Million To Help Migrants, Boost California’s Legal Defense

Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Admin Officials’ Access To ‘Sensitive’ Treasury Records, Cites “Cybersecurity Risk”

Why would a ‘Christian’ destroy the world’s largest relief agency? (AlterNet) Because he realizes that everyone in the U.S. isn’t Christian, and he has to act for the benefit of ALL Americans.

Ed Martin is the wrong person to investigate Biden-era prosecutors (The Hill)

This senator says Democrats need to invoke villains, namely Elon Musk (New York Times) A Democrat Senator, of course.

Trump threatened college research, culture and funding. Confusion reigns. (Washington Post)

“We Need To Go Gangster Here”: NY Mag Editor And Scott Galloway Demand Doxxing And Prison For “Little Pricks” From DOGE

In a harbinger of illiberalism, Trump fired the Archivist of the United States without telling her or Congress why (Alexander B. Howard/CIVIC TEXTS)

Trump rules out deporting Prince Harry: ‘He’s got enough problems with his wife’ (Miranda Devine/New York Post)  Boy, does he ever.

In chaotic Washington blitz, Elon Musk’s ultimate goal becomes clear (Washington Post)

Trump stripping the security clearances of numerous antagonists – including NY AG Letitia James, DA Alvin Bragg (Miranda Devine/New York Post)

Democrat Rep. Sterilizes Herself To Protest Trump  Another win.

Trump’s Conquest of the Kennedy Center Is Accelerating (The Atlantic)

Protesters denounce Trump immigration policies outside his Florida golf club (Reuters)

Children’s Wisconsin hospital reinstates gender-affirming care for trans teen after canceling in wake of Trump’s executive order (Phoebe Petrovic/Wisconsin Watch)

After Indulging Unilateral Biden, PBS Frets Over Strongman Trump, ‘Guardrails’

Researchers decry ‘disastrously bad idea’ as NIH slashes payments for research infrastructure (Katherine Dillinger/CNN)  Oh noes! The gravy train has stopped!

U.S. intelligence, law enforcement candidates face Trump loyalty test (Washington Post) No executive can tolerate employees who are ready to undermine his  policies.

American farmers ruined by Musk killing USAID: Check this map (Deepak Puri/The Democracy Labs)  Of course ‘American farms’ are a proper target of U.S. foreign aid funds — a demonstration of how dysfunctional USAID actually was.

A Tent City Is Rising at Guantánamo Bay (New York Times) Cuba ought to feel right like home.

The Recruitment Effort That Helped Build Elon Musk’s DOGE Army (Wired)

FEC Chair Weighing Options After Trump Moves to Fire Her

NIH Cuts Billions, Alarming Scientists, Academics  Hee hee hee….

Trump Names New Group to Revoke Security Clearances

Lebanese PM Forms New Government, Includes Hezbollah, Rejecting Trump Envoy’s ‘Red Lines’

‘The feel of a coup’: Elon Musk said to be poised to ‘defy’ major judicial order (David McAfee/Raw Story)

Federal Financial Watchdog Ordered to Cease Activity (New York Times)

Politico ‘Note to Our Readers’ on Funding Falls Flat With Readers

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: World Leaders ‘Make Fun’ of Trump Granting Press Access (Unlike Biden)

GOP laws aimed at very rare noncitizen voting could hit eligible voters (Washington Post)

As the Trump upheaval continues, are there restraints that could slow him down? (Dan Balz/Washington Post)

WashPost: US Intelligence Candidates Face Trump Loyalty Tests

Designating Cartels As Terrorists Will Have Huge Consequences, Say Analysts

Federal Courts Are the Frontline for Those Opposing Trump Executive Orders (Mattathias Schwartz/New York Times)

As Trump steamrolls Washington, courts flex their power to slow him down (Kyle Cheney/Politico)

More Profiles of Courage, Patriotism and Resistance in standing up to Trump (Dean Obeidallah/The Dean’s Report)

Musk Team’s Treasury Access Raises Security Fears, Despite Judge’s Ordered Halt (David E. Sanger/New York Times)

The Observer view: Vengeful and reckless, Donald Trump must not go unchallenged (The Guardian)

White House: WashPost ‘Lying’ on NIH Indirect Costs Policy

Musk Calls For Impeachment of ‘Corrupt’ Judge in Treasury Ruling

CBS News poll – Trump has positive approval amid “energetic” opening weeks; seen as doing what he promised (CBS News)

Only Half DOGE Workers Have Musk Ties

Trump Voters Angry at ‘Chaos’: ‘Not What We Signed Up For’ (Joey McFadden/The Daily Beast)

Trump’s Shameful Campaign Against Transgender Americans (New York Times)

Musk calls for impeachment of judge who blocked DOGE access at Treasury (Ian Swanson/The Hill)

A Quick Guide to the Lawsuits Against the Trump Orders (New York Times) Can’t understand the Narrative without  score card!

Trump Doubles CBS Lawsuit Damages To $20 Billion Over Harris’s 60 Minutes Interview

Democratic senator: We are on ‘the cusp’ of a constitutional crisis (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: “Constitutional crisis” in news stories means “a Republican is doing something other than the way a Democrat would do it.”

San Diego Supervisor Says Border Now Ghost Town Under Trump’s New Policies  Another win.

Visualizing the international reach of U.S. funding cut by Trump (Washington Post)

Democratic senator says they are ready to shut down government over Trump actions (The Hill)  They say that like it was a bad thing. (No, they won’t; half of government activities stay funded under various ’emergency need’ statutes.)

Elon Musk is Working His Hardest to Make a Chinese Century (Liberal Currents)

CBS News Poll: Trump’s Job Approval at 53 Percent

Jim Jordan backs Elon Musk’s authority to cut federal government (Amanda Friedman/Politico)

NYT Hypocrisy: Outlet Criticizes Trump’s Attacks On Trans People That They Helped Usher In (Erin Reed/Erin In The Morning)

Trump to Revoke Security Clearances for Prosecutors and Biden Officials (New York Times)

DOGE Moving On to Bigger Govt Targets

In Breaking USAID, the Trump Administration May Have Broken the Law (ProPublica)  They hope, they hope, they hope.

Trump’s ‘mass deportation’ TV reality show is both fake and incredibly dangerous (Will Bunch/The Philadelphia Inquirer)  Will  Bunch loses his shit.

NY Times Lies About Trump’s ‘Conspiracy Theory’ on Land Confiscation (It’s Real)

How Trump Is Uprooting Radical ’60s Foundations of Poisonous DEI and CRT Programs

JD Vance Suggests Judges ‘Aren’t Allowed’ To Control Trump After Courts Block His Policies (Alison Durkee/Forbes)

Consumer watchdog ordered to stop fighting financial abuse and to work from home as HQ temporarily shuts down (Matt Egan/CNN)

Prebunking Elon Musk’s Super Bowl Propaganda (Asha Rangappa/The Freedom Academy …)  Gotta get that Narrative out.

Vance and Musk question the authority of the courts as Trump’s agenda faces legal pushback (Jill Colvin/Associated Press)

Kansas Refletor.

‘Starving people worldwide’ are not the responsibility of the American taxpayers.

Feeding ‘starving people worldwide’ is not the job of the U. S. government.

Read it.

For years, the climate movement has been selling itself as the last, best hope to “save the planet.” But as public skepticism rises, elections swing toward climate realists, and economic realities set in, the messaging is undergoing a transparent shift. The latest rebranding effort, as highlighted in an Associated Press report, attempts to reposition green energy as an economic juggernaut, promising jobs and prosperity rather than just lower carbon emissions?.

New bird flu variant found in Nevada dairy cows has experts sounding alarms: ‘We have never been closer to a pandemic from this virus’ (Fortune)

Second bird flu strain found in US dairy cattle, USDA says (Reuters)

New bird flu variant in cattle adds to concerns about federal response under Trump (NPR)

Dairy cows infected with second version of bird flu (Washington Poop)

Musk’s team lands at consumer bureau (Politico)

Vance on DOGE Staffer Who Quit Over Racist Tweets: ‘Bring Him Back’

Vance and Trump Call for Rehiring of DOGE Staffer Who Quit Over Racist Posts. Musk Obliges. (New York Times)

NBC Contradicts Itself After Bashing Trump for Saying Air Traffic Control Comments

REVEALED: George Soros Poured $36.8 Million into Apparatus Controlling His Prosecutors

Nevada Gubernatorial Hopeful, Who Once Sponsored Sanctuary State Bill, Now Says He Supports Trump’s Deportation Policies

Anti-Israel Groups Recruiting Celebrities To Sign ‘Unbranded’ $200K NYT Ad Opposing Trump’s Gaza Plan

Trump’s FBI Pick Kash Patel Took Up to $5M in Stock from Chinese Ecommerce Giant Shein (Louise Matsakis/Wired)  Random mud … hope some will stick….

Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Expected to Examine Another Treasury System Next Week (ProPublica)  Good.

Kash Patel Took $25,000 From Russia-Linked Firm to Appear on an Anti-FBI TV Series (Mother Jones)

LINKED: “Linked” in news stories means “there is a strong correlation but we can’t really say that there’s a causal link without being called out for it, but we’re going to write as if there actually was a causal link because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to stir people up and get more clicks”.

Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID’s workforce by thousands (NBC News)  An Obama-appointed judge, of course.

California Town Explores Installing Cameras To Monitor Migrant Boat Arrivals

Former GOP Director Of FBI, CIA Urges Chuck Grassley To Stop Kash Patel’s Nomination (Jennifer Bendery/HuffPost)  The Deep State strikes back.

San Francisco sues Trump, alleging ‘authoritarian’ threats against sanctuary cities (Politico)

Judge pauses Trump plan to put USAID staff on leave (Kevin Breuninger/CNBC)

Pluralistic: “The Fagin figure leading Elon Musk’s merry band of pubescent sovereignty pickpockets” (07 Feb 2025) (Cory Doctorow/Pluralistic)  Cory Doctorow is a social-justice-warrior masquerading as an author and ‘tech guru’.

Exclusive: Trump Air Force nominee arranged satellite contract in manner that favored Musk’s SpaceX, sources say (Reuters)  Sources say! That proves it!

Trump Signs Order Sanctioning The Hague’s ICC Over Treatment Of Israel

The Elite Lawyers Working for Elon Musk’s DOGE Include Former Supreme Court Clerks (ProPublica)  Republican Supreme Court Clerks, of course.

Twitter Files Extra: Who Were the Players that Painted Trump Nominees As Russian Assets?

MUSK-ETEERS: Legacy Media Melt Down Over Trump Admin Employing Talented Youths

DOJ Issues Directive Ending Biden-Era Task Force Aimed At Seizing Assets Of Russian Oligarchs

OLIGARCH: “Oligarch” in news stories means “a rich person who isn’t on our side.”

AG Bondi to Criminally Prosecute Private Entities for DEIA (Qasim Rashid/Let’s Address …)

Is Donald Trump Afraid of Elon Musk? (Gabriel Sherman/Vanity Fair)  They actually pay people to write this crap.

Trump says he’s revoking Biden’s security clearance, ending intelligence briefings in payback move (Associated Press)

House Democrats denied entry into Education Department (Mackenzie Wilkes/Politico)

Why Trump’s plan to “clean out” Gaza actually matters (Joshua Keating/Vox)

Kash Patel was paid by Russian filmmaker with Kremlin ties, documents show (Washington Post)  Ties! That proves it!

A Constitutional crisis in Washington mixes with a civic information emergency (Alexander B. Howard/CIVIC TEXTS) In other words nobody is buying the Narrative any more.

DOGE-ing Questions in Federal Court (Anna Bower/Default)

Donald Trump Says He’ll Name Himself Chairman Of Kennedy Center And Oust Board Members (Ted Johnson/Deadline)

DOJ orders child safety authority to comply with Trump’s ‘gender ideology’ order (NBC News)

19 states sue Trump, Treasury to halt DOGE access (Politico)

States accuse Trump administration of continuing to block federal climate funding (Politico)  Which is what he was elected to do.

Behind Closed Doors, Trudeau Says Trump Threat to Take Over Canada Is Real (Vjosa Isai/New York Times)

Trump’s New Line of Attack Against the Media Gains Momentum (David Enrich/New York Times)

Falsehoods Fuel the Right-Wing Crusade Against U.S.A.I.D. (New York Times)

California Attorney General Accuses Children’s Hospital of Discrimination for Pausing Sex-Change Drugs for Kids

Education Department Cancels $15 Million in Grants for DEI Programs at Three Universities

Treasury elevates Musk ally to lead government payment system (Michael Stratford/Politico)

Trump fires archivist of the United States, official who oversees government records (Kathryn Watson/CBS News)

STAT+: NIH plans to slash support for indirect research costs, sending shockwaves through science (STAT)  Oh noes! The gravy train has stopped!

Trump Is Unraveling the World Order With Unprecedented Speed (Wall Street Journal)

Deep Cuts to Medical Research Funds Could Hobble University Budgets (Christina Jewett/New York Times)  Oh noes! The gravy train is stopped!

Trump and Musk Attack Journalists by Name in Social Media Posts (Katie Robertson/New York Times)  Why not? They’re attacking Trump and Musk by name. They can dish it out, but they can’t take it.

Pete Hegseth Under Fire From Dems Over Alleged $49,000 ‘Emergency’ Paint Job For Government Home (Antonio Pequeño IV/Forbes)

Chemical Companies Ask Trump’s EPA To Hide Potential Disasters (Katya Schwenk/The Lever)

Lawmakers flooded with calls about Elon Musk: ‘It is a deluge on DOGE’ (Washington Post)

14 States To File Lawsuit Against DOGE Access To Government Payment Systems

Trump officials exerting unprecedented control over CDC scientific journal (Alexander Tin/CBS News)

American Personnel Abroad Face Chaos and Confusion as USAID Shuts Down (Wall Street Journal)

Judge denies union demand to block DOGE’s access to Labor Department data (Nick Niedzwiadek/Politico)

Will a Time Magazine Cover Drive a Wedge Between Trump and Musk? (Shawn McCreesh/New York Times)  Something that would matter only to a ‘journalist’.

Trump Signs Order to Kill Federal Agency Investigating Tesla (Allison Walker/International Business …)

With Aid Cutoff, Trump Severs a Lifeline for Millions (Apoorva Mandavilli/New York Times)  Since when are these ‘millions’ the responsibility of the American taxpayer?

In Trump’s actions, opponents see more than cuts – they see a constitutional crisis (Washington Post)

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: “Constitutional crisis” in news stories means “a Republican is doing something other than the way a Democrat would do it.”

Democrats Take Aim at Elon Musk (Lisa Lerer/New York Times)  This is news?

Trump and Musk Bring Vast Aid Machinery to a Halt in Africa (Declan Walsh/New York Times)  Since when is Africa the responsibility of the American taxpayer?

The real lesson of the DOGE racist tweets scandal (Abdallah Fayyad/Vox)  Your tempests in teapots don’t work any more.

Did Trump Quietly Kill a Sensitive Pentagon Probe into Elon Musk? (Greg Sargent/New Republic)  Greg Sargent loses his shit.

A sample of the government webpages Trump doesn’t want you to see (Washington Post)

Federal workers who took Trump buyout feel fear, regret after judge’s order (Aaron Wiener/Washington Post)

How spending $153M to pay its bills put USAID in DOGE’s crosshairs (Politico)

San Francisco Sues Over Trump Plan to Defund Sanctuary Cities (Malathi Nayak/Bloomberg)

“The greatest threat we’ve ever faced”: US Treasury division classifies DOGE staff as extreme danger (Alex Galbraith/Salon)  The Deep State strikes back.

Firefighter Hiring Stalls at Federal Agencies After Trump’s Freeze (Soumya Karlamangla/New York Times)

Attorney General Bonta Sues Trump Administration Over DOGE’s Unlawful Access to Americans’ Personal Information (State of California)

‘It’s a Circus’: Trump Unleashes Chaos at Key US Science Agency (Bloomberg)

Indirect Costs and Trump’s Attack on Independent Voices (Samuel Bagenstos/Inside/Outside)

Trump’s Gaza proposal strikes fear in his new Arab American supporters (Natalie Allison/Washington Post)

Read it.

This latest attempt to link climate change to urban rat infestations is yet another example of the decline in journalistic integrity at WaPo, sadly a growing problem for the mainstream media in general, especially when reporting on climate change. Rather than investigating the real causes of urban rodent problems — mismanagement, weak policies, and neglect — WaPo chose to push a climate change narrative lacking any basis in fact. This is not just bad reporting; it is deliberate misdirection. The public deserves better than climate hysteria masquerading as news.

Read it.

Ladies and gentlemen, no matter how often the climate doomsday cult appears to have officially reached peak absurdity, along comes another “journalist” saying: Hold my beer! No longer content with blaming hurricanes, wildfires, and bad hair days on climate change, TIME magazine has now decided that football—yes, the sport where 300-pound men slam into each other at full speed—is somehow under siege from slightly warmer weather.

UnHerd.

I’m not talking about whether or not the disease existed, that’s moot, because the pandemic was fake.

The photos of dead bodies on the street in Wuhan were fake.

The refrigerated morgue trucks were fake.

The overcrowded hospitals were fake.

The “cases” and “deaths” were fake.

The dancing nurses were fake.

The research papers and peer review was fake.

The fear was fake. They told you that. They said you weren’t in danger and trusted you not to hear them.

Read it.

After being compelled by the Federal Communications Commission to turn over the unedited transcript and video of their infamous interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris for 60 Minutes, the FCC released it to the public.

After reviewing the video (clip from the raw video below), NewsBusters can confirm that what appeared on 60 Minutes was highly edited. Not only did they edit what appeared on 60 Minutes, they also edited what appeared on Face the Nation, including cutting out a hard hitting question that called out the Biden-Harris administration for looking weak on the world stage.

UPDATE: WATCH: How 60 Minutes Cleaned Up Kamala’s Word Salad

UPDATE: CBS News Transcripts Show Kamala’s Answers Heavily Edited

Read it.

For all their claims that President Trump, conservatives, and America were bigoted and full of hate, the liberal ladies of ABC’s The View were just projecting their own ugliness. During Wednesday’s show, the cast flaunted their ageism, smeared a certain immigrant with lies about their status, and baselessly lashed out at pro-lifers to blame them for something the attacker admitted they didn’t know the truth of.

Despite her staunch support for then-President Biden’s run for re-election and denial of any issues with his age and obvious failing mental facilities, moderator Whoopi Goldberg suggested that President Trump was too old for the job

Read it.

It seems as if The Washington Post has dropped its facade somewhat about how star-spangled fantastic the Biden economy supposedly was, but only now that President Donald Trump is in office. Coincidence? We think not!

Illegal Immigrants Helpfully Wave Flags So ICE Knows Where To Send Them  (Babylon Bee)

China targets U.S. coal, gas, Google as Trump tariffs take effect (NPR)

Futures tick lower as China responds to US tariffs (Reuters)

China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google (Associated Press)

U.S. tariffs on China take effect, adding 10% levy to imports (Washington Poop)

El Salvador offers to lock up US criminals in its mega-jail (BBC)

Jailbnb: ‘Send me your criminals – for a fee!’ says El Salvador as US looks to outsource prison system (Times of India)

El Salvador agrees to accept US deportees of any nationality following meeting with Rubio (Fox News)

How Elon Musk set off two weeks of chaos across Washington (CNN)  Not really ‘news’.

What is USAID, the foreign assistance agency Trump wants to shut down? (NBC News) Because you’re too stupid to look it up on your own, and besides we want to control the Narrative.

Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building (Axios) Preventing them from doing some stupid-shit virtue-signaling performance, like a sit-down or blocking doorways.

Democrats blocked from entering USAID headquarters (The Hill)

Rubio says ‘no choice’ but to bring USAID ‘under control’ after agency takeover: ‘rank insubordination’ (Fox News) AKA ‘resistance’.

Rubio asserts control of USAID, vows to end ‘insubordination’ (Washington Poop)

Judge in nation’s capital extends block on Trump administration federal funding freeze (Associated Press)

Elon Musk Installs Illegal Server to Seize All Federal Workers’ Data (The New Republic)

‘Robbery in progress’: Small group protests at OPM over Musk allies’ access to federal employee personal data (Government Executive) I’ll bet you didn’t know that there was a publication called Government Executive.

People protesting Elon Musk and DOGE gather outside the Office of Personnel Management (Associated Press)

The Elon-ification of the federal government (Axios)

What Trump and Musk are doing could change the American system forever (Andrew Prokop/Vox)  Here’s hoping.

RFK Jr. misled the US Senate on measles deaths, Samoa’s health chief says (Charlotte Graham-McLay/Associated Press)

Trump to pause promised tariffs for 30 days after speaking with Trudeau (John Paul Tasker/CBC News)  You see? It’s just a bargaining. tool. That’s what Trump does–make deals.

EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Asks Pentagon Chief Hegseth to Pull Security Clearance of Leftist Megadonor Reid Hoffman

Which states may feel the brunt of Trump’s tariffs (Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios)

Trump-Appointed DC Attorney Offers to Protect Musk’s DOGE Staff (Nick Wadhams/Bloomberg)

Key State Department Programs ‘Wiped Out’ After Dozens of Contractors Fired (NOTUS)

The GOP’s meek acquiescence to Trump’s power grabs (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

Watch: Hornet’s Nest Kicked As Raskin, Omar Throw Public Tantrum Over USAID Hostile Takeover

Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data (Washington Post)

The Trump Executive Orders as “Radical Constitutionalism” (Executive Functions)

Spoiling For A Fight: Why Challenging Birthright Citizenship May Be A Win-Win Strategy For Trump

‘Paid administrative hell’: Some Department of Education staff put on leave after Trump’s DEI order (Arthur Jones II/ABC News)

‘Fork off’: Protesters gather outside OPM to condemn Elon Musk ‘stealing’ personal data (Cybele Mayes-Osterman/USA Today)

Trump Pausing Tariffs on Mexico, Canada as Both Pledge to Boost Border Enforcement

Top N.Y. FBI Agent Vows to ‘Dig In’ Amid Purge of Top Brass

‘Gender Ideology’ Ban Is Already Harming Health, Experts Say (New York Times)

Musk’s Takeover Of The Government’s Computer Systems Needs To Be Understood As A Cyberattack, Or Worse (Cathy Gellis/Techdirt)

Murphy says tax records ‘potentially compromised’ by Musk (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

Trump’s Border Deals With Canada, Mexico Avert Trade War for Now (Bloomberg)

Nobody Voted for Elon Musk (Clara Jeffery/Mother Jones)  Just like Kamala Harris!

Restaurants Shutter to Support Migrant Protest  Really? None of the restaurants I go to.

Elon Musk Suggests Getting Rid Of All Regulations In Midnight Call (Matt Shuham/HuffPost)

Musk Says He’s ‘Deleted’ Popular Free IRS Tax Filing Program (Nandika Chatterjee/The Daily Beast)

Trump II Punishes Fed Workers For Attending Trump I Diversity Training (Josh Kovensky/Talking Points Memo)

Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with White nationalists to top State Department role (CNN) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government (New York Times)

Treasury Secretary Sued by Unions Over Disclosures to Musk

‘What is happening here is illegal’: Dem senator confronts security at USAID headquarters (David Edwards/Raw Story)

State Dept. Fires About 60 Contractors Working on Democracy and Human Rights (New York Times)

Trump administration finalizing plans to shutter Education Department (Juan Perez Jr/Politico)

Top ’60 Minutes’ Producer Says He Will Not Apologize Over Trump Lawsuit (New York Times)

The trade war in Trump’s mind (Politico)  As if anybody who writes for Politico has a clue about Trump’s mind….

A Coup Is In Progress In America (Mike Masnick/Techdirt)  Somebody just woke up and read a Voice of the Crust.

Jan. 6 conspiracy theory promoter named to a top State Department job (NBC News)

Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Republicans take a back seat as Trump steamrolls Congress with flurry of unilateral moves (NBC News) And they’re passing the popcorn.

Elon Musk Is President (Jonathan Lemire/The Atlantic)  If only….

Statement by AFSA on Decision to Dismantle USAID (afsa.org)

CONSTITUTIONAL STANDOFF – *Special Alert from The Contrarian* – Public opposition … (Jennifer Rubin/The Contrarian)  Jennifer Rubin loses her shit.

The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government (Charlie Warzel/The Atlantic)  Stand back — you don’t want to get any of that stuff on you.

How Trump’s Novel Legal Theory Made Mexico and Canada Cave Under Pressure

Elon Musk Is an Existential Threat to Big Tech (Joan Westenberg/The Index)

Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Still Blocking HIV/AIDS Relief Exempted From Foreign Aid Cuts (Kate Knibbs/Wired)  Because curing negligent homosexuals offshore is a core U.S. interest.

DOGE’s access to federal data is ‘an absolute nightmare,’ legal experts warn (Politico)

Dem Lawmakers Urge RFK Jr. To Recuse From All Vaccine-Related Decisions  Translation: “We don’t have the votes to stop you, but we’re hoping we can talk you into putting on your own handcuffs.”

MSNBC’s Obeidallah Slams ‘Racist Piece of Garbage’ Trump’s ‘Fascist Spectacle’

Democrats flood the zone with acts of anti-Trump resistance (Andrew Solender/Axios)

The Resistance Media Frantically Scramble to Save USAID

Musk, Trump Prosecutor Targeting People Who Divulge Identities of DOGE Staff (Miles Klee/Rolling Stone) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Progressive Democrats accuse Trump and Musk of ‘a plutocratic coup’ (Joan E Greve/The Guardian)

Unmasked: Elon’s Secret DOGE Goon Squad–Every One Under 26 (Josh Fiallo/The Daily Beast)  Unlike the aging hippies that constitute Democrat goon squads.

A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System (Wired) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHHHH….

Affirmative action for white men (Judd Legum/Popular Information)  He says that like it was a bad thing.

President-unelect Musk pushes US democracy to the brink (Stephen Robinson/Public Notice)

Trump’s obsession: He can’t quit bashing Biden (Erin Doherty/Axios)  Much like Doherty’s obsession: She can’t quit bashing Trump.

Trump’s other immigration strategy: Looking tough for the cameras (Axios)  He looks tough because he is tough.

How Trump Is Reshaping U.S. Government, Just 2 Weeks Into His Presidency (Peter Baker/New York Times)

The worst thing Trump has done so far (Dylan Matthews/Vox)

About 20,000 federal workers took “buyout” so far, official says (Marc Caputo/Axios)  I guess it’s working, slowly but surely.

What the Musk is Happening? – When writing posts for this newsletter, I like to have a clear focus … (Paul Krugman) But you’re Krugman, so that’s not gonna happen.

The Familiar Arrogance of Musk’s Young Apparatchiks (Michelle Goldberg/New York Times)  Because it’s just like the arrogance of Democrat young apparatchiks.

Trump’s plan to kill offshore wind is paying off (Politico)  Another win.

‘Scared and betrayed’ – workers are reeling from chaos at federal agencies (The Verge) They can dish it out but they can’t take it.

Hey Erica, Nobody Cares! NYT Journo Cries ‘Racist’ at Trump Dismantling Woke DEI

Trump’s impending massacre of the federal workforce will destroy his second term (The Hill)  We’ll find out.

To Save Democracy, Start Filing Cases (Peter M. Shane/Washington Monthly)

E.P.A. Demotes Career Employees Overseeing Science, Enforcement and More (Lisa Friedman/New York Times)  Emphasis on ‘enforcement’.

USAID Pays the Terrorists Who Kill Us (Victoria Taft/PJ Media)

Trump personally ordered firings of special counsel prosecutors (Hugo Lowell/The Guardian)

Terrible Nominees, Terrified Americans: Senators Could Actually Make a Difference This Month (Jill Lawrence/The Bulwark)  The Kristol Krew go full-on proglodyte.

Watchdog Sues West Point for Withholding Records About Its False Claims Against Pete Hegseth

“Hitler actually had some good ideas”: Musk’s covert coup is guided by internet trolls (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)  Amanda Marcotte loses her shit.

Trump 2.0: A Survival Guide for Democrats (Ruy Teixeira/The Free Press)

Hoping to “Trump Proof” Students’ Civil Rights, Illinois Lawmakers Aim to End Police Ticketing at School (ProPublica)

MAGA Senator Goes on Weird Rant About Sex and Omelets (Philippe Naughton/The Daily Beast)  MAGA is the New Nigger.

Elon Musk’s Midnight Takeover (Anna Merlan/Mother Jones)

Musk Cronies Dive Into Treasury Dept Payments Code Base (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

Exclusive: how NSF is scouring research grants for violations of Trump’s orders (Nature)

White House preparing executive order to abolish the Department of Education (NBC News)

The seven techies barely out of college helping Musk to slash billions from federal government (The Independent)

‘F**k That’: Federal Workers Say They’re Scared But ‘Digging In’ Amid Trump’s Chaos (Jennifer Bendery/HuffPost)

Trump Claims Victory Over Canada, Mexico After Getting … Basically Nothing (Nikki McCann Ramirez/Rolling Stone)

FBI agents sue to block DOJ from compiling list of officials who worked on Jan. 6 or Trump cases (Politico)

Here are the words putting science in the crosshairs of Trump’s orders (Washington Post)  Or at least what passes for ‘science’ in the Deep State.

Doctors Sue Over Trump Health Agencies’ Removal of Online Data (Zoe Tillman/Bloomberg)

U.S. Begins Migrant Flights to Guantanamo Bay (Wall Street Journal)

NFL to remove ‘End Racism’ messaging in end zone ahead of Super Bowl: Sources (Michael Silver/New York Times)

Trump’s Attack On The Deep State Is Spectacular And Almost Certainly Legal

Scoop: Senate Dems plot USAID revenge on Trump (Stephen Neukam/Axios)

Inside Trump and Musk’s Clumsy, ‘Exhausting’ Hunt for Leakers (Rolling Stone)

‘Stop Playing Nice,’ Says AOC as Senate Dems Help Approve Yet Another Trump Nominee (Julia Conley/Common Dreams)

‘Beyond betrayal.’ Venezuelans in Florida are angry at Trump immigration policy (Greg Allen/NPR)

Venezuela Agrees to Take Back Its Citizens, Releases US Prisoners

Ocasio-Cortez: Musk ‘one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met’ (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)  Harsh words coming from Occasional-Cortex.

Half of Wisconsin Head Start programs can’t access needed funds after federal freeze (Richelle Wilson/WPR)  Good, since Head Start has been shown to be totally ineffective except in spending taxpayer dollars.

Elon Musk’s Power Grab Is Lawless, Dangerous, and–Yes–a Coup (Slate)

Trump Admin Reopens Millions of Acres for Oil Drilling in Rollback of Biden Climate Agenda

Jake Tapper Lets Dem Senator Spew Anti-Musk ‘Heil Hitler Salute’ Hoax

Illegal Executive Spending Decisions Are Happening Now (David Dayen/American Prospect)

Anne Applebaum: Outside the Rule of Law (The Bulwark)

Read it.

All the chickens will come there to roost … and peck.

Elon Musk says he and Trump are shutting down USAID (NBC News)

Elon Musk said Donald Trump agreed USAID needs to be ‘shut down’ (CNN) Perhaps the era of passing out taxpayer dollars to ungrateful foreigners is finally over.

Musk’s DOGE takes aim at ‘viper’s nest’ federal agency with global footprint (Fox News)

Rubio says Panama must reduce Chinese influence around the canal or face possible US action (Associated Press)

Trump reiterates threat to retake Panama Canal ‘or something very powerful’ will happen (CNN)

Rubio demands Panama ‘reduce China influence’ over canal (BBC)

Three things to know about Rubio’s first international trip (NPR) Come git yer Narrative, right here.

Sen. Mark Warner warns of ramifications for Trump’s FBI and Justice Department firings (Amanda Friedman/Politico)

‘This is a five-alarm fire’: Experts pounce on Musk’s new ‘grave national security threat’ (David McAfee/Raw Story)

Agents ‘have started to pack up their desks’ as fear of FBI mass firings swirls (NBC News)

Turmoil inside USAID: DOGE reps take over offices, senior officials placed on leave (ABC News)

“Legitimately FAKE NEWS”: White House Debunks Dem Freakout Over DOGE Access To “Secure Spaces” As Musk Drops Redpills Over USAID Biolabs

Paxton weighs Cornyn challenge as Texas GOP rift deepens (Jared Gans/The Hill)  I’d vote for Paxton over Cornyn. Hell,  I’d vote for a Democrat over Cornyn.

Musk Says DOGE Halting Treasury Payments to US Contractors (Bloomberg)

Trump Tariffs Threaten to Upend Global Economic Order (Alan Rappeport/New York Times)  Trump specializes in kicking over the game board.

Trump administration taps controversial conservative journalist for top job (ABC News)

Confusion over federal funding freeze prompts public health concerns (Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech/The Hill)

Trump Effect Continues: Panama Bends The Knee, Will Not Renew “Silk Road” Deal With China After Rubio Visit

FBI distributing questionnaire probing agents’ work on Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases, sources say (CBS News)

MAGA intellectual Darren Beattie will fill key State Department role (Ben Smith/Semafor)  MAGA is the New Nigger.

Panama Won’t Renew Belt and Road Agreement With China, Making It First Latin American Nation To Leave Initiative

FBI agents, officials asked to detail their work on Jan. 6 cases (Politico)

Trump to cut off all future funding to South Africa (Reuters)  Reuters has to put the proglodyte trope “without evidence” in their report so that their readers will know what to think.

Trump Vows to Punish South Africa Over Law to Expropriate Land (Bloomberg)

Illegal Migrant Protests Ramp Up In US Cities In Response To Trump Deportations  Great! That tells ICE who to deport first.

Musk Moves With Lightning Speed to Exert Control Over the Government (Wall Street Journal)

How Trump’s Dismantling Of USAID Marks A Seismic, Historic Shift In America’s Role In The World

GOP rep says he supports ‘purging’ of State Department (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

Trump’s Move to Put Tariff Hikes Ahead of Tax Cuts Has Spooked Almost Everyone (Lindsay Wise/Wall Street Journal)

CNN’s Bolduan Cues Up Latina Congresswoman to Gripe About ‘Terrorizing’ ICE Raids

Trump Election Boosted Hamas-Held Hostages’ Spirits

More USAID Staff Ousted as Trump Administration Dismantles Aid Agency

Thousands rally in downtown Los Angeles, shut down 101 Freeway to protest Trump’s immigration policies (Los Angeles Times)

Trump used fentanyl to justify tariffs, but the crisis was already easing (Brian Mann/NPR)

NY lawmakers scramble to respond to Trump’s rapid fire of executive orders

Two weeks in, Donald Trump can’t stop talking about Joe Biden (Matt Viser/Washington Post)  Reminding people of the Bad Old Days.

Key Trump Cabinet members refuse to acknowledge Trump lost in 2020 (Washington Post) Gee, I wonder why….

Trump’s Foreign Policy: What to Expect From MAGA 2.0

Playbook: Some unholy (trade) war (Jack Blanchard/Politico)

Trump, Musk wage two-front war as donor does president’s ‘dirty work’ (Washington Post)

Trump’s mobster media shakedowns (Lisa Needham/Public Notice) Just like a Democrat!

China Reportedly Preparing Trade Talks With Trump After Weekend Tariff Shock  Got their attention.

USAID workers at Washington HQ told to stay home on Monday in unexpected, early-morning email (Lauren Kent/CNN)  Feel free to stick your head in the oven if you feel like it.

Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach (John Zangas/DCMediaGroup)

Trade war begins, as Trump leaves the world guessing (Felix Salmon/Axios)

The split personality of Big Journalism in covering this nightmare (Margaret Sullivan/American Crisis)

Are America’s four main adversaries really in cahoots? (Joshua Keating/Vox)  Doesn’t matter.

LA Times owner boosts RFK Jr. online, as writer says paper cut his critique (David Folkenflik/NPR)

Kash Patel Is a Warning Shot (David French/New York Times)

Celebrities Take Veiled Swipes at Trump During 67th Grammys  That’s progress — they used to be blunt and obvious.

Trump Administration Closes USAID Headquarters (Wall Street Journal)

Musk On DOGE Cuts: “USAID A Ball Of Worms, No Apple. Must Get Rid Of Whole Thing”

What’s at risk when the federal government also is (Philip Bump/Washington Post)  Philip Bump loses his shit.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Sounds ‘Five Alarm Fire’ Over Latest Elon Musk News (Lee Moran/HuffPost)

Democrats fume over weak early response to Trump (The Hill)

Behind DOGE’s Standoff at USAID: Desk Searches and Elon Musk Calling (Bloomberg)

Dem Sens Demand RFK Jr. Recusal From Vaccine Matters if Confirmed

Hostile Takeover – “Department of Government Efficiency” Hijacks The Federal Government (Alexander Vindman/Why It Matters)

Elon Musk Wants to Get Operational Control of the Treasury’s Payment System. This Could Not Possibly Be More Dangerous (Notes on the Crises) No, he just wants the truth about where the money is going.

Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees (Caleb Ecarma/Popular Information)

McConnell: Trump pardons a ‘mistake,’ Jan. 6 ‘an insurrection’ (Sarah Fortinsky/The Hill)  The Deep State speaks.

Musk Aides Lock Govt HR Workers Out of Computer Systems

Canada’s tariff list targets Republican states, Trump allies (Mickey Djuric/Politico)

The GOP Still Has No Legislative Plan (David Dayen/American Prospect)  The plan is not to make more laws, but to get rid of the stupid ones we already have.

‘Trump will screw up’: Schumer plots the Democratic comeback (Burgess Everett/Semafor)

MSNBC’s Phang Accuses Trump of ‘Indiscriminate’ Arresting ‘Brown’ Immigrants

Trump Effect: US Manufacturing Surveys Signal ‘Expansion’ For First Time In 16 Months

“We Will Fight Back”: Aid Workers Fear Closing a Camp on the Arizona Border Will Endanger Migrants (ProPublica)

Trump plans to invoke obscure 18th century wartime law in bid for mass deportations (Reuters)  There’s a law for that….

Trade War Over? Mexican President Says Tariffs Delayed For Month After Deploying 10,000 Troops To Border To Halt Fentanyl

Why are the Democrats so spineless? – No wonder the American public thinks of Democrats … (Moira Donegan/The Guardian)

Elon Musk Is Permanently Deleting Government Agencies (Andrew Perez/Rolling Stone)

Trump halts tariffs on Mexico as it rushes troops to border (Mary Beth Sheridan/Washington Post)

CEO Of Canada’s 2nd Largest Company Supports Trump Tariffs, Slams Trudeau

Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs (New York Times)

Trump To Suspend Funding To South Africa Over Land Expropriation

Live updates: Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico, plans to speak later to Canadian leader (Washington Post)  All it takes is a bit of firmness. New sheriff in town.

More Dangerous than Watergate – In case you missed it–or if you don’t subscribe to The Triad … (William Kristol/The Bulwark)  Carl Bernstein must be on vacation.

Some GOP officials say Trump administration’s federal workers buyout program is illegal (Jennifer Jacobs/CBS News)

Statement on Designation of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)

Trump is sowing the seeds of an anti-American alliance (Gideon Rachman/Financial Times)

Hakeem Jeffries wants funding freeze ‘choked off’ in spending deal (Nicholas Wu/Politico)

Canada’s Auto Industry Faces Shutdown Threat Amid Tariff Shock

Trump puts Mexico tariffs on hold for 1 month after a call with the Mexican president (Tara Neill/NPR)

Trump Pauses Mexico Tariffs to ‘Achieve a Deal’

Secretary of State Rubio Made Acting Administrator of USAID

USAID security leaders removed after refusing Elon Musk’s DOGE employees access to secure systems (NBC News)

I’m a Federal Worker. Elon Musk’s Government Data Heist Is the Entire Ballgame. (Denise Cana/Slate)

Protest in downtown Los Angeles over ICE raids blocks 101 Freeway (CBS News)

Bill Kristol Admits The Quiet Part Out Loud: “The Deep State Is Far Preferable To The Trump State”

EXCLUSIVE: Wikipedia Effectively Blacklists ALL Right-Leaning Media; Smearing Trump, GOP and Conservatives

Musk: I’m Closing Entire Federal Agency Down Right Now (Matt Young/The Daily Beast)

Democratic Senator Says He Will Stall Trump Nominees Until USAID Is Back (Alexander Ward/Wall Street Journal)

Democratic senators say they have ‘grave concerns’ over RFK Jr.’s potential financial conflicts (Natasha Korecki/NBC News)

N.Y. Attorney General Warns Hospitals Against Canceling Transgender Care (Joseph Goldstein/New York Times)

NPR and PBS first target in MTG’s DOGE crosshairs (Katherine Tully-McManus/Politico)

Dozens of Education Department staffers on leave amid Trump’s DEI purge (Lexi Lonas Cochran/The Hill)

Trump backs down on Mexico tariffs after Mexican president pledges border troops (David Edwards/Raw Story)  ‘Backs down’ is a curious way to say ‘won’.

US to again withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, stop UNRWA funding (Megan Messerly/Politico)  The wins just keep on comin’.

From Pardons to Purges: Pressing Questions that Bondi and Patel Must Answer Now (Mary B. McCord/Just Security)  MUST! THEY MUST! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? MUST!

Amid Trump Crackdown, University of Minnesota Becomes Latest School To Start ‘Reassessing’ DEI

Judge Considers Injunction for Trump Funding Freeze

‘Filled With Unmitigated Terror’ (David Dayen/American Prospect)  Good, good….

The illegal alien criminals weren’t so hard to find after all

Elon Musk’s Attempt to Control the Treasury Payment System Is Incredibly Dangerous (Nathan Tankus/Rolling Stone)  To the spenders….

Kinzinger to House Dems: ‘Get out there and do something’ about Musk (Tara Suter/The Hill)

CFPB halts work after Trump appoints Bessent as acting head (Tony Romm/Washington Post)  Another win.

Trump admin zeros in on school choice, dismantling DEI (Rebecca Carballo/Politico)

Judge signals plan to further block Trump spending freeze (Politico)

Pronouns Are Being Forcibly Removed From Government Email Signatures (Dell Cameron/Wired)

DOJ Says Trump Administration Doesn’t Have to Follow Court Order Halting Funding Freeze (Courtney Cohn/Democracy Docket)

Elon Musk is officially an employee of the US government – but he’s not getting a paycheck (Bryan Metzger/Business Insider)  Hell, he’d probably pay for the privilege.

Ending USAID climate programs could increase security risks (Andrew Freedman/Axios)

Trump Advisers Weigh Plan to Dismantle Education Department (Wall Street Journal)

Trump’s hiring freeze creates ‘scary time’ at National Park Service (Heather Richards/Politico)

Trump To Withdraw US From UN Agencies That Whitewash ‘Horrific Human Rights Violations’

ACLU Sues Over Trump Ban on Asylum at US-Mexico Border

Dozens of Ed Dept Workers Put on Leave Over Trump’s Anti-DEI Order

Texas Gov. OKs National Guard to Arrest Immigrants  More accurately, illegal immigrants.

E.P.A. Tells More Than 1,000 They Could Be Fired ‘Immediately’ (Lisa Friedman/New York Times)

Read it.

Add Wikipedia to the growing list of media outlets that are ignoring the memo that Donald Trump won the election and liberals are no longer in charge.

In a revealing new report, the Media Research Center, the conservative news watchdog, said on Monday that Wikipedia has effectively blacklisted new sources that lean right, making it a liberal online encyclopedia based on left-wing media, including those well known for lying about Republicans and Trump and promoting conspiracy theories such as Russiagate.

The blacklisting MRC found was stunning. It said no conservative news sites made the fully trustworthy grade, while just 16% of liberal sites were blocked as sources.

Read it.

On Monday, WIRED magazine took it upon themselves to doxx several employees working for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“If you’ve been wondering what Elon Musk and his lackeys are up to since taking control of the US government, look no further,” the magazine posted to X. “Our latest story names six 19- to 24-year-olds working with his DOGE organization, which now has access to sensitive federal systems.”

And so, in a Monday letter to Musk, US Attorney Edward Martin has vowed to protect DOGE employees, and pursue “any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”

“I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly,” Martin wrote. “At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws.”

Read it.

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s new policy against transgenders serving in the military, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell gave an unchallenged forum to Delaware U.S. Representative Sarah McBride to trash Republicans for acting on the issue.

New York Times, a Voice of the Crust.

In its heyday, The Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s longtime paper of record, boasted the nation’s largest State House bureau, an enviable circulation and enough editorial clout to alter the trajectory of the region’s defining infrastructure projects and environmental preservation efforts.

Reporters were well paid and often remained at the paper throughout the arc of their careers, imbuing The Ledger’s news coverage with institutional memory and gravitas, even as its thick, zoned editions were crammed with mundane dispatches from the state’s quilt of tiny towns and big cities.

On Sunday, The Ledger’s nearly century-long run as New Jersey’s dominant newspaper will come to an end when it prints its final edition and shifts to an online-only format. Its editorial board will vanish, as will its clippable sports photos and pages of printed obituaries.

Why tariffs on Mexico and Canada could drive up grocery costs, in 3 charts (CNN)

Trump builds a tariff wall (Axios)

Trump sketches unprecedented plan for sweeping tariffs (Washington Poop)

What Trump’s Trade War Would Mean, in Nine Charts (Council on Foreign Relations)

Why the Panama Canal matters (Washington Poop)

Does a ‘foreign power’ threaten the Panama Canal? Here’s what you need to know (CNN) Come get yer Narrative, right here.

Why the US is claiming China’s presence violates the Panama neutrality treaty (Reuters Canada)

Yes, really, it’s going to be called the Gulf of America (Washington Poop)

Mexican president says she sent letter to Google contesting Gulf of Mexico name change (CNN)

Chevron calls Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America in earnings release after Trump order (CNBC)

Google Maps users in U.S. will see Gulf of Mexico renamed Gulf of America and Denali changed to Mount McKinley (CBS) Yet another reason not to use Google Maps.

Trump administration purges websites across federal health agencies (NPR)  Trump obviously learned a lot from his first term.

Tennessee GOP passes immigration law to criminalize elected officials’ votes (Melissa Brown/The Tennessean)

Trump and Elon Musk Just Pulled Off Another Purge–and It’s a Scary One (Greg Sargent/New Republic)  Greg Sargent loses his shit.

Trump administration directs 70% cut to internal OPM staffing, programs (Drew Friedman/Federal News Network)

Democrat-Controlled Trade Tribunal Rules Against Menthol Vape-Maker, Contravening Trump’s Opposition to Menthol Bans

Contrarians, Assemble: Chuck Todd’s Exit From NBC Fuels Speculation of Resistance ‘Dream Team’

Trump putting ‘pause’ on most US government websites, source says (Reuters)

Interim U.S. attorney fires more than 2 dozen Jan. 6 prosecutors in D.C. (Spencer Hsu/Washington Post)

Elon Musk is reportedly taking control of the inner workings of US government agencies (Sean O’Kane/TechCrunch)

Agencies asked to scrub federal government websites to remove diversity-related content (CBS News)

Trump administration forces out multiple senior FBI officials (NBC News)

Brett Kavanaugh has very bad news for Donald Trump (Ian Millhiser/Vox)

A Red-Alert for Democracy: The Patel FBI Purge Begins (Garrett M. Graff/Doomsday Scenario)

Some federal websites temporarily go dark after order to comply with Trump DEI directive (NBC News)

These Clowns are Economic Illiterates (Joan Westenberg/The Index)  Just like Krugman!

Elon Musk’s Friends Have Infiltrated Another Government Agency (Wired) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHH….

Trump officials make plans to revoke legal status of migrants welcomed under Biden (Camilo Montoya-Galvez/CBS News)  Which is why people voted for Trump. Duh.

Elon’s Twitter Destruction Playbook Hits The US Government, And It’s Even More Dangerous (Mike Masnick/Techdirt)

FBI Agents Are Stunned by the Scale of the Expected Trump Purge (Shane Harris/The Atlantic)  Which is why people voted for Trump. Duh.

Trump says he opened California’s water. Local officials say he nearly flooded them. (Politico)

Acting on Trump’s order, federal officials opened up two California dams (Los Angeles Times)

The Situation: Kash Patel’s “Odor of Mendacity” (Benjamin Wittes/Default)

Second judge to block Trump’s spending freeze says the policy is likely unconstitutional (Politico)

DOJ fires dozens of prosecutors who handled Jan. 6 cases (Politico)

Top DOJ Official Resigns After Attempted Reassignment

Trump is wreaking havoc at USAID. Is the goal to shut it down? (Politico)

CDC Data Are Disappearing (Katherine J. Wu/The Atlantic)

Who Can Stop Elon’s ‘Team’ Wilding Its Way Through the Federal Government? (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

Federal Judge Orders White House to Keep Money Flowing to 22 States (Mattathias Schwartz/New York Times)

Federal Bureaucrats Ordered to Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures

Trump Approval Rating Looks Fragile at Start of Second Term (Ed Kilgore/New York Magazine)

Public health information pulled offline in response to Trump orders (Sophie Gardner/Politico)

Trump sketches unprecedented plan for sweeping tariffs (Washington Post)  I guess they never heard of Smoot-Harley.

Trump’s Funding Freeze May Be on Hold, but Overall Goal Remains Popular, Poll Finds

Trump’s fierce attacks on DEI reflect a longtime GOP focus (Washington Post)

Journos Attack Trump & Musk as Fascist Nazis, Toss Bouquets to Biden

The RFK Jr. Op-Ed the Los Angeles Times Didn’t Want You to Read (Eric Reinhart/New Republic)

Trump’s disregard for US constitution ‘a blitzkrieg on the law’, legal experts say (Steven Greenhouse/The Guardian)

NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices In Favor Of Trump-Friendly Outlets

Trump fires the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Josh Boak/Associated Press)

Chopra removed from consumer bureau post (Katy O’Donnell/Politico)

Trump prepares to revoke legal status for many migrants who arrived under Biden (Priscilla Alvarez/CNN)

Trump Officials Release Water in California That Experts Say Will Serve Little Use (New York Times)

‘There will be many casualties’: Panama girds for war as Rubio opens talks (Ben Schreckinger/Politico)  Tell it to Noriega.

The GOP’s Unreliable Cutter-in-chief (Rachael Bade/Politico)

Trump’s revenge agenda has shocked officials who ‘didn’t think it was going to be this bad’, insiders say (Robert Tait/The Guardian)

Crazy Liberal Podcaster Says Trump’s Inauguration Speech Was an Impeachable Offense

Trump Raises New Threat to Sanctuary Cities: Blocking Transportation Dollars (Emily Badger/New York Times)

Musk’s Junta Establishes Him as Head of Government (Garrett M. Graff/Doomsday Scenario)

The high-stakes question Trump’s nominees curiously won’t answer (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

Trump’s MAGA machine mobilizes to boost Gabbard (Axios)  MAGA is the New Nigger.

Behind the Curtain: Purges, punishments, payback (Axios)

Trump’s Overhaul Of The Federal Bureaucracy Backed By Recent Survey Research

Air Traffic Control Offices Are in Chaos in Trump’s New Administration (Rolling Stone)

Oh Shut Up, You Ken Doll: Pontificating Actor Upset Trump Won’t Make His Taxes Go Up

The tragic air collision revealed Trump’s rancid, irredeemable character once again (Sidney Blumenthal/The Guardian)  Sid Vicious crawls out from under his rock again.

Trump says he ordered precision military strike against senior ISIS planner (Brett Samuels/The Hill)

Red states love Trump–and mooching off the federal funds he wants to cut (Kos/Daily Kos)

Michael Rapaport: I Was Duped by Fake Elon Musk Nazi Salute

“It’s Like A Switch Was Flipped”: Border Encounters Plummet 94% Under Trump

Trump fires head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CNN)

Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid (Stephanie Nolen/New York Times)  We are the friends of health everywhere but the guardians only of our own.

Rubio embarks on mission impossible: Retake the Panama Canal (John Hudson/Washington Post)

Gov. Newsom Served Recall Papers Following LA Fire Outrage

Trump: Venezuela Agrees to Accept Illegals From US

Trump to send Venezuelans back to Maduro’s repressive state (Washington Post)

‘Trantifa’ Insurrectionist Who Went To D.C. To Kill GOP Leaders Was Inspired By Luigi Mangione

Can the President Dissolve USAID by Executive Order? (Tess Bridgeman/Just Security)

Senior FBI official forcefully resisted Trump administration firings (NBC News)

Read it.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have discovered the first henipavirus detected in North America.

Dr. Rhys Parry from the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences confirmed the presence of Camp Hill virus in shrews in Alabama, USA.

“Henipaviruses have caused serious disease and death in people and animals in other regions,” Dr Parry said

“One of the most dangerous is the Hendra virus, which was first detected in Brisbane, Australia, and has a fatality rate of 70 percent.

“Another example is Nipah virus which has recorded fatality rates between 40 and 75 per cent in outbreaks in Southeast Asia, including in Malaysia and Bangladesh.

“The discovery of a henipavirus in North America is highly significant, as it suggests these viruses may be more globally distributed than previously thought.”

OH NOES WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE….

Read it.

MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart told candidates seeking to chair the Democratic National Committee they “passed” when they blamed “racism and misogyny” for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat in the 2024 election.

President-elect Donald Trump secured the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the presidency early in the morning of Nov. 6, 2024, fueled by increased support from black and Hispanic voters compared to his previous campaigns. Capehart asked for a show of hands among the contenders when he asked the question during a forum in a video clip posted on X late Thursday.

Does a ‘foreign power’ threaten the Panama Canal? Here’s what you need to know (CNN)

What Trump Really Wants in Panama (Americas Quarterly)

Trump’s Trash Defense Secretary Is Ready to Go to War With U.S. Allies (The New Republic)

A deeply tan RFK Jr. is a picture of American health (Washington Poop)

When RFK Jr. was presented with the science on vaccines he said needed to see, he dismissed it (Associated Press) Just like a Democrat (which he is)!

Trump health secretary nominee RFK Jr survives heated hearings ahead of crucial confirmation votes (Fox News)

Republican committee chairman ‘struggling’ with RFK Jr. nomination (CNN)

Trump Admin Canceling Funding To NGOs Involved In Illegal Immigration, Noem Says

US judge blocks Trump administration from transferring transgender inmate (Nate Raymond/Reuters)

California Dems Abruptly Nix Vote on Newsom Plan To ‘Trump-Proof’ State, Avoiding Public Debate Over Funding That Protects Illegals With Felony Convictions

Paramount in Settlement Talks With Trump Over ’60 Minutes’ Lawsuit (New York Times)

Why Does the NYT Continue To Print Front Page Lies About RFK Jr.?  That’s what they do.

Pentagon scrubs Biden-era abortion travel policy (Ellen Mitchell/The Hill)

Musk’s Twitter Takeover Offers Trump a Blueprint (New York Times)

Several senior FBI leaders told to leave agency or be fired, people familiar say (Washington Post)

Government Tech Workers Forced to Defend Projects to Random Elon Musk Bros (Wired)  The horror!!

Trump Raised Millions From Crypto Firms for His Inauguration (Bill Allison/Bloomberg)  The Narrative Media, of course, would prefer to have the taxpayers cover it–for a Democrat.

MSNBC’s Beinart Hopes Trump Is Tried at The Hague for ‘Great War Crimes’

Census Bureau Director Robert Santos is resigning, making way for Trump’s pick (Hansi Lo Wang/NPR)

It’s Been Just 11 Days, But 100,000 Have Already Signed Petition to ‘Impeach Trump Again’ (Eloise Goldsmith/Common Dreams)  Is that all? Surely there are more leftists in the U.S.

A new era of government censorship has dawned (Catherine Rampell/Washington Post)  To the Washington Poop, censorship is what Republicans do to Democrats; what Democrats do to Republicans doesn’t qualify.

The Art of the Kneel – If a settlement deal is inked with Donald Trump, Shari Redstone … (Oliver Darcy/Status)

‘Without Evidence’! Media Knock Trump Mention of DEI Hiring at Post-Crash Presser

Democrats refuse to vote on Trump budget pick: ‘So clearly unfit for office’ (Alice Herman/The Guardian)

FAA Report on D.C. Plane Crash Is Out–and It’s an Indictment of Trump (Hafiz Rashid/New Republic)

Playbook: Trump’s narrative shift (Zack Stanton/Politico)

DCA crash puts Trump’s appalling unfitness on full display (Aaron Rupar/Public Notice) Look up ‘rupar’ in the Urban Dictionary.

Is There Anything Trump Won’t Blame on DEI? (Jonathan Chait/The Atlantic)  Is there anything that Jonathan Chait won’t blame on Trump?

Senior U.S. official to exit after rift with Musk allies over payment system (Washington Post)

Boxed Up: A Portrait of an Immigrant Community Living Under Threat of Deportation (ProPublica) Wring those hands! Jerk those tears!

Trump, Facing Two Crises in His Second Week, Spreads the Blame Around (Wall Street Journal)

Hey, where’s that Trump-proofing money already? (Politico)

What the data says about Trump’s DEI air crash claims (Axios)

How Trump Could Defy the Constitution – or Find a Loophole – and Seize a Third Term (James Romoser/Politico)  No, he can’t. This is bullshit.

How the World Is Reeling From Trump’s Aid Freeze (New York Times)  Without U.S. taxpayers, the world will starve!

ProPublica’s Coverage of Donald Trump’s Appointments – and How They Could Reshape Federal Agencies (ProPublica)

Trump is About to Step on Putin’s Trap (Washington Monthly)

A career official tried to undo Trump’s purge at USAID. He was then purged, too. (John Hudson/Washington Post)  You mess with the bull, you get the horns every time.

Trump and Allies Default to Racist Explanation of Deadly Air Collision (Miles Klee/Rolling Stone)

Trump and the Collapse of the Old Order (Peggy Noonan/Wall Street Journal)

From Anguish to Aggression: Trump Goes on Offense After Midair Collision (Peter Baker/New York Times)

People with intellectual disabilities do lots of jobs – but they don’t direct air traffic (Joseph Shapiro/NPR)  They do, however, spend your money. Look at Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren.

Trump Administration Shocks Senior F.B.I. Ranks by Moving to Replace Them (New York Times)

Chuck Todd exiting NBC News after nearly 20 years as Trump starts second term (Jay Stahl/USA Today)  And another one bites the dust. (He’s Gone for Good: The Worst of NBC’s Chuck Todd)

Pentagon shocked by Trump’s order to house migrants in Guantanamo Bay (Politico)

Trump said he hadn’t read Project 2025 – but most of his early executive actions overlap with its proposals (CNN)  That’s because they were pretty obvious common sense policies.

Federal employees told to remove pronouns from email signatures by end of day (ABC News)

Independent regulators in ‘real danger’ after Trump firings, say ex-NLRB chairs (Michael Sainato/The Guardian)

Defense agency bans Black History Month and other ‘special observances’ (NBC News)

MAGA’s revenge of the mediocre: Trump’s war on federal workers targets the meritorious (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)  Amanda Marcotte loses her shit.

EPA workers receive emails warning their employment could be terminated (CNN)  Terminate the whole damned agency. The EPA is one of the reasons that Dick Nixon will burn in Hell for all eternity.

IDIOCY: NYT Buries Data on Federal Waste in Screed Against Trump’s Spending Freeze

USDA ordered to scrub climate change from websites (Politico)

ICE Enforcement Official Tapped to Lead Unaccompanied Migrant Children Office, Triggering Alarms (ProPublica)

FBI agents who worked on January 6 and Trump investigations are expected to be fired Friday (CNN)

A Wannabe Authoritarian Hard At Work (The Bulwark)

Scoop: Sanders probing Trump’s purge of labor officials (Stephen Neukam/Axios)

Head of FBI Washington Field Office is forced out in Trump administration purge (NBC News)

Sunny Hostin Blames Trump and His Voters for Fatal DC Airliner Collision  Of course she does.

“People Will Die”: The Trump Administration Said It Lifted Its Ban on Lifesaving Humanitarian Aid. That’s Not True. (ProPublica)

We’ve Now Learned the Three Principles of Trumpism, and They’re Ugly (Michael Tomasky/New Republic)

Navy Already Rejecting Transgender Recruits After Trump Order

WATCH: Hakeem Jeffries Vows To Fight Trump Agenda ‘in the Streets’

150,000 Koreans in U.S. subject to Trump’s deportation order: Report (Lee Soo-Jung/Korea Joongang Daily)

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Bans Intel Officials Who Pushed Russian Disinfo Hoax From Federal Buildings (The Daily Wire)

Trump plans to build mass detention camp for deportees at Guantánamo Bay (Washington Poop)

Military OKs Use of Colo. Base for Detaining Illegals (NewsMax)

Federal workforce reeling over Trump’s ‘buyout’ offer (Politico) America’s CEO.

Transcript: Trump’s Chaos Strategy Is Already Blowing Up in His Face (The New Republic)

Fact check: $50 million for condoms in Gaza? Five big reasons to be skeptical Trump’s story is true (CNN)  No such skepticism was ever shown to a Biden or a Harris statement.

FACT FOCUS: No evidence that $50 million was designated by the US to buy condoms for Hamas  (Associated Press) I’m glad they have nothing more important to cover.

What we know about Trump’s claim that the U.S. planned to spend $50 million on condoms for Gaza (CBS News)

Exclusive: USDA inspector general escorted out of her office after defying White House (Reuters)

Elon Musk Foe Escorted Out of Fed Office After Refusing to Resign (The Daily Beast)

USDA Inspector General Who Refused to Leave Post Escorted From Office by Security (Gizmodo)

Trump offering federal workers buyouts with about 8 months’ pay in effort to shrink government (Associated Press)

Advice from a financial planner for concerned federal workers (WTOP News)

Trump’s incentive for federal workers to resign sows doubt (Axios)

‘Not a buyout’: Attorneys and unions urge federal workers not to resign (NPR)

Survey: Most feds say OPM’s resignation offer too uncertain to accept (Federal News Network) I’ll bet you didn’t know that there was such a thing as a Federal News Network.

Federal-Worker Buyouts May Make Government As Broken As X (Ed Kilgore/New York Magazine)

Another judge is preparing to block Trump’s spending freeze, despite White House cleanup (Politico)

Call of Snooty: Virtue-Signaling WashPost Investigates If Musk ‘Cheats at Video Games’!

Trump says he will send migrants to Guantanamo Bay (Kevin Breuninger/CNBC)

Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions (Just Security)

Meta Settles ‘Facebook Ban’ Suit With Trump, Offers Weak Guidance As Earnings Hit Late

Whistleblower: Multiple FBI Agents Called In Sick With ‘Blue Flu’ To Avoid Helping ICE Round-Up Criminal Illegals In Chicago

Senate confirms Lee Zeldin to lead EPA as Trump vows to cut climate rules (CBS News)

Trump to Sign Order to Use Guantanamo Bay to House Migrants (Wall Street Journal)  Biden let so many terrorists go free that it has plenty of room.

Are Sh*tposting Fed Workers With ‘TDS’ On Reddit In Violation Of Hatch Act?

Trump to Detain Violent Illegal Immigrants at Guantanamo Bay

‘Bureaucrats are Still Hiding’: How Is ATF Implementing Trump’s Executive Order on DEI?  Badly, I suspect.

The Trump White House Wants A Court Challenge Over Frozen Funds (Paul Blumenthal/HuffPost)

Trump accuses Fed, Powell of creating inflation on heels of rate decision (Kevin Breuninger/CNBC)

Brazil seeking funds for Venezuelan migrant program after Trump freezes US aid (Reuters)

Declassified CIA Guide to Sabotaging Fascism Is Suddenly Viral (Jason Koebler/404 Media)

It Makes Sense That the Left Fears Kash Patel

Who Are the Nonprofits That Sued to Block Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze?

Mark Kelly: Trump’s immigration raids are a ‘photo op’ to ‘intimidate people’ (Andrew Howard/Politico)

The Most Alarming Moments From RFK Jr.’s Confirmation Hearing (Rolling Stone)

I Just Got Trump’s “Buyout” Offer at My Job. Let Me Tell You How That’s Going. (Denise Cana/Slate)

RFK Jr. Accidentally Reveals Trump’s Plan on Abortion (Jessica Valenti/Abortion, Every Day)

New Trump Executive Order Bans Critical Race Theory, Gender Ideology in Public Education

As Establishment Warms to Trump, Elite Law Firm Takes On His Appeal (Jonah E. Bromwich/New York Times)

Noem defends DHS decision to revoke protections for Venezuelans (Ali Bianco/Politico)

Inside the Chaotic Rollout of Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze (New York Times)

Trump Is “Dangerous” & Racist To Keep Men Out Of Women’s Prisons, Professor Says

Beware the “Deferred Resignation” Offer: A Legally Dubious Proposal for Federal Employees (Suzanne Summerlin/Just Security)

The Attack on Trans Rights Won’t End There (Adam Serwer/The Atlantic)

Elon Musk rose to the top of video game charts. Now he has confessed to cheating. (Drew Harwell/Washington Post)

4 things to know from RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing: from the Politics Desk (NBC News)

Trump’s Tech Donors Have Big Plans For Greenland (Lois Parshley/The Lever)

The lawyers are getting louder – and they’re getting results (Dan Froomkin/Heads Up News)

Latino Media MAD Trump Won’t Trans the Kids

Now That Trump Is President, Journalists Can Finally Admit the Harris Campaign Was a Total Disaster

Elon Musk Looks to Stick a Fork in Federal Government Workers (Scott Pilutik/Slate)

RFK Jr. tries (again) to distance himself from the anti-vaccine movement (Brandy Zadrozny/NBC News)

Pentagon agency pauses celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month and more (Tara Copp/Associated Press)

What would RFK Jr. mean to HHS? (NPR)

Bipartisan lawmakers reintroduce bill to repeal ‘global gag rule’ on abortion reinstated by Trump (Ailia Zehra/The Hill)

The Logoff: The government purge, explained (Patrick Reis/Vox)

Kash Patel Sold Children’s Books Inscribed with “WWG1WGA” QAnon Slogan (J.D. Wolf/MeidasTouch News)

Trump threatens funding for schools that accommodate transgender children (Sareen Habeshian/Axios)

An immigrant faces deportation after a routine traffic stop in Texas, sparking more fear (Alejandro Serrano/The Texas Tribune)

Trump’s Retribution Continues With Removal of General Milley’s Security Detail (New York Times)

5 takeaways from RFK Jr.’s first Senate hearing (Niall Stanage/The Hill)

Democrats leave ’emergency’ meeting vowing ‘street fight’ in response to Trump actions (Mike Lillis/The Hill)

Inside 45 hours of chaos: The brief life and quick death of Trump’s federal spending freeze (CNN)

MSNBC Helps Advise Illegal Aliens How to Avoid ICE Arrest

Trump’s Firings Could Bring Court Cases That Expand His Power (Charlie Savage/New York Times)

To Pay for Trump Tax Cuts, House GOP Floats Plan to Slash Benefits for the Poor and Working Class (ProPublica)

The Elon-ification of the federal government (Dave Lawler/Axios)

Maureen Dowd on Trump the Narcissist, Act II (New York Times)

FAA Chief Quit on Jan. 20 After Elon Musk Told Him to Resign (Hugh Dougherty/The Daily Beast)

The Law Is Not Fully Trump’s Yet (Deborah Pearlstein/New York Times)

Trump “defends women” by terrorizing them (Liz Dye/Public Notice)

Trump begins term with historically low approval rating (Morgan Chalfant/Semafor)

Trump unleashed chaos by freezing and unfreezing $3tn in federal grants and loans. Why? (Robert Reich/The Guardian)  Not that Robert Reich would know.

In Tense Call, Governors Push Schumer to Fight Harder Against Trump (Reid J. Epstein/New York Times)

Despite media reports, Trump has not offered federal employees a “buyout” (Judd Legum/Popular Information)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lays out battle plan against ‘shockingly dim’ Trump White House (Brad Reed/Raw Story)  Pretty rich, Occasional-Cortex calling somebody else ‘dim’.

Bleach Enthusiast, Antisemitic Conspiracist Among Stars of Anti-Vaxxer Event To Be Held at Trump Hotel (David Gilbert/Wired)

Sick Leftists Blame Trump For Plane/Chopper Collision

Trump Gutted Key Aviation Safety Committee Before D.C. Plane Crash (Hafiz Rashid/New Republic)

Ogles: ‘Did DEI play a role’ in fatal DC plane crash? (Cheyanne M. Daniels/The Hill)

People on Kash Patel’s so-called ‘enemies list’ taking drastic steps for protection before his potential FBI takeover (CNN)

Trump Kicks Congress to the Curb, With Little Protest From Republicans (Carl Hulse/New York Times)

Trump’s mission: Discrimination and destruction (Chris Geidner/Law Dork)

Trump and Musk Are Trying to Purge Veterans From the Government (Michael Embrich/Rolling Stone)

Trump’s Plane Crash Response Is as Cheap as You’d Expect (Benjamin Parker/The Bulwark)

Read it.

“A previous version of this article referred to Samidoun as an activist network that supports Palestinian prisoners,” the Post wrote in a “clarification” note. “However, it failed to note that the United States says the group is an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Washington has placed under sanctions.”

The piece still refers to Samidoun as “a group supporting Palestinian prisoners” but now includes its status as “a fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is under U.S. sanctions.” The Post also removed a link to a Samidoun blog titled, “90 Palestinian prisoners liberated by the Resistance on the first day of the Flood of the Free,” which included photos featuring Hamas flags and the late terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar.

NJ Attorney General joins suit to stop Trump’s federal grant freeze (NPR) Gotta keep the gravy train on track.

Trump’s grant gambit threatens to wreck the goldilocks economy he inherited (CNN) The Narrative Media, of course, are fully invested in the proglodyte belief that the health of the economy is totally dependent on government spending, especially Federal government spending. Normal people understand that Trump didn’t ‘inherit a goldilocks economy’, he inherited a train wreck, and picking up that pieces of the Biden-Harris disaster is going to take hard choices and drastic action.

RFK’s dueling personas take center stage (Axios) Apparently Kennedy is the New Musk. They haven’t called him a Nazi yet, but it’s coming.

‘He’ll go down’: RFK Jr. nomination won’t pass Senate, O’Reilly says (The Hill) Does anybody pay any attention to Bill O’Reilly any more?  I guess Carl Bernstein was unavailable.

Trump’s funding freeze awakens the “Resistance” (Axios) ‘Awakens’? I was under the impression that they were already awake.

US politics live: Trump’s attempt to freeze federal funding will have ‘devastating impact’, non-profits say (The Guardian) No doubt. ‘Non-profits’ don’t make any money, so they depend on ‘funding’, and the golden BB for ‘funding’ is the government.

LGBT Groups Silent About Scott Bessent’s Historic Confirmation  It’s not enough to be a pervert, you have to be a Politically Correct pervert.

Leftists’ Crocodile Tears Over Trump Are Falling Flat

Trump’s Order on Transgender Troops Will Likely Ban Their Service, Again (New York Times)

Trump barrels through guardrails, daring courts and Congress to stop him (Kyle Cheney/Politico)  Just like a Democrat!

Some Trump voters are skeptical of his opening moves to embrace fellow billionaires (Associated Press)

U.S. Halt to Foreign Aid Cripples Programs Worldwide (New York Times)

Trump Fired E.E.O.C. Commissioners in Late-Night Purge (New York Times)  The NYT is rather late to the party; that was yesterday’s outrage. Guys, try to keep up.

Coast Guard Ordered to Reinstate Members Discharged Over Vaccine

Trump administration may pull money from TSA, Coast Guard to help ICE afford costly deportations (Julia Ainsley/NBC News)

‘Insane’: Legal experts blast Trump’s ‘unbelievable’ new firings as ‘attack on the EEOC’ (Daniel Hampton/Raw Story)

STAT+: Private emails show RFK Jr. making false claims about Covid-19 shots, linking vaccines to autism (STAT)

Trump is holding hospitals ‘hostage’ in brazen ‘power grab’: AOC (Erik De La Garza/Raw Story) Just like a Democrat!

‘Biden’s Book Ban Hoax’: Department of Education claims book bans are a ‘hoax’ and dismisses all complaints (Rachel Ulatowski/The Mary Sue)

Trump Budget Pick Vought: 2020 Election Was Rigged  I agree.

‘A 5 Alarm F-ing Fire’: Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Is Jolting Some Dems Into Fight Mode (Jennifer Bendery/HuffPost)  Because before, you know, they were fast asleep.

Trump expected to sign executive order prioritizing federal funding for school choice programs (Kathryn Watson/CBS News)

‘We stand with you’: SF leaders rally for immigrant community after ICE agents spotted downtown (Amber Lee/KTVU-TV)

Compelling Mass Civil Servant Resignations Will Create Chaos (Don Moynihan/Can We Still Govern?)

The Media Lose Their Minds Over Federal Funding Freeze

The Example That Trump Made Out Of Colombia Will Reverberate Across The World  Yup. New sheriff in town.

NY attorney general sues Trump administration as state gets locked out of Medicaid

Jewish nonprofits say Trump’s federal funding freeze would threaten social services and security programs

It’s Political vs. Career Staffers in Battle Over Foreign Aid Freeze

Trump’s ‘Flood the Zone’ Strategy Leaves Opponents Gasping in Outrage (Luke Broadwater/New York Times)

New Trump memo claims authority to ignore Congress (Popular Information)  Just like a Democrat!

Trump’s chaos governance failed once. He’s trying it again. (David R. Lurie/Public Notice)  Just like a Democrat!

‘FIRED FOR CAUSE’: Rand Paul Has Choice Words About Bureaucrats Who Refuse a Lawful Trump Order

Trump’s PEPFAR Shutdown is White Supremacy in Action (Joan Westenberg/The Index)

You’re So Vain, You Probably Think Kash Patel Hates You (Ashley Parker/The Atlantic)

“Trump is trying to collapse our economy”: War on “woke” revealed as a war on all Americans (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)

Trump’s White House Is Flooding the Zone With Legal Tests (Evan McMorris-Santoro/NOTUS)  Just like a Democrat!

Trump’s Spending Freeze Will Block Biden’s Leftist Legacy

Trump is already acting like a king (Zack Beauchamp/Vox) Just like a Democrat!

Democrats bite back against Trump’s purges and freezes (Axios)

Kimmel Tries and Fails To Dunk On Trump’s Missile Defense Plan

The Reason Why Donald Trump Shut Down His Government (Timothy Noah/New Republic)

EXCLUSIVE: Largest Teachers Union Held Webinar on Protecting ‘Undocumented’ Children from ICE

‘Written by children’: Critics slam New York Times’ glowing coverage of Trump official (Brad Reed/Raw Story)

The Trump White House has no idea what the Trump White House just did (Dana Milbank/Washington Post)  But Dana Milbank, Smartest Guy In Any Room, does.

DOJ Drops Push to Prosecute Trump Associates in Records Case (Zoe Tillman/Bloomberg)

Trump ordering review to identify, punish and deport antisemites – including students on visas (Steven Nelson/New York Post)

DOJ moves to drop prosecution of former Trump co-defendants in classified documents case (Politico)

How Trump is stretching laws to make the federal government more political (Lisa Rein/Washington Post)  Just like a Democrat!

Trump and Musk’s plan for a massive purge of the federal workforce, explained (Andrew Prokop/Vox)  Because you, normal person, are too stupid to figure it out for yourself.

The Human Cost of Frozen Funds (Jennifer Rubin/The Contrarian)  Jennifer Rubin loses her shit.

Trump Officials Revoke Biden’s Extension of Protections for Venezuelans (Hamed Aleaziz/New York Times)

Congressional Republicans Prefer Being a Doormat (William Kristol/The Bulwark)

NYC residents praise ICE raids after violent gang member captured (Fox News)

Even Jon Stewart Laughed At MSNBC’s Fascism Hysteria

Ted Cruz Leads Republican Charge to Defund Consumer-Protection Agency (Siobhan Hughes/Wall Street Journal)

White House rescinds Trump’s funding freeze after massive backlash (Zachary Basu/Axios)

Trump Hates the Constitution (David S. Cohen/Rolling Stone)

Senators Pause RFK Hearing To Announce This Next Round Of Questions Is Brought To You By Pfizer  (Babylon Bee)

Trump’s First Big Fiasco Triggers Stephen Miller’s Rage–Take Note Dems (Greg Sargent/New Republic)

Senate Democrats rip into RFK Jr. (Daniel Payne/Politico)

Trump, Musk join forces to bring stranded NASA astronauts back via SpaceX after Biden admin ‘abandoned’ them (Christina Shaw/Fox Business)

Trump Announces Plan To Make California A Part Of The U.S.  Babylon Bee)

Trump Plans to Use Guantanamo Military Prison for Migrants (Bloomberg)

Trump to build mass detention camp for deportees at Guantánamo Bay (Washington Post)

New York Times, a Voice of the Crust.

Party leaders disagree sharply on how to interpret the losses that gave Republicans complete control of the federal government, with some calling for a reinvention and others a wait-and-see.

‘It can’t be any fault in US, it must be some Sinister Opposing Force’s fault.’

Washington Poop.

Perhaps not in the eyes of ‘Columbian officials’. But they were in the U.S. illegally and ipso facto criminals. That’s why they were deported.

This pretense that being in the country illegally is Not Really Criminal (hence the preferred euphemism ‘undocumented’, as if they just left their documents in their other pants) is getting tiresome.

Read it.

Atomic scientists on Tuesday moved their “Doomsday Clock” closer to midnight than ever before, citing Russian nuclear threats amid its invasion of Ukraine, tensions in other world hot spots, military applications of artificial intelligence and climate change as factors underlying the risks of global catastrophe

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock to 89 seconds before midnight – the theoretical point of annihilation. That is one second closer than it was set last year. The Chicago-based nonprofit created the clock in 1947 during the Cold War tensions that followed World War Two to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world.

“The factors shaping this year’s decision – nuclear risk, climate change, the potential misuse of advances in biological science and a variety of other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence – were not new in 2024. But we have seen insufficient progress in addressing the key challenges, and in many cases this is leading to increasingly negative and worrisome effects,” said Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board.

“Setting the Doomsday Clock at 89 seconds to midnight is a warning to all world leaders,” Holz added.

If you aren’t familiar with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, then you are fortunate. They are a relic of the ‘peace at any price’ movement that originated after the Soviets got The Bomb and are in turn an outgrowth (one might almost say, an excrescence) of the proglodyte attitude that if we are facing an existential enemy, it’s our responsibility to avoid that situation even if it means surrendering to that existential enemy.

dNeedless to say, this ‘Doomsday Clock’ has absolutely no scientific validity whatsoever; it’s just academics attempting to leverage the respect that everyone has for science to push a pacifist political agenda. The threat of ‘annihilation’ is less now than it has ever been in my lifetime, and that is obvious to anybody with two brain cells to rub together.

DOJ fires officials who worked on Jack Smith’s Trump investigation (Washington Poop) What goes around comes around.

Trump’s DOJ firings are designed to deter future investigations, former officials say (NBC News) Former officials say! That provies it! (One hopes that it will deter future lawfare witch-hunts against people the regime doesn’t like.)

Key career officials at Justice Department reassigned to different positions, AP sources say (Associated Press)

Justice Department fires more than a dozen key officials on former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team (Fox News) My schadenfreude floweth over.

White House pauses federal grant, loan other assistance programs (Reuters) The gravy train stoppeth.

Playbook: Trump’s massive power grab (Politico) How is this a ‘power grab’? He’s got the power. Every President does. He’s just choosing to use it, which no other President since Reagan has done.

All federal grants and loan disbursement paused by White House (CNN) The problem with an Imperial Presidency is that sometimes the other side gets to pick the Emperor, and they you’re in trouble.

White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion (Washington Poop) Confusion among the pigs at the trough, perhaps.

Federal agents in immigration operations told to be camera-ready as thousands arrested (CNN)

Latin American leaders are learning how to handle Trump. Colombia’s president showed how not to do it (CNN)

Trump got what he wanted with Colombia. But his tactics could come back to bite him. (Politico) On va voir.

Latin America will not put up with Trump’s new Monroe Doctrine (The Hill) They won’t have much to say about it.

JD Vance Offers the Worst Defense Yet of Trump’s January 6 Pardons (The New Republic)

Democrats move to condemn Trump pardons of violent Jan. 6 defendants (Politico) My, what a surprise.

Trump to reinstate service members discharged for not getting COVID-19 vaccine (Fox News)

Trump Puts Latin America and the Middle East on Notice  No more Mister Nice Guy.

The Deportation Nightmare Begins (Paul Krugman) Good idea–let’s deport Krugman. (But who would take him?)

Hedge Fund CIO: If Trump’s Agenda Succeeds, It Will Force Foreign Leaders To Adopt Pro-Growth Policies

Democratic lawmakers slam Trump for not making good on promise to ‘immediately’ lower food prices amid egg shortage (Elizabeth Chuck/NBC News)

Navajo Nation leaders raise alarm over reports of Indigenous people being questioned and detained during immigration sweeps (Alaa Elassar/CNN)

Trump expected to sign executive orders to reshape the military, including banning transgender troops (CNN)

Why Trump won’t be deporting “millions” of criminals (Russell Contreras/Axios)

Elon Musk Is Giving Europeans a Headache (Anne Applebaum/The Atlantic)

Democrats flip the script, eyeing debt limit to block Trump’s agenda (Jacob Bogage/Washington Post)

Trump Says He ‘Immediately Halted’ Hiring Of New IRS Agents

Trump to order end to DEI in military, reinstate troops who refused COVID vaccines, Hegseth says (Reuters)

Miami man claims wife was detained in one of several Florida ICE raids: “They snatched her” (CBS News)

LA Times owner Soon-Shiong finds his MAGA whisperer (Max Tani/Semafor)  MAGA is the New Nigger.

Kash Patel’s Cringe Documentary Teases What Could Be in Store for the FBI (Nikki McCann Ramirez/Rolling Stone)

Trump’s Flaming Turd of an Argument for Ending Birthright Citizenship (Garrett Epps/Washington Monthly)  Still waiting for these guys to grow up.

‘X’ Sex-Marker On US Passports Scrapped, Outstanding Applications Suspended

Trump, Vance vault FEMA overhaul high on agenda (Andrew Freedman/Axios)

Maine Law Firm Tells Public Schools to Resist ICE Enforcement by Destroying Immigration Records (Steve Robinson/The Maine Wire)

TdA invitation-only party: DEA raid in Adams County ends in 49 arrests, including some Venezuelan gang members (Denver 7 Colorado News)

Trump’s Lumber Tariffs and Disaster Recovery (Wall Street Journal)

“Blood, Feces, & Terror”: The Trump Pardons Trigger Judicial Rage

ABC, CBS, NBC Give Trump’s Pardons 15x More Time than Biden’s  My, what a surprise.

Top US Firms Abandoned DEI Before Trump’s Return  Because it’s stupid.

Gov. Abbott Deploys Texas Military to Join U.S. Border Patrol

Trump Just Broke the Law. Blatantly. And He Might Get Away With It. (Michael Tomasky/New Republic)

Wall Street Journal labels RFK Jr. ‘dangerous to public health’ ahead of hearings (Dominick Mastrangelo/The Hill)

In Exacting Retribution, Trump Aims at the Future as Well as the Past (New York Times)

Gangster’s Paradise – Today we’re going to the Bad Place. I’m sorry in advance. (Jonathan V. Last/The Bulwark)

Democrats Introduce Resolution Condemning Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons (HuffPost)

Charles Koch’s network launches $20m campaign backing Trump tax breaks (Ed Pilkington/The Guardian)

Oil Companies Embrace Trump, but Not ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ (Rebecca F. Elliott/New York Times)

Denmark and Other Nations Under Pressure Seek Lobbyists With Trump Ties (Kenneth P. Vogel/New York Times)

Trump Seeks to Assert More Control Over California’s Water (New York Times)

Daily ICE Arrests Under Trump Already Surpassing Biden-Era Numbers

Chief Corruption Prosecutor Resigns From Justice Dept. (New York Times)

Hegseth Refers to 2 Forts by Old Confederate Names

Behind the Colombia Blowup: Mapping Trump’s Rapid-Escalation Tactics (David E. Sanger/New York Times) “If they put one of ours in the hospital, we put one of theirs in the morgue.”

Ex-inspector general on Trump firings: ‘We’re looking at what amounts to a threat to democracy’ (Lauren Irwin/The Hill)

Trump’s crackdown on trans troops: New order nixes preferred pronouns and restricts facility use (Fox News)

GO AWAY: Paul Krugman Struggling Post-NYT, Cries ‘Trump Wants You to Die’

Donald Trump Ignores Federal Laws As He Moves To Reshape Washington (Igor Bobic/HuffPost)

CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal (Mike Stobbe/Associated Press)

Trump Rocks Latin America as Leaders Adjust to Deportations, Tariff Threats

Trans Inmate Challenges Trump’s 2-Sexes Executive Order

Colombia to Send Planes to Honduras to Pick Up Migrants

CNN, MSNBC Bemoan Deportation of People Whose ‘Only Crime’ Is Entering US Illegally  Still a crime.

Dems Rip Trump for Not ‘Immediately’ Lowering Food Prices  And how exactly is he supposed to do that? Immediately?

DOJ fires officials involved in Trump prosecutions by special counsel Jack Smith (Dan Mangan/CNBC)

Trump Justice Department fires officials who investigated Trump and launches ‘special project’ into January 6 cases (CNN)

Trump Administration Live Updates: Prosecutors Who Aided Special Counsel Investigations Are Fired (New York Times)

Trump administration fires DOJ officials who worked on criminal investigations of the president (NBC News)  There’s an echo in here.

BETRAYAL: Soros-Controlled Station Unmasks Vehicles of ‘Undercover’ ICE Agents in San Jose

US: Order Halting Foreign Aid Work Puts Lives at Risk (Human Rights Watch)

We All Lose in Trump’s War Against Trans Americans (Giselle Donnelly/The Bulwark)  The Kristol Krew goes full Woke at last.

Polls show views souring on Elon Musk as Trump’s wingman (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

House Opens Investigation Into Four Sanctuary Cities

Trump rescinded a half-century of environmental rules. Here’s what that could mean. (Dylan Matthews/Vox)  More personal freedom, for a start.

‘It’s a Shake Up’: Sharpton Uses MSNBC Platform To Promote Corporate Shakedown of Companies that Ditch DEI

Trump Paralyzes Independent Rights Watchdog, Firing Members Selected by Democrats (Charlie Savage/New York Times)

Top USAID career staff placed on immediate leave (Politico)

Trump’s Victory Over Colombia Now Looks Less Clear Cut (Eric Martin/Bloomberg)

Scott Bessent Eclipses Buttigieg To Become Highest-Ranking Gay Official in Nation’s History  That Trump is SUCH a homophobe….

DOJ Official Resigns Over Move to Probe Sanctuary Cities

Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ in Maps after government updates (Jennifer Elias/CNBC)

Memos to Federal Employees Were Written By People With Ties to Project 2025, Metadata Shows (Samantha Cole/404 Media)

Detained Migrant Children Get a Higher Standard of Care. That’s Now in Legal Limbo. (Jose Pagliery/NOTUS)

‘It will kill people’: Chaos, confusion after Trump halts US foreign aid (Politico)

Trump Fires 3 Democrats on Privacy Oversight Board

CNN Analyst: Trump Deporting Those Who ‘Don’t Look Like the Trump Family’  Works for me.

Coalition of Jewish groups say they’re leaving X over Musk’s behavior (Russell Contreras/Axios)

Trump’s two-by-four foreign policy gets early wins (Axios)

Google’s Donald Trump-Inspired Move Has Critics Navigating Outrage (Lee Moran/HuffPost)

Congressional Republicans’ coming war on poor people (Matthew Yglesias/Slow Boring)

MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart Frets Trump Would Take Citizenship from Blacks  Which, of course, can’t happen.

Mette Frederiksen’s diplomatic dash to save Greenland from Trump (Ali Walker/Politico)

The MAGA terror has begun (Noah Berlatsky/Public Notice)

Make America 1897 Again – Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg and MAGA’s new Gilded Age. (New York Times)  Those were good times.

Trump’s fake crime wave (Rebecca Crosby/Popular Information)

Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Immigration, Drugs and Greenland (New York Times)

The Strategy Behind Trump’s Policy Blitz (Jonathan Lemire/The Atlantic)

Chaos On Border: Mexican Cartels Fire At US Border Patrol Agents

He Did It: Trump Calls for Ending the Federal Income Tax! (Matt Margolis/PJ Media)

The Birthright Citizenship Clause Too Many Forget, but Trump Is Right to Question

Trump Ousts Top Labor Board Leaders Who Backed Broader Worker Rights (Josh Eidelson/Bloomberg)

Donald Trump Says He’s Too ‘Busy’ To Play Golf, Then Guess What Happens (Ron Dicker/HuffPost)  Still waiting for these people to get out of high school.

By killing remote work, DOGE will only bleed taxpayers dry (The Hill)  Democrats have been doing that for decades.

Trump’s Dictatorial Theory of Presidential Power – What the Executive Orders, in the Aggregate, Tell Us (Adam Cox/Just Security)

National Faculty Union Urges Resistance To Trump Efforts: “Vigorously And Loudly Oppose”

Trump’s perceived enemies brace for retribution with plans, dark humor (Washington Post)  And juvenile insults.

Hegseth Praises Military Integration, But CNNer Says He Sounds Like An Old Segregationist!  If you hear the dog whistle, then you’re the dog.

USAID officials put on leave for allegedly not abiding by executive order (NPR)

Trump Administration Payment Freeze May Delay Money For Critical Preschool Program (Jonathan Cohn/HuffPost)  The one to convince boys that they’re actually girls?

Trump’s Most Lawless Action Yet (David Dayen/American Prospect)

“Monday Afternoon Massacre”: USAID Employees Placed On Leave For Allegedly Circumventing Trump’s Orders

Trump and the Dr Strangelove experiment (Edward Luce/Financial Times)

Democrats question legality of Trump’s freeze on all federal grants (Washington Post)  Of course they do.

Trump Is Ignoring the Law – and Congress Doesn’t Care (Ankush Khardori/Politico)

Democrats declare ‘constitutional crisis’ on funding freeze (Politico)

Trump administration targets thousands of programs in funding freeze (Jennifer Scholtes/Politico)

Unlawful Funding Freeze Sows Chaos (David Super/Balkinization)

Lawsuit alleges new Trump administration email system for federal employees raises privacy concerns (Tierney Sneed/CNN)

States Plan to Sue to Block Trump’s Federal Grants Freeze (New York Times)

Trump’s beef with the World Health Organization is personal (Carmen Paun/Politico)

Caroline Kennedy warns senators of ‘predator’ RFK Jr. in searing letter (Washington Post)

SNL Claims Trump’s ‘King Era’ Is Remaking America ‘Very Whitely’

Oklahoma Board of Education votes to approve proposal requiring parents to prove citizenship when enrolling students (Eric Levenson/CNN)

Non-profits, health groups sue over Trump’s freeze on grants, loans (Nate Raymond/Reuters)  Pigs getting kicked away from the trough.

Nevertheless, CNN Persists in Smearing Elon Musk With the Ridiculous Salute Hoax

Pittsburgh Mayor Gainey Vows to Oppose ICE  So arrest him for misprision of felony.

Republican congressman suggests some children receiving free school lunches should work at McDonald’s instead (Rebecca Shabad/NBC News)

Trump Hit With New Lawsuit for Funneling Sensitive Info to Elon Musk (Hafiz Rashid/New Republic)

What Just Happened: The “Invasion” Executive Order and Its Dangerous Implications (Ilya Somin/Just Security)

Sunny Hostin Scoffs at Woman Burned to Death By Illegal Immigrant

Huh? MSNBC Warns ‘Gestapo Raids’ Are Turning U.S. Into ‘East Germany’

Trump fires senior labor board official in ‘unprecedented and illegal’ move (Michael Sainato/The Guardian)

Six Service Members File Lawsuit Over Trump’s Trans Troop Ban

Europe’s leaders plot to stop Trump from taking Greenland (Politico)

BEASTMODE: WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Says All Illegal Immigrants Are Criminals (Because They’re Illegal Immigrants)

WATCH: MSNBC Pundit Compares ICE Deportations—Supported By Most Americans—To ‘Gestapo Raids’

Read it.

The Washington Post cited the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, an anti-Semitic organization under U.S. sanctions for providing material support to terrorists, in a sympathetic piece highlighting the “Palestinian prisoners” freed as part of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal.

The Post described Samidoun as an “activist network supporting Palestinian prisoners” and linked to a blog post on the group’s website titled, “90 Palestinian prisoners liberated by the Resistance on the first day of the Flood of the Free.” The blog included photos from Gaza featuring Hamas flags and photos of the terror group’s deceased leader, Yahya Sinwar. It also noted that “90 Palestinian prisoners were liberated from the jails of the Zionist occupation regime in the first day of the Flood of the Free (Toufan al-Ahrar) prisoner exchange, achieved by the Palestinian Resistance as part of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement imposed by the occupier.”

The Washington Post cited the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, an anti-Semitic organization under U.S. sanctions for providing material support to terrorists, in a sympathetic piece highlighting the “Palestinian prisoners” freed as part of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal.

The Post described Samidoun as an “activist network supporting Palestinian prisoners” and linked to a blog post on the group’s website titled, “90 Palestinian prisoners liberated by the Resistance on the first day of the Flood of the Free.” The blog included photos from Gaza featuring Hamas flags and photos of the terror group’s deceased leader, Yahya Sinwar. It also noted that “90 Palestinian prisoners were liberated from the jails of the Zionist occupation regime in the first day of the Flood of the Free (Toufan al-Ahrar) prisoner exchange, achieved by the Palestinian Resistance as part of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement imposed by the occupier.”

How Trump coerced Colombia to accept deportees by threatening US tariff war (Al Jezeera) They say that like it was a bad thing. These are not just random Hispanics that Trump is dumping in Columbia; these are Columbian nationals that were in the U.S. illegally.

After forcing Colombia to back down, White House claims America is respected again (CNN) Certainly feared again, which it wasn’t under Biden, and that’s good enough.

Trump’s Late-Night Purge Suddenly Becomes Bigger Scandal (The New Republic) Jennifer Rubin losing her shit apparently is enough to make a ‘scandal’ bigger.

Inspector general fired by Trump has a warning for Americans (CNN) The gravy train is over!

Trump defends ousting at least 15 independent inspectors general in late-night purge (Washington Poop) First it was twelve, then seventeen, now it’s back to fifteen. These people don’t seem able to count. Perhaps if they took their shoes off….

Trump firing government watchdogs is ‘clear violation of law’, says Adam Schiff (The Guardian)

‘People are scared’: Fear permeates every aspect of life in Chicago, under threat of mass immigration deportations (Chicago Tribune)  They could always leave.

Sen. Adam Schiff says Trump ‘broke the law’ by firing 18 inspectors general (Alexandra Marquez/NBC News)

Trump Fires ‘Virtually Worthless’ Inspectors General, Liz Warren Freaks Out Over ‘Purge’

Visa Processing Suspended at US Embassy in Bogota

Watch: Angry Migrant Mob Blocks Dallas Traffic In Protest Of ICE Raids

Colombian president orders increase of import tariffs on US goods after Trump order (Elvia Limon/The Hill)

Trump says Jordan, Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza (Reuters) Starting in 1948. It is the propensity of UN relief agencies to keep ‘Palestinians’ in camps, and the refusal of neighboring Arab countries to shelter ‘Palestinians’, that has caused the perennial problems.

Trump says he wants Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza (BBC)

Trump proposes Jordan, Egypt take in Gazans so decimated Strip can be ‘cleaned out’ (Times of Israel)

Trump suggests Palestinians leave Gaza and ‘we just clean out’ territory (The Guardian)

Panic and defiance in Panama after Trump threatens to ‘take back’ canal (The Guardian)

Trump says China controls the Panama Canal — but here’s how it really works (NBC News)

What to know about Trump’s day-one promise to take back the Panama Canal (Atlantic Council) Get yer Narrative, right here.

Trump’s Panama Canal ambitions gain traction in GOP-led Senate (Washington Poop)

Musk tells Germans to get over ‘past guilt’ in speech to far-right AfD rally (Politico) For Politico, there is no right but the far-right.

Elon Musk speaks at Germany’s AfD campaign launch as thousands protest the far-right party (SNN) For CNN, there is no right but the far-right.

Thousands in Germany protest the rise of the far right ahead of next month’s election (Associated Press) I guess they’re against democracy. (For the AP, there is no right but the far-right.)

Elon Musk Addresses Germany’s Far-Right AfD Party In Surprise Rally Appearance—Amid ‘Nazi Salute’ Controversy (Forbes) Why not just come out and admit it: The Nazi Salute Hoax. And the witch-hunt continues. (For Forbes, there is no right but the far-right.)

Resistance isn’t futile, as Seattle reminds the nation once again (Seattle Times). Anti-Trump vaporings from the Left Coast.

For PBS, MLK Day and Trump’s Inauguration Are a Disturbing Coincidence

Trump admin tells agencies to start firing DEI staffers (Emily Peck/Axios)

Pete Hegseth, Trump’s embattled pick for defense secretary, wins Senate confirmation (Tom Bowman/NPR)  Embattled!

Trump Officials Pause Programs to Let In Immigrants, Including Ukrainians (Hamed Aleaziz/New York Times)

Trump Reinstates Longstanding Republican Anti-Abortion Policy (Sheryl Gay Stolberg/New York Times)

White House Office Of Gun Violence Prevention Webpage Goes Dark On Trump’s 2nd Day

Trump reverses Biden actions intended to protect abortion access (Washington Post)

Trump ousts at least 12 independent inspectors general in late-night purge (Washington Post)  Who haven’t been doing their jobs, captured by the Deep State.

Trump fires 17 independent inspectors general at federal agencies, source says (Reuters)  Which is it, twelve or seventeen?

Trump fires independent inspectors general in Friday night purge (Politico)

Trump fires 17 independent watchdogs at multiple agencies in late-night move (ABC News)

Trump Fires at Least 12 Inspectors General in Late-Night Purge (New York Times)  There’s an echo in here….

Ben & Jerry’s Accuses Unilever of Muzzling It Due to Trump No, it’s just because you’re far-left assholes who can’t keep politics out of business.

Republican Proposes Renaming Dulles Airport After Trump  This is getting silly.

I Prosecuted the Capitol Rioters. They Have Never Been More Dangerous. (Brendan Ballou/New York Times)

Trump Deploys Military Force to Launch Migrant Crackdown (Bloomberg)

RESISTANCE EMERGING: Alex Soros Vows to ‘Fight Back’ Against Trump, Even as Many Elites Begrudgingly Embrace New President

Trump’s Dismantling of DEI Is Deeper and Bigger Than You Even Know

Trump’s Crypto Venture Divides the Industry He Aims to Support (New York Times)

Scientists at NIH can’t purchase supplies for their studies after Trump administration pauses outside communications (CNN)

CBP One App Shutdown As Mass Deportations Of Illegal Aliens Begins

Deportation Fears Spread Among Immigrants With Provisional Legal Status (New York Times)

Playbook: Trump’s play for LA (Debra Kahn/Politico)

Plans for Trump’s border mission include combat vehicles, infantry (Dan Lamothe/Washington Post)  The coyotes and cartels are well-armed.

How Pete Hegseth’s nomination came back from “90% dead” (Axios)  Maybe the Narrative Media were wrong?

Let’s Get to the Marrow of What Trump Just Did (Ezra Klein/New York Times)  Come get yer Narrative, right here.

Trump’s Early Actions Mirror Project 2025, the Blueprint He Once Dismissed (Nik Popli/Time)

Trump’s canceling of 50 security clearances is unprecedented and partisan, experts say (Dan De Luce/NBC News)  Experts say! That proves it!

Through the blizzard of edicts, see Trump for what he is: an autocrat reaching for limitless power (Jonathan Freedland/The Guardian)

‘There’s Not Just Two Sexes’: Maher Laments Trump Didn’t Find ‘Middle Ground’  Yes, there are. Follow The Science.

The Tech Arsenal That Could Power Trump’s Immigration Crackdown (New York Times)

Trump’s calls with British leaders reportedly left staff crying from laughter (Andrew Feinberg/The Independent)

Bureaucrats Privately Fume About Trump Abolishing DEI, Go Into Full Conspiracy Mode

Trump Frees Up 2,000-Pound Bombs for Israel After Biden Halt (Stephanie Lai/Bloomberg)

Politico seems to be trying out a new stance on Trump

Republicans try to look ‘forward,’ but Trump forces them back to Jan. 6 (Paul Kane/Washington Post)  Not Trump, but the Narrative Media.

Trump Was Right to Yank Security Clearances of the 51 ‘Spies Who Lie’

Trump’s first-week strategy: ‘Flood the zone.’ Repeat. (Washington Post)  And it works.

5 ways Project 2025 appeared in Trump’s presidential directives (Clara Ence Morse/Washington Post)

Federal DEI Officials Try To Disguise To Keep Their Jobs, But There’s Nowhere To Hide

‘I am terrified’: Workers describe the dark mood inside federal agencies (Politico)

Florida man arrested for allegedly making ‘violent’ threats against President Trump (New York Post)

After his executive order on sex, is Trump legally the first female president? (Arwa Mahdawi/The Guardian)  How silly can they get?

They Were Waiting for Flights. Then Trump Closed a Door for Afghan Allies. (David Zucchino/New York Times)

Trump Doesn’t Get to Decide What the Constitution Means (Jamelle Bouie/New York Times)  Nor does the Narrative Media.

Rubio Tells Chinese Counterpart That US Interests Come First  Shocking!

Trump’s Moves to Upend Federal Bureaucracy Touch Off Fear and Confusion (New York Times)  Heh.

New York Times Loses It With Prominent Anti-Trump Video: ‘How Tyranny Begins’

On MSNBC, Elie Mystal Lambasts Whites for Voting for Trump: ‘Great Job, White Folks’  And Democrats were racist every age.

Young Weather Anchor CANNED for Mocking Elon Musk: Screw That Old Nazi!

Trump’s executive actions have more muscle this time around, but many are just posturing (Politico)

‘People Will Be Shocked’: Trump Tests the Boundaries of the Presidency (Peter Baker/New York Times)

White House tells Republicans to get behind Trump’s nominees – or face political ‘consequences’ (NBC News)

Massachusetts Governor Says She Won’t Obstruct ICE Efforts To Deport Criminals, But Cops Won’t Help

Trump Administration Puts Immediate Pause On FDA, CDC, & HHS Reports And Posts

Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration Would Raise Wages for Lower-Income Americans

Trump: Maybe We’ll Move Biden’s IRS Hires to Border

Trump wiped January 6 convicts’ records clean. Now his DOJ is wiping evidence of rioters’ crimes from the internet (CNN)

The immunity decision does not mean that Trump can do anything now (Chris Geidner/Law Dork)

As the Media Mock Trump, Top Biden Official Backs POTUS on Big Bank Bias

Scoop: How Trump’s “black box” limits outside influences (Marc Caputo/Axios)

Trump’s federal DEI purge puts hundreds on leave, nixes $420M in contracts (Fox News)

Border Czar Homan: Deportation Flights Heading Out Daily

Trump Officials Waste No Time in Justice Department’s Rightward Shift (Wall Street Journal)

Democrats Threaten “Righteous Litigation” Over Trump’s Shutdown Of DEI Offices  Bring it on.

Trump Hits Colombia With Tariffs in Feud Over Military Deportation Flights (New York Times)

SNL comedian uses five words to explain why ‘Elon Musk is not a Nazi’ (Greg Evans/The Independent)

Trump’s gutting of federal DEI programs will hit rural poor communities (Rachel Ramirez/CNN) Not rural poor white communities.

Read it.

Two former Politico reporters revealed how “cowardly editors” at their former publication carried water for Joe Biden in the 2020 election by actively working to suppress stories that were unflattering to Biden.

My,  what a surprise.

UPDATE: New Documents: Hunter Biden’s Name, Signature Tied To $60 Million Fraud Investigation

New York Times, a Voice of the Crust.

The NYT, of course, thinks this is a Bad Idea.

Since 1793, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined a request by President George Washington to offer legal guidance on foreign relations, the court’s justices have steered away from weighing in outside the context of a formal lawsuit.

That has not deterred lawmakers in Idaho, however. This week, a State House committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to undo Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark 2015 decision that gave same-sex couples the right to marry, and to hand the power to regulate marriage back to the states.

The resolution would still need approval by the full House and the Idaho Senate before any request could be sent to the Supreme Court. Both chambers in Idaho are controlled by Republicans.

So you know that they’re all, you know, racists, sexists, homophobes, and probably white supremacists.

Jaspreet Singh Boparai.

That weekend, the centre of Washington was largely deserted, thanks to an elaborate “security bubble” around the White House and the Capitol. Other areas also seemed empty, possibly because the more enthusiastic Democrat voters decided that the best way to protest Trump’s inauguration was to leave town and avoid the incoming crowds. On Saturday night much of the city seemed to have been partly abandoned to visitors in bright-red “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” baseball caps, most of whom aimed to get roaring drunk.

Undercover Trump supporters in wealthy liberal areas like Georgetown decided that it was safe to come out of the closet. They have long signalled their unacceptable views by smoking certain brands of cigarette, or using nicotine pouches. But that night, you could see chubby young Republican men in glasses walking around the streets in MAGA caps, either in small groups or (occasionally) with dates. Many had just left victory parties, and were wearing evening dress. They tried their best to ingratiate themselves with their fellow Trump supporters from out of town, who might have voted for the same presidential candidate, but did not seem to be on the same team.

MAGA-cap men who didn’t live in or near Georgetown, or work in politics or media, or ostentatiously read books, adhered to a code of masculinity that had been established by 1980s action films, and professional wrestling of the Hulk Hogan era. By contrast, those who aspired to be their overlords in the Republican Party inclined towards a kind of nostalgic Anglophilia with literary pretensions. The relatively few women who could be seen in Georgetown that night were evidently more interested in the men who weren’t trying to impress them by quoting G. K. Chesterton.

The Crustian condescension just drips–that’s an awfully long nose to look down on the part of a fashionable minority from the Turd World.

CIA now backs lab leak theory to explain origins of Covid-19 (The Guardian)

CIA says that Covid-19 probably leaked from Chinese laboratory (Financial Times)

CIA now says COVID-19 ‘more likely’ to have come from lab (Reuters)

CIA shifts assessment on Covid origins, saying lab leak likely caused outbreak (NBC News)

Pete Hegseth confirmed as defense secretary after Vance breaks tie (Washington Poop)

Trump fires at least 12 independent inspectors general, US media say (Reuters)

McConnell sends a message (Politico) Yeah, “I am a RINO!”

Great Purge By Trump & Corporate America Could Leave “Thousands Of DEI Experts Unemployed”   Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

The owner of CBS News is talking about caving to Trump (Erik Wemple/Washington Post)

RFK Jr. skipped meeting where officials planned fight against a future pandemic (Dan Diamond/Washington Post)

Dems Balk on Negotiating Extension of Tax Cuts That’s because Democrats hate tax cuts. Your money is their money, and they want to spend it.

WHO to Limit Travel, Freeze Hiring After Trump Announces Withdrawal  Kick those pigs away from the trough.

Trump’s Obscene Jan. 6 Pardons Will Live in Infamy (Walter Olson/The UnPopulist)

Trump’s DEI push doesn’t level the playing field. It digs trenches. (Philip Bump/Washington Post)

Mexico refuses to accept a U.S. deportation flight (NBC News)

Trump Halts Ukraine Aid As State Dept “Totally Went Nuclear” On Foreign Assistance

CBS’s King Blasts Trump for Having Too Few Blacks – ‘The View’s’ Hostin Says There Were Too Many

Mississippi Bill Would Reward Bounty Hunters Who Nab Migrants

US Agencies Begin Removing DEI Guidance From Web in Trump Crackdown

FDA Pulls Web Pages on Diversity With Clinical Trials

Convicted Defamers at CNN Lecture About ‘Deepfakes’ Under Trump

Here’s how Trump’s pause on wind projects could threaten jobs and climate goals (Julia Simon/NPR)  Notice that the jobs come first.

Interior Department Says Gulf of Mexico Is Now ‘Gulf of America’ (Lisa Friedman/New York Times)

EXCLUSIVE: Read the Frantic Memo Eric Holder Sent Clients After Trump Declared War on DEI